Page 32 of Troy

“I can’t believe it’s gotten so late, I’m sorry, bro. We should have invited him here; I can’t wait to meet him properly. Under better circumstances, this time.” Corrigan leans back in his chair, stretching his legs—well, one leg; the artificial one follows suit and, with pants on, you can’t even tell.

Grabbing my phone and I dial Troy’s number. It doesn’t connect, going straight to voicemail, instead. I leave him a message. “He must have let the battery die, he does it all the time.”

“You know him so well already, Raff. I’m stoked for you.” Corrigan smiles at me.

“I do, we clicked straight away, like we were supposed to be together.” We stand up and make our way to the door as I try to call Troy again.

At reception, Corrigan returns the key, and the receptionist informs me the valet will bring the car around. Confused, I turn my gaze to my brother whose frown mimics mine.

“Why didn’t Troy drive home? How did he get home without the car?” Stalking out the front entrance, I look around for the valet, Corrigan’s mouth dropping open when he sees the car.

“Wow, you think you can give me a ride home?”

“Sure, let me speak to the valet and we can go.” When the young man gets out he smiles and hands me the key. “Do you know how and when Mr. Ballantyne left?”

“He left with an older man, they went off in a town car. To be honest, he didn’t look very happy about it. But he got in.”

“What man? Do you know who he was? What time was this?” I ask, mystified as to why he would go off with someone while waiting for me.

“What’s up?” Corrigan asks.

“He left with a man,” I turn to the valet again, “what time was it?”

“About two hours ago; I’m sure the security cameras will show who it was.” The poor guy looks terrified.

My phone rings, breaking the silence that has descended. Pulling it out of my pocket, hoping to see Troy’s face come up, the screen shows an unknown number. Usually, I ignore those, but, with the strange crap going on, I answer.

“Mr. McMahon?” A woman enquires.

“Speaking.” I bark.

“Mr. McMahon, I’m Doctor Cassidy at Cedar Green Hospital. I’ve been advised to call you regarding Mr. Ballantyne.”

“What’s happened? What’s going on?” My voice trembles, I’m not sure what the fuck is happening. “Has he been in an accident?”

“Mr. McMahon, can you please come to the hospital? There will be someone waiting for you at the ER entrance. Come quickly.”

“I’m on my way.” Punching the end button, I terminate the call. “We have to get to the hospital, something has happened to Troy. I need to call Nico.”

I jump into the car, Corrigan next to me. “Which hospital? There’s like four listed here.” He tries to bring up the directions on his cell.

“Cedar something, I don’t remember.” Pulling away from the hotel, I leave the confounded valet.

“Okay, Cedar Green, I’ve got it.” Corrigan ups the volume and we follow the directions.

The Ferrari roars up the long, grass-banked driveway to the hospital. Braking heavily, I screech to a halt at the entrance to the ER rooms and, leaving the engine running, I bolt out and race through the open doors, scanning for a nurse or doctor.

The sight before me catches me by surprise; Ben talks, visibly shaken, with two police officers. A petite, dark haired woman, wearing a white coat, walks up to me, the name Dr. Evelyn Cassidy visible on her lapel. “Mr. McMahon?” She holds out her hand.

“What’s going on? Please, tell me what the hell is going on? Ben? What’s going on?!” My hands bury in my hair, tugging at the tie to loosen the knot.

Hearing voices behind me, I cast a glance over my shoulder and see my brother walking in with Nico and Ryan. Trepidation etches Nico’s face. I return to the doctor, “They are with me, so, please, start talking.”

“Let’s go through and I can explain what has happened.” Leading the way to a vacated cubicle, she continues, “Mr. Ballantyne was found unconscious by the downtown warehouses. He has been badly beaten with what looks like a belt, as well as receiving kicks and punches. He is having X-rays and a CT scan but is still unconscious. The paramedic had to sedate him as he started to come around and panicked; he was at risk of damaging himself further. He seems to have sustained a head trauma. We are checking for internal damage: he suffered a collapsed lung which was treated in the ambulance, there may be need for further surgery. He appears to have some broken bones but they haven’t been confirmed yet.” Her hand touches my arm, “Mr. McMahon, he’s seriously injured and is going to take a long time to recover, but I have every reason to believe that he will make a full recovery.” Her eyes flick over my shoulder.

“A belt? He was beaten with a belt?” My heart constricts and Corrigan squeezes my shoulder as my mind screams at me. “When can I see him? I don’t understand what the hell is going on.” I turn to follow her eyes and the two police officers approach us, grim expressions on their faces

“What happened?” I peer at Ben. “Why are you here, Ben?”

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