I open the door slowly, not sure what I should expect to see. Daniel's head turns towards me in the doorway before he reaches out his hand. I walk briskly over to the bed and take a hold of his hand.
"Hey..." He says with a husky voice.
"Hey." I say, trying to keep my emotions in check. My eyes stay training on our hands.
"Lexi, look at me." I obey his wishes and look up at him. "I'm ok." I feel a couple of tears roll down my cheeks.
"But-"
"No buts. Look, I'm here. I'm going to be ok. Thanks to you." He squeezes me hand at the last word.
"I couldn't even do anything." My tears turn into sobs at my realisation that I couldn't exactly help him when he needed me.
"You called for help, putting you in danger. You stayed with me the whole time and the whole way here. Lexi, you kept me going. You were being so strong for me and I knew I needed to fight to be strong for you too." He pulls me closer with his hand. I climb onto the bed as he moves slightly over, wincing at the pain in his ribs.
"Take it easy, please." I hesitate as my knee is perched on the side of the bed.
"Just get on the bed, Lexi. I can take it easy after." I raise my eyebrows at him. "Come on. Get. On. The. Bed. Don't deny a hurting man what he wants." I roll my eyes and squeeze on the bed next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. I feel him start to relax and his breathing softens.
"Nope. You can't fall asleep Danny Boy. Doctor's orders."
"But-"
"No buts remember." I argue back.
"Fine. But you owe me one hell of a cuddle after this."
"Deal. For now, I know two people who would really love to see you and they will definitely keep you awake." I sit up and climb off the bed. I turn back to Daniel and lean over the side of the bed and kiss his forehead.
"Is that all I get? A kiss on the forehead and now you're going to send in Aidan and Taylor?" He groans in protest.
"Fine." I lean over the bed again and peck his lips this time.
"I can deal with that I suppose." He winks.
I leave the room and head back towards the reception area. As I walk through the double doors, Madison's head whips in my direction. She offers a smile.
"Hey...he was drifting off. Would you be able to take the kids in to see him? They'll keep him awake and I know Aidan needs to see him." She nods.
"What are you going to do in the meantime?"
"There's something I need to do."
*30 minutes later*
I make my way into the doors after getting out of the taxi, my anxiety going crazy. I make my way over to the receptionist who looks up as I approach.
"Hi, how can I help?"
"My name's Lexi, I'd like to report an assault." The receptionist looks up at me before he dials a number and asks for someone to come to talk to me privately.
"Thank you." I make my way over to the seating area and a couple of minutes or so later an officer makes their way over to me.
"Hi, are you Lexi?" She offers a kind smile.
"Yes."
"Would you like to come with me? We can go and talk privately."
"Yes, please. Thank you." I get off the chair and follow the officer through some double doors and down a corridor before turning into the second door on the right.
"Would you like a drink?"
"Just some water please." She pours a cup and offers it to me while taking a seat opposite me on a table.
"Thank you."
"Keith on reception said you would like to report an assault. Is that correct?" I nod in response.
"Were you the one assaulted?"
"It's a long story." She let me continue, following my lead in the conversation and made notes on a notepad as I explained everything that happened in the past few years, from Cody controlling me to Kyle controlling me and the recent incident with the car and the attack on Daniel.
"Thank you for talking to me, I know it's hard but I have to ask. Please can you put this report in writing for me? If we process this and get proof we will be able to charge them for assault and vandalism." I nod in response as she passes me a piece of paper. After around 20 minutes I had finished writing the report and handing the paper back to Officer Brady. She reads over it briefly before nodding.
"Thank you Lexi. Please know that I will do everything I can to make sure that they get some time for this, ok? You've been very brave to come forward, especially because it involves family. I'll be in touch as soon as I can and I hope Daniel is alright soon."
"Thank you Officer Brady." She holds the door to the meeting room open for me and leads me back to reception. She offers a hand and I shake hers. I make my way outside into the cold air outside and dial a number in my phone.
"Hey Lyl, please can you do me a favour?"
"Hey, everything ok?"
"Yeah, um, can you come and get me? I'm at the police station."
"You're what?!" She shouts down the phone to me.
"Please?"
"Yes, I'll be there in 15." She hangs up the phone and I sit on a bench outside the station. I feel my phone buzz in my hand.
From: Daniel | 11:43 p.m.
Mum let me go on my phone so I could stay awake and the kids could get some sleep. Where did you get off to?x
To: Daniel | 11:43 p.m.
Just had an errand to run, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow x
From: Daniel | 11:44 p.m.
An errand? At 11 o'clock at night? Damn, Lex, you are crazy ;) x
To: Daniel | 11:44 p.m.
About you....x
From: Daniel | 11:44 p.m.
Oh come on....you can't say that to me like this. That's just unfair x
To: Daniel | 11:45 p.m.
Oh I can, and I did Danny Boy x
From: Daniel | 11:45 p.m.
You have no idea what this is doing to me right now. I wish you were here x
To: Daniel | 11:46 p.m.
Tomorrow, dearie, I'll be there tomorrow x
There was a long pause before the next text. As my phone vibrated, Lyla's car pulled into the car park outside of the station. She pulls over in front of me and leans over to open the door.
"Get in loser, we're going to McDonalds."
I do as she says and I jump in the passenger seat.
"Now, why the hell am I picking you up this late at night from the Police station?"
"Daniel's in the hospital." She puts her hazard lights on and pulls over to the left of the road.
"What? Lex, are you ok? Is he ok? What happened?"
"I'm ok. He's ok. Cody and Kyle happened."
"What do you mean Cody and Kyle happened?"
"They jumped Daniel when we were walking back to his house from the Social. Knocked him unconscious, broke a couple of his ribs, and bruised him up...a lot."
"And you said he's ok?"
"Yes. Well, he will be. That's what the doctor said in the hospital."
"And why were you at the police station and not with him?"
"I reported Cody and Kyle."
YOU ARE READING
The Untitled Job
RomanceWhen 18 year-old Lexi's past starts to repeat itself she throws herself into her new job in order to save enough money to get away from it. Who knows what could happen when her job leads to her getting thrown into, or rather falling into, the local...
