Gentleman Sinner

I breathe out, feeling my back mould to the wall behind me as my phone rings, and I rummage through my bag, sniffing back my tears, until I lay my hands on it, seeing Callum is calling. I frown. He hasn’t been in touch since I picked up my stuff from Theo’s place two weeks ago. The glow of his name knocks some purpose into me. ‘Callum,’ I say in greeting, pushing my back off the wall and peeking around the corner to Theo’s bed. I can barely see him for medical machinery.

‘Someone has seen Theo,’ he blurts urgently. ‘Down by the docks, entering a less-than-reputable fight club.’

My mouth opens to tell him I’ve found Theo, but no words come. My mind is too busy absorbing what I’ve been told and what it means. A fight club?

‘Izzy, there’s only one reason he’d go there,’ Callum goes on. ‘A fighter. He hates Theo. He’s been trying to get him in the cage for years.’ Callum is puffing over his words, and I conclude it’s because he’s running.

‘Why does he hate Theo?’

‘Because Theo beat his brother into a coma,’ he says gravely, and I inhale. ‘It was years ago. I’m heading down there now. I just wanted you to be prepared for the worst.’

Prepared for the worst? I peek around the corner again, seeing wires, machinery, and Theo’s battered body. I’m looking at the worst. He went to fight someone? I close my eyes, hating what I know to be true. He was punishing himself. He allowed himself to be beaten. Penance.

‘Izzy, are you hearing me?’ Callum’s impatient voice wakes me from my thoughts, pulling me back into the hospital where Theo is lying, barely alive, and where his friend is on the phone telling me he might have found him.

I shake myself to life, turning away from Theo and walking down the corridor. ‘Callum, I’m with Theo.’

‘What?’

‘At the hospital. Theo was brought in as an emergency. He was found by the docks half-dead.’

There’s silence, no more puffing or sounds of exertion. Just a long, lingering, shocked silence.

‘Callum? Are you there?’

‘Half-dead?’ he finally whispers.

I can feel my voice is going to tremble if I speak, so I wait a few moments before I do, swallowing repeatedly while I find the strength I need to give Callum the details without falling apart. ‘It’s bad, Callum,’ I explain. Another swallow. ‘Broken ribs, punctured lung. His injuries are extensive. And internal bleeding is suspected. He arrested.’ I close my eyes and try not to relive the horror of that moment. ‘They got him back, but he’s in a coma. He’s been stabilized and is being sent for X-rays and scans before being transferred to ICU.’

‘Jesus,’ he gasps. ‘What the fuck?’

‘Punishment,’ I tell him flatly, seeing no point withholding what I know. ‘He was punishing himself.’

Callum doesn’t bother countering my claim. He knows, too. ‘The stupid bastard.’ There’s emotion in his voice that I can appreciate and empathize with. ‘You’re there on your own?’

‘I didn’t get a moment to call.’ I feel terrible now, but the thought didn’t even enter my head. ‘It was all a bit . . . frantic. Then when they got a heartbeat back, he kept moving every time a nurse tried to get a line in. I had to do it all myself.’

He laughs lightly in understanding. ‘Unbelievable.’

I smile. It really is. ‘He knew I was here, Callum. He was gone, but he knew I was here.’

‘I have no doubt, Izzy,’ he replies softly. ‘I have no doubt. I’m on my way.’

‘Call Judy,’ I blurt, thinking I’d better brace myself for more tears. Judy’s going to see the condition of her son and lose sight of the fact that he’s actually been found.

‘I’ll pick her up on the way.’ He disconnects, and I hold the phone to my chest, preparing myself to call Jess and go over it all again.Chapter 27

I knew I wouldn’t be allowed in the X-ray and scan rooms, but I still followed the porters as they pushed Theo’s bed through the corridors of the hospital, a nurse tagging along with his files. I waited outside while he was X-rayed and scanned, and then I followed them up to ICU, where nurses were awaiting his arrival.

After I’ve sent Callum a message telling him where to find us, I sit in the corner of the private room and watch as they hook all the machinery back up, the nurse from Triage doing handover to the ward sister. I smile when she advises them of Theo’s moving habit, and the sister laughs, like the nurse currently handing over the paperwork is joking. She can laugh now. He’s unconscious and unable to attack. She wouldn’t be laughing if he were fit, healthy, and awake with his palms wrapped around her throat.

I look to the door at the sound of an urgent voice from outside the room and jump up, finding Jess is at the desk asking where I am. ‘Hey,’ I call.