“It’s fine,” said Tom. “This is your stag do, Ryan. If Sean stops the blow and acts like a normal person for the rest of the weekend, we can all go back to being mates. No one has to leave.”
Sean turned to Tom, surprised. “Thanks, mate. No hard feelings, yeah? I was just talking bollocks. Off my head, ain’t I?”
“Let’s just put it behind us.” Tom stood up and went over to Sean, embracing him. Immediately, Ryan felt better. Maybe the weekend could be salvaged.
Still embracing Sean, Tom let out a chuckle. “You’re a certifiable nutcase, Sean, but you’re our nutcase.”
“You fucking wot?” Sean reared back, surprising Tom with the sudden aggression so much that he did nothing as Sean lunged back in and clamped his jaws around his ear.
Tom squealed in pain.
Ryan grabbed Sean and pulled him away, but he kept his jaws clamped, pulling Tom along with them until something tore loose. Ryan was aware of blood in the air and it added to his growing panic, panic that quickly turned into fight instinct. He shoved Sean against the wall in a rage. His friend’s skull clonked against the stone and he slumped to the ground.
Immediately, and without any remorse for Sean, Ryan turned to Tom, who was moaning in agony and clutching his ear. Blood ran down his hand and forearm. “Let me see, Tom. Move your hand away.”
Tom’s hand was shaking as he removed it from his ear, and what Ryan saw was revolting. Sean had torn away the entire lobe, leaving behind a ragged, bloody edge like uncooked steak. Ryan took a step back and felt something beneath his trainer. When he lifted his foot, he saw a morsel of pink flesh crushed against the floorboards.
This is a nightmare and I’m going to wake up.
Suddenly, everyone was shouting and swearing. The smell of blood permeated the air, mixing with the smoky odour of the open fire. Ryan bent over and puked six pints of beer onto the bloody floorboards.
It was a good thing Sean was slumped on the ground, because if he’d been standing, everyone would have given him a good hiding. Ryan couldn’t believe what his friend had done.
Brett was right. Sean is an animal.
Ryan had puked up everything in his stomach, which had the benefit of sobering him up. He sipped from a bottle of water now, staring into space and trying to soothe his scorched throat. Brett was in the kitchenette, cleansing Tom’s torn ear over the sink. He’d found a first aid kit in the cupboard and was putting his veterinary skills to use as best he could.
Aaron was sitting next to Loobey on the beige two-seater, telling him about everything that had happened while he’d been asleep. The furore had obviously woken Loobey, but the brief rest seemed to have done him some good at least. He didn’t seem so weary.
Ryan heard Sean sobbing in the corner but felt numb as he approached him. “Sean, man, you really messed up.”
“I know, I know. My head… I don’t know what happened.”
“We’ll never forgive you for this.”
Sean flinched, as if the statement physically hurt him. When he looked up at Ryan, there were tears in his bloodshot eyes. His green-stained hands trembled on his knees. “Ryan, I swear to you, I would never hurt any of you. I would never—”
“But you have hurt one of us. You’ve hurt Tom really bad.”
“We should call the police on him,” Brett shouted from the kitchenette. “He needs locking up.”
Sean nodded. “He’s right, man. Call the police. I deserve it.”
“We don’t have any signal and it’s the middle of the night. We’ll have to sort this out in the morning. Party’s over.”
“I hear you. I’ll go straight to bed. Can you help me up though? I don’t feel right.”
“Sure.” Ryan offered a hand to Sean and pulled him to his feet, but his friend was groggy and toppled back against the wall. It was then that Ryan noticed the splotch of blood on the stone wall where Sean’s head had struck. “Shit, I think I cut your head open when I pushed you. Turn around and let me take a look.”
Sean kept a hand on the wall for balance and turned his back on Ryan. The lump was clearly visible through his short hair, which was bloody in places. “Is it bad?”
“You’ve got a lump and a cut. I’m really sorry, man.”
“Don’t be, I had it coming.”
“Too right you did,” said Brett. He limped angrily into the middle of the lounge. “You’re a maniac. Whenever you’re involved in anything, it turns to madness. When are you going to get your shit together?”
Sean put a hand up, like he feared Brett might attack him, but Brett had never hit anyone in his life. “Tell me what I can do and I’ll do it. What’ll make this better? Just tell me, man.”
“Nothing will make this any better. The damage is done.”
Sean looked towards the kitchenette where Tom was leaning over the counter with his ear bandaged up. The way he was taking deep breaths meant he was either in a lot of pain or feeling sick. Probably both. Sean swallowed, a desperate look on his face. “I really fucked up, didn’t I?”
Brett turned away in disgust, so Sean looked back at Ryan. “Mate, I’m sorry. I just… I just…” He went to take a step forward, but his left leg buckled and he fell. Ryan grabbed him just in time to direct his fall.
Brett heard the commotion and turned back around. “What’s he playing at now?”
“He’s hurt,” said Ryan, easing Sean onto his side. “He hit his head pretty hard when I shoved him.”
Brett’s anger evaporated. He knelt beside Sean and started parting the hair at the back of his head so he could inspect the lump. The sight of it
