The Couple's Revenge by Daniel Hurst

Author:Daniel Hurst [Hurst, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2024-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

GUY

Can there be anything more horrifying for a parent to see than their own child covered in blood? That’s precisely the sight that Sara and I are forced to lay our eyes on when Jacob eventually emerges from the bathroom and, when he does, nothing could have prepared me for the shock of what I’m witnessing.

Jacob’s features are covered in open wounds that are leaking onto the bathroom floor by his feet. His forehead, cheeks, neck and ears are bloodied, and there’s even some crimson in his hair. The front of his football jersey is splattered with red, while there’s blood on his hands, too, as he keeps wiping his face in a futile bid to clean himself up.

Only his legs seem to have avoided becoming bloodied, but they are not entirely unscathed because there are several patches of mud smeared across his knees just below his shorts, which also have mud on them. His trainers are just as muddy, but that’s not what is bothering us as he continues to stand there and make a mess on our floor.

The blood is clearly the most troubling part of this whole scene.

‘What the hell happened?’ I cry, hoping that this is all just some strange nightmare I’m having after I drank too much wine this afternoon with Sara. Maybe I’m still in bed now, having fallen asleep after drinking too much. That would be great because it would mean this isn’t actually happening after all.

The problem is, I feel very much awake.

‘Jacob!’ Sara shouts after he has failed to answer me, and despite the state of our son, she has no qualms about touching him and getting blood all over her own clothes too.

‘What is it? Where are you hurt?’ Sara says, trying to figure out from where exactly the blood is coming. But that’s the problem. It seems to be coming from everywhere.

‘Get off me,’ Jacob says, but his voice is quiet, and he’s not completely dismissive of his mother’s attention, because he doesn’t pull away and try to close the bathroom door again. If anything, he looks shell-shocked, and I can’t blame him.

He looks like he’s been in a war.

Has he?

‘What happened? Did you fall over?’ I try, simply guessing, but what else can I do?

Jacob doesn’t reply as Sara tentatively touches his face, her hands now just as red as her son’s.

‘Oh my gosh, you poor thing. We need to get you to the hospital,’ she says, but Jacob protests, pushing her hands away and telling us that he is fine. It’s an absurd thing to say given his appearance, but it’s made even more ridiculous by the fact that when he speaks, I can actually see one of his teeth wriggling in his gum.

I can’t imagine the pain that is causing him and I suddenly feel queasy, the sight of the loose tooth seemingly the final straw, but my desperation to find out exactly what happened overpowers any nausea I might be battling at present.

‘Jacob, tell us what happened.

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