A Fluffy Tale 2: Warm & Fuzzy (10 page)

Spen didn’t believe a word of it, but it
wasn’t important right now. “Call an ambulance, now,” he snapped at the two
hotel staff, then he turned Daniel into the recovery
position. He was breathing, albeit slowly, and his pulse was also rather slow.
He was also much paler than normal, which meant he looked practically
transparent, and Myko’s worried squeaks and Kani’s condition confirmed that
this wasn’t right. “Hurry!”

The porter went to the room phone. The
manager called someone on her mobile. Noble went outside. Spen ignored them
all, concentrating on Daniel. He didn’t seem to have any injury, and was
dressed, though his shirt was untucked and misbuttoned, and his fly wasn’t
fully closed. He also smelled of something that Spen found familiar but
couldn’t place. “What happened to you?” Spen murmured, brushing his hand
through Daniel’s fine red hair. “Where’s the ambulance?”

The porter answered. “Coming, sir. Let me
have a look—I’m a first aider.”

So was Spen, but it never hurt to have a
second opinion. While the porter checked Daniel over, Spen turned to the
manager. “Where did Noble—that guest—go?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Outside
somewhere. Where is Daniel’s room?”

“It’s mine,” he said and gave the room
number. “I’m Spencer Reardon, his colleague and his emergency contact at the
moment, as his family are staying with my parents.”

“Then you should go with him to the
hospital. I’ll arrange that when the ambulance gets here.”

The paramedics arrived five minutes later
and attached a scary number of leads to a still unconscious Daniel. “Has he
been drinking?” one of them asked while he fastened a blood pressure cuff to
Daniel’s arm.

“Yes, but not to excess that I know of. His
boss was with him, and some other managers. He wouldn't get drunk in front of
them.” And just where the fuck was Noble now? “His kem is acting weird too.”

Spen held Kani out so the paramedic could
take a long look. “That’s not alcohol,” he said, though he didn’t say what else
it was likely to be. Spen could guess though. He looked around the room.
Everything was tidy—no cups or bottles, not even in the trash. Had Daniel
ingested something in the bar?

The paramedics put Daniel on oxygen and
inserted an IV port, before loading him onto a gurney. “We’ll be taking him to
Central,” the other paramedic said. “Is anyone going to come there with him?”

“Me,” Spen said. “I’ll follow.”

“A taxi should be waiting downstairs, Mr
Reardon,” the manager said.

“We’ll let them know at the hospital,” the
paramedic told Spen.

The paramedics rolled Daniel out. Kani gave
a faint squeak and disappeared. Spen had never seen a kem in that state before
and didn’t like what that might mean for Daniel. “I’ll head off now,” he told
the manager, “but if Tony Noble returns, can someone ask him more about what
happened this evening? And could you ask the bar staff if Daniel seemed drowsy
or ill to them? This is my number.” He handed the manager his card. “If his
family calls, can you ask them to call me instead? I don’t want them getting
bad news without an explanation.”

“Certainly, Mr Reardon. Leave it to us.
Jim, please escort him downstairs and make sure the taxi’s there.”

The porter went with him to the lift, and
whistled up the taxi to pick Spen up from the front door. “Hope your friend is
all right, sir.”

“Thanks.”

With nothing to distract him from the
worry, his thoughts raced through some distinctly horrible possibilities. What
if Daniel was seriously ill? What if he died? What had happened in the hotel
room, and why had Noble taken such a long time to answer the door? Spen now
wished he’d asked the manager to call the police as well, but on what basis?
Now Noble had plenty of time to dispose of any evidence, if there was any to
dispose of.

But maybe Daniel had just reacted badly to
a couple of strong drinks. It wasn’t impossible, or even all that unlikely
considering he didn’t drink much. Spen hoped for Daniel’s sake that this was
the explanation. The alternatives were horrifying.

He remembered his promise to call his
mother, and rang the house. “Did you find him, love?”

“Yes, Mum. Is Dee there?”

“No, in her room. Shall I fetch her?”

“No, no...Mum,
we’re taking Daniel to hospital. I found him unconscious in his boss’s room.”

“Oh my lord. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want you to tell
Dee either. Not yet. Could you tell her that Daniel’s been taken ill, and he’s
asleep. I’ll call her in the morning with an update. I should know more then.”

“I don’t like lying to the children,
Spencer.”

“I know, but do you want her getting
hysterical with worry when there’s nothing she can do? Look...just say he’s
unwell. That’s no lie. I don’t think he’s in serious danger. At least, I hope
not. There’s nothing she can do there for him.”

“All right, I’ll do that. That poor boy. What could it be?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call tomorrow when I do
know. Dee can call me if she needs to, but Mum, please try and keep her calm.”

“Don’t tell me how to mother a child,
love.” Spen smiled a little. “Are you all right, Spencer? This must be a
shock.”

“I’m trying to concentrate on what needs to
be done. I’m just glad I found him sooner rather than later. You and Dee might
have saved his life.”

His mother gasped. “I don’t know what Dee
and Alex will do if anything happens to Daniel.”

“Well, then, we won’t let anything happen.
Don’t worry too much, Mum. I’ll handle it here.”

“Good night, love. He’s in good hands with
you.”

If that had been true, Daniel wouldn’t have
been struck down in the first place. Still, recriminations could wait until he
had his hands around Tony Noble’s cowardly neck.

The taxi dropped him at the Emergency
entrance, and when he enquired at Reception, he discovered he was only behind
the ambulance by a couple of minutes. “He’s still being assessed,” the clerk
told him. “Take a seat and you’ll be called. Are you family?”

Spen had given this some thought on the
ride over, and answered calmly, “He’s my boyfriend. His parents are dead and
his siblings are both minors. They’re staying with my family at the moment.”

The clerk made a note and didn’t comment.
Spen figured it was the kind of statement no one was likely to argue with,
unlike claiming to be a brother—unlikely, given their decided lack of
resemblance to each other—or a spouse, which he couldn’t backup. Daniel
would understand, and it made things easier without needing to drag Dee into
this, or worse, Daniel’s elderly and infirm grandparents.

Myko wouldn’t settle, meeping and moving
restlessly from Spen’s lap to the floor and back again. He didn’t wander far,
not even to talk to the other kems in the waiting room. Spen gave him what
comfort he could, which wasn’t much, and took what he could from Myko’s
company.

He waited nearly an hour before his name
was called, and he was ushered through the doors separating the waiting room
from the treatment cubicles. He asked where Daniel was but before he could go
where he’d been directed, a young doctor came up to him. “I’m Dr Ali. Are you
here for Daniel Walkinshaw?”

“Yes. I’m Spencer Reardon. How is he?”

“Stable for now. I need to talk to you,
Spencer. Come this way.”

She took him away from the nurse’s station.
“Are you close to Daniel?”

“Pretty close, yes.”

“Do you know what happened this evening?
What he ate, or drank?”

“Not exactly, no. I was with work
colleagues. He was in the bar with his boss and other managers. I don’t think
he ate anything down there, but I don’t know what happened after he and his
boss returned to his boss’s room.”

“So he was drinking?”

“I believe so. That was the intention. He’s
not a big drinker at all. Is it just alcohol?”

She grimaced. “I don’t think so, but
without knowing what he ingested, it’s hard to say. Does he take drugs?”

“No.” Spen didn’t have any proof of that
other than his knowledge of Daniel as a person, but he was as sure of that as
he was of his own sobriety. “Has he been drugged?”

“We suspect he’s taken something.”

“Or been given it.”

“Possibly. Where’s his boss? Is he ill
too?”

“I don’t know where he is, and no. He was
fine. Claims Daniel turned up at his room, and fell asleep on his bed. I don’t
believe him, for what it’s worth.”

“Hmmm. There’s signs of Daniel having had
anal sex as the receptive partner very recently. Would that be with you?”

Spen’s hands curled into fists. “No,” he
said tightly. “And I can assure you that having sex with his boss is the last
thing he would do. He doesn’t like him. We should call the police, doctor.”

“Yes, I agree, and we can do that when he
wakes up. But Daniel’s still unconscious, and the drug tests won’t necessarily
be conclusive. If Daniel can’t remember what happened this evening, as is
likely, then the police won’t be able to prove he didn’t take something
voluntarily, or have sex involuntarily. There’s no physical evidence of force.”

Spen felt sick.
Noble, I’ll kill you with my bare hands
. “Can I see him?”

“Yes. At this point, we’ll keep him in here
until he wakes up and is normal again. That will probably be a few hours. You
can take him home then, provided someone keeps an eye on him. He’s likely to
feel fairly sorry for himself, just warning you.”

“I won’t let him out of my sight, I swear.”

She smiled. “Good. Through here.”

Daniel lay on his
side wearing a hospital gown and covered with a sheet. He still wore the oxygen
mask and was attached to a machine monitoring his blood pressure and heart
rate. Spen sat by him and took his hand. Daniel didn’t move. His hand was very
cold, and his breathing still slow. “Oh Danny, Danny, you’re a worry.” Spen
stroked his pale cheek. “Kani, where are you, squirt?”

Daniel’s kem popped out and crawled slowly
onto Daniel’s shoulder, wobbling back and forth, though looking a little more
alert than before. Myko pulled him down onto the bed in front of Daniel’s head
and began to delicately groom his woozy friend. Spen stroked them both, wishing Myko’s attentions to Kani would somehow
stimulate Daniel to consciousness. But Daniel didn’t wake or even twitch. Spen
settled in to wait, keeping hold of Daniel’s hand, determined to not to leave
his side for a second.

Nearly two hours later, Daniel roused
fully, blinking green eyes open and staring uncomprehendingly at Spen. “Hey.
How do you feel?”

“‘m I?”

“Hospital. What do you remember?”

“‘bout what?”

“Having drinks with Tony?”

“Um...I don’t.” He struggled to sit up, but
even with Spen’s help, it was beyond him. He sank back down. “Feel crap.”

“I know. Just going to find the doctor.”
Daniel’s hand gripped Spen’s and his green eyes widened in panic. “It’s okay. Myko’s here. Back in a minute, I promise.” He gave Daniel’s
hand a pat. “Promise.”

Daniel let go. Myko licked his face, and
Kani, now much brighter and with it, cuddled against his chest. Daniel gave his
kem a dozy pat. “Don’t understand,” he mumbled.

“I know. Just wait.”

Dr Ali was attending to another patient,
but Spen caught her eye and she came out to see him. “He’s awake. He doesn’t
remember anything. Not yet.”

“I’m not surprised. The tox results show
almost no blood alcohol content, but GHB is present.”

That was an acronym Spen hadn’t heard since
his student days. “The date rape drug?”

“One of them, yes. Doesn’t prove how it got
into him, though. I’ll just go and speak to him. Would you like to wait out
here?”

Spen hovered outside the cubicle, while the
doctor spoke quietly to Daniel. He tried not to eavesdrop but it was hard not
to get most of it, and understand that Daniel was adamant that he didn’t want
the police involved, and he refused to consent to a rape kit. When the doctor
came out, she shrugged at Spen. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“But you’ll keep the drug results on
record?”

“Yes. But the police won’t attend unless he
makes a complaint. If he changes his mind, he can contact them at any time.”

“Can he go home?”

“I’d rather he stayed an hour or two but
he’s determined to leave. GHB leaves the body fairly fast so he’ll probably be
all right. You’ll stay with him?”

“Yes, and get him back here if he seems to
be worse.”

“Then he can leave.” She went to the
nurses’ station and picked up a leaflet, which she handed to Spen. “He might
need this.”

Spen looked at it. “Rape counselling?”

“It’s likely, yes.” She looked up at him.
“Take it easy with him, Spencer.”

“I will.”

She nodded and went off to another cubicle.
Spen stared at the leaflet then shoved it into his pocket with a shudder.
Someone had assaulted Daniel tonight. More than assaulted. The police should be
involved.

Inside the cubicle, Daniel, now detached
from his leads and the oxygen, was making a fairly futile attempt to get
dressed.

“The doctor thought you should hang around
for a little bit, Daniel.”

“I’m fine. I just want to get out of here.
Help me, will you?”

Spen helped him into his trousers and
shirt. Trying to identity the odd smell on them was driving him nuts.

“Where are my shoes?”

“Here, don’t panic.” He bent to help Daniel
put them on. “You should really speak to the police.”

The foot jerked out of Spen’s grip. Spen
looked up and found its owner glaring at him. “No. Not now, not ever. I won’t
get my family into more crap.”

“Daniel, someone drugged you.”

“Maybe. But I’m fine and I don’t want to
think about this any more. I’ve got a headache, I’m tired, and you know as well
as I do the police won’t be able to do a damn thing. I’ll end up spending hours
at a police station for no reason.”