Page 100 of Freshman

“Nate, the psycho who butchered three men, he’s on the run. They think he set up the crash. They think it was all his plan.”

“He escaped?” Alfie whispered.

“Yeah, but that’s where it gets weird. He pulled you from the car, drove you a few miles away from the crash and dumped you in the road.”

“What?”

Tia shuddered. “Who knows what he was planning on doing to you before he changed his mind. It’s got the police stumped.”

“The police?”

Tia nodded. “Yeah, they want to ask you questions, but every time they do, you shut down and say you need sleep.”

“I don’t remember seeing them.”

“Your boss has been in too. What’s his name, Riley?”

“Ryan.”

Tia nodded. “He’s got the most annoying beard ever.”

Alfie snorted, remembering how Nate had said it looked like a dirty arse crack. Tears suddenly swelled in his eyes, and he couldn’t stop his bottom lip from trembling.

“Is Ryan the guy you’ve been…”

“No.”

Tia bunched her lips and blew. “Phew.”

Alfie blinked rapidly and got his leaking eyes under control. Tia didn’t comment and didn’t try to comfort him. He knew if she did, he would cry harder, and he suspected she knew it too.

“Has anyone else visited?” he asked.

“Some old man, but I doubt he’s your lover.”

Alfie squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth.

Tia gripped his fingers carefully. “Is it the pain again?”

Alfie opened his eyes and turned to her. “No, just—I don’t… My head is just a mess.”

“Yeah, and the rest of you.” She laughed, but Alfie didn’t join in. She stopped, then pulled a guilty expression and shifted in the chair. “Sorry, too soon.”

“Wh-when will they let me go home?”

“They said hopefully in a week, but you’ve got to stay off your feet as much as you can. It’s a hairline fracture, but you’ve still got to be careful, okay?”

Alfie nodded.

The fracture to his heart felt much, much bigger.

Ten days later, Alfie swung his legs from the bed with an impatient growl. The crutches leaning against the bed clattered to the floor, and Tia wagged her finger.

“You’re going to hurt yourself more and end up back here.”

She leaned down to get the crutches and set them against the bed again.

Alfie clutched the back of his neck with a huff. “Does it really take that long to sign me out?”

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