The Storm Without: A Doug Michie Novella by Tony Black

Author:Tony Black [Black, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General, Thrillers, Suspense
ISBN: 9781908688231
Google: 3sucAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Blasted Heath, Limited
Published: 2012-01-01T11:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

I'd read about amputees who still felt fingers and limbs itch from time to time. As I stood with my injured hand raised to my eyes I longed for some relief from what felt like an ant infestation below the plaster cast. The itching had started the second I left the hospital and hadn't let up. I shook my head, tried to turn my thoughts towards other things. It was a trial, but I just about managed it as the bus pulled up and I stepped on. The road back to Ayr was wet, pot-hole scarred, and the bus full of disgruntled, weather-weary punters. The windows steamed as the moisture rose from coats and hats. I wiped a porthole in the condensation with the sleeve of my uninjured arm and stared out at the dreich Ayrshire fields.

'Cheer up, son. Och, you've never died a winter yet!' It was an old woman in a raincoat, wispy-white hair hung beneath a woollen beret she wore at too jaunty an angle. She looked like an escapee from The Muppets.

I smiled, tried not to encourage her. I knew the type; if I engaged her I'd be forced to endure yakking about the grandweans or the price of fish. I couldn't face it. I turned back to the window and my gloom. I was watching the litter blowing by as my mobile phone started to ring.

'Hello …'

'So, you're going ahead with this then?' It was Lyn.

'I don't see what choice I've got.'

Her voice climbed. 'You could follow the doctor's orders and stay in hospital.'

I didn't want to go through this again — I had fended off Lyn's insistence that I stay in the ward once already. 'We've been through this … I'm fine.'

'Doug, you have a broken hand and a head injury.'

I felt the bus hit another pot-hole. I jolted in my seat. 'Look, I have things to do. You know that.'

'It can wait.'

I felt my chest tighten, impatience biting. 'No, Lyn, it can't. Who's going to tackle this if I stay in hospital?'

'But …'

'No buts. That's what they want, Lyn … me in hiding. The whole idea was to scare me off. There's a plan in place for your son to take a fall and I don't see anyone else doing a thing about it.' When I stopped ranting I realised how harsh I must have sounded, 'I'm sorry. I don't mean to lecture you, but this is the way it has to be.'

Lyn spoke. 'I just don't want you to get hurt.'

I looked at my hand in plaster, shook my head. I knew it was too late for that. I also knew the next step was much worse than a broken hand. 'Don't you worry about me, Lyn.'

'But, I do.'

I felt a pulse in my temple start to accelerate, 'I have to go, Lyn. We'll speak soon.'

I heard her say goodbye and I hung up.

When I stepped off the bus I took a walk towards Burns Statue Square. The top of the town was faring so much better than the other end.

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