Incite (Sphere of Irony 1)

Nausea overwhelms me and I lean forward to get sick, which quadruples the already intolerable pain in my skull. My mum shoves a bin in front of my face and waits patiently until it passes.

“I guess I’ll increase your anti-emetics,” Dr. Grant says lightly as he scrawls something on a page in what I know must be my chart.

“My head…it’s so painful.” I moan feebly at the agonizing throbbing.

“I’m not surprised. You’ve got a hairline skull fracture and had a small subdural hematoma, Ellie. You’ve been under sedation for the last four days, while we waited for the swelling to go down and the blood to be reabsorbed.” Dr. Grant’s dark eyes crinkle in the corners as he gives me a sympathetic smile.

“Four days?” I’m flat out stunned at the revelation that I’ve been out that long.

“Yes, you needed to heal properly. I’m going to do a quick exam and then you can speak to your family, alright? You’ll have a repeat CT scan tomorrow to see if you’re well enough to go home.”

I nod soundlessly and let the doctor do his thing, answer his questions directly and to the point, and say nothing else when he leaves the room.

“Mum, can I speak with James in private, please?” I turn to look at my mum, flinching when the movement of my head causes a sharp pain to stab deep in my ear.

“Of course dear.” Mum pats my leg gently before making her way around the bed until she’s out in the hall. My poor Mum. She’s aged so much these last few years. Cancer, then dad, now me being attacked for a second time. I’m surprised she doesn’t have a full head of grey hair already.

James pulls up a chair and sits, reaching over to take my hand. I recoil back, not wanting comfort from him when what I need is an explanation. Even in my confused state, I notice the slight grimace on his face when I refuse his hand.

“What happened? I know… I know Callum was in my flat. What else?” I swallow loudly, remembering that my mouth is still parched. When I lick my dry lips James grabs a large cup with a straw in it and holds it so I can take a drink. The cool water soothes my throat.

“Better?”

“Yes, much. Thank you. “ I close my eyes for a moment to stop the room from rocking. “Please James, tell me what happened.” I ignore the incessant throbbing in my skull, turning my head to face him directly, watching his deep brown eyes as they flick down uncomfortably then back up to meet my gaze.

“I hadn’t heard from you all day. You didn’t pick up your phone and didn’t return my texts.” He sounds irritated, angry even.

“I was at work James. You know they don’t allow my phone around the equipment at the hospital,” I tell him for the hundredth time. I would be angrier at his petulance, but I’m too tired to care.

James scowls, pulling his handsome face into a twisted scowl. “I didn’t like the way we left things. After the concert…” he hesitates, probably not wanting to dredge up the Adam argument again. “So I came by your flat, to see you. But you didn’t answer when I knocked and I could hear a man’s voice inside.” His eyes dart away again, as if he feels guilty about something, but what?

“So, I used my key.” He stretches his arm out hesitantly to take my hand again. I pull mine out of reach and he drops his back into his lap with a frustrated sigh. “I found him on top of you, slamming your head into the floor,” James closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, as if in physical pain at the memory. “I tore that bastard off of you and damn near beat him to death.” His dark eyes open and fix directly on mine. “The only thing that stopped me was the thought of you having seizures and bleeding to death across the room while I extracted my pound of flesh.”

My jaw drops open at his admission. He looks at me and merely shrugs. As if admitting you were going to kill someone with your bare hands is no big deal.

“I don’t feel bad about hurting him, El. I would do it again a thousand times if I had to.”

“I know,” I whisper. I can’t be angry about the violence, he saved my life. Again. I just don’t like to think of him like that. Controlling? Yes. Violent? No.

“You can’t be alone when they discharge you, Ellie. You’ve got a bad head injury and I don’t want you going back to that flat either.” His eyes narrow. “Even though that Murray bastard is going to be in jail for a long time, I can’t even think about one of his perverted friends finding you to finish you off for him.”

I shudder at the thought and curl up into a ball on the stark hospital bed. James reaches over again to take my hand. This time, I allow it. Callum would be exactly the type of man to send someone to finish what he couldn’t. Especially since this time, Callum was paid to attack me. Danny could very well pay someone else to get the photos he wanted to use against Adam.

“You need to move in with me,” James says sternly, surprising me with not just his words but his forceful tone.

“What?” My increasing heart rate is pinging embarrassingly from the machine as I think about what he said. I can’t move in with James, can I? I don’t love him. What about Adam? I’m leaving James, aren’t I?

“You need to stay with me, El. We’re engaged, you can’t go to your flat and you need to be protected. It makes sense and you know it.” He squeezes my hand encouragingly, as if willing me to see things his way. James knows I’ve been hesitant to set a date or even discuss the wedding, he knows how angry I was after our row, this is his way of forcing me to move forward by way of circumstance. I glance down and am horrified to see that my ring is back in its place on my left hand.

“I need… I think I need to be alone for a while.” My head is pounding, my nerves are shot, and I have no idea what happened to Adam after the attack. Tears prick at my tender eyes, burning as they well up.

“I’ll go get a coffee with your mum.” James stands up, pressing a soft kiss to the back of my hand. “She thinks the plan makes sense too. My parents are coming by later to see you, El. Everyone has been so worried.”

He told my mother that we were moving in together before I said yes? In my mind, we were broken up!

I give him a tiny nod and close my eyes, pretending to be swept away by the painkillers. “Oh, I forgot,” I wearily tilt my head as James reaches the door, “can you hand me my cellphone?”

He turns back to me and gives me a sad smile, his broad chest and shoulders deflating a bit at my request. “Sorry love, it was damaged in the assault. It was completely unusable so I got rid of it. I’ll get you a new one when you go home with me.” His eyes turn to hard flints of stone just before he spins and leaves the room. Once he’s gone, the machine loudly registers my speeding pulse.