Seb ached all over; his head pounded in time with his heartbeat, and a light pulsed behind his eyes. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there. All he knew was that it was blessedly quiet and dark. He tried to think where he might be but couldn’t remember anything, and to be honest, it hurt when he even thought about it. He drifted back into oblivion.
The second time he woke, he thought he heard familiar voices. Was that his parents? What were they doing in his bedroom? He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He felt as if he were underwater, the sounds muffled. He strained to listen but drifted off again, sounds ebbing and flowing around him.
When he woke again, he could definitely hear his parents whispering. He managed to open his eyes and lifted his hand. His mother was by his side in an instant, holding tightly to his raised hand.
“Call the doctor,” she said to someone. “Tell them he’s awake.”
His mother’s eyes were rimmed with red, and she held a cotton handkerchief in her other hand. Doctor? Where was he? Why couldn’t he remember anything?
“Oh, my baby boy, we’ve been waiting for you to wake up. How are you feeling? Are you alright?” She was fighting to hold back the tears.
“Don’t crowd him, Jana. Let the doctor see him.” His father was here too.
His mother released his hand, and a woman in a white coat took her place by his bedside. He couldn’t read her ID badge but assumed she was the doctor. What the fuck was going on?
“Hi, Seb. Do you know where you are? I’m just going to shine this light in your eyes. I know it’ll be bright, but I just need to check your responses.”
He blinked in surprise as his eyes were assaulted by the light from a small torch. It shone in his left, then his right eye.
“OK, reaction to light is good. How are you feeling?”
Seb tried to talk but could only manage a croak. A straw was pressed against his lips, and he sipped slowly, the cool water trickling down his throat, soothing the soreness he felt. He pushed the straw away with his tongue, and it disappeared. He closed his eyes. He felt exhausted from the effort.
He remembered the doctor had asked him a question, and he responded, the effort taking everything out of him.
“I don’t know where I am, but I’m sore, really sore, and my head is pounding.”
“OK, well, you’re in the hospital. You’ve been through a lot, so you should try to rest as much as possible. I’ll come in again later to see you, and someone will be in shortly with some more medication for you.” The doctor smiled at him and his parents before walking out of the room.
“Why am I here?” he asked. “What happened?”
“Oh, baby, you were in a car accident. Do you remember?”
He could vaguely remember something, the sensation of having his wrists bound. He reached to feel them but could only feel the weight of a cast. What the fuck?
“Just rest, baby. You need to build your strength up so you can get out of here. Your friends have all been waiting for you; Natalia and Louis, Dom… Joe’s been here, too. Such a lovely man. We’re staying with him at the moment. He wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Now Seb was really puzzled. Joe was here? The more he tried to remember what had happened, the more tired he became until eventually, he drifted off to sleep again.
The next time he woke, he felt more alert and was able to look around the room. It was a stark, private hospital room. The walls were white, and a full-length window to the right looked out onto a small garden. He had no idea what time of day it was. There was a slightly ajar door on his left that he could see led to a bathroom.
On a chair to the right sat Joe, slumped down with his eyes closed. Seb looked at him closely. He had a healthy stubble on this jaw, his usually perfect hair was messed up, and his clothes looked wrinkled as if he’d been sleeping in them. He had dark smudges under his eyes, and his face looked pale.
Joe slowly opened his eyes. Had he sensed his eyes on him? He gave him that beautiful smile, complete with dimples.
“You’re awake.” He stood up, moved over to the bed and held his good hand. “How are you feeling? You gave us all such a scare, Seb.” He had tears in his eyes as he spoke, and he brushed Seb’s hair out of his face.
“I’m OK,” Seb croaked. “Still sore but not as bad. Could I have some water, please?” He tried to sit up, but he fell back onto the bed, defeated.
“Of course, let me get it for you.” Joe rushed round to the small table next to Seb and held the cup for him to drink from. He supported Seb as he finally managed to sit and drink, then gently laid him down when he was done.
“What are you doing here, Joe?” Seb was so confused. Joe was with Clare; he didn’t want Seb, did he?
“Where else would I be, Seb? I told you I wanted to see what we had, and after Clare…. Shit, you don’t need to hear all of this now. Just know that I’m here for you, as long as you need me. Do you remember what happened? The police have been waiting for you to wake up.” Joe continued to stroke his hair, and he almost purred.
“They said they’d be back again tomorrow to see if you were awake. You’ve been out of it a while.”
“How long? How long have I been here?” Seb was feeling a little better but could feel exhaustion setting in again.
“You’ve been here five days already, in and out of it. The doctors wanted you to sleep and rest. Sorry, do you want me to get your parents? They’ll want to see you, now you’re more awake. I can just get out of your hair. None of us wanted you to be alone when you woke up.”
“No, stay for a while, please? Tell me what’s happening with you and Clare. Are you back together again?” Why was Joe here if they were together?
“Well, it’s rather a long story. I’ll just give you the highlights. Clare is pregnant, but the baby’s not mine. She had been having an affair with a co-worker. She and I won’t be getting married, that’s for sure. We can be together, Seb, you and me.” Joe paused to look at Seb, his eyes warm, his smile gentle. “Only if you want to, no rush.”
“Really? I saw you, with Clare. She was hugging you.”
“She came round on Saturday and confessed it all. Her hug was a goodbye. She moved out just after you left to go to your parents, and I’ve hardly seen her since then. Her coming round on Saturday was to let me go, to let us go. She wanted to apologise to you as well, but I told her we weren’t together anymore. I’d like to think you’ll change your mind about that.” Joe had a shy look on his face, his eyes hopeful.
Seb reached up and stroked his face.
“I can’t wait to see where this goes, Joe. It’s all I’ve thought about for months. And now we can really try. Consider my mind changed.” Seb could hardly contain the butterflies that crowded his stomach. This was everything he’d longed for.
“I’m not going anywhere, not anymore,” Joe said and bent down to kiss Seb’s forehead. “I’ll be here as long as you want me. Now, let me go and find your parents. They’ll be relieved to hear you’re awake.”
Joe stepped out of the room, and Seb closed his eyes. The sensation of Joe’s lips still lingered, and he smiled slowly. Joe still wanted him, and fuck if he didn’t want him too.
A few moments later, his parents entered the room, his mother fussing and his father standing off to the side. He listened to his mother ramble about Joe’s house, about his brother and sister and how they’d all been beside themselves worrying about him. He hoped he made noises in the right places, but he could feel exhaustion creeping in again, and he closed his eyes, just for a moment.
A little while later, the doctor came back in and started to detail his injuries. Broken wrist and ankle, abdominal bruising, a couple of cuts to his head but no lasting damage to his brain that they could see. He should make a complete recovery. Guess he wasn’t going to be dancing for a while, though. Good job it was coming up on the summer break; he’d have time to heal and for his broken bones to mend. Once the doctor had carried out some more tests—more lights in his eyes—she and his parents left the room and were replaced by Natalia and Dom.
“Oh my God, Seb. I’ve been so worried. With you gone, who’d put up with this sorry arse all the time? What the hell were you thinking about getting into a car with a maniac?” Dom asked.
Seb hadn’t had much time to think about what had happened, but now Dom had reminded him, he started to piece together the events of Saturday—the rain, the car, Ed, the accident.
“I was dragged into the car, not much choice in the matter. It was Ed, Daniel’s brother. He was the one stalking me. I swear he was fucking mental, kept talking to himself, and it was like he was listening to voices.” Seb shuddered and screwed his eyes shut, trying to rid his mind of the harrowing images.
“OK. It’s OK, Seb. You don’t have to worry about that now. He’s gone.” Natalia glared at Dom. “Just leave him be, Dom. He still needs to recover.”
They chatted for a while about when Natalia was moving away, but Seb got progressively more tired until he fell asleep, Dom’s and Natalia’s voices fading gradually.
The following day, the police were there, ready to take his statement.
“So, are you feeling well enough to talk about this? Do you remember what happened?” Detective Hopkins sat on the chair at the side of his bed.
“I remember it was raining, and then suddenly someone was in front of me and knocked me out. I came round in the car and realised it was Ed, Daniel’s brother. That’s why I’d thought I’d recognised him in the club. They were alike, similar build and colouring, but Ed was a little taller than Daniel. He sounded strange, though. He kept talking to himself.”
The detective nodded. “Yes, it appears he had a cocktail of drugs in his system. Some were prescribed medication, but the others we found were psychotic drugs. It was a wonder he was still functioning, let alone driving. We identified him eventually from his fingerprints. He’d been arrested a couple of times for possession, some petty thefts, but nothing like this.” The detective got out his notebook and pen.
“When was the last time you saw him, other than Saturday?”
Seb explained that the last time they’d spoken was just after Daniel’s death, that Ed had blamed him but then seemed to accept that Daniel had overdosed accidentally. He hadn’t seen or spoken to him since.
The police hadn’t been able to find where he’d been staying and thought it was likely that he’d been sleeping in the car. Seb could easily believe that—the smell of the car, the rotting food had been just… urgh!
“So, after you woke up in the car, what happened?”
“After I woke up, he put me in the front of the car and put my seatbelt on. Is that what saved my life?” Seb asked. He hadn’t been able to understand why he hadn’t sustained more severe injuries.
The detective nodded.
“OK, so Ed carried on driving, but he was raving the whole time, saying how Daniel should have loved him, not me, that ‘the others’ were telling him to kill me. He kept going faster, and when we hit the bend, he took his hands off the wheel and looked at me. I don’t really remember anything else.” Seb was so tired after he’d related the story, but he needed to know what had happened to Ed.
“Did he survive? Have you got him in custody?”
“Unfortunately, he was killed in the accident. As he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, he was thrown from the car, and it would appear he died on impact with another tree. I’m sorry.”
“That bastard put me through hell these past few months. I shouldn’t be sorry that he’s dead, yet I am. I should have made more of an effort with him after Daniel died. I was so upset; I didn’t think of anyone else. I’m sorry he had to die like that.” Seb was genuinely sorry that Ed had died, but at least now he was safe, and that, in itself, was something to be thankful for.
“We’re still trying to piece things together about his whereabouts the last couple of years and hopefully will have some answers for you soon. Once you’re feeling better, we’ll need you to come down to the station to sign your statement, and then the matter will be closed once and for all. I’m just sorry it came to this for us to close the case.” Detective Hopkins seemed sincere, and Seb was just thankful that it was all over.
“I know it wasn’t your fault. There was nothing more you could have done, but thank you anyway.”
After the interview, Seb was so tired he thought he could sleep for a week. He felt his eyes start to close when Joe walked in, a bag of food in his hands.
“I’ve brought you some food. I hope you’re hungry.”
When Seb opened the bag, a sandwich from his favourite deli was inside. Seb could have kissed him. Hospital food was nothing to shout about but this, this he could eat.