The Tied Man

*****

I came to on the snow-covered lawn, flailing and gasping for breath like a landed fish. An oxygen mask covered my mouth and nose, and the smoke-laden air was filled with noise.  Wailing sirens on the far shore competed with the heavy thrum of helicopter blades, ambulance crew and police ran and yelled, and above it all I could still hear Coyle’s high squeal; some eejit had obviously decided to drag his sorry arse out of the flames, but there was nothing I could do about him now.

Nat knelt at my side as a nervous young paramedic began to examine the gash to my cheek.  By his expression, I guessed I looked like I’d been exhumed, and I could feel his hands trembling through his latex gloves.  Apparently it was work experience week in the emergency services. ‘Um,’ he faltered, ‘I can tape this for now, but it’ll need stitching once we get to -’

I swiped the mask away.  ‘No.  Not ‘til I’ve seen Lili.  Where the hell is she?’

‘Just across the way there, see?’ Nat said.  ‘She’s in good hands.  There’s a doctor working on her now.  Ed and Gabe are over there as well, so they’ll keep an eye on things – you seriously need to get patched up a little before you fly.’

I had just grudgingly consented to getting my face stuck back together when Gabriel came sprinting over to us.  He looked terrified.

I shoved the paramedic away, and he toppled backwards. ‘What the fuck’s happening?’

‘Don’t know.’  Gabriel looked terrified.  ‘They’re saying she’s struggling.  The smoke, her asthma…’

‘Got to see her.’  I attempted to get to my feet and the paramedic put a hand on my shoulder to keep me still.  I would have decked him if it wasn’t for Nat catching my fist before it made contact with the young guy’s chin.

In my defence, I was blindly lashing out in all directions by the time Ed came over; it was just unfortunate that he was the first person I managed to hit.  He landed flat on his back in a snowdrift and I realised I was about to get arrested for lamping the only decent police officer I’d ever met.  From behind me, I heard Nat give a whispered, ‘Oh fuck.’

Ed stood up and calmly swept the snow from his trousers and jacket, then simply wrapped his massive arms around me.  I had one last go at landing him one before I came to my senses and all the fight went from me; for an old fella he still had some strength, and I wondered if he was going to cart me off or just crush me to death.

‘Right, son.  This has to stop now,’ Ed said.  ‘I know you’re scared, and God knows you’ve got every right to be a bit pissed off, but they’re talking about sedating you before you rip someone’s head clean off.  That means they’ll whack a needle into anywhere they can find and that’ll be you cabbaged until an week next Tuesday, and that’s not going to help Lilith, is it?  She needs you now, Finn.  She needs you to be there for her.’

‘What if… Jesus, Ed, I mean what if…’  I couldn’t even say the words.

‘She’s going to be okay.’

Adrenaline began to drain away, and I hurt everywhere.  ‘D’you promise?’

Ed looked down at me.  ‘I promise.’

Chapter Thirty Four

Lilith

It was time to wake up.  I’d begun the long, slow climb out of oblivion hours before, but that certainly didn’t count as wakefulness, just a collection of sounds and sensations that reassured me I was still in existence.  The hours were measured by the blood-pressure cuff on my right arm automatically inflating and deflating; by the pouch of saline emptying itself into the back of my hand, drop by steady drop; by some gentle, sweet-voiced nurse checking the display that would tell her my heart was continuing to beat.  I had a concrete slab on my chest that I had to lift with my ribs whenever I wanted to take a breath, and I couldn’t even manage that simple job without the oxygen flowing into my lungs from a nasal cannula, but I was most definitely alive, which meant that Blaine and Coyle had lost, and Finn and I had won.  So now it was time to open my eyes.

Finn sat by my bed.  His face looked as though it had been dragged along a cheese grater, and I guessed he hadn’t slept since he’d got to the hospital, but I’d never seen him so happy, or so relieved. Or so beautiful.  ‘Hi there,’ he smiled.

‘Hi.  You look like shit.’ My voice was nothing more than a croak; I supposed I’d still been intubated not so long before.

‘Yeah? Well you look fantastic.  That whole, ‘Tubes stuck up your nose’ vibe really works for you.’