Page 107 of Hearts of Stone

“He’s in intensive care?” I nodded and he pointed along a corridor. “This way.”

And suddenly it was all so much easier, and I walked past familiar wards, familiar doors. Even so, I felt a growing sense of trepidation, of anxiousness, with every step as we got closer. That was reinforced when I reached Daniel’s room and I found no one there. I looked around wildly, going back out into the hall, then into his room, checking the chairs, the little side table, but I didn’t find a note, my phone, anything but some outdated magazines. Then, as I was frantically searching, I heard the machine that recorded Daniel’s heartbeat start to pick up.

I turned around slowly to find Adam standing in front of the glass, staring at Daniel’s prone form with a sorrowful expression. That was natural, right? Could anyone look at the wreckage his abuser had inflicted upon him and feel otherwise? But as Adam stared, Daniel started to move. Only a tiny little twitch at first, then with much more emphasis, his body moving restlessly against the sheets. His hand raised up and knocked at the drip in his arm, which had me racing to the end of his bed.

“Nurse…” I called out in a shaky voice, as Daniel’s nails started raking up and down his arms, leaving red welts behind.Then he started to scratch frantically at the tape holding his drip in. “Nurse!”

“He’s coming out of his coma,” Adam said in an urgent voice. “We need to get a nurse, now.”

I ran over to the wall to the emergency call button that the nurse had shown us when we’d first come up to the ICU. I slammed my hand down on it, but when a nurse didn’t instantly appear, I ran out into the corridor to find one. I knew I wasn’t reasonable to expect instant care, but Daniel was hurting and he had no one to advocate for him except for me.

“Please,” I said as a nurse came running down from the nurse’s station. “He’s waking up and trying to pull his drip out.”

“Just let us do our job,” she said briskly but not unkindly. “I’m going to need everyone out of the room, now.”

I went over and stood near the doorway, trying to keep out of the way as other nurses rushed in, and the first nurse gave Adam the same request to get out of the room.

As he walked out into the hall, Adam’s eyes blazed bright blue and small red spots had formed in his cheeks, but my attention went past him to what was happening in the room. Daniel was sitting right up in bed, his bruised eyes barely able to open a crack. He was making some kind of noise deep in his chest, the words utterly muffled by the tube, which resulted in him coughing frantically, his hands going to his throat. All I could do was stand there and watch as a nurse pulled out a syringe and a vial before measuring off a dose of something, then injecting it into Daniel’s arm. He fell back against the bed like he was dead and I shivered.

“We’ve given your friend a sedative to keep him quiet until he’s out of the woods,” one of the nurses said, stepping into the doorway and blocking my view. “He needs to rest. Go home, take a shower, get something to eat and grab some sleep yourself.This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, and you burning the candle at both ends won’t help Daniel.”

I was being dismissed. What she said made sense because I couldn’t do anything to help him get better, or protect him from harm, because this was as safe a place as any. Safer than he was when he was out. I nodded sharply, then forced myself to smile.

“Jade!” A voice came from down the hall. God, was I sick of hearing my damn name. When I looked over, Mellors and Harry were approaching. “We went looking for you. You were gone for a while and…”

“Can we go home?” I sounded like a little girl right now. “Please?”

“Of course, love, but…” Harry looked past me to the now-closed door of Daniel’s room.

“We can’t help Daniel at the moment, only the hospital staff can. But there are some things I think could help put an end to all of this.”

“Really?” Mellors’ eyebrow slid upwards. “Consider my interest piqued.”

Chapter 59

Jade

“A private security guard is a good idea,” Mellors said as we arrived back at the house. A storm was brewing and dark clouds roiled above our heads. And that seemed apt. They made everything look darker and lighter, all at the same time, and the clouds were the colours of Daniel’s bruises. “I know some reputable firms—”

“Iknow some boys who’d be real helpful,” Harry broke in. He was driving, his eyebrows drawn down in a ferocious scowl the entire way from the hospital. “Not exactly the legitimate kind but—”

“That is not going to help Daniel at all,” Mellors said in a crisp voice.

“And how do you know that?” Harry shot him a look in the rear vision mirror. “This Big bloke, he’s rich, powerful and just as likely as not to fob the situation off with the help of his lawyers. What’s the rate of successful domestic violence convictions?”

Mellors’ lips thinned. “About ten percent.”

“And for violence perpetrated against gay men?”

The lawyer shook his head slowly. “Far less, but…” Turning to where I sat beside him in the back seat, Mellors appealed to me. “Let me pursue this through the appropriate channels. I may be able to find out—”

“You can both follow up on security.” My voice sounded so damn flat. “By whatever means necessary. I want whoever did this to be brought to justice.” I eyed Mellors. “So, consider this a race against the clock. If we find out who did it first…” Harry’s laugh was dark and utterly mirthless. “...then we’ll deal with it our way. If you find Big first…”

Mellors let out a noisy sigh, then nodded as we drove up the driveway.

“You should stay here, Jade,” he said as Harry parked the car. “The house wards will protect you and it’s already late afternoon.” His eyes flicked up to the roof. “When the sun goes down, then the gargoyles can step in. We’ll go out and see what we can find.”

“And one way or the other, we’ll bring that prick, Big, to justice,” Harry promised.

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