AOIFE

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS HAD PASSED since we had barreled into the A&E with Joey carrying his sister in his arms, while I screamed the place down for help.

To be fair, help had come instantly, but once Shannon was rushed away on a gurney, surrounded by a flurry of nurses and doctors, Joey had unceremoniously collapsed in a heap on the waiting room floor.

Reeling didn’t come close to describing how I felt as I sat at my boyfriend’s bedside, behind a pale blue curtain, in the middle of a jam-packed accident and emergency, as we continued to wait for a bed on a ward to become available. Whatever they had given him for pain relief a few hours ago had knocked him out cold and I was relieved.

The longer he slept, the longer I knew he was safe.

The longer he was protected from the pain that I knew would swallow him

up.

Because I knew in my heart once the meds wore off and his poor knocked

around brain came back to its full senses that he would be up and out of here. It wouldn’t matter to him that he needed to rest, or that his body had taken an

unmerciful battering. Joey would go straight to his sister’s bedside without thought for the consequences – or himself.

And after he visited his sister, I didn’t want to think about what would follow.

Resting my elbows on his bed, I continued to watch him sleep, and I continued to cry.

His face was barely recognizable beneath the gauze, tape, and bandages. His left eye was hidden behind a white bandage, while the bridge of his nose was taped up. The bruising and swelling around his right eye so extensive that even when he was awake, it was hard to tell.

Biting down on my lip, I smothered a sob and reached over to brush his hair off his forehead, only to expose more bruising.

It was everywhere.

Every inch of his skin told a story of vicious abuse at the hands of a monster.

The raw welts on his back that I discovered when helping him undress last night had caused everything in my stomach to come back up.

There was no hiding what had happened to him.

His father’s belt had left welts deeply imbedded into his flesh.

Forcing myself to be strong for him, I remained right by his side, unwilling to leave him for longer than it took me to grab a cup of tea from the vending machine. Mam had called countless times, begging me to come home for a shower and to have something decent to eat, but I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t leave him. I never would.

The Garda Siochana had come and gone, looking for statements from my boyfriend that he was in no fit state to make. Social workers, a Garda victim service officer, not to mention many other authority figures had made an appearance, too.

Nanny Murphy had somehow managed to get ahold of my phone number and had called several times to check on her great-grandson and to relay messages to Joey, but that was it.

She was the only one.

Not once since he was wheeled into triage had I caught a glimpse of Marie Lynch.

I understood that Shannon was in a bad way, Nanny had told me that she had a collapsed lung, but Joey was hurt, too, dammit.

He had a fractured skull for fuck’s sake!

It was a wonder that his brain wasn’t complete mush.

The doctor said it himself; it was a miracle that he was still here. “Molloy.” Releasing a pained groan, Joey covered my hand with his and

blinked his one good eye open. “What did I tell ya about crying?” Sniffling, I forced a smile and whispered, “Hey, stud.”

“Hey, queen.” His voice was raspy and torn. “Nice legs.”

I choked out a sob. “Nice everything.” “Don’t cry for me.”

“I’m not.” I forced a brighter smile. “Your nose is pancaked again.” “Hm.” He grunted out a breath. “What’s new.”

“I think it’s sexy.” Sniffling, I lifted his hand to my mouth and kissed all of his torn knuckles. “You’ve got the roughed-up bad boy look down to a tee.”

“How’s my baby?” “Still cooking?”

“How’s my other baby?”

“I’m okay, Joe,” I breathed. “We’re both fine.”

“Good.” His eyelid fluttered shut. “I need you to be okay.” “I am okay, Joe.”

“Both of you.”

“Both of us are fine.”

“I need it to stay that way,” he whispered, giving my hand a squeeze. “It’s important to me.”

Desperately fighting down the urge I had to climb onto the bed and hold him, I stood up and hovered close instead. “You’re important to us.” Leaning down, I pressed a lingering kiss to his clammy forehead. “You’re everything to us.”

“I want the baby, queen.” Sniffling, I nodded. “I know, stud.” “I heard the heartbeat.”

“Yeah, you did.” “It’s really in there.” “Uh-huh.”

“We made a baby.”

“Yeah, Joe, we did.” “I’m scared.”

“I know you are. It’s okay.”

“When can I get out of here, Aoif?”

“The doctors want to keep you in for a few days for observation,” I explained, fingers trailing over his swollen face. “We’re just waiting on a bed upstairs to become available.”

“No,” he groaned, shaking his head. “No, no, fuck that. I’m going home.”

“You’re going to stay here,” I warned, snatching up the hand he was attempting to use to pull his IV line out. “You have one hell of a concussion, Joe. The doctor explained it to me. You need to be here, okay?”

“I need to see Shannon.”

There it is.

“Shannon is fine,” I tried to soothe, sinking down on the edge of his bed, as I gently pinned his hands to his chest to stop him from hurting himself. “She’s being well looked after upstairs, okay?”

“Yeah, but she needs to see me,” he tried to argue, voice croaky and raw. “You don’t get it. I need to be there when she wakes up. She’ll be scared. She won’t know what to say. I need to check on her.”

“Joe.” Cupping his face between my hands, I leaned in close and forced him to look at me. “I promise you that Shannon is fine.” Pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, I avoided stitches on his swollen bottom lip, and mentally willed him to stop thinking about everyone else. “You trust me, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly.

“Good.” I smoothed his hair back and kissed him again. “Then trust me when I tell you that the best thing you can do for Shan is to rest up and heal.”

“Joey?” Marie’s sorrowful voice came from behind the curtain, causing us both to stiffen. “Can I speak to you?”

“No, no, no,” he croaked out, snatching my hand up in his. “I can’t deal with her.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered, nuzzling his good cheek with mine. “I’m here, Joe. I’ve got your back.”

“Fuck.” Blowing out a pained breath, he relented with a stiff nod. “Okay.” “Come in, Marie.”

The curtain was drawn back, and his mother appeared, looking every bit as small and frail as the last time I’d laid eyes on her.

“Joey.” Her eyes were sunken in her head, clearly swollen from crying, as she took an uncertain step towards us. “Aoife.”

“Marie,” I acknowledged coolly. My gaze flicked to the tall, dark-haired man standing behind her. The suit he was wearing looked too flashy to belong to a social worker, so I pegged him for a solicitor.

God knew she needed one.

“Oh, Joey, baby.” Sniffling, his mother moved for his bed, but stopped when she realized that I had no intention of getting out of her way.

I couldn’t if I wanted to.

Joey had a death grip on my hand.

“How are you feeling?” Marie asked him. “Your poor face.” My boyfriend didn’t respond.

He didn’t move a muscle.

His face was void of all emotion as he continued to stare at the man standing behind his mother.

“Hey kid,” the man said, tone thick with emotion, as he stared straight past me, attention riveted on my boyfriend. “It’s been a while.”

It’s been a while?

Brows furrowing, I swung my gaze on the man and studied his familiar face.

High cheekbones.

Dark brown hair.

Puffy swollen lips.

Eyes the color of midnight blue.

“Crap,” I strangled out, quickly putting two and two together and coming up with a big fat Darren. “It’s you.”

His attention flicked to me and I watched as a flicker of recognition flashed in his blue eyes. “And it’s you.”

I frowned, knowing full well that I had never met this man before in my life. “What?”

“So, you went there anyway and threw your hat in the ring, Joe?” he mused, this time addressing my boyfriend. “Well, no one could accuse you of being fleeting.”

“Seriously.” I blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Never mind,” Darren replied with a shake of his head. “How are you feeling, Joey?”

“What are you doing here?” Joey replied, tone cold and hard. “What do you want?”

“Mam called me.”

“What do you mean she called you?” “Listen, Joe, I know there’s a lot of—”

“What do you mean she called you, Darren?” he repeated, tone laced with venom. “What the fuck?”

“Back up,” I warned, taking a protective stance in front of my boyfriend when his brother moved to come closer. “Just back right up, buddy.”

“Aoife, you need to stay out of this.”

“How do you know her name?” Releasing my hand, Joey dragged himself into a sitting position, chest rising and falling quickly, as he glowered at his mother and brother like they were the enemy. “How the fuck does he know my girlfriend’s name?”

“I called him,” his mother strangled out, pressing a hand to her chest.

“You called him,” Joey deadpanned. “You just called him up? So, you had his number all along?” he choked out, trembling. “For the past five and a half years? You were in contact with him and never told me.”

“Joey, listen to me—”

“Don’t fucking speak to me!” my boyfriend roared, pointing a finger at his long-lost brother. “Don’t fucking look at me.” Turning back to his mother, he hissed, “I understand why you couldn’t tell Dad, and I get why you didn’t tell the boys and Shannon. But me?” His lip wobbled and I felt my heart crack when he asked, “Why couldn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Marie tried to explain, but Joe was having none of it.

“Shut the fuck up!” Hooking an arm around my waist, he pulled me closer, and I could feel just how badly his body was shaking. “Just get the fuck out. Both of you.”

“Joey, please—”

“You heard him,” I snapped, holding a hand out to warn his mother off. “Leave now.”

“You need to stay in your own lane here, Aoife,” Darren said, giving me a cool look. “I know you mean well, but this is a family matter.”

“Don’t fucking speak to her like that, asshole,” Joey was quick to jump to my defense. “She is my family.”

“Joey,” Marie sobbed. “I’m your mother.”

“And she’s the mother of my kid. So, don’t even think about pulling that card,” he sneered. “Because she wins. Every damn time.”

“Yeah.” Nodding vigorously, I folded my arms across my chest and gave his mam a ha look.

“This isn’t a pissing contest, ladies,” Darren drawled. “Can you please step out for a moment, while our mother has a word with her son?”

“Hell no I won’t step out,” I spat, feeling my hackles rise. “I’m the one who’s been sitting by his bedside since he was admitted. I’m the one down as his next of kin because not one of you assholes decided to show up. Where the hell were either one of you?”

“That’s not fair,” Marie wailed. “Shannon was…”

“Don’t talk to me about what’s fair,” I came close to screaming. “Look at his face.”

“Aoife, please.“

“Look at his face,” I repeated, voice rising right along with my temper. “Take a good fucking look, Marie. Because that’s your son.” Furious, I pointed to my boyfriend. “He’s just as much your child as Shannon or the boys or him.”

“I know he’s my child.”

“Then fucking act like it!” I hissed, narrowing my eyes in disgust. “Stop treating him like an afterthought. He’s not a fucking afterthought, okay? You can’t just show up here and lay down the law after not checking in on him once! It doesn’t work like that, and I won’t stand by and let you sink your twisted claws any deeper into him than you already have—”

“Molloy.”

“No, Joe, she needs to hear this.” Swallowing down a scream, I blinked away my temper tears and pointed a finger at his mother. “He’s the best damn thing that came out of your marriage and you’re too stupid to see it. He’s not your bodyguard. He’s not your bank account. He’s not your babysitter. He’s not your fucking husband. He’s your child. He’s your son!” Furious, I turned my glare on his brother. “And as for you? Well, I don’t really know you that well yet, but I’m feeling like this is a fuck you kind of moment. So, fuck you.”

“Are you quite finished your outburst?” the oldest Lynch asked calmly, arching a brow. “Because I’m not leaving until I speak to my brother in private.”

“Then I guess we’re all staying,” I shot back, unyielding. “Molloy.” I felt Joey’s hand on my waist. “It’s okay.”

Feeling panicked, I swung around to look at him. “You don’t have to talk

to them, Joe. Do you hear me? You don’t need to listen to another word she says.”

“It’s okay,” he whispered, giving my hip a reassuring squeeze. “Go home and get something to eat. I’ll be fine here.”

“I’m not leaving you.” “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not going, Joe.”

“I’m going to have to talk to them at some stage.” “But I—”

“It’s all good, baby. Just give me a few hours, okay? I’ll be fine.”

No, this wasn’t good at all. This was all bad.

I didn’t want these people anywhere near him.

“Joe.” Chewing on my lip, I implored him with my eyes to not do this. “Are you sure?”

He didn’t look sure.

He didn’t look like he was in any fit state to handle these people. Still, he nodded stiffly and released me.

“Fine. It’s three o clock now,” I squeezed out, briefly glancing at the screen of my phone before shoving it back in my pocket. “I’ll go home and have a shower and I’ll be back at six, okay?”

“Take your time,” he replied. “It’s all good.” No, it wasn’t.

Everything inside of me screamed wrong, wrong, wrong.

But what could I do?

I couldn’t exactly force his mother and brother out of the hospital, and if Joey wanted to speak to them, then I couldn’t stop him.

Even if I really, really didn’t want him anywhere near these people.

“I love you,” I said, ignoring his family, as I leaned in close and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’ll be back.”