The Ecklands had seemed so innocent to her - eccentric, certainly, but well-meaning and kind-hearted. They welcomed her into their home, made her dinner, introduced her to their son. She briefly wondered about asking Leo about Ella next time she saw him but dismissed the thought. She had already gotten him tangled up in the Rufus mess, and her suspicions about her father didn’t mean that she had any reason to be suspicious of Leo.
She pressed on, trying to push the nagging worries from her mind and focus on home. No doubt her mum would have made a delicious dinner, perhaps not as delicious as homemade paella at the Ecklands, but something comforting, familiar and satisfying. That was exactly what she needed today.
She turned down her mum’s road and pursed her lips in frustration – Rufus’ Audi was waiting outside her house and he was sat in the front seat.
He saw her approaching and jumped out. She started walking faster, heading for the front door, trying to cut in front of him at the gate, but he blocked her way, holding the front gate closed.
“Paige, please,” he said, and she could see that he hadn’t slept. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his hair was unkempt, and his clothes were wrinkled, as if he’d slept in them. She glanced back at his car and noticed a blanket and pillow on the backseat.
“Rufus, leave me ALONE,” she yelled, more forcefully than she had intended, but the combined stress of the day had left her emotionally drained.
He put his hand on her wrist in a bid to hold her there and she slapped it away, anger rising in her, “Get the fuck off of me,” she growled.
The shouting drew Tom and her mum outside. Realising what was happening, Tom marched out, pushing Rufus out of the way of the gate and back onto the pavement.
“Come on, I just want to TALK,” Rufus yelled, pushing Tom back.
“I told you last time, Paige doesn’t want to hear what you have to say, mate,” Tom was already seething, and Paige’s anxiety had overtaken her.
“I didn’t sleep with those women-” Rufus was interrupted by Tom jumping at him, pushing him over so that he had to steady himself on the garden fence. Paige was amazed at how fierce Tom was being – he was usually so level-headed. Sleep with those women? Plural? I thought he had only kissed the woman at the New Year’s Eve party, Paige thought to herself. Something about his story wasn’t adding up, and as much as she wanted to understand, she was too exhausted to listen.
“Tom, stay out of this,” Rufus said gently, pushing himself up and backing away.
“Leave,” Tom said firmly.
“Paige, I’m a terrible person, but you have to let me explain, you don’t know the full story..” Rufus was again interrupted, this time by Tom’s fist which landed with a crack against Rufus’ jaw.
“TOM!” Paige’s mum cried, running from the doorway to the gate, “What are you doing?!”
Rufus was clearly dazed, but shot straight back up, retaliating with a punch that sent Tom into the front gate. Paige’s mum cried out, catching Tom and pushing him back up, who lunged at Rufus again, pulling him against his car by his shirt.
The two men grappled with each other for a moment, Paige’s mum running into the street to try and pull Tom away. Paige felt disconnected, as if she was floating above everything, unable to help. She could hear herself shouting “STOP IT! STOP IT!” but it didn’t feel like her mouth was moving, she couldn’t control the sound.
They fell against the car hard, breaking the wingmirror. Tom threw another punch, which caught Rufus in the side of the head, stunning him for a moment. Rufus launched at him again, pushing him backwards.
Tom fell hard, one foot on the pavement and one in the road. He was thrown completely off balance and, in an instant, had hit the floor. A vile crunch could be heard as Tom’s head hit the edge of the curb.
He lay motionless, blood streaming out into the road. Paige’s mum let out a howling scream, stumbling to Tom’s side and sliding down to her knees. Paige was silent. Reality alluded her. She could see the blood, her mum crying and screaming and Rufus silently backing away and phoning an ambulance, but she couldn’t feel any of it.
She sank down beside her mum, hand over her mouth, willing herself to lose this numbness, to feel the moment, to understand what was happening. But, she couldn’t.
CHAPTER TEN
TOM’S BROAD FRAME HAD never looked so small as it did among the starchy white sheets of his hospital bed. His head looked strange where they had shaved it, his wild grey hair was completely gone from the right side of his head. The bare skin was either red with swelling, or orange from the iodine they had used during surgery.
Paige rotated between sitting with her mum and pacing up and down the corridors outside the ICU, still not sure how to process the events of the previous afternoon.
At 6am, after no sleep, a watery cup of tea and a floppy ham sandwich from the canteen, Paige phoned Eckland to explain what had happened. He expressed his condolences and reeled off some unrelated Shakespearean quotes, adding that she was free to take as long as she needed before returning to work.
Paige returned to Tom’s room and handed her mum a chocolate bar from the vending machine, “Please eat something, mum.”
“Thank you, love. Maybe later,” her mum pocketed the bar and wiped her eyes. Paige’s chest tightened as a memory hit her – four years ago, her dad laying motionless in a hospital room just like this one. White crinkly sheets. The smell of disinfectant. Get well soon cards. Her mum had the same look – that helpless stare. Paige turned away, trying not to cry. Her mum needed her to be strong.
A few minutes later, a doctor
