Page 109 of Toy Boy

“You should go home, too, Megan. You look exhausted.”

“I’ll be fine. I want to stay until Tania gets here. She’s on her way, apparently.”

For a moment or two we just stand there, and look at each other, but I honestly don’t know what to say anymore.

“I’ll call you,” he says, and I want to take his hand and hold it tight and tell him not to leave. But I don’t. Everyone’s emotions are all over the place right now, telling him that, it wouldn’t be fair. So instead I just nod and watch him walk down the brightly lit corridor until he’s out of sight.

“Megan?”

I spin around at the sound of Tania’s voice.

“I was in a meeting, I’ve only just heard… Where is he?”

“In there. The doctors are still with him.”

“Doctors? He gets more than one? Status really is everything around here, huh?”

She’s trying to bring subtle humour into this, but I can tell she’s terrified. Jesus. She must really care about him.

“It was an accident, Tania. He stepped out onto the road, at the crossing, without checking to see what colour the light was. It was nobody’s fault.”

“Is that what the police are saying?”

“There were dozens of witnesses.”

She looks at me, and I know I have to tell her about Xander, news travels fast around here.

“It was Xander. Who hit him.”

Her eyes widen slightly, she knows the truth about Xander, why he came here, to Beachcastle Bay, I can tell by her expression. Scott obviously told her everything.

“Xander was the one who put him here?”

“It wasn’t his fault, Tania, it was an accident.”

She crosses her arms and looks over towards Scott’s room, just as the door opens and the doctors file out. “I’ll go talk to them.”

I let her go, there isn’t much more I can do here. I should probably go back to the café, make sure everything’s okay over there, it’s not even five 0’clock yet. For some reason I thought it was later.

I start to walk away, but then I stop. I turn around. I glance at Tania talking to the doctors, and I feel a pang of something – I don’t want to admit that it’s loss, but it’s an almost empty feeling, and I quickly push it aside and start to walk away again. Scott Warren isn’t a part of my life anymore. I’m letting him go, for good this time. I’m finally letting him go.

Xander

“Okay, we are done here.” The detective takes the statement I’ve just signed and slides it into a file in front of him.

“I can go now?”

“You’re free to leave. We won’t be taking this any further, it was an accident, nothing more. We have several signed witness statements, as well as your own, along with CCTV footage. All of this is just a formality.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, and sit back in the hard, plastic chair in the small, air-conditioned interview room. “Do you know how he is?”

The detective looks up at me, and smiles. They’ve all been very friendly, considering, which has made this a whole lot easier. “He’s going to be fine. They’re keeping him in for observation, but he’ll more than likely be discharged in a matter of days.”

“I thought he had severe head injuries?”

“That’s why they’re keeping him in hospital for a little while.” He looks at me, and smiles again. “You have no reason to feel guilty. This really was just an accident. That crossing, we’ve been in talks with the council for years about moving it slightly, to a better position, it’s been a notorious hot-spot for accidents like this for as long as I can remember.” He gathers together his papers and files and pushes his chair back. I do the same, and take the outstretched hand he offers me. “Thanks for your co-operation, Xander.” He shakes my hand and opens the door, and I leave without looking back. I just want to get out of here now.

Starting the car, I take a second before I drive off. A moment to look around because I’ll miss this place. But I still shouldn’t have come. Mom wouldn’t have wanted me to do what I did, she would’ve wanted me to move on. Live my life. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do now.

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