Why isn’t she returning my call? What if she is in danger? She is so trusting. She would go with anyone to try and get away from me without any money. I should have told her about the attack. I should have told her about Amelie. Regret slices through me … she deserves better. Amelie. What a bitch, she has turned this totally around to make Natasha think that I am in love with her. It looks as though I have been sleeping with Amelie all along. I close my eyes and put my hand over my mouth as I wait for the track to kick in. My god, please be ok, please come back to me.
Ben gasps from the other side of the room.
“What is it?” I ask.
“We have a bigger problem,” he says.
I frown. “Not possible. Natasha running off takes the cake.”
Cameron walks over to Ben and watches his screen. “Hell! Joshua get over here.”
I walk over to see what they are looking at and watch the footage that Ben is replaying. Two men walking into the hospital. One with short dark hair and an arm cast, the other a man with red dreadlocks and two black eyes entering the hospital. Horror dawns.
“How long ago was this?” I rub my hands through my hair.
Ben pushes some buttons and the tape rewinds. “Thirty minutes.”
“What! Holy shit. They have her. That’s them, two of the dudes from Friday night.”
“Calm down, you don’t know that. This could be coincidental,” Ben asserts.
Adrian runs back into the room. “Any sign?”
“It is not fucking coincidental. Call the police, Adrian,” I yell frantically
“Huh, what’s going on?”
“The guys that attacked Joshua on Friday night are in the hospital. We just saw them on the CCTV footage. Call the police,” Cameron stammers.
Adrian’s mouth drops open. “They are here now to … hurt you … Like in this hospital? Do these kinds of people do this kind of thing in a public place?” he stammers, wide-eyed.
Ben shrugs as he continues to watch the screens.
Adrian dials the police. “Hello, I would like to speak to Detective Johnston please. Hurry it’s urgent.”
“Josh, I have her,” Ben snaps.
We all run back to his screen and he hits replay. It’s a fire escape, the door bursts open and she runs out. She’s crying … actually she’s hysterical, gasping for air. She looks around frantically and runs for the road. Our eyes are all locked onto the horror opening before us. My heart sinks again. Look at her. She’s openly devastated … what have I done? She runs in front of a cab and it stops and she dives into the back seat. It slowly drives away. My head drops in shame as my heart rips in two. The only woman in the world I love is the only woman in the world that I hurt. What in the hell is wrong with me?
My computer beeps and I rush back to it. It’s an aerial shot and a red cross shows where her phone is. I quickly scribble down the address. “She’s at McDonald’s just two blocks away. Hurry.” Ben, Cameron and I run for the door.
“What will I do?” Adrian asks while still waiting on the phone.
“Wait here for the police. Keep the door locked.”
“What if the hit guys come and get me!” he shrieks.
I shake my head in disgust. “It’s hit men, not hit guys. Wimp. Keep the door locked.”
“This isn’t funny, Stanton,” he yells as I run down the hall.
I sit in the back of the bus shelter, curled in a ball in the corner chair, my legs tucked under my body. I know if Max has betrayed me and Joshua turns up, I will have no choice but to go with him. But what choice do I have? I don’t know who to trust anymore. At this point in my life if I can’t trust Max, I really have no one on my side. I feel like a vulnerable child, so lost and homesick. The tears run freely down my face as the reality hits home. My worst fear has become my reality. I know he loves her, I felt it in the barn that day. She said that he was with me out of obligation. Is that true? My mind goes back to when we started hooking up. I can’t be monogamous, so I guess it’s not fair. Why did I think he was different to other men? Why did I think I could turn the ultimate player into husband material? My mind goes over our relationship so far. I have always been the pursuer-it has always been me. I am an idiot-how did I not see this coming? I even had to bribe him with sex to be monogamous while he was in Sydney and that didn’t even work. My memory brings forth the prostitute that Abbie calls TC which is short for tunnel cunt. I sob out loud as I realise he didn’t even tell me he loved me until I told him I hadn’t slept with anyone else. Amelie is right; he is with me out of obligation and even if he’s not I am definitely not strong enough to deal with this at the moment. I need time to think. Was he really with me out of guilt? He thinks he wants me … but deep down is he really in love with her? Do they share a bond that I can’t compete with? They have common interests, and they are close friends, companions. He and I share amazing sexual chemistry, but we fight like cat and dog. I hate horses, know nothing about computers and if I am honest with myself want to stay living in Australia. We were never going to work. I just wish I had never killed my father in pursuit of the ultimate happiness. Joshua’s unobtainable love. I just need to get home and forget I ever met this destructive man. They say everything in life has a reason. What in the world could be the reason for the amount of hurt I have endured in the last two months? What have I done that is just so bad that it deserves this kind of punishment?
Max walks through the double doors and I half expect to see Joshua behind him, but he’s not. Max has stayed true to his word. I sit still as he walks over to me.
“Come on crybaby. Up,” he whispers.