Perfect Match
Page 28
He felt the sunlight on his face outside the hospital, and stopped at the top of the steps. He closed his eyes against the strong light, and stood still for some time. Behind him was Kay, somebody he cared about more deeply than he would have imagined possible. But he would break the promise he had just made to her; he had no choice. He would not be back to see her. Wherever her life took her, whichever direction, she would be better off without him. He had known that from the beginning. He hoped she would find success, that he would next see her face in a scientific journal, or on the front of a newspaper, hailing her great breakthrough. She was beautiful and intelligent and she deserved it, she deserved success and happiness. He was hideous and would bring her only horror.
He took a deep breath and rubbed a tear away from his wretched skin. There. It was decided. He opened his eyes and slowly walked down the steps of the hospital, and out of her life.
*
Luke was waiting for him outside, parked on double yellows with his hazards flashing, standing next to the car, daring the world to tell him to move. Which, of course, it didn’t.
‘You good?’
‘Yes,’ said Solomon.
‘So,’ Luke said. ‘We going out?’
‘No,’ said Solomon.
‘What? I’m out of jail, Tiff’s out of hospital, that fucking psycho’s locked up and you’re not coming out for a drink?’
‘I just want to go home,’ said Solomon. ‘If that’s okay.’
Luke looked at Solomon, and shook his head. Tiffany peered out of the window and said, hopefully, ‘Just one?’
‘Sorry,’ said Solomon.
‘Sorry,’ said Luke, unable to keep the disdain from his voice. ‘All right. I’ll drop you off, then me and Tiff’ll get on it. And I mean, on it.’
Solomon got into the back seat of Luke’s Mercedes and they headed off.
‘Hey, Solly,’ said Luke.
‘Yes?’
‘You’re our hero, you know that?’
‘Don’t.’
‘It’s true,’ said Tiffany. ‘We love you.’
Solomon didn’t reply. He looked out of the passenger window and tried to estimate, given the market penetration of Mercedes in the UK, the current overall traffic density, and the distance (which was 2,578 metres), how many Mercedes, of any model, they would intersect with on the way back to his apartment.