*FIRST DRAFT* The Cover of Darkness (DCI Morgan Chester Series)

Chapter Twenty

Toby Charles woke with a startle. The room was spinning around him. The dull throb in his temples grew as he lifted his head from the pillow. Strands of his flame coloured hair stuck to his forehead. He had not drunk that much since his first year at university. It wasn't a regular occurrence. A blow-out occasionally was good for him. He was still grieving for the friend he lost. He dreaded the state of the kitchen he and his flatmates had left it in. Someone ordered pizza, he remembered. If there were leftovers, that could be his breakfast.

He felt sick. Sitting up in his bed with his eyes closed made it worse. It felt as through his stomach had dropped and bile rose in his throat. He launched across his bedroom for the white oval bin.

Knuckles tapped on his door. He coughed and told the person to leave him alone. They did not listen and opened his door.

"It's only me, mate. Wow you look dreadful." His flatmate Tomas chuckled.

"What do you want Tomas?" He groaned.

"You best get dressed and some food down you."

"Shit, what time is it?" He hiccupped as he reached for the phone he discarded on the desk. He cursed and jumped up from the floor.

"I'll have a coffee ready for you in the kitchen." Tomas smirked as he closed the door behind him.

****

The hangover gradually got worse. His shift was tedious. One of the patients was murdered during his lunchbreak. It caused panic on the ward. Most of the afternoon he spent calming patients and their visitors. He heard the detective shout at the dead girl's partner in the waiting room. Her eyes bored into him as he watched the body being taken off the ward.

Six o'clock quickly came and he was relieved to take another break. The staff room was quiet, and he placed himself the chair in the furthest corner. His hoodie was folded up and placed between his head and the wall. Sleep quickly took over him, but his mind drifted into the argument he had with Emma.

***

He entered the hallway with the letter crumpled in his palm. Betrayal coursed through his veins and tears threatened to fall.

Music flowed from her room. He could smell her perfume, she always put on too much. She left the door unlocked. She screamed and covered herself in the dressing gown that draped over her small bed.

"He made you do this didn't he?" He accused as he threw the letter onto the floor. "What have I done to make you hate me so much?"

"Get out! I can have you arrested." She screeched and he saw the markings on her neck.

"Oh, Em, what is he doing to you?" The tears started to spill as she frantically pulled her hair to cover her neck.

"It's nothing, he just likes it rough." The excuses drove him crazy.

"He is abusing you; can't you see that?"

"I love him, Toby." She cried.

"Emma, I am begging you, please leave him. I will take you somewhere safe."

"I don't need you. Get out of my life!"

***

A hand gently shook him awake and his eyes snapped open. A female nurse came into focus in front of him. He was in the staff room. Sweat beaded his forehead.

"The detective's want to talk to you." she spoke softly.

"What about?"

"What happened today, they've questioned all of us."