PR150N

Chapter 7

"You can't go in there." A stern voice shouted at someone else and woke me up. I desperately tried to keep my eyes closed in the hope I could fall asleep again, but the exchange of words that seemed to be happening very close to me was stopping any chance of that. I slowly opened my eyes, my vision blurry as I tried to work out where I was. It was very bright and I could tell instantly that the bed I was sleeping in wasn't mine.

"I need to speak to her!" The tone of this person was desperate, as if someone's life depended on it.

"You're breaking the rules by even coming into the medics room. You're lucky I haven't reported you to-" I still didn't have the energy to move, so I just listened to the encounter playing out beside me as if it was a radio sitcom.

"I know Dr Forrester. Toby is in a really bad way and I just need to know who did this." The memories crashed over me like a tsunami of pain and sorrow. I remembered the two guys who were hurting Toby, how bad he looked and how I desperately tried to stop the fight. One huge punch from the first guy must have hurt me more than I'd realised, and as soon as we were safe and Toby was being looked after, my body had time to work out that I was hurt and shut down. Back in the present, I could still hear the exchange between these two. There was no mistaking whose this voice was. Someone I was so happy to hear despite only seeing him a short while ago. Solomon's strong tone broke for a second as he let out a long breath. "Shit. Aaron please... two people I care about are already in here. I need to protect my friends. We won't start anything, you have my word." There was a silence that was drawn out enough to make me feel uncomfortable and I wasn't even in the conversation.

"I could get fired for this Solomon." Dr Forrester whispered. "I'm going to take a cigarette break. I will be back in ten minutes and you won't be here. Understood?" One door further away opened and closed and within seconds, the door into my room opened and closed quietly.

"Lex?" Solomon's voice was quiet as he tiptoed into the room. I turned my head a little and finally made eye contact with him, watching him instantly breath out a sigh of relief and smile. "Oh thank god, you're okay." He rushed over and grabbed my hand in his. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Toby, where is he? Is he okay?" My voice was a hoarse whisper in comparison to what it would normally be. I tried to sit up but my body ached and with the sharp pain in my chest, I fell back onto the pillow with a thump.

"Hey now, take it easy." Sol soothed, giving my hand a squeeze. "Toby is okay, he's pretty beat up but you already knew that. There's nothing broken, he needed some stitches in his lip and they're keeping an eye on his injuries. He will probably be here for a few days..." Sol broke his eye contact with me for a second as he looked down at his feet. "You scared me more."  He slowly looked back at me and I let out a soft smile, squeezing his hand back.

"I'll help you guys until I physically can't help anymore. Remember?" Sol let out a soft laugh.

"You're insane. But that's why I like you." He quickly checked the time and huffed. "Look, Aaron has only given me ten minutes. I'm sorry to rush into business but I need to know what happened. Who did this to you two?" He was desperate for the information, how did I break it to him that I had absolutely no idea?

"It's not that easy Sol. I mean, I don't even know the two guys that were fighting Toby." He let go of my hand to run his hands through his hair, sighing in frustration. "I mean I could tell you what they looked like but that isn't going to help you at all." Sol's thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you saying?" He pried carefully.

"Someone put them up to it. A woman." I said confidently. Sol leaned back in his chair in shock, bringing his hands to his face as he breathed out. "When I got in the middle of the fight, I told them to stop because we'd all end up in isolation and the two of them started talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying over the crowds but I caught a few words. The second guy said they should listen to me but the first guy said she had promised and they couldn't mess it up. They never mentioned a name but they said she." We fell into silence as he registered the information, his brain computing and working out their next steps.

"We can't trust anyone..." he said quietly, looking around the room. "Whoever this is obviously said something good enough to get those two to do the dirty work. If she can do it with them, she can do it with anyone. We need to be on guard all the time. We need to go in pairs everywhere. Whoever she is, she's targeting my gang specifically, that's obvious enough, but when I work out who it is, they'll regret choosing to do this." He stood up, full of anger and frustration, ready to put a plan in place to help everyone. He rushed to the door, grabbing the handle but hesitating as he twisted the doorknob. He quickly turned back towards me. "Rest up Lex, I need you beside me as soon as you're fit enough." He moved quickly and quietly out of the medical rooms mere seconds before Dr Forrester came back into the room from his cigarette break. Noticing that I was now awake, he made a beeline for my room. He washed his hands in the basin at the side of my room and dried them with a towel as he spoke to me.

"Alexandra, lovely to see you're awake! How are you feeling?" He continued as if he had no idea that Solomon had just been to visit me.

"I'm doing good, thank you Doc." I said casually. "Hoping I can get out of here to be honest. What's the verdict?" Dr Forrester let out a laugh as he picked up my chart, flicking across the pages, backtracking on some as he took on all the information.

"Alexandra-" he began but I flinched.

"Please call me Lex." I begged.

"Miss Watson." He corrected himself. "I'm not sure you quite realise what happened to you. During that fight, you were punched in the chest very hard. You've got a minor fracture to one of your ribs. You need to rest whilst we keep an eye on it." My eyes widened in surprise at the information. I shook my head.

"No. That has to be wrong. Toby took all the beatings and he's okay. I only got punched once..." I argued, which I felt was a better way to go than to accept I was stuck in the medics room for days on end. Dr Forrester rolled his eyes as he flicked over the papers once more.

"Miss Watson, you passed out because of the after effects of this one punch. The cameras have shown just how bad that punch was. Frankly, I'm surprised you're not hurt more than that." I didn't want to be stuck here. I wanted to be beside Solomon, Eddy, Raj and Ty. We needed to protect each other from whoever was against us right now.

"Can't I just see how I go? Please? I will just rest in my room." I pressed, hoping I would somehow suggest something that this medical professional would agree with. He raised an eyebrow at me as I listed off the many things that came to mind. "I don't even mind doing daily check ups here. Just please, I don't want to stay in here for ages." The doctor scribbled some more things in my notes and as he did so, I tried to move to get more comfortable. Sucking in a sharp breath, I winced as I moved, pulling myself into a seated position.

"See?" He pointed at me with the end of his biro. "You're not ready." I ran my hand down my face as I let out a frustrated sigh. "You're going to need to be here for at least a couple more days. I'm not signing off anything before we've reviewed you then. You'll need lots of medication, pain killers will be your best friend while you recover. We may even need to work out some breathing techniques for you while we get you back to normal." Every word felt like a slap on freezing cold cheeks, it stung, burned and throbbed.

"I- I can't." I couldn't think of much to say. "I need to help them." Once again I tried to move but I was quickly ushered back into the bed. With Dr Forrester close to me, he dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Listen, I'm going to have a word with the gov, I may be able to swing you some visitors rights during social. Don't push it or I won't bother trying." My eyes brightened at his words, though I knew they were laced with a threat. I quietly nodded as he patted me on the shoulder. "That's what I thought. Rest up Alexandra."