The Piano Man

XXXVII. Fracture

"Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind." Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

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XXXVII. Fracture

Sophie's phone vibrated in her back pocket for the third time in a row, and she was finally able to answer it as she didn't have her hands full. It was after eleven on a Thursday, so it was quietening down.

Sophie pulled her phone from her back pocket, and she saw it was Beck calling her. She rolled her eyes so hard they might as well have been looking at her brain. Obviously, her lawyer's threat had gone in one ear and out the other.

"What?" she snapped, bringing her phone to her ear, before Olivia's reminder to play nice echoed in her ear.

"You sent him over to bribe me so that's equally bad!" Beck cried, the panic in his voice evident. She could also hear the alcohol in the way he slurred some of his words.

Sophie's blood immediately ran cold. She had never heard Beck sound frightened before. Cocky, smug, belligerent, definitely. But scared? What the hell was scaring him? And why the hell was he talking about bribery?

"Beck, what are you talking about?" Sophie demanded to know, her tone forceful and stern as she frowned deeply with worry.

"I called 999, okay? I did the right thing ... but you can't tell me that bribing is not worse because it is!" Beck didn't sound like he was convincing himself, but Sophie still had no idea what he was talking about. All she knew was that something terrible had happened and Beck was freaked out beyond anything.

"What did you do?" Sophie growled. "Why did you call 999?"

"Your boyfriend!" Beck cried in anguish. "He tried to bribe me, okay? That's bad, you know. If the judge knew, that's bad! But you know what I'm like, Soph," he stressed, "I mouthed off, wanted a bit of sparring, and he wouldn't come back at me, so I hit him."

Sophie fell into the bar, using the counter to support herself as she gasped. Pete immediately noticed Sophie's sudden reaction, and he raced over to her, placing a hand on her back.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I didn't mean to, Soph!" Beck promised. "I didn't think he'd go down like that!

Visions of Noah's lifeless body filled her head as she imagined the worst. She had seen enough security vision of brawls on the news to know what happened when a man threw a fist at another's head. Hell, she worked in a damn bar! Skull fractures, brain bleeds, concussions, and even death. Oh God, it couldn't happen to him!

Bribery or not, he had obviously gone to try and help her! And fucking Beck had thrown his fist at him!

"Where did they take him?" Sophie demanded to know.

"They said St Thomas' A&E," replied Beck, panting with panic. "I'm sorry, Soph! I didn't mean to! You've got to tell him that! When he wakes up, tell him that! You don't have to call the bobbies!"

And there was confirmation that Noah was unconscious. Sophie couldn't even comprehend what Beck was asking her to do. Sophie ended the call and looked at Pete with pure fear. "Beck's punched him!" she exclaimed. "He's unconscious, taken to A&E. I've got to go!"

"Oh, Jesus! Let me give you money for a cab!" Pete insisted. "Please." Pete ran to the till and pulled open the drawer, grabbing out two fifty-pound notes.

Sophie didn't have the clarity of mind to argue. All she could do was to grab the cash and run out the door into the street, not even bothering to grab her coat or her bag. She ran along Shaftsbury Avenue until she found a black cab, luckily only a few minutes later, wrenching open the door and throwing herself into the back.