Stall

Chapter 30.

"Father tell me, we get what we deserve
Oh we get what we deserve

And way down we go"

***

My breath stills in my chest as I try and comprehend if I just heard her correctly "Margaret slow down, what do you mean Andy is in hospital?"

I pull myself off of Harry quickly, starting to panic as I stand and press my hand to my forehead and I look to Harry who is still looking at me with an unreadable expression and his brows furrowed.

All I can hear through the phone is Margaret's sobbing, she sounds inconsolable, she can't even talk.

What's happened? Oh god has he tried hurting himself? Was he in a car accident?

I know with what he did to me, I shouldn't be as worried as I am right now, but I just don't have it in me to be hateful or spiteful, I could never feel good about the idea of someone getting hurt, regardless of what they did to me.

"Did you know Abby?" she cries, sounding absolutely heart broken.

Margaret had always been lovely to me, she never spoke much and seemed reserved and poised but still, she was always polite.

My own heart is breaking hearing her so upset.

"Know what? Margaret I dont understand, what's happened?" I say becoming even more panicked, and I give Harry a strange look when he pulls himself off the couch and walks into the kitchen and grabs a glass and pulls a bottle of whisky out from under the sink.

Seriously?

My attention taken off of him when Margaret chokes out what she says next and all of the colour drains from my face as my hand drops to my side "The drugs... Did you know he was doing drugs?"

I almost drop my phone, pressing my hand to my stomach when I feel the urge to vomit "What are you talking about?" I ask, my mind racing a hundred miles an hour.

Andy would never touch drugs, what the fuck has happened?

I look to Harry with distraught eyes who is leant against the kitchen counter, throwing back the drink he's made himself with his jaw set tight.

He won't even look at me, and I can't understand why he hasn't at least asked what's going on or even seems to care.

There's only another cracked sob through the phone before I hear some hushed talking and shuffling and Andy's fathers voice comes through the phone "Abby?"

He sounds far more composed, almost completely unaffected, just the same confident tone to his voice.

"David, Hi - sorry, please can you tell me what's going on?" I rush out, feeling more stressed by the second.

The sound of Harry slamming his glass down against the bench startles me, and he presses his hands flat to the bench, hanging his head grinding his teeth.

Why is he acting like this?

More than anything I wish I could go over to him so I felt safe from the storm that feels like its crashing around me, but it's like he wants nothing to do with me.

"Margaret's a bit too upset to talk right now" he explains, but sounds irritated by what he says "We're at Frankston hospital, we got a call this morning that Andy was brought in last night"

Frankston? What the hell would Andy be doing there? He's never gone there before.

"What happened? Is he okay? Why is Margaret asking me about him doing drugs?" I start to pace in Harry's loungeroom, feeling like my stomach is in my mouth. I don't know how to make sense of my feelings, I never wanted to see Andy again after the other night but I never wanted anything awful to happen to him.