by G D Parker
Tommy went outside and got into his car. Another headache enraged his mind. The pain was like there was acid flowing through his brain and the feeling grew stronger and stronger. This time he didn’t pass out, he just sat at the wheel of his car, his eyes locked straight ahead. He started the engine and slowly drove out of the car park onto the main road and headed towards the city centre.
Twenty minutes later, he parked up in an NCP right near town, got out and walked towards Queen Street.
Tommy always thought that Cardiff was a beautiful city. It felt clean and fresh with the skyline increasing year by year as developers took hold of dated buildings. The city centre was always busy with people shopping, working, grabbing a bite to eat, and just generally milling around. The weather was ice cold, and Tommy was still in his gym vest and shorts without a care in the world.
As he walked down Queen Street, he passed shops, a KFC, then arrived at a Merry-Go-Round where there were kids playing and their parents were standing at the side taking photos. Tommy walked past. To his right, there was a closed-down shop, and in the doorway were two homeless people huddled together, trying to stay warm.
‘Got any change, sir?’ one of them asked as Tommy passed, but he didn’t acknowledge them. ‘Have a good day anyway,’ said the homeless person in response to Tommy’s ignorance. The homeless were always pretty polite. They always said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and didn’t hassle passers-by too much.
On his left, about one hundred yards down the street, there was a bank, and immediately to his right was a hardware store. Tommy walked in, went up on the escalator and walked through the first floor. His movements were almost robotic, he was almost invisible by the way he moved around the floor almost silently.
At an aisle displaying garden wear, Tommy found a red beanie hat, and he put it on his head with the tags still hanging down. Then he stopped at the kitchen hardware section and examined the knives. He took an 8-inch kitchen knife, removed the security tag from the packaging and placed it down the back of his shorts. He then picked up a tea towel and kept it in his hand. He turned and walked back across the floor, went down on the escalator and back out onto Queen Street. He had been so brazen, no one had even noticed the items he had lifted.
Now Tommy was wandering around Queen Street with an 8-inch blade down the back of his shorts. He found a McDonalds, walked in and went straight into a disabled toilet. He locked the door, took out the knife and removed the packaging, putting it into the sanitary bin that was available. There was a large mirror in the wash area, and Tommy didn’t even look at himself, which was completely out of character, as he’d usually jump at any opportunity to check his abs were still there. He placed the knife into the band of the front of his shorts, pulled down his vest and exited the toilet, heading back out onto the high street.
It was about four minutes later when Tommy stopped outside the bank he had passed not so long ago. He hung around for five minutes, and then walked straight in, whilst simultaneously wrapping the tea towel around his face and tying it off at the back of his head. He walked up to a middle-aged woman, grabbed her and put the blade to her neck. The poor woman froze on the spot, feeling the cold blade pressed firmly against her skin. Tears instantly ran down her cheeks and she was shaking in fear. Another woman screamed, and a young man, who was about 20 years old, stood scared stiff to his right, his eyes frozen on Tommy and watching his movements, getting ready to run. Everyone else in the bank cowered away quickly and quietly, hoping to not become involved.
‘Nobody fcking move, or this woman will bleed out in less than a minute. You!’ Tommy gestured with his head to a young guy behind the cash desk, which had protective glazing. Tommy’s voice was unusually deep, very assertive and robotic. ‘Get as much money as you can in a bag and place it over there.’ Again, he used his head to point towards a plain wall area on route to the exit door.
The guy moved very quickly and filled two carrier bags with as much cash as possible, walked out through the secure door, placed the bags where Tommy had instructed and very quickly moved back into his safe zone. In the blink of an eye, Tommy let go of the woman, grabbed the cash and was out the door, running faster than he had ever run before. It all happened so quickly, it was like a well-planned military operation, and Tommy was in and out within a few minutes.
People in the street moved out of the way of this crazed knifeman as he sprinted around and through people, heading towards his car. There were police sirens in the background, loud and clear, but Tommy wasn’t fazed. He had no thoughts, no feelings and wasn’t even out of breath. He was like a machine storming down the street. The knife was discarded down a drain after he had wiped it with his vest. He ran across a road and under a railway bridge towards the car park.
The tea towel and hat were discarded as Tommy entered the carpark and shoved them behind one of the ticket machines. He found his car, got in and drove off normally, but still in his trance.
As he drove out of the city, police cars were going in the opposite direction, presumably looking for the knife wielding bank robber. As always when Tommy was in this strange state of consciousness, he looked ahead whilst his body drove the car. He eventually stopped at a lay-by approximately six miles out of the city, got out of the car with the bags of cash and placed them in a bush behind a bin, then casually drove off.
The next thing Tommy knew, he was laid out on his sofa, as though he had just woken from a nap. He sat up, his mouth was dry and had that horrible sticky stuff that accumulates when you’re really thirsty. His legs and arms were aching, and there was a slight burning sensation in his chest. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed himself a cold bottle of water, guzzling it down like he’d been denied water for two and a half days and was on the brink of dying of thirst.
After a nice long shower, Tommy sorted himself out with some dinner, sat on the sofa and flicked through the channels. Nothing was on that he fancied watching, so he then spent the next hour searching through Netflix - he was bored. A while later, his phone went off. It was Emily.
‘Hey, my sexy man! What time are we off out?’ She asked in a bubbly tone.
Tommy had completely forgotten they were supposed to be going out, but he just wasn’t feeling too great and was pretty tired.
‘Sorry Em, I’m not feeling it. I’m feeling a little unwell. I just need to chill out and have a night in.’ He actually couldn’t remember agreeing to going out.
‘That’s okay, hun. Not a problem.’ Emily hung up and Tommy threw down his phone, flopping back onto the sofa.
An hour later, Tommy was woken. He must have dosed off again. The front door buzzer was sounding as loud as a fog horn. He reluctantly got up and answered.
‘Hey, sexy man! It’s only me,’ said Emily, her tone was excitable.
‘Thought I said we weren’t going out?’ Tommy said, slightly confused.
‘You did, hun. You wanted a night in, so I’ve got us some nibbles!’ Emily’s tone had dropped instantly, wondering whether she had misunderstood - which she had.
‘No, I meant on my own,’ Tommy paused. ‘Come up anyway.’ He pressed the door release button, and moments later Emily walked in with a deflated look on her face.
‘Sorry hun, I got it wrong. I thought you meant a night in together... here take this.’ She handed him the bag of nibbles, kissed his cheek and went to leave.
‘Em, wait! You’re here now, and I’m glad you came over. In fact, I’m chuffed! Come in, it’s lush to see you. I’m so sorry. I’ve been sleeping most of the afternoon. I’m not quite with it.’
The frown on Emily’s forehead did a quick U-turn, followed by a large sexy smile. ‘Yay,’ she bounced, showing her age a little, but Tommy didn’t care. She was good company.
Emily then jumped and threw her arms around him then wrapped her legs around his waist, starting to kiss him passionately. She pulled away with a smile. ‘So much for not feeling well!’
They continued to kiss each other, then sud
denly Tommy pulled away. His head was starting to hurt. The pain was worse than before, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor. Emily panicked, fumbled for her phone and called 999 almost immediately.
After a few minutes, Tommy still hadn’t come round, and it took the emergency services a further twenty-five minutes to get to the apartment.
When they arrived, Tommy was conscious but very weak and unable to speak properly. His words slurred as he attempted to talk. The paramedics assessed Tommy and decided to take him to hospital, as there were concerns over a possible stroke.
He was taken to A&E at Heath hospital in Cardiff to be assessed. Due to the nature of his symptoms, he was then taken through to the PET/CT department where a CT scan of his brain was completed.
Whilst waiting for the results of the scan, Tommy and Emily stayed in the A&E department. Tommy was laying on a bed with an oxygen mask around his mouth, with Emily sitting on a chair beside him stroking his arm. He turned and talked to her through the mask.
‘You don’t have to stay with me, Em. I’ll be ok. I’m sure you have better things to be getting on with than sitting here with me?’ Tommy was looking her in the eye, and her big blue eyes returned a look of adoration.
‘Don’t be silly! I care about you more than you realise.’ She stood and kissed his forehead. ‘Plus, I need you to get better.’ She kissed him again.
‘What do you mean?’ Tommy asked, holding the mask as he spoke.
‘What I mean is, I need you in my life. I have feelings for you Tommy.’ Emily’s hand reached and grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly.
Tommy squeezed back. ‘I need you too.’
She smiled at him. Then the doctor returned with the scan results.
‘So, Tommy, everything looks as it should on your scan,’ said the doctor, ‘but I am concerned about these headaches. They shouldn’t be as bad as you are describing them. Can I ask, have you taken any drugs or alcohol over the last 48 hours?’
‘No,’ Tommy replied. ‘I do have the IPEA implant from Medi Corps.’
‘Ok, and how long ago was that?’ asked the doctor.
‘It was a while ago now. Isn’t it on my records? That wouldn’t cause this though, would it?’ Tommy became concerned about this advanced medical implant inside him.
‘I wouldn’t have thought so. However, I do want to rule it out, so you will need to be kept in overnight for further tests.’
Tommy sighed, ‘Ok, but can she stay with me?’ he asked, pointing at Emily.
‘Are you a relative?’ asked the doctor.
‘She’s my partner,’ replied Tommy before Emily had a chance to respond, and of course that put a huge smile on Emily’s face.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said the doctor. ‘You’ll be moved onto a ward shortly. Try and get some rest.’ The doctor smiled and left.
‘I don’t care what they say, I’m staying.’ Emily was sulking with her arms crossed.
‘You look so sexy when you’re angry,’ said Tommy.
‘I’m not angry, just annoyed. I want to stay... wankers!’
‘Look, you can stay at mine tonight, and I’ll be back tomorrow, ok?’ Tommy handed Emily his keys from his pocket.
‘You sure?’ she asked.
‘Of course, make yourself at home.’
Emily loved this. To her it felt like he was asking her to move in – of course, he wasn’t.
‘Yay, ok, thanks hun!’ Emily kissed him on the forehead, and they said their goodbyes.
6
Emily walked into Tommy’s apartment. The feeling was a little strange, like there was something missing. She wandered around just looking at pictures on the wall. There was one in particular of Tommy and Taylor, which angered her. She gave a sneer, a look of pure hatred, and spat at the picture, then wiped it off with her sleeve.
She opened the fridge to make herself a snack and stuck the kettle on. She sat on the sofa munching on a sandwich with the tele on in the background, then she grabbed her phone to text Tommy.
“Hey hun, just settling down keeping the place warm for you. Hope you’re ok. I miss you xxx”
As soon as Emily put her phone down, there was a knock at the door, causing her to jump. She wasn’t sure whether to answer or not, so she decided to leave it, ignoring whoever was knocking. A few seconds later, there was a knock again, this time louder with three short bursts. This caused her to feel a little frightened and somewhat uncomfortable about answering the door in someone else’s house, so she sat still and prayed the person knocking would just go away. They didn’t. This time there were four louder bangs. Emily got off the sofa, reluctantly walked to the door and peered through the spy hole.
She could see a suited man holding a bunch of flowers. His attire gave her a little relief, along with the fact that he was holding a bunch of flowers. She decided to open the door.
A well dressed, relatively handsome man stood in front of her. ‘Hi?’ Emily said, nervously.
‘Hello, home alone?’ the man asked in a deep voice.
‘At the moment, but Tommy will be back shortly. Why?’ Emily’s voice broke with nerves as she spoke.
‘I’m a friend of Tommy’s. Can I come in?’ The man gave a strange and unwelcoming smile. ‘I got you these,’ he said, holding out the bunch of flowers, pushing them towards her.
Emily took a step back. ‘Please leave or I’ll-’
‘I’m a friend,’ the man interrupted with aggression embedded within his tone. She felt a wave of fear coming from the pit of her stomach. This isn’t right.
‘I’m going to close the door now, ok?’ Emily said, but as she was closing the door, the man’s foot got in the way.
‘What are you doing?’ Emily asked, her heart pounding ten to the dozen. She felt sweat beading on her forehead and her mouth became dry. ‘Stop it, you’re scaring me, please!’ She pushed against the door, but he forced it open and pushed his way in.
Emily screamed, ‘Fuck off, leave me alone!’ then ran through the apartment into the kitchen and grabbed the first thing she could find that could cause significant damage - a large glass bowl.
The man followed her into the kitchen, still holding the flowers in his hand. ‘What are you running for? I just want to talk to you!’
‘Please just go, you shouldn’t be in here!’ Tears wet Emily’s pretty cheeks. She was terrified that the man had forced his way into the apartment. ‘I’ll phone the police!’ Then the realisation that she had left her phone on the sofa hit her.
‘Why would you call the police?’ asked the man. ‘I just need to talk to you.’ His voice was calm but creepy, and Emily still felt threatened. ‘You’re so hot!’ The man took a step closer.
‘Don’t come any closer! I’ll throw this in your fucking face!’ Emily held the glass bowl above her head ready to hurl it at the man. Her eyes were black with fear, but she tried to hide it with aggression. Her breathing came in short bursts, causing her to feel breathless and the tips of her fingers tingled.
The man then retreated, leaving the apartment. Emily watched him walk out of the kitchen. He was casual, calm and slow. She waited for the sound of the door closing, and when she heard it shut, she let out a sigh of relief. She put the bowl down and went to the front door to ensure it was locked, putting the chain across and securing the door further. She turned, placed her back against the door and slid down onto her bum, her whole body shaking, what did he want?
Tommy was sound asleep in the hospital bed but awoke with a sudden start. Something wasn’t right. He had a gut feeling, wrenching and turning in his stomach. It felt as though his stomach was full of flies trying to bite their way out. He couldn’t shake this feeling. It was intense, like a fire burning through fuel. There was a sense of fear for Emily. She was in danger or was going to be in some sort of trouble. It was as though there was a force pressing him to get home. He tried to shake it off and think nothing of it, but relaxation was driven away with the intensity of the feeling, which kept growing stronger insi
de him. He decided he had to leave the hospital, and he pressed the button to get the nurse’s attention.
After waiting for a considerable amount of time, and with no appearance from the nurse, Tommy slowly took the IV line from his hand. There was a little pain along with warm blood tricking like a tap from the vein. He pressed on it hard to stop the bleeding, which didn’t take long, and then grabbed some medical tape from the side. As he was leaving, the ward nurse stopped him, quizzing him about what he was doing.
‘I’ve got to go, it’s urgent. I can’t stay here!’ Tommy tried to pass, but she blocked his way.
‘Tommy, you need to go back to your bed.’ The nurse was somewhat insistent.
‘No!’ he paused and looked her in the eye. ‘I don’t have to do anything!’ Tommy appeared angry with a deep, persistent look in his eyes, so the nurse stepped to one side to allow him to pass.
He had no car and no money on him, just his feet to get him home. There were about seven miles between himself and Emily. He started off with a light jog, which quickly turned into a run with an intensifying feeling of dread.
It was cold. Tommy was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but he didn’t let the cold bother him. He just held his focus on getting home to make sure Emily was okay. His wandering mind generated all kinds of scenarios. He tried to dismiss each one, but all they did was fuel him to get home.
Four miles on, Tommy began to tire. He dug deep and pushed himself. He pushed through the pain in his legs. The cold air didn’t help, as his chest burned. The streets were empty with the odd car driving by. Some of the drivers glanced at Tommy, probably wondering what the fuck he was doing running at two in the morning in shorts and t-shirt at this time of year.
After 30 minutes, Tommy was almost home. He had a mile left, and he upped his pace to a sprint. Tears rolled down his cheeks from the cold air stinging his eyes. His chest was on fire and he felt as though he had needles shooting through his shins. He continued to focus, pushing and pushing, driven on by determination.