Tough Love

by David Horne

  But did she have to stab someone who was actually trying to get them all help? What part of that thought it was a good idea? Jack wouldn’t be surprised if it came back that Denise had been pouring lies into Tracey’s ears before doping her up and sending her on her way. It was like she didn’t truly care about Tracey, just got her to do the dirty jobs.

  At least they had something on Denise. Jack had handed the camera from his office to Rusty, and Mark’s brother promised he would look at it as soon as he could. He wanted to be there for his brother, but Jack said he would be better off making sure Mark’s attacker was dealt with. Rusty was more tightly wound than Amber, and Jack didn’t want Rusty’s temper to let loose with children around. The older brother was out for blood.

  Join the queue, mate.

  It felt like hours before he got news, although not the news Jack really wanted. Rusty texted him to say he had looked at the footage and it was definitely Denise who had broken into his office. She had gone through all the files, throwing them around when she was done. At one point it looked like it was snowing. Then she put what Jack guessed was Lucas’ file into the shredder before putting the shredded paper into her handbag and getting onto the computer. Jack had been able to check his backup drive, and it was still okay. No one had attempted to get into it from another computer. If Denise had found out about it, she hadn’t started on it yet.

  That was something, but Jack hoped they could get hold of her first. She was not at home and wasn’t turning up anywhere. Rusty said Denise had just vanished.

  The woman was turning into more of a psychopath than Jack expected. He had always thought she was a little weird and little too obsessed with her son. She had been staunchly on his side from day one, even when Jack said the best thing she could do was step back and let Lucas deal with it on his own. She just would not let him do things of his own volition. Even when Lucas was speaking, he looked to his mother. If Jack hadn’t known their relationship, he would have thought they were husband and wife.

  That made him feel sick. Jack had seen parents obsessed with children like this before, and it still made him uncomfortable.

  It was no wonder Lucas barely knew how to behave and live like a grown man if he had spent his childhood with Denise Banfield and then the majority of his adult life in jail.

  It felt like forever when the doctor came to find them to let them know Mark was out and in his room recovering. Amber had started to cry then, with Stevie and Christy hugging her. Jack had felt the weight come off his shoulders so fast he had to sit down before he fell over. At least Mark was going to be okay. He would be in hospital for a few days and then told to rest at home, but he was alive. Jack didn’t think he would be able to cope if Mark had died and he wasn’t there.

  Amber was still in a mess, everything finally piling down on her, so when the doctor said they could go and see Mark she managed to stutter out that Jack could go and see Mark first. They would be along when she was calmer. Stevie nodded in agreement, while Christy just held on tighter to Amber. Jack’s heart ached at the sight. The two kids had lost their parents in such a horrible way and had been building up with someone new, a new father to them, and they had almost lost him as well.

  Jack wasn’t sure how he managed to get to Mark’s room when everything felt like he was walking through treacle, but he managed somehow. And the sight of Mark lying half-propped up on his bed, awake but pale, threatened to have him crying as well. To Jack, Mark was a strong person. He was more than capable of looking after himself, so to see him like this, his chest bandaged up as well as his hand, was frightening.

  Shit. He almost lost Mark when they had barely gotten started.

  Mark looked around as Jack stood frozen in the doorway, the nurse checking his vitals on the machine. He managed a slight smile in Jack’s direction.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I’m okay. It was just a flesh wound.”

  “You…” Jack stared. “Just a flesh wound? You were stabbed in the fucking chest, Mark! You could’ve been killed!”

  “But I’m fine. I’m alive. See?”

  Mark held up his hand, the one not with bandages around his fingers. Jack growled.

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better, Mark.”

  The nurse glanced between them.

  “Do you need a few minutes alone? I can do these vitals later.”

  “If you don’t mind?” Mark didn’t take his eyes off Jack. “Just a couple of minutes.”

  “All right.” The nurse headed towards the door, nodding at Jack as she passed him. “Buzz me in when you’re done.”

  She left, closing the door behind her. It was then that Jack was able to move. He didn’t know when he walked into the room and saw Mark in that state whether to kiss him or throttle him. He had to know that trying to get a knife off a crazy person was not going to go well.

  But in the few quick strides he made to the bed with Mark reaching for him, Jack went for the former, cupping Mark’s head to kiss him hard. Mark flinched and writhed away.

  “Careful! My injuries!”

  “Sorry.” Jack brushed his fingers over Mark’s shoulder, avoiding the obvious lump where the thick bundle of bandage was over the wound. “How does it feel?”

  “Burns.” Mark grimaced. “Hurt like hell at the time. I’m just glad I came around from surgery quickly.”

  “You don’t feel any after-effects?”

  “Not massively. Just a bit sluggish. That stuff wears off pretty quickly, so they had to keep on top of it while stitching me up or I would’ve been conscious. Not fun to know I could’ve been awake during surgery.” Mark pressed his hand to his wound and winced. “Fuck, I never thought it would be like that.”

  “Shit, Mark.” Jack rested his forehead against Mark’s. “I won’t lie, when Rusty called me, I was scared. I was scared you were going to die.”

  “I thought the same as well.” Mark cupped Jack’s jaw, brushing a kiss over his mouth. “But don’t worry about me, Jack.”

  “How can I not worry when you’re like this? You got a concussion yesterday and then you get stabbed today. How am I supposed to sit back and be okay with this?”

  “That came out wrong.” Mark drew back and managed a smile. “Look, I’m alive. My hand and chest are burning, but I’m awake and the doctors are optimistic that I’m going to be okay. It’s going to take more than what happened to me to knock me down.”

  Jack groaned.

  “Don’t say that, please! Or the next thing that happens to you will be more drastic.”

  “How can you get more drastic than someone stabbing me?”

  “Do you want me to go through that?”

  Mark shook his head and closed his eyes.

  “Perhaps not.”

  He didn’t look like the confident man Jack had met, known and fallen for. He looked scared. Very scared.

  Hang on, did he just say that he had fallen for Mark?

  Yes, you did.

  The knowledge of that was more grounding than Jack expected. He loved Mark, and while he didn’t appreciate finding out just as he was close to losing the guy, he was glad it had come out. At least, come out to himself. It was going to take a bit more courage to tell Mark, and now wasn’t really the time.

  You played strip monopoly last night to get him naked and into bed and you’re backing out on telling him you love him now?

  “Where’s Tracey now? Has she been dealt with?”

  “In a sense.” Jack had spoken to Rusty about it earlier. He couldn’t remember much about the last few hours, but he did remember that. “She’s been arrested for criminal damage and felony assault.”

  “Not attempted murder?”

  “You need premeditation for that.”

  Mark snorted.

  “Like hell. She went there with a knife and threatened to ruin my life. She had intent for that.”

  “I’ll speak to Rusty about it.” Jack sat on the edge of the bed, resting Mark’s injured hand in his lap and
absently stroking the back of Mark’s hand. “She went even crazier in the cells, so she’s been prepared to send off to the psych ward. Rusty thinks she had a mental break exacerbated by drugs.”

  “Drugs.” Mark closed his eyes for a second before opening them again. “I suspected she was on them when I saw her. Is it possible to have a mental breakdown due to drug abuse?”

  “Highly possible.” Jack frowned. “I thought you knew about drug use.”

  “Do I?” Mark frowned. “I think my concussion was made worse. I hit the grass pretty hard.”

  “You should’ve said something.”

  “As long as I don’t get up from this bed and walk around, I’ll be fine. This is as much as I can manage right now.” Mark swallowed. “Can I have some water? My throat’s really dry.”

  “Sure.”

  Jack reached for the jug of water on the table at the foot of Mark’s bed and poured out a glass. He held it for Mark as Mark took slow, careful sips. It was surreal to see Mark like this. Jack hoped it wasn’t a temporary thing; it was making his nerves fray. Mark could have died. He was extremely lucky that the knife hadn’t been a couple of inches closer. He put the glass down and turned back to Mark.

  “Rusty says they’re going to run a tox screen on her when she’s in hospital, but they’re confident it’s one of those drugs that can make you hallucinate pretty badly.”

  “That would be almost any of them. Tracey kept looking at me and calling me Joe.” Mark shook his head. “She must’ve thought she was somehow at Joe’s place and her head turned things around.”

  “Rusty said he would get hold of Joe to make him aware. They’re doing okay, apparently, although Joe is rather shaken.”

  It was hardly a surprise; Joe and Tracey had been married for a while and they had been great until Tracey changed in recent years. Even with the resentment and anger, it was difficult not to turn off how you cared about someone you had been with for several years. Jack understood that. He was glad no one else had been hurt.

  He just wished no one had been hurt.

  “This is such a mess.” Mark rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Joe said Tracey never took drugs with him. She was adamant about drink and drugs, said she wouldn’t allow them near the kids. Then they moved back to the area and things changed drastically.”

  “When was this?”

  “About the same time Lucas got out of jail.” Mark blinked. “You think those two things are connected?”

  “They have to be.” Jack said grimly. “Lucas was always a bad influence. Joe had been told that by Tracey many times when they lived in another state. Why she would go back to hell after leaving it and getting clean, Joe had no idea. But he thought they could foster something relatively decent.”

  Sweet summer child, Jack’s mother would call him. Hoping for the best, and it never really happened. Joe was now divorced but thankfully had custody of his children and a partner Jack was sure was going to be a permanent fixture. From what he heard, the attraction between the two men was pretty much electric from the get-go, and something like that didn’t die down so quickly. At least Lily and James were out of it now. Jack didn’t want to think what could have happened if Tracey had majority custody.

  “Let’s hope we get some answers from her once she’s come down from her high.” Mark grunted.

  “From the way she was with the neighbors and the cops, I have a feeling that might be a while.”

  “I’m going to be laid up for a while as well. I think I can handle it. Speaking of crazy people, did you find out if it was Denise Banfield who broke into your office?”

  “Yes, Rusty told me. I was on my way to take it to the cops when he called me about…” Jack cleared his throat. “He looked over it for me. It was definitely her. With the audio as well, you can hear her muttering to herself. Mostly profanities directed at me.”

  It was a shame they hadn’t gotten any fingerprints, but the hidden camera gave the cops more than enough evidence to charge Denise once they got hold of her. Jack knew Rusty was a little salty that Jack hadn’t handed the camera over at the time the cops were combing through for evidence, but Jack could claim he forgot. In a sense, he had.

  That and after the times the cops had made things difficult for him in the past, Jack decided to be awkward towards them. Childish, yes, but Jack felt like being childish at times. Rusty would have to deal with it if Jack was going to be dating Mark.

  Dating Mark. That did sound good.

  “Do you know if they’ve arrested her yet?” Mark asked.

  “No, but from what Rusty said, she wasn’t at her house and not in her usual places. Her parents don’t know where she is and haven’t heard from her since their grandson went back into jail. They tried asking Lucas, but Lucas gave them a lot of expletives and threats. Guy’s been put into isolation because he’s been picking fights with everyone and it was for his own safety.”

  “Charming.”

  “God, you have no idea.”

  Mark grunted. Then he yawned and rubbed his eyes. At least he was getting some color back into his cheeks.

  “So, where do you think we’ll start?”

  Jack stared.

  “‘We’? What’s this ‘we’? You’re going to stay in the hospital until the doctors say you can go home, and even then you’ll be in bed.”

  “What?” Mark began to sit up, flinching sharply. “Not fair!”

  “Yes, fair.” Jack pressed a hand to Mark’s good shoulder and eased him back down. “You’ve been through too much the last couple of days. It’s a wonder you’re still conscious. And you really think you’re going to do anything when you’ve got an IV inserted? I’d like to see you get that out without any help.”

  Mark looked down and his face paled even more as he was reminded that he had an IV needle inserted into the back of his hand. Jack knew Mark hated needles and would avoid them if he possibly could. There was no way he was going to get up and walk around if he had that thing in; nobody would do that until Mark didn’t need it, and Mark knew it. The fact he had bounced back to sharp consciousness so quickly was nothing short of a miracle.

  Jack didn’t want that to be undone by Mark getting up and doing something stupid.

  “Look, Mark, you need to stay in here and let the doctors look after you. It’s the best course of action for you.”

  Mark scowled. He was beginning to look like a pouting kid.

  “I hate missing out on the fun.”

  Jack snorted.

  “If you think this is fun, you hit your head harder than I thought.”

  “It’s certainly more fun than me sitting here with only a crappy TV for company.”

  “You can go without the infinite channels and YouTube for a while long.” Jack chuckled. “But I can bring in your laptop tomorrow, if you want.”

  “Please. I need something to stop me from going mad.”

  “Well, getting plenty of rest is something you should be doing. I’m sure you’re going to crash in a while.” Jack glanced towards the door. “Your mom and kids are in the waiting room. Do you want to see them?”

  “I…” Mark bit his lip. “I’m not sure I want them to see me like this.”

  “Mark, you scared them. Christy hasn’t stopped crying, and Amber’s only just breaking down. It would make them feel better knowing that you’re okay.”

  Mark looked like he wanted to argue, but he sighed and nodded.

  “Okay. I think it will make me feel better. Did they get hurt?”

  “Not at all. They were safe.” Jack leaned over and kissed him. “I’ll be around if you need me.”

  “Always.” Mark managed a smile. “That’s a given.”

  That made Jack feel better than he did when he first entered the room.

  ***

  Mark was glad he was not being prodded and poked anymore. He had been knocked out but still aware enough to feel the surgeons poking around and sewing up his wounds. That had hurt like a bitch, but Mark had been paralyzed t
o pull away. If he’d known that stuff wouldn’t actually knock him out, he would have asked for a higher dose.

  His threshold for knock-out gas seemed to be far higher than he expected.

  It hurt like hell even lying on the bed. His shoulder was burning and his lower back had also been stitched up. Mark had fallen onto some of the broken flowerpot pieces, and a shard had stabbed him in the back, narrowly missing his kidney. Mark was incredibly lucky on both counts, and he had been looked after well enough, but it didn’t make the pain go away. Morphine wasn’t cutting it. Mark could feel every single stitch they had put in. It felt like he could rip his skin if he shifted a little too much.

  Mark hated being immobile unless he was sleeping, so to lie in a hospital bed until deemed well enough to go home was going to be a nightmare for him. Mark didn’t even slow down when he had the flu, which just made him even worse. Amber had told him off many times for not focusing on his own health.

  His mother was still shaking even as she left the room, somewhat relieved that her son was alive. Stevie and Christy had run into the room in front of Amber, both of them flinging themselves onto Mark. That had hurt Mark’s shoulder and he felt like the IV was ripping out of his hand, but he couldn’t bring himself to be upset. He was just glad to see the two of them were okay. Stevie buried his head on Mark’s shoulder quietly sobbing, while Christy curled up on his lap. Amber simply kissed Mark’s head and stroked his hair, her eyes shimmering with fresh tears. It killed him to see his mother, normally such a strong woman, look so frightened.

  You didn’t go out there to get stabbed. You went to make a maniac calm down. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s Tracey Banfield.

  A woman who was going to be in a psych ward for a while, most likely detoxing. Joe had suspected that Tracey was on drugs, and she had been court-ordered to go into rehab. If Tracey had done as she was told, things might have been different now. But her mother had gotten her claws into her daughter and turned her into a person that her own children wouldn’t recognize.