He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into a nearby room. She was so surprised to find him there that she didn’t even attempt to pull away from him.
‘Slut,’ Donny hissed.
The word was harsh enough to make Trudy wince. Even when she saw it wasn’t directed at her, when she saw that Donny was snapping his fingers and gesturing for Gemma’s attention, Trudy still thought the word sounded cruel and hurtful.
‘Slut,’ Donny repeated. This time his voice was harsher and insistent. ‘I want you to stand here,’ he said, pointing at the door, ‘and make sure no one disturbs us, do you understand?’
Gemma nodded eagerly and obediently. She took her position guarding the door, scowling at Trudy with obvious contempt.
Donny rounded on Trudy. ‘This is all your fault,’ he growled. He released his hold on her wrist. ‘It’s all your fault,’ he repeated. ‘All you had to do was show a little interest in me.’
She took in the surroundings. They were in a private single room. It was unoccupied. The bed was stripped and the bedside cabinet empty, except for a pair of hygienically sealed pillows on top. The room smelled clinical and clean.
She shook her head and tried to make sense of his outburst.
‘How is this my fault?’
‘All you had to do was give me a chance.’
She frowned, not sure she had heard correctly. ‘A chance? A chance to do what?’
‘I wanted to date you.’
She put a hand over her mouth to catch the horrified scream she wanted to release. ‘You wanted to date me?’
‘I’ve fancied you since we started uni together. I’ve always wanted to date you.’
‘You’ve just been too busy shagging my friends and stabbing my boyfriends!’
He frowned. ‘You’re making fun of me.’
‘I’m glad someone is having fun here, Donny,’ she said. ‘Because I’m at the end of my tether worrying about the man I love.’ She paused for a moment, sure that ‘end of my tether’ was one of Bill’s Yorkshire phrases. It was only as an afterthought that she realised she had called him ‘the man I love’.
Donny snorted with disdain. ‘You don’t love him. You can’t love him.’
She blinked. ‘Why can’t I love him? Is this about the age difference? Or is this –’
He clasped her hand in his and studied her intently. The ferocity of his gesture was enough to make her fall silent. ‘You can’t love him because I love you. He’s nothing. You and I were meant to be together.’
She tried to think of a way to respond. His words seemed so nonsensical that it took a moment before she could think of an appropriate reply.
‘I thought you loved Gemma.’
‘Gemma’s a useful bed for most nights but she means nothing to me.’
‘This is insane.’ She started towards the door. She had barely made it past him when Donny reached out and grabbed her wrist.
‘You’re not going anywhere,’ he growled. ‘Not until you’ve told me that you love me.’
‘Love you?’ she repeated. ‘You inspire so much contempt I can barely look at you.’
He stared at her with a mixture of hurt and disbelief.
The expression was wiped away by his renewed resolve as he clutched her wrist more tightly and said, ‘No. You must love me. You must love me as much as I love you.’
Trudy didn’t know where the strength came from. All she knew was that it surged through her with a huge rush. She tugged her wrist from his grasp and balled her hand into a fist. Without thinking what she was doing, she slammed the fist hard into his jaw.
She heard the shattering crack of his teeth clamping together.
She felt a jolt of pain slam through her fingers and tear through her arm.
The impact lifted him off his feet. He fell to the floor and she guessed he was unconscious even before the back of his head smacked against the hard linoleum.
‘Of course I don’t love you, Donny,’ she spat angrily. ‘I love Bill.’
‘Good punch.’
Trudy whirled to face Gemma. She backed away, expecting trouble. She was suddenly conscious of the pain throbbing in her fist and knew she wouldn’t be able to fight Gemma too. Her shoulders slumped and she readied herself for whatever punishment the woman decided to throw at her.
Gemma shook her head as though rejecting the idea of violence. There were tears in her eyes. She sneered at the unconscious Donny. ‘The bastard said he’d never loved me. He said I was a useful bed. And he said I meant nothing to him.’
Trudy didn’t know what to say. She realised Gemma was upset, but her thoughts were with Bill. She didn’t know how long she’d been in the private room, or if she’d missed any news by not being in the waiting room. She needed to get back, in case they had further information on Bill’s condition.
‘I’ve phoned the police,’ Gemma said, waving her phone at Trudy. ‘And I’m sorry for any upset I’ve ever caused you.’ She glared contemptuously down at Donny.
Not sure how to treat Gemma’s apology, Trudy asked, ‘Do you want me to get a porter or someone to help you watch him until the police arrive?’
‘Please,’ Gemma said.
Trudy thanked her and rushed out into the corridor. She found a porter and directed him to the room where Gemma and Donny were. Then she went back to the waiting room to find that Harvey and Charlotte and Daryl had arrived.
She fell into Charlotte’s arms and sobbed.