Leticia (37 page)

***

Nancy and Tristan were waiting impatiently at the door when we arrived back home. He came to
help
Jackson move Luke into the house. I was about to walk inside when Nancy blocked my path.

“What?” I asked, a little brusquely.

“Are you sure this isn’t a trick?”

“Is what a trick?”

“It’s convenient how Luke was there
.
”

“Have you even looked at him, have you seen the state he is in, he’s been beaten, starved and god knows what else... do you think he did that to himself
?”

“All I’m saying is be careful. Someone could have heard us talking
before;
he could have known you were going down...”

“Yeah so then, in the space of a few hours, he starved himself to an almost skeletal state, beat himself up and tied himself into...”

“Ch
ill out
I’m just worried that’s all, I want you to be on your guard, nothing more and nothing less.
You
are my concern,
not
Luke.”

“I’m sorry,” I sighed
.
“This is just a lot to deal
with;
I don’t mean to snap at you.”

“I understand
,
especially since he’s an ex-lover
.
I know what it’s like to think you
’
ve lost someone, only for them to turn up again. It’s sends you on an emotional rollercoaster,
but
please
don’t let your heart rule your head.
Don’t take everything Luke will tell you as gospel truth; listen to him, remember what he says, then decide what to do next. But be prepared for the fact he may lie.
”

“I know
,
”
I nodded, attempting to walk away.

“Also...” she said, grabbing my arm. “With regards to my brother... this won’t be easy for him... you were close to Luke and now he’s here with us...”

“Oh my god Nancy this really
isn’t
the time.”

I pulled away from her and ran upstairs, Jackson was in the hallway waiting for me.

“He’s asking for you,” he said, avoiding eye contact. “Tristan will be out in a minute, we’ll leave you to it.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
N
othing, I’m fine
.
”

“
OK
, well will you ask Nancy to make him something to eat please?”

“Yes
.
”

“Jackson look, I hope...”

“He’s asking for you Leticia,” Tristan interrupted
.
“He’s slipping in and out of consciousness, so if you want to talk to him for a little while now is your chance.”

“
OK
, thanks
.
”

I kissed Jackson’s cheek before entering the room. Luke was under the duvet, his eyes closed, someone had removed his shirt; it was tossed in th
e bin. I walked over quietly,
looking at him. I could see just
how
much weight he had lost now, he was covered in bruises
and some
of them looked fresh. He had cuts and grazes all across his shoulders and down as far as
his
collarbone. It became obvious that he’d been beaten rather severely and very recent
ly
. When I got closer to him, I looked at his arms. I instantly felt sick, he was covered in needle
marks;
some of them looked infected too
.
It
reminded me of something you would see on a heroin addict.

“
Don’t
pre-judge me Leticia,” he croaked, opening his eyes. “Those aren’t self-inflicted.”

“
OK
... how are you feeling?”
I asked, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

“Very tired, drained, but... safe.”

“You
are
safe
. What happened? Why were you strapped in that bed? How long have you been there?”

“Slow down, please, I’m having problems taking everything in.”

“I’m sorry, get some rest, we can talk tomorrow.”

“Please don’t go yet, I haven’t seen you for a long time. It’s nice to be around someone who cares again.”

“I won’t leave until you fall asleep.”

“You know, I wish I’d never started all this... looking for a cure I mean. I didn’t want any of this
,
”
He said, getting upset.

“
It’s
OK
, please don’t work yourself up, you need to rest and get your strength back. I don’t like see
ing
you like this.”

“I’ll be
alright
, I have you back
,
” he smiled
.

“Luke listen, me and you... we...”

“Don’t say anything yet, I know we haven’t seen each other for a year or so, but... well let’s just... let’s talk tomorrow.”

His eyes started to close, I wanted desperately to wake him up, but that would be cruel. I turned silent until he was fully asleep, then pulled the duvet over him a little more. As I was about to leave the room, Nancy knocked and walked in. She looked over at Luke and saw him sleeping.

“I’ve made him some sandwiches,” she whispered. “But I wrapped them just in case he was asleep.”

“Thank you.”

She placed them on the bedside table, then walked out with me.

“Where’s Jackson?” I asked
.

“In his room. Leticia, listen, you may find he’ll go very quiet. Please don’t be off with him. Your ex-lover is here and Jackson feels out of place... like a fifth wheel. He knows your history with Luke and he wouldn’t be normal if this didn’t bother him.”

“He shouldn’t feel like that, I haven’t seen or spoken with Luke in nine years.”

“I know, but how would you feel
? He’
s just so scared of losing you.”

“He shouldn’t be. I’m going to speak to him, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“
OK
,
” she half smiled.

When I walked
in
Jackson’s
room I found him on his bed
.
He
turned to look at me for a brief second then took to staring at the ceiling.

“Are you
OK
?” I asked, acting like I didn't know what was wrong with him.

“I’m fine.”

I sat on the bed beside him. “Don’t tell lies, talk
to
me Jackson.”

“I’m just tired, and... shocked I think. I was expecting to either find the lab abandoned or have one hell of a fight. I didn't expect to find Luke. I have a million questions running through my head and I don’t have an answer to any.”

“That make’s two of us.”

“How is he?”

“He’s asleep.”

“
I
t will do him good
.
”

“You know, he was talking to me a little bit just then... he said, he knew he hadn’t seen me
for a year or so
...
h
e hasn’t got a clue how long he’s been there or how long I’ve been gone.
I don’t know how he’s going to react when I tell him.”

“Jesus,
you might want to ask him what year he thinks it is. You’ll know what you’re
dealing
with better then.”

“Yeah I know
,
” I sighed
.
“Right, I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“No, wait... will
you
stay with me?”

“I don’t think
it’s
a good idea tonight
,
” I said standing.

“I don’t me
an for sex Leticia, I just want
you close.”

“I can’t, not tonight. I need some time on my own.”

He didn't resp
ond he just nodded. I kissed his cheek before leaving the room.

I think I managed to get around two hours sleep. I spent most of the night tossing and turnin
g, and checking in on Luke. He’
d slept all
night
or at least what had been left of it. He’d even been asleep
while
we were driving back from Milton Keynes.
He would
feel better for it and I hoped once he started eating properly again, he would make a speedy recovery.

I looked at the clock, it was now 10a.m.
After deciding to get out of bed and get dress, I made my way downstairs. Luke, Nancy and Tristan were in the
kitchen. Luke looked better already, there was some colour in his cheeks and the dark circles that were under his eyes yesterday had faded slightly. As soon as I walked in his eyes were on me.

“Oh, good morning Leticia,” Nancy smiled. “Did you sleep at all?”

“Not much?”

“Oh dear, are you
OK
?”

“Yeah, I’m fine... where’s Jackson?”

“I don’t know, he came down about an hour ago and told me he was going for a walk.”

“On his own, with all this going on. He went berserk when I went out alone.”

“Yeah but you still did it,” Tristan commented.

“Nobody asked for your
input,
” I said
,
pulling a face at him.

“Do you want some breakfast?” Nancy asked me. “We’ve all eaten.”

“No thanks, I’m really not hungry.”

She nodded then turned silent; I turned my attention to Luke. He was nice a
nd
clean now, and Tristan had
given
him some clothes.

“Can we talk?” He asked me.

“
Yes
sure.”

“Can we take a walk?”

Nancy looked at me a little worried, but I paid no attention to her. “Yes, come on.” I told him.

We left the house and started walking into one of the open fields. I looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of Jackson, but he was nowhere in sight.

“You look really well,” Luke told me, interrupting my little search. “As beautiful as ever.”

“I don’t know what to say to that.”

“You never could accept a compliment.”

We stopped next to a fence, leaning against it.

“Luke I need to know everything that happened.”

“What... right now?”

“Yes. You have no idea what’s been going on here the last couple of months. I need to know
who’s behind it and why they’
re doing it.”

“
OK
... then can we talk about
us
?”

“Luke, there is no
us
.”

“Maybe not now but...”

“Please just tell me what happened. Start at the beginning.”

We sat down in the grass; he took a deep breath before talking.

“
I thought everything was going well at first. Both the scientists were intrigued and genuinely wanted to help. After they had a sample of your blood they got straight to work
; t
hey really believed you were ill, and they wanted to save your life. They kept me updated every step of the way
, and
I provided them with
anything they needed. Charles was a very pleasant man, he
was
always
asking
how you were, and wanted me to send you his regards. He was a family man, he spoke to his wife and children every day and kept a photograph of them all on his desk. He came over to find a miracle cure and his family
w
ere
so proud of him. Anyway, Roger was pleasant, but very intense. He would get very worked up and have to go out of the lab for a cigarette if things weren’t going the way he wanted them too. However, he also ha
d
a good laugh
with people,
and he and Charles got on very well.

“After a few week
s
though, things changed. Charles was becoming stressed, and Roger, he was hardly sleeping, he was agitated, which I just put down to lack of sleep...”

“Didn’t you let these guys have a break?” I asked.

“
Of
course I did, but they wouldn’t leave the lab. In the end they both ended up sleeping there. Roger would have a nap every now and again and fill himself with coffee and carry on working. I was getting worried about them both. I mean, Charles even stopped calling his family. When I approached them about it, they said they were
OK
, but that they thought they were close to finding the cure and they were frightened of stopping.
I believed
them;
I had no reason not to
.”