The Unknown Road

44 - Tessa

"He'll be fine... but he needs to be checked over properly," the other paramedic says as he comes behind us with a backboard and neck brace. The sight of them freak me out, but again Dad doesn't seem so concerned, so I'm guessing - hoping - it's normal procedure at this point.

"What about him?" I ask, jerking my head towards Richard who had now left the room.

He looks up. "He'll be fine," he says with a little less enthusiasm.

"Okay on the count of three, we lift?" Paramedic one says, and the other one nods.

I tuck my arms into myself as I follow them out into the driveway where the ambulance is waiting and as Archie is walked past Richard, he looks up just as one of the police officers puts cuffs around his wrists and faces him.

"Richard Wall, I am arresting you on suspicion of assault with the intent to cause harm. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

Richard simply looks up at the officer and nods.

"Do you understand?" The officer asks again, louder, clearly needing a verbal answer.

He nods again, but speaks up this time. "I do."

He walks past us, led by the officers, and as he passes us, he spits at us, dropping a large globule of blood-filled spit in Archie's direction. When I look up at meet his eyes, they're cold and unfeeling, not caring at all that his own son is lying unconscious. And definitely not showing any kind of remorse over what he'd just done.

"You're disgusting, you know that?" I shout at him.

"Tessa," Dad warns from next to me.

"What? No." I pull free of Dad's grip and walk towards Richard as he's walked to the police car, lights still flashing. "You are disgusting."

He does nothing but smile at me. If he wasn't being led away by police, I don't know what I would have done. I wanted to reach out and slap him, but somehow I didn't think that was the right thing to do. It wouldn't help me, and it certainly wouldn't help Archie. Plus, I didn't want to sink to his level. His level was full of low-lifes who deserved to rot in a jail cell for the rest of eternity for what they've done.

"I hope they give you everything you deserve in there," I spit at him, my voice breaking on the final word as I turn around and walk back to Dad. "I hope you rot in there!" I scream, tears flowing down my cheeks as he's pushed into the back seat of the car.

He continues to stare at me, but I have to look away. The sight of Richard is starting to make me feel sick, and I'm definitely glad he's being put behind bars. He won't be allowed near Archie again, or Millie and Wendy, and they could finally move on with their lives.

As the paramedics get Archie into the ambulance, I notice they've wrapped him in a blanket and have put an oxygen mask on him. They're just settling him and strapping the stretcher down when one of the paramedics stands at the door and addresses the three of us.

"Does anyone want to come with us?"

I look at Dad, as I really want to, but I realise it should be Millie that goes. She's his only family. And it actually made me wonder why Wendy hadn't shown up yet. Where was she?

"Mils, you go," I say, pushing her forward slightly, but she steps back again and tucks herself into Matt's arm.

She shakes her head as she puts her head into Matt's shoulder and I feel Dad pushing me forward slightly.

"We'll see you there, Tessa, okay."

I nod as I hug him, not needing to be told twice. "Thank you, Dad. Thank you."

He hugs me close and kisses the top of my head. "We'll be right behind you."

I jump up into the ambulance and take the seat next to Archie's head, but then I realise we hadn't found Archie's phone.

"Dad!" I shout just before the paramedics shut the doors. "Try and find Archie's phone."

He furrows his eyebrows but then gets what I mean. "Will do, we'll look for it. Tess, if he wakes up, don't let him answer any questions okay? Not until we get there."

I nod and the paramedic looks at me as if to ask if it was okay to shut the doors now. I nod back and he shuts the doors, the ambulance driving away minutes later.

"I'm here, Arch, okay. I'm here," I say to him, leaning my head on the stretcher next to him.

"You can hold his hand," the paramedic says.

"It won't hurt him?" I ask, unsure if moving anything would pull at something he was connected to. I didn't want him to hurt any more than he already did.

He shakes his head as he works around me, getting various packs ready as the driver pulls onto the main road.

I tuck my hands under the blankets and take hold of his hand. It's warm, and his fingers are soft and slightly sweaty. I take his hand in both of mine and kiss each of his fingers in turn, silently praying he'll come back to me sooner rather than later.

I look up, and I almost scream with happiness when I realise one of his eyes is open, or at least I thought it was. It's so swollen I could barely tell, but I saw something glisten and I smile as his fingers feebly grip mine, letting me know he's heard me, and that he knows I'm here.

I lean forward and kiss his forehead, looking into his eye. It's so bloodshot, all red and irritated, but I don't focus on that. I focus on the fact he's trying to give me a smile, even through all of this. He's trying to help me feel better.

He moves his lips, but nothing comes out. He's trying to say something, but I don't want him to strain himself when he didn't need to. There was plenty of time to talk later.

"Hey, I'm here okay. Don't try to speak, Arch. They think your jaw might be broken," I whisper, sniffing as a sob escapes me.

I put my other hand over my mouth, trying to hide my crying from him as best I can, but it doesn't work. His eyes close, a tear escaping, and I lean my forehead against his arm, using his warmth to try and pull myself together.

I feel his arm shift, and his fingers squeeze mine again, making me look up. I can barely see him though my tears.

"Thank... you," he rasps, barely audible, brushing his fingers against mine. He swallows, flinching with the pain and effort it's taking for him to do this. But then his words ring clearer.

"Thank you."

I smile up at him as his eyes close again, and when I feel him go unconscious again, his fingers no longer gripping my hand, I keep holding him.

I hold him until we arrive, letting him know that he no longer has to be alone.

And that he'll never be alone again.