Page 45 of He's the One

The sound of a siren filled the air and Theo jumped back into his vehicle and flashed the lights.

“They’re here,” he said into the phone.

When he saw the ambulance turn off the track and head towards him, he dropped down next to Col.

“He’s stopped fitting but he’s still unconscious.”

“I’ll leave you in the hands of the paramedics. Bye, Theo. I hope all is well with your friend.”

“Thank you.”

Theo found the next few minutes overwhelming. Questions were being fired at him and he had hardly any answers. The police turned up too asking the same questions and a lot more besides, and it was all he could do not to curl up in a ball. He knew nothing more about Robert than his name, nothing about his wife, nor did he know Col’s surname or where he lived. Theo managed not to blurt out that tonight was supposed to be their first date and if Col was pissed off about not being told who Theo was it might be their last. He stood hugging himself as everyone did what he couldn’t and worked to help Col, who was still unconscious.

“Can I go with him?” Theo asked as the ambulance doors were being closed.

“I’m sorry, no.”

Theo was disappointed, but for all they knew, he was the one who’d done this to Col and had made up the story about Robert and his wife. He wasn’t even a witness, he was merely repeating what Col had told him. The policewoman took a statement from him, gave him her business card and told him they’d be in touch. As the vehicles pulled away and left him alone in the dark, Theo’s eyes filled with tears.Please let Col be all right.

His phone rang and he clenched his teeth when he saw it was his mother.

“Yes?”

“You had better have a very good excuse for being so late, Theodore.”

The irony was that for once he did have a very good excuse, except he wished to hell he didn’t.

“We can’t wait any longer for dinner. Where are you?”

“I’m on the lawn. I—”

“Then get here quickly.”

She ended the call before he could say anything else. Theo looked down at his stained shirt, the blood on his hands. Was this the moment to take his stand?

He drove up to the house, parked in front of the doors and ran up the steps. Everyone was in the process of making their way from the drawing room to the dining room, and there were several gasps of shock as he burst into the hall.

“What on earth…” His mother stepped towards him.

“Is that blood?” his father asked. “Are you all right? What’s happened, Theo?

“It’s not my blood. I apologise for my appearance and my tardiness.” He didn’t see any point in telling them he’d never intended to come for dinner. It would be good to have the moral high ground for once. “I thought you might have heard the siren. Someone was attacked in front of the hall when he went to collect his car. I called the emergency services. I need to change and head for the hospital.”

“Do you know the person who’s been attacked?” his father asked.

How brave am I?

“He’s my…friend.”

Not that brave then.The word boyfriend had stuck in his throat.

“I’ll get Miller to drive you,” his father said.

“I can drive. But thank you.”

His father patted Theo’s shoulder. “Be careful.”

Theo washed his hands and grabbed a clean shirt before he drove to the hospital. He’d kept on his blood-stained shirt in the hopes of someone taking pity on him, but still had to do a lot of persuading at reception before he was told where Col was being treated. Because he wasn’t a relative, he wasn’t entitled to any information about how Col was doing, and the man warned him that he might not be able to see Col anyway. The one thing Theo held on to was that Col wasn’t dead. Before he went upstairs, he changed his shirt and cleaned himself up in the bathroom. The bloody one went in the bin.

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