Page 34 of Rat

Rory raised his eyebrows. “That high-pitched scream, was you?”

“Arsehole.” Ollie shoved him. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t go putting them in your arsehole for a start.”

“I hate you.”

“Look, they’re only maggots, and they’re by the window, right?”

“Even so, I couldn’t sleep last night, convinced I was going to get eaten by them. I swear, I could hear them moving around in their pot. I can’t—I can’t stay in there.”

“It’s simple, really… You give Teddy an ultimatum.”

“Yeah?”

Rory bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, took a second to compose himself, then spoke closer to Ollie’s ear.

“You tell him, Teddy, it’s me or the maggots.”

Ollie glared at him, and Rory couldn’t help but laugh. His side pinched, but it didn’t matter. Other inmates were looking, but he didn’t care. He felt lighter than he had in weeks.

Ollie’s lips twitched into a smile. “It’s not funny.”

“Kind of is,” Rory said, wiping his eyes.

“I genuinely don’t know what to do, and you’re being an arse.”

“If you can’t live with them, get rid of them.”

Ollie shuddered, then pretended to retch. “I can’t touch them…”

“Well, I’m not doing it. I’m still recovering, and I don’t fancy getting pummelled by Teddy.”

“Shit,” Ollie hissed, then he paused. “I guess I could tell one of the officers, get them to remove them.”

“You could.”

Ollie pushed off from the table. “Right.”

Rory chuckled under his breath and went back to reading his battered copy ofThe Fellowship of the Ringhe’d got from the library. He stopped when he saw a shadow on the table, someone looming behind him.

“I like your smile.”

It was Sebastian’s deep voice. Rory shivered. He didn’t know what to say in reply, and by the time he thought of something, a substandard ‘thanks’, Sebastian had gone.

Captain sat down at the table with a sigh. His white T-shirt was damp from sweat, and he was breathing hard.

Rory closed his book, then lifted his eyebrow. “You all right?”

“Fine.”

“Want me to get you some water?”

“No, I don’t want water.”

Rory frowned. He was bright red, panting harshly, and sweating in buckets. He definitely needed a drink.

Rory went to stand, but Captain slammed his fist on the table. Everyone close by looked over, including Sebastian, who stood up slowly and fixed Captain with a stern glare.

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