He hissed air through his teeth. His nostrils flared. His eyes drilled into me with a dark and vibrating intensity.
I let go of the sharpened hunk of ceramic and stepped backwards.
I was weightless. Floating.
He pressed both hands to his torso, underneath his coat. The chunk of ceramic had gone in somewhere under his ribs.
I wasn’t a doctor. I hadn’t studied anatomy. But I wondered if the shard was near to his lungs. Maybe it had severed a vein or an artery.
You did this.
I shivered.
The blood kept coming.
It was pumping out, luscious and dark, oozing between his gloved fingers, seeping through his sweater.
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t.
The entire situation seemed impossible to me.
He hissed more air. Spit bubbles through his teeth. A judder passed through him and he stared at me, appalled.
Then he sank slowly and agonizingly downwards onto the edge of the sofa, tipping first to his left, bracing himself on his elbow, before leaning the other way, dropping to the ground and kicking the coffee table away to one side.
He was making an awful straining, whining noise. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain and discomfort. He couldn’t get up.
I moved as if to go towards him, help him, then stopped and stepped back.
No.
He could still hurt me.
I was sure he would hurt me now.
And Sam.
My heart seized.
I back-pedalled. I thought of rushing upstairs to Bethany, but what we needed right now was help, help, help.
‘Where are you—? Lucy? What—?’
His words faded into an agonized, keening grunt as I circled around the end of the sofa. He was staring at his hands, his eyes wide and trembling, his lips peeled back.
I ran for the front door.
It was locked from the inside. On the latch.
‘Come on, come on.’
I fumbled with it. Flicked it, my fingers slick and greasy, slipping on the mechanism.
The catch gave way.
Night air swept in.
Darkness and streetlight.
I glanced once more towards the sofa without seeing him and then I bolted, running blindly outside.
And slammed into something unseen, ricocheting off violently towards the railings running atop the wall next to the gate.