The Unknown Road

44 - Tessa

I DON'T KNOW HOW long I'm sat with Archie before I feel a soft hand touch my shoulder.

Without looking up, I know it's Dad, and he doesn't make to move me as he kneels down to take a closer look at Archie.

He notes everything down in his book, making small notes after testing each bruise, each bone down his body, and I can see he's holding back tears as he finishes.

"It's bad, isn't it?" I ask, wiping my nose before kissing Archie's fingers.

He looks up at me and kisses the side of my head. When he pulls away, he nods reassuringly and stands again, heading over to where Matt is still standing with Millie. I hear him whisper something, but I don't want to know. I already know it's bad.

"Please come back to me," I whisper to Archie, whispering it directly into his ear so he can hear me. "Please."

Nothing. He doesn't move, he doesn't acknowledge me.

"Please come back to me, baby," I say again, kissing the side of his head. "I love you."

When I look up at the next noise, it's Dad again, and this time he's on the phone.

"Yes, two unconscious males. One is seventeen, other early fifties. An altercation, yes. The adult male went after and beat the younger male, who has extensive bruising, broken bones and some internal haemorrhaging."

Internal haemorrhaging? I look up at him, my eyes wide with fear, but all he does is touch a hand reassuringly to my shoulder.

"Archie. Yes, he's my daughter's boyfriend, and a very close friend to the family." He pauses as the paramedics on the other end ask him another question. "His father." Another pause. "Yes, that's correct. No... No, we weren't aware of it until my daughter mentioned it to me yesterday."

I was aware of it. I was aware of it a month ago... and it's making me feel sick that I could have prevented this if only I'd just opened my mouth sooner. If I'd just told my dad, Archie would be okay right now. He wouldn't be lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood. He wouldn't be holding onto life by a thread.

"How long will they be?" I hear Millie ask next to me. I hadn't realised she was sat next to me, and I'd barely registered her head on my shoulder.

Keeping a hold of Archie's hand, I put my other arm around her and hold her as she cries. As we both cry.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," I say, hoping that was right. Dad seemed calm enough, but I wouldn't feel any better until I saw Archie's beautiful smile again, or felt him move. Something. Anything.

Five minutes go by and I finally hear sirens, two sets of them. And a few minutes after that, two paramedics make their way over to Archie, just as Dad pulls me up gently, letting them do their thing. The paramedics are swiftly followed by two police officers, who go over to Richard, who has started to come to.

I pull my attention back to Archie as Richard looks my way, his mouth full of blood. He seems to be missing a front tooth, and as the police officers get him up on his feet, I swear he looks at Archie and laughs. The thought makes me sick to my stomach.

I look down, just as the paramedics cut open Archie's shirt, and both Millie and I gasp and look away, turning into each other. He has black bruises all over his stomach, one of them more black and protruding than the other, and I'm starting to think that's what Dad meant by internal haemorrhaging. The paramedic presses gently on it, and Archie flinches involuntarily, reacting to the pain. She immediately stops, nodding gravely towards her counterpart.

"Is he going to be okay?" I ask, knowing he won't be. She smiles up at me, but her smile doesn't touch her eyes, and it doesn't give me any hope, especially when she just looks straight back down. I sniff and wipe my nose on my sleeve as I feel my eyes burning with more tears.