Page 48 of Doubting Hearts

Chapter Fourteen

RAIN

LUCAS AND I caught Toby as he fell. I’d come out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about and seen Lucas trying to steady him. Toby was ashen, covered in blood. Lucas didn’t look much better, being covered in wet red spatter. My heart clenched, as if being squeezed by an invisible hand.

I stared at Lucas in horror. “What the hell is going on?”

Lucas laid a firm hand on my shoulder as he helped me lower Toby to the ground. More people were filtering out into the service yard now, staff and patrons alike, but I ignored their curious looks.

“Neil Haydock is what happened,” Lucas said grimly. “That little shit bashed Toby, then stabbed him, but your little scrapper managed to turn the tables and get his own blow in.”

He sounded proud of my boyfriend bashing another man on the head, but his expression was worried.

“But I can’t rouse the other guy. I called an ambulance. I think they both need it.”

I leaned over and stroked Toby’s cheek. His skin was cold, and he was clammy and pale. I felt sheer panic. “Babe, wake up. Come on. Let me see those beautiful eyes.” He stirred slightly, and I kept encouraging him. “Toby, love, wake up.” I leaned forward and kissed him on his cold lips. I don’t know whether that was what roused him, but he sighed softly, and his eyes opened. He stared at me dazedly.

“Rain?” He tried to sit up, and I supported him as he battled upright. “The ambulance is on its way.” My voice choked up at seeing the wince of pain flash across his face and the way he struggled to move.

“He bloody stabbed me, Rain.” His face was twisted in pain. “That bastard deserved the whack I gave him.”

“Yes, he did, but just keep still. The ambulance shouldn’t be too long.”

He closed his eyes, and I pulled him back into me. I felt a surge of rage at the other man lying still unconscious on the ground. I didn’t give a fuck about him, only the man lying in my arms. Toby closed his eyes, and I jiggled his body roughly, needing to know he was still all right. His eyes snapped open with a hiss of pain. I felt like a heel.

“Stay awake, Toby,’” I cajoled him. “Talk to me. Then I know you’re okay.”

A man walked over from the car park and crouched down beside the still body of Neil. “I’m a guest here, but I’m a doctor,” he said authoritatively. “Grant Manning. Let me take a look at the stab wound.” He knelt down beside Toby. “I can hear the ambulance,” Manning said quietly. “They can’t be too far away.” He lifted Toby’s shirt, frowning when he saw the open wound that marked my boyfriend’s pale skin. There was a livid bruise staining his back.

Grant’s face darkened. “Bloody coward, stabbing somebody like this. The man that did that was on a mission, all right.” He raised his eyebrows. “Your boyfriend still managed to hit that guy even though he had this injury? He’s a tough little bastard, isn’t he?”

I nodded, feeling emotion swell in my chest. “He is that.”

“Hello, I can hear you, you know,” Toby said testily. “I’m not bloody unconscious.”

I grinned. That was the feisty man I knew and loved. That dawning emotion made me tremble, and I leaned forward and kissed his cold cheek. “I know, lover. You’re my tough man. Now lie still.”

The ambulance pulled in a few minutes later. They tended to a still- grumbling Toby, who was getting fed up with all the attention, and soon had him ready to go. He kept complaining he didn’t need to go in the ambulance and that I could drive him. The young paramedic froze his muttered curses with a fierce stare of her blue eyes and a tightening of her rather plump lips. He kept quiet and let them put him in the back.

Neil was still unconscious. Toby’s nostrils flared as the man was wheeled in next to him. A look of fear crossed his face as he sat stony- faced regarding the man. I wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that Neil was in there with him or something else. There was no room for me in the back of the ambulance, so I was going to have to follow in the car. By this time, half the hotel was in the yard, including Tammy. She was crying softly in Lucas’s arms as he tried to comfort her. I hoped she was crying for my lover and not for that worthless piece of crap who’d tried to shish kebab him. The ambulance drove off.

I looked over at Lucas and inclined my head toward the car park. “You stay here with Tammy,” I said tiredly. “I’ll go check in on Mr. Two- By-Four and let you know how he is.” Lucas nodded, and I walked over to the car park.

Tammy was trying by now to reassure the patrons that we didn’t have a mass murderer or a psychotic killer in our midst. I didn’t envy her that job. But I knew Lucas would take care of her. Half an hour later I was still pacing the hospital corridor like an expectant father as they checked Toby out. Just as I was ready to explode in agitation, I saw a white-coated man coming toward me, and I looked over in anticipation.

“You’re the gentleman that came in with him?” The doctor looked tired.

I nodded. “He’s my boyfriend. How is he?” I tensed, waiting for the

doctor to tell me I didn’t have a right to any information, that my relationship with him wasn’t recognized, and so on. It wouldn’t be the first time some officious bastard had made my life a misery like that. I was already spoiling for a fight.

The doctor sighed as he shook my hand. “I’m Dr. Fulton. He’s as well as can be expected with a stab wound and a rather nasty punch to the kidneys. We’ve stitched him up, given him some painkillers and a tetanus shot, but he’s going to need rest. He needs to go home and stay in bed.”

I huffed. Toby wouldn’t like that. He’d be chomping at the bit to get back to work. “Can I see him?”

Dr. Fulton nodded. “Of course. Follow me. He’s just being bandaged up.”

He led the way down the corridor to a set of double doors on the left. He pushed them open, and I followed him into yet another corridor. Staff and visitors alike walked quietly down them, stood talking or simply— waiting. I saw a lot of anxious faces as I walked with the doctor to a small room at the far end. Toby lay there on the bed, white faced, as a nurse bustled around his body, taping what looked like miles of bandage around his ribs. His eyes were dark, his face closed off.