Page 87 of Light Up
Tal’s forehead wrinkled. “You could have put them in my case.”
“I might have. Though where I’d get expensive things like that, I have no idea.” Corey gave a choked laugh.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. It can’t be true. I can see that. I have a broken foot. I didn’t in the hotel. I had internal bleeding from a ruptured spleen. I’d have been in pain. We both had head injuries. Yours was bad. We wouldn’t have been able to do… Well…”Don’t go there.“Neither of us had any bruises when we were in the hotel, yet I have fading bruises all over me now. Except if it’s not true, how can we both remember the same things? Some of the same things.”
“Maybe we talked in the car to keep us awake. Made it all up.”
“Then how do you explain the paintings? The things from the crackers. We can’t have painted in the car. Do you remember the hot tub? The talent show? Me singing and playing the guitar?” So much for not telling him everything.
Tal shook his head.
“You did maths in your head and had a way to work out people’s birthdays. You asked me to help you and whispered to take 250 from the number they said.” Corey paused. “I told you stuff about me.”
“I want you to come with me. I don’t want you to spend Christmas here on your own.”
“The place is full.”
“Full of people you don’t know. Please.”
Corey desperately wanted to say yes but… “Why?”
“Because something’s not right and maybe we can figure it out together. We’ll go to my friends’ house. Stay there until they stop fussing over me. Then go to my house.”
“The friends that don’t like me.”
“You worry them. They don’t want me to be hurt.”
“If I give up my place here, I can’t come back. I have nowhere to live. No job.”
“Theft,” Tal blurted. “You were accused of theft. You didn’t do it. You left your job. Lost your bedsit.”
Corey nodded, hope surging. Talwasslowly remembering. It had all come at once for Corey but if Tal could remember the connection they had… Then there was a chance for them.
“Come with me. You saved my life and I want to help you. There’s an Uber waiting. Pack and come now.”
Corey had always been impulsive. Giving up the job without a fight, giving up his bedsit. The day he’d pushed Raj… But being impulsive wasn’t always a bad thing. He let out a ragged breath. He wanted to feel he’d thought about what Tal was suggesting, weighed it up, considered it, but his heart overrode every possible objection. “Yes.”
Tal’s face lit up and Corey fought hard not to cry.
“Are you crying?” Tal asked.
Shit.“No, I have a condition that makes my eyes leak when I really want to do something.”
Tal smiled.
There wasn’t much to pack. Within minutes, they were heading downstairs. Tal carrying everything.
At reception, he handed over his key. “I don’t need the room anymore, thank you.” He took out his bank card. “I’ll pay for the time I spent here.”
Tal pushed his hand away and put a lot of cash on the counter. “That will cover it. Accept the rest as a donation.”
Corey winced. “I can pay.”
“Please,” Tal said. “Let me.”
“Are you sure you want to leave, Corey?” the woman asked, looking at Tal, not him.
