Read Falling for Free Online

need Angus to still see me as the one in charge, though I’m not sure why.
    “What about Mum?” Angus asks worriedly as he grabs his coat and locks the front door.
    “My car is only parked by the curb, it’s not far. It’ll only take two minutes.”
    Angus stops and looks down at the cracked tiles that decorate the floor. I can’t see his face behind all that hair.
    Perplexed, I stop too. And then I realize.
    “I mean, it’d be easier if you came with me to the hospital to help me, but I can probably lift him on my own.” I owe him far more than this simple concession. “But if you want to come, I’m sure she’ll be okay. Those tablets knock her out completely.”
    “It’s dark,” he says quietly.
    And I know he means What happens if they come back in the middle of the night to finish the job , like Eleanor is so sure will happen , and we’re not there — we’re stuck at the hospital .
    “I’ll make sure we’re not gone for long. Trust me.”
     
     
    O SKAR IS still pretty out of it, and we strap him into the back seat as best we can.
    Things don’t seem quite so weird with Angus, so I ask, “How did you know to take his pulse and to raise his legs and all that stuff?”
    Now I think about it, he’s generally very calm with Eleanor too (apart from when she gets super anxious and starts getting the knives out). I guess that’s why I thought he could cope being at home to look after her all day.
    “Um…,” he says as though he’s talking to his hands.
    I swallow, reluctantly admitting that despite the fact it drives me insane, I like his shyness quite a bit. It makes something inside me go weak with want.
    “I did sport science at school. I was really into all that stuff.”
    I don’t take my gaze off the road, but I’m hyperaware of every little movement he makes: brushing his hair out of his eyes, looking out the window, glancing at me.
    “I wanted to be a physical therapist, but my dad laughed at me and told me all I’d ever be good for was stacking shelves in the supermarket. He said I needed to get real and get a job to pay for my food and rent. He refused to buy any of the course books I needed for the A-level subjects I took, so I couldn’t keep up in class. That’s why I didn’t finish school.”
    Angus had never told me that before. He’d just said he had some time off school. His reaction to my comment about no school friends visiting makes a lot of sense now.
    “Your father is a complete bastard, you know,” I say, feeling an honest-to-God hatred for the man.
    To my surprise Angus laughs.
    “Sorry….” He blushes, though I’ve no idea why he is embarrassed. “I can just imagine you saying that to his face, though, and him going ballistic, and you standing there all stone-faced and intimidating like last time.”
    Me, intimidating? I have no idea where he gets these ideas about me from. All I did was tell the fucker to piss off or I’d call the police and get him arrested for harassment. It was hardly intimidating behavior, but at least he heeded my words and didn’t come back.
    And it was pretty unlike me, really. Confrontation of any sort, and I’m headed for the hills. Literally. I’m not trustworthy. Or loyal.
     
     
    I T ’ S HALF eleven by the time we get back from the hospital. Things are beginning to grate on my nerves, and every time I look at the rough plaster cast around Oskar’s foot and ankle, I feel the hole inside me getting bigger and I know I have to put something right. And not just with Oskar.
    But I don’t know how.
    We used my name and details to sign Oskar in at the hospital. He pretended to be more out of it than he actually was so he didn’t have to answer any awkward questions, which seemed to stem his panic about being there a little, though I know he still wasn’t happy we’d taken him there. But I’m glad we did because his foot is broken.
    As soon as we’re back, Angus rushes inside to check on Eleanor, who is still sleeping the