Chapter Twenty Five

Kirstie sighed to herself and clenched her fists angrily as Ben refused to listen to her. Ever since the Truth or Dare he'd been almost constantly reminding her how unhappy he was that she hadn't told him about her past with Matt. He didn't seem to be able to accept that what had happened in her past was exactly that and nothing was going on between her and Matt now. Kirstie still couldn't get her head around the fact that someone as good looking and successful as him could be so insecure. He couldn't seem to get his head around the fact that Kirstie was still good friends with her first love.

"Ben, I've told you several times, that Matt and I are ancient history." Kirstie sighed when Ben eventually fell silent.

"If that's the case then how come the two of you are still close." Ben argued.

"People can be friends with their ex, it's not that unusual." she snapped, finally starting to lose her patience with him.

"Yeah well, I'm sure you'd be understanding if it was the other way around." he said sarcastically. Kirstie opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Maybe that's lover boy now!" Ben called after Kirstie as she walked towards the door.

"Do you have to be such an arse about it, nothing is going on!" she shouted back.

Kirstie opened the door, gasping to herself as Lee stood in front of her, gently cradling Chloe. Chloe lifted her head slightly, but she quickly slumped back into Lee's arms, feeling to weak to even raise her head. As Kirstie gazed at her pale features and dishevelled appearance, she could feel herself growing angry.

"What have you done to her?!" she rounded on Lee.

"I haven't done anything to her." he snapped defensively.

"She was stabbed in the Park a couple of nights ago." he added.

"Oh my god.' Kirstie whispered, gesturing for him to come in.

"Don't you watch the news?" Lee said shortly as he carefully carried Chloe inside. Kirstie remained silent, rolling her eyes to herself at his words. She'd been arguing with Ben almost constantly for the past couple of days, the last thing she wanted was to argue with Lee as well.

"So, you just happened to find her?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, her friend Danny found her, I heard about it on the news and went to make sure that she was okay." Lee explained.

"She looks awful." Ben piped up as him and Kirstie watched Lee gently place Chloe on the sofa. As soon as Lee set her down, her eyes bolted open and she attempted to sit up, crying out in pain as she did so.

"You need to keep still." Lee told her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. Kirstie frowned to herself as she saw Chloe visibly relax.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Chloe asked softly.

"No, I'll stay for a bit." he reassured her. Chloe nodded slowly and closed her eyes, bringing her arms up in front of her chest as she began to shiver.

"I'll fetch some blankets." Ben said quickly.

"Can she stay with you for a few days?" Lee asked Kirstie.

"Yeah of course she can." Kirstie said quietly, still a little confused as to why Lee suddenly seemed to care about her so much.

"I have everything from the hospital." he told her, quickly removing Chloe's backpack from his shoulder and pulling out a carrier bag.

"Okay, so she has pain relief and strong antibiotics to take. She's also on high dose iron tablets because she's anaemic. These are some sleeping tablets in case she can't settle, but hopefully she won't need them." Lee explained as he slowly pulled out the different items and placed them in front of Kirstie.

"These are spare dressings for the wound, we need to change it once a day. They said that we should clean it very carefully with hibiscrub but very dilute and just kind of wipe it gently." Lee continued. Kirstie nodded slowly, trying to take in all the information that he was telling her, but not quite able to process what was happening. Ben returned a few moments later and carefully placed a blanket over Chloe.

"Thank you." Chloe said quietly, smiling up at him as she took hold of the blanket and held it tightly.

"Other than that, she's not allowed to shower for a while, and she needs to eat little and often because if she bloats then it could compromise the stitches in the muscle layer." Lee told them quietly, his eyes fixed on Chloe. As he stood watching her shiver, he couldn't help but wish that he could curl up beside her and hold her in his arms, in a desperate attempt to provide her with some warmth.

"So, she had surgery then?" Ben asked, snapping Lee out of his thoughts. Lee nodded slowly.

"Why would anyone attack her?" Kirstie whispered sadly.

"It was a robbery." Lee said quietly. Ben sighed quietly and perched on the sofa beside her. Chloe quickly reached out to take his hand, desperately trying to find a way to feel safe.

"Chloe, you're freezing." Ben gasped when she took his hand.

"I'll make her a hot water bottle." Kirstie said, quickly walking into the kitchen. As soon as Kirstie walked away Lee quickly followed her.

"I need to speak to you about something." he said as soon as they were alone.

"What?" Kirstie said dismissively.

"She's going to hate me...but I think you need to know..." Lee started.

"She already hates you." Kirstie interrupted. Lee nodded slowly and sighed to himself.

"You can't let her leave here, she's been sleeping rough and we can't let her go back to the park, even when she's recovered." Lee explained, choosing not to rise to the bait.

"Oh my god." she whispered, suddenly feeling guilty that her friend had been struggling and she had no idea.

Ben watched Chloe closely as she tentatively sat up, biting her lip hard to keep herself from crying out in pain.

"Where's Lee?!" Chloe said quickly, sounding slightly panicked as she looked around and realised that he wasn't in the room.

"He's in the kitchen." Ben told her gently.

"Okay good." she whispered, resting her head against the back of the sofa.

"You look awful Chloe." he sighed, feeling really sorry for her. Even though he'd never been close to Chloe, he was still fond of her and didn't like seeing the grimace of pain that was constantly etched on her face.

"I'll be okay." she said quietly. Chloe reached down to her neck, feeling the need to hold her parents wedding rings, like she always did when she was upset or afraid. A lump rose in her throat when she suddenly remembered that she no longer had them anymore. She quickly wiped away the tears that were slowly rolling down her cheeks, hoping that Ben wouldn't notice.

Chloe glanced up as Lee and Kirstie walked back into the room. Kirstie silently bent down and gently placed the hot water bottle on Chloe's lap. Chloe smiled her thanks and placed her hands-on top of it, trying to warm them up.

"I should probably head home." Ben said, quickly standing up.

"I thought you were staying over." Kirstie frowned.

"There's not much point is there." Ben said dismissively.

"Do you have to be such a child." Kirstie said, rolling her eyes. Ben shook his head and quickly left the room, slamming the front door behind himself.

"Are you guys fighting?" Chloe asked, quickly wiping away the last of her tears.

"Yep, I'll tell you later." Kirstie said quickly, glancing awkwardly at Lee.

"I should probably go too; you need to get some rest." Lee said reluctantly. Chloe nodded slowly, her stomach sinking at the thought of him leaving her.

"Are you coming back?" she asked tentatively.

"I'll come back in the morning, I can change your dressing then, since I've been shown what to do?" Lee suggested, glancing at Kirstie for permission. Kirstie sighed quietly when she saw Chloe's face light up at the thought of Lee coming back tomorrow. Even though she didn't want Lee around, she couldn't deny her friend of the small shred of comfort that she needed. Kirstie nodded reluctantly.

Lee sighed sadly to himself as he watched Chloe curl her arms on the back of the sofa and gently rest her head against them, softly closing her eyes. She looked so innocent and vulnerable that he found himself longing to hold her in his arms. He couldn't help but notice that even in her injured state, she was still strikingly beautiful. He found himself wishing, not for the first time that he hadn't treated her so cruelly. Before he could stop himself, he slowly reached towards Chloe and gently tucked her hair behind her ear, making sure that it wasn't in her face.

"I'll come back first thing tomorrow." Lee said quietly, quickly walking away.