she came back. “Your brother is here. Do you want to see him?”
“Yes.”
Tay wheeled himself in and it took every ounce of Ink’s self-control to hold himself together.
Tay came up close to the bed. “What was that about? I didn’t think they were going to let me see you.”
“One of the press got in. Pull the curtain across.”
Tay pulled it into place and Ink swung his feet over the side of the bed.
“What are you doing?” Tay stared at him in bewilderment.
“Leaving.” Ink dropped his feet to the floor and reached for the net bag. There was a copy of the Metro in there, Ink was on the cover, wielding the crutch, and he gulped.
“They can’t seriously be letting you out yet,” Tay said.
Ink pulled the T-shirt over his head and bit back the gasp of pain that threatened to spill from his lips. After he’d put on the boxers and jeans, he had to rest on the bed to pull himself together.
“Ink, you’re not fit to be discharged. What are they thinking?”
“I need to leave. I need you to push me out of here in the chair. You got that bandage, right? We need to go to a bathroom and wrap it around my face.”
“Why are—?”
“Please just do as I say and I’ll explain everything later.”
Tay had brought a pair of his trainers for Ink to wear, but he had to help him put them on. Ink stood up, saw stars for a brief moment, and took a deep breath. He was too wobbly to walk far. He took the plastic bag holding his belongings from the cupboard next to the bed, tried not to look at the blood stains, and pushed it into the netting at the back of the chair.
“Now we need to swap places. Whatever they say to you on the way out, keep quiet and let me handle it, okay?”
Tay sighed, but moved behind the chair. Ink sat in it.
They got as far as the nurses’ station before they were stopped.
“You’ve not been discharged,” said the same nurse.
“I’m discharging myself.”
“Against medical advice?”
“Get me out of here,” Ink said to Tay.
“You need to sign—” the nurse said.
“No, I don’t need to sign anything.”
“Let me at least get your antibiotics.”
“Ink,” Tay whispered. “Wait for those. Please.”
“Okay,” Ink muttered.
The nurse lowered her head and spoke quietly in Ink’s ear. “Does your leaving have anything to do with the man earlier?”
“Yes. He’s with the press. I told him to come back tomorrow because I knew I wouldn’t be here.”
“We can stop him coming in.”
Ink just raised his eyebrows and the nurse sighed.
They had to wait thirty minutes for the medicine, but the nurse had also given him stuff to dress the wound, Steri-Strips and codeine tablets. Ink nearly handed the latter back, but didn’t.
“I wish you wouldn’t leave yet,” she said.
“Thank you for all your help.” Ink smiled at her.
He was still slightly amazed when he and Tay were in the corridor, heading away from the ward.
“Disabled toilet over there,” Ink said.
Tay wheeled him inside and locked the door.
“Make me into the invisible man,” Ink whispered. “I don’t want to be seen leaving this hospital.”
Tay took the bandage from his pocket, but hesitated. “Really?”
“I know you have a lot of questions, but please help me. I’ll explain, I promise.”
Tay began to wrap the bandage from the top of Ink’s head, under his chin and back up again. When he’d finished, just Ink’s eyes, the tip of his nose and his mouth were uncovered.
As Ink had hoped, no one paid them any attention as they made their way to the ground floor. But he was shocked to see Carter by the entrance, talking on his phone. Ink didn’t look his way and hoped…
Once Tay had wheeled him past without Carter reacting, Ink’s heart thudded less painfully.
“Are you all right?” Tay asked.
“Yes. And no. Can you push me a little further away from here, then call a cab or an Uber to take us to the bottom of your road? Not to the door.”
“For fu… Okay.”
There was a frustrated snap to Tay’s voice and Ink swallowed hard. Everything was about to be ruined. Ink had to tell him the truth now before he found out some other way. Once Carter discovered he was no longer in the hospital, what would he do? Was there any way he could find out about Tay? Ink couldn’t risk not telling Tay everything. He already knew the cost. He’d known it from the start. No