05 June 2015

Hope & Glory

Chapter Two

Brunette


The brunette was a pain in his backside for sure.  He saved her arse and she barely acknowledged his good deed, not that he was expecting a medal or anything, but come on.  He could have been hit by that frickin' truck but did she seem to give a shit?  Not really.  Why it bothered him so much, he didn't know.  He should have seen the tell tale signs that she was going to faint, thankfully he had good reflexes to catch her before she did further damage and cracked her skull on the pavement.  He hoisted her in his arms and flagged a taxi. Laying her gently on the back seat and retrieving her bag from the pavement, they made their way to the hospital.  He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and texted to cancel his appointment with the suppliers.  Fuck!  It had taken him months to get an appointment with them and it was all shit, he hoped to reschedule but right this very moment he had to get this matter sorted.  He looked at the brunette sprawled in front of him.  Her brown hair was matted against her face, it was a bloody hot day.  He leaned forward and moved the hair away from her face and was struck by how angelic she looked.  He hadn't expected it.  When he'd seen her cross the road into oncoming traffic,  he was coming out of his apartment and it was like everything had gone in slow mo.  

He'd raced across the goddamn road like he was the fuckin' Flash and was hoping he'd get to her in time.  Thinking about it now, he'd watched her close her eyes and the alarm bells were going off.  What the fuck? Who wanted to end up like moosh on the road?  She did, obviously.  He looked at her, her complexion pale and noticed the dark circles smudged under her eyes.  Reminding him of when he used to sport a few of those back at school.  Something just didn't sit right.  He delved into her handbag and retrieved her phone, thankful there wasn't a pass code to access it and stowed that away for later.  

The taxi driver heralded their arrival at the hospital and he paid the fair and hoisted her in his arms once again and strode in and immediately he put her on the gurney that miraculously appeared out of no where and she was being moved from out of his sight.  The nurse was barrelling a bunch of questions his way,  most of it he shrugged. 
     "She almost got hit by a truck," he offered, "And then she collapsed right after.  I don't know her name."
     "Are you her boyfriend?" the nurse asked, as if the fact he was a man and had brought her in clarified that. 
      "Like I said, I was just there.  I have her phone, I can give her family, friends or whatever a call." 
The nurse nodded and disappeared.  He hung back for a while and then went out to make a call. 

Irish scrolled through the brunette's log to find 'Prick of a Boyfriend' all down her list.  She had a sense of humour at least.  He dialled and waited.  The phone rang and rang and he was ready to hang up when a man's voice appeared on the other end.  
    "Hope, let me tell you straight from my heart, I never wanted you to find out this way, it was never my intention... Hope, you there?" 
     "This isn't Hope," Irish said into the phone. 
     "Who is this?" Tony asked. 
     "That's none of your business... you don't get to ask the questions here.  Who is this?" Irish asked. 
     "Her boyfriend, what's happened?  Where's Hope?" 
     "She's in the hospital, she almost got hit by a lorry and then she collapsed," Irish stated.
     "Which hospital are you in? Shit. God, I've got to call work and tell them I won't be able to make it in," Tony rambled down the phone.  
     "UCL," Irish replied and the line went dead.  

Irish went to wait in doors.  He replied to emails and told his business partner he would be late in and would explain later.  Half an hour or so later,  a man rushed in and headed straight to reception. 
     "My girlfriend was brought in, her name is Hope Chambers.   Where is she?" the man gasped.  
     Irish held back, taking into account the way he dressed.  Tweed or Cord trousers in an insane maroon colour and a blazer.  His hair was cut like he studied English Literature in some badly lit library in God knew where.  Not what he was expecting at all,  it was worse.  He stood up to make his way over to Tony and then he legged it to the examination room without care or feeling.  Irish followed slowly behind.  He gave Tony credit for being fast but 'stupid', he'd have to see. 

     "Get away from me!  I don't want anything from you... don't even touch me!" she screamed and Irish rushed to where he heard her yell.  As he approached, so did the doctor and before he could ask, the doctor beat him to it. 
      "What's going on?" 


04 June 2015

Hope & Glory

Chapter One

Shock

Hope willed herself to hold back the tears.  She was tired of crying, her eyes feeling sore and dry and her head ached from little to no sleep.  She walked slowly out of the tube station, her heart racing a million miles per hour.  How was she going to cope today?  She wanted to curl up and die, that's how bad it was.  She looked straight ahead of her, the busy junction she had to bypass to get to the other side where her job as an administrator was located.  All she saw was that incident.  It played over and over in her mind, scarring her.  She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream and above all she wanted to beg him to choose her.  How could he?  Saturday had been the shock of a lifetime and Sunday was made worse knowing her relationship and her life with the man she thought she would marry and spend the rest of her life with,  was well and truly ca put.  She rubbed her forehead and winced.  She just noticed the sun was out and it was warm, even though she felt cold and empty.  Hope had slept passed the alarm this morning,  she'd forgotten her oyster card and had to buy a paper ticket and that was the first of many problems.  And she didn't want to even contemplate the rest.   At this point, it was all still a shock.   She wanted to at least make it through the day and go home and try to make some semblance of her shattered existence.  

Hope's first mistake was stepping onto the road.  She felt like a zombie or was it a puppet.  She was being strung along and had been for however long it had been for an affair to take place.   Oblivious to the oncoming traffic and the sounds of horns honking.  Her feet carried herself across the junction and as she reached the middle of the street to look up, she froze - on the spot.  The horror of the driver's face was clear to see because the lorry he was driving was coming towards her, she prepared for impact.  Hoping it would end her misery.  She closed her eyes, expecting this.  Gearing for pain,  she felt the air leave her lungs as she hit the curb of the pavement with a thud instead.
     "Have you got a fucking death wish or something?" an Irish accent filled her senses. 
She opened her eyes to see a pair of brown eyes staring right back at her.
     "You could have fucking died?  What's the matter with you?  Didn't you hear them horns?"  He stared at her, the glare of hatred emanating from his eyes.  
Hope tried to sit up but she winced, her side was throbbing from the impact of hitting the pavement or the guy lying on top of her.  She pushed him off her and that mere movement made her side burn.
     "What's the matter, ain't you got a tongue?" he said, now on his knees.
Hope retrieved her things, scattered on the pavement around her.  Her manager was going to kill her for being late, she didn't even want to know what the time was.  At this rate, if she made it into work at all, she was going to suffer the wrath of her manager, that was for sure.  She wanted a new job, she just didn't fit in at work.  At this rate, she was ready to move country if she could.   Knowing that Tony had slept with her best friend in their bed, had tainted everything she held sacred.  She no longer wanted to stay there...

     "I'm talking to you," Irish said, "Are you paying attention?  Are you on drugs or something?" 
     Hope got up slowly, not considering answering his questions and limped towards work. 
     "Are you a bleedin' idiot or something?" Irish exclaimed, as he grabbed a hold of Hope's arm and spun her around to face him, "I don't like to talk to someones back, especially as I saved your arse from a collision!"
     Hope looked at his bare arm, it was muscular with a dusting of hair and his rolled up sleeves and the expression of annoyance written all over his face.  Was it annoyance or just plain anger, she couldn't decipher but she didn't have the energy.
     He shrugged her, shaking her like a rag doll.  The motion rattling her insides and causing commotion in her head.  She tried to open her eyes but everything suddenly became hazy and did she see stars?  The numbness in her fingers felt like she'd been sitting on them, a pins 'n' needles sensation spreading from her fingers shooting down her arms and then she saw black.