Never Give Up on Love Box Set

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Thomas

He didn’t like hospitals. Not since Aiden had passed through the emergency room doors, never to come back through them. Not since his panic attacks had started. There was that smell of disinfectant and the foul air that never allowed him to breathe deeply, to inhale enough oxygen to control his synapses.

But when you worked at a police station, it was inevitable that you would have to go to hospitals, like right now, since they had just taken the declaration of an old lady whose purse had been stolen and was in the emergency room to make sure nothing had been broken.

The lady had been kind and even rather rational while giving her statement, especially considering her age. But Thomas had spent half the time tapping his pen on his notebook, constantly moving his right foot to stretch his ankle, trying to find a way to keep his body busy with something other than inhaling illness smell and foul air.

“Doyle, s**t, what’s up your ass?” Anne hissed as they exited the little room, heading toward the exit across the corridor.

“I don’t like hospitals.”

“Sure, because I really love them, right?”

“You’re normal.”

“I might have something to say about that.”

“Actually, me too.” Thomas smiled and shook his head, giving his colleague a look.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked.

No. “Sure.”

“Do you have a life? Or like, do you get out of your grave to come to work and then crawl back in? Because you’ve been working with me for months, and not only have I never seen you outside of work, but nobody has ever come looking for you. No family, nothing…nobody. I know what happened to you, but…”

“My family lives in London. I don’t see them that much. Anyone else…no. But also, no grave. Really, I sleep in a bed in my big house.”

Anne was staring at him, and he fought the impulse to loosen his tie.

“How are your panic attacks?” she asked, with much more kindness. She knew everything, obviously. He thought it was only right to let her know, since she was his partner and an attack could affect her, especially in a dangerous moment. His bosses also knew, and they had immediately sent him for therapy. Not that it had produced the desired effect. But at least he had the prescription medicine, helping him to keep his problem under control.

“They come and go. This is a very stressful period, because I always feel as if I’m on the edge of a cliff.”

“You should f**k somebody. It helps,” she said, pushing the doors open so they were finally out in the hospital corridor.

Thomas stumbled upon hearing those words, but he followed Anne outside. Anne wasn’t somebody who minced her words. Maybe she should know that the problem wasn’t a lack of s*x, and that he was f*****g enough. If she did, maybe she wouldn’t be so worried about him and his s****l life.

They walked into the lobby, past the emergency room reception desk, heading toward the parking lot. Thomas turned to the left, inexplicably drawn by something. A shadow.

And then, he saw him.

Elias. He couldn’t have mistaken him for anybody else. Not with that dark black hair falling over his face.

He was sitting on a chair in front of the reception area, and Thomas felt a strange sensation, a mix of annoying euphoria and euphoric annoyance.

Annoyance connected to the fact he wasn’t supposed to feel any euphoria. Absurdly, for a moment, he thought Elias had followed him again, even though he knew it was impossible, and he felt bothered by the convergence of his night life and daily life. Again. And this made the boy even more disquieting in his eyes.

And euphoric…more or less for the same reason. And because the memory of Elias’s soft mouth took his breath away. Because after the f**k-you at the Black Sheep, Thomas had actually thought for a moment about following him. And because he was sorry, he didn’t. But he would have never admitted it to anyone.

“Give me a moment,” he said to Anne, realizing as he moved in Elias’s direction that, for the first in a long time and despite all his conversations with himself, he was about to uncover a hidden part of himself. He was allowing his colleague to see him interacting with somebody unrelated to his work, or their cases. He didn’t know why he continued to hide his s****l life after losing Aiden. Guilt. Maybe you should suffer forever.

Thomas pushed back the thought and went to sit beside Elias, not looking at him but at the people passing in front of them.

“I should be worried. I should think you followed me, but I don’t think you did, right?” he asked, turning to look at the guy who didn’t turn to meet his gaze.

On the contrary.

Thomas watched him jump up and squeeze his fists to his knees, his head tilted down and his gaze toward the basement. A moment later, without speaking, Elias stood up and left, going out the emergency doors.

Oh, this one is good!

He was crazy! Was it possible he was still mad? No. But, what if he was? So what?

“Hey, you, where are you going?”

Thomas frowned as he saw the emergency receptionist standing up. She gave him a sad look.

“Do you know him?” she asked.

Thomas was puzzled, didn’t know what to think. “Not really, why?” he asked, having a bad feeling in his stomach. If the woman had called Elias back, it could only be for one reason. Elias was there…as a patient? Suddenly he felt like a complete asshole.

He tried to stay calm and approached the reception desk.

“What—why was he here?” he asked, showing his badge. His free pass to ask inappropriate questions. He also added a pinch of the smile that could get women talking. And men.

But the receptionist looked at him uncertainly. “Didn’t you see him? Half of his face was all bruised.”

No, he hadn’t. Elias hadn’t turned his face. s**t!

Thomas felt acid in his throat.

“Thomas?” Anne called to him from the door, frowning as he came toward her. “Is everything okay?”

No, everything wasn’t okay, but he didn’t know how to explain it.

“That guy was…I know him. His face was bruised.”

“So, why did he leave?” Anne looked down the street. Elias had walked right past her.

Shit.

“I don’t know. I think it was my fault. Listen, can I take you back to the police station? Then I’ll take a couple of hours off. I really need to find out what’s happening.”

He would think later about the consequences of that first opening of the Pandora’s Box that was his post-Aiden life. Anne nodded and went to wait for him in the car. He looked around, but there was no trace of Elias.

What the hell had he done? Had he pushed a guy in need of medical help away?

He threw his hands in the air and kicked a pebble, running his hands roughly through his hair. “s**t!” he swore, before going back in to the emergency desk. “I’m sorry,” he said to the woman at the reception desk. “That guy, Elias…”

The woman stared back at him, curious. “So, you do know him.”

“By sight. Listen, can you tell me anything else? What time did he arrive?” Again, he displayed his badge prominently.

She looked down at the paper in front of her.

“Elias Byrne, twenty-three years old, arrived ten minutes ago saying he’d had an accident and hit his face on an unidentified object.”

“Somebody brought him here?” Thomas asked, trying to control his voice.

“No. He entered alone, walking a little unsteadily. I think he wanted some painkillers. But as his face was so bad, a doctor needed to see him. He had a bruised eye and his lip was swollen, and honestly, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he also had a broken cheekbone.”

Thomas closed his fists. “They don’t seem to be typical signs of an accident.”

“No, unless it’s the typical ‘I’ve fallen down the stairs’ type of accident. It looked like some kind of domestic abuse.”

Thomas felt the bile rise in his throat again. “Did he leave his address?”