The Tied Man

‘No, all things considered,’ I concurred.  ‘What I meant… Where Coyle…’ I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

The assault wasn’t as serious as it looked.  Just some superficial tearing, caused by a fingernail -’

‘Just?’  I tensed and the already terrified doctor flinched away from me as I swung a hand out to send the contents of her bag scattering over the kitchen floor.

‘That’s not what I meant,’ she began as she scooped up plastic bottles from the tiles.  ‘I just mean, it could have been so much worse if we hadn’t arrived…’

‘Fuck you.’ I managed to kick the chair in at her.  It missed, but the harsh clatter was satisfying against the silence.

Henry picked up the chair and set it by the wall.  ‘That’s enough, Finn lad,’ he soothed.  The cowardly little shit had decided to stay out of my sight until now.  ‘Ingrid, perhaps you might want to wait outside?’

As the doctor gratefully collected her bag and scuttled from the room, I pulled myself upright and leaned against the sink for support.  ‘Henry, you fucking bastard.  What did Blaine offer you, huh?  Staff discount?’

Henry’s eyes were already full of tears.  ‘I have never thought of you like that.’

‘Yeah, I bet you haven’t.’

‘She had Mother on the phone, Finn.  She was telling me about the nice young man who was there to take her out for the day, for pity’s sake!  He could have killed her there and then!’

‘I wish he had, you pathetic little shit.  I wish he’d strangled the senile old hag as she stood there and fucked her still-warm, pissing corpse whilst you were still on the line.’

‘You don’t mean that.’

‘Oh yes I do.’  I took a breath that felt like I was inhaling fire.  ‘You could have held out.  You could have played stupid and denied it all, left Blaine to ring around and maybe, just maybe, think that it was some fucking huge coincidence that Lilith was in London that night.  I know you can’t get away with shit like that forever, but for fuck’s sake we could have got Lilith off the island, instead of letting Coyle…’

‘Please don’t say it,’ Henry pleaded.

Talking hurt far more than I’d expected, but I was hitting my stride now. ‘You know what I think happened, Henry old chap?  I reckon she saw you shitting yourself the second she got back to the island and read the whole fucking story on your face before you even had to open your mouth.’

‘I thought I could do it, truly I did.  You and Lilith have this ability to keep your heads under the most appalling pressure and I hoped some of that courage had rubbed off on me, but Blaine took one look at me and I swear she just knew.’

‘So you told her everything.’

‘No, not everything.  Blaine doesn’t know where Jake is.  He’s safe…’

‘But you told her what Lilith had done.  Let her take all that.  Christ!’  I had to stop speaking to cough, and my broken rib made my chest feel like it had been wired to a car battery.  I clung on to the edge of the sink  and spat red foam onto the white enamel.

‘Please try to calm down,’ Henry begged, and placed a hand on my shoulders.  ‘This is part of my punishment, you know that, don’t you?  You and Lilith mean the world to me – that’s why she ordered me to stay and watch.  Knew that seeing the pair of you hurt would be more than I could stand.’

‘What, more than being mauled by Coyle O’Halloran, or gettin’ hoofed around the kitchen, or havin’ a couple of fingers snapped for a laugh?  More than that, Henry?  That what you’re tryin’ to tell me, little man?’

‘No!’ Henry wiped his eyes.  ‘Oh Finn, look at what they did to you – I’m so, so sorry…’ He pulled out a handkerchief and went to clean my face of blood-stained drool.  It was too much.

I grabbed his wrist before he managed to touch me.  ‘What’s this, Henry?  Fuckin’ foreplay, huh?  This your big chance to make a move?  Tell you what, you just wait a few days ‘til Coyle’s had his chance to play with me, because I tell you now, I won’t be in a state to run anywhere.  You can do what the hell you like to me, then.  But for now, you lay a finger on me and I promise you I’ll do my best to break your treacherous fuckin’ neck.’

Henry let his hand drop, defeated.  ‘I tried to warn you,’ he whispered.  ‘All those weeks ago.  Told you not to get involved…’