Page 108 of Rat

“Thank you,” Rory whispered. “I…I needed it.”

Sebastian turned back to the sink and finished brushing his teeth.

“What’s happened since I was in solitary?”

“Pauly’s still not back on the wing. I heard you broke his nose…and suddenly there’s a lot less bandana-wearing inmates.”

“How’s Ollie been?”

“He’s eagerly waiting for your return.”

Rory scrubbed his hands over his face. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“But Green, Jack, and Teddy have been distracting him as best they can.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. He’s good at pool—the inmates have started betting on him.”

Rory sighed. “Good. And Captain?”

“He’s been asking about you too. He wanted to know what the fight was about.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. It’s up to you if you want to talk about it or not.”

“And you?”

Sebastian turned towards him. “Against my better judgement, I have been worried about you and worried about what’ll happen on Friday.”

“Friday?”

“I get out of here, and I leave you behind.”

The lock clunked, and Sebastian flicked his gaze at the door. “Come on, time for breakfast.”

Ollie gave Rory a hug, then pulled him down on a chair. “Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Rory admitted.

“That girl—”

“I don’t want to talk about her.”

It felt cruel to say and Rory’s guts twisted, but he couldn’t talk about Erica. He’d built the dam back up while he slept, and he needed it to stay intact.

“What was solitary like?”

Rory glanced at his purple and blue hands. “Not fun.”

“You launched at Pauly like a flaming tiger.”

“Really?”

The incident was all a complete blur, a carousel of colour, sound, and sensation that made no sense.

“I don’t remember too much about it.”

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