Chapter 30

{After a couple of days in hospital Mark is finally discharged. With two broken ribs and a fuzzy head he's been advised to rest up for the next week or so. Yasmin has allowed him to stay at the Williams' household, but on one condition- Robbie is the one to look after him seeing as she doesn't want anything to do with Mark...not for a while anyway. For now Mark has taken to Eleanor's single bed whilst Robbie has the floor of the bedroom.}

Mark's POV

"Mark, what do you want to eat mate?" Robbie calls from the kitchen. It feels strange being in someone else's house whilst laying on their sofa as if it's my own. I haven't been back to mine and Gary's since the night i left, and the night i left was when part of me died. "Mark?" Robbie appears at the living room door frame peering his head around the partly open door. "What do you want cooking?"
"Oh...i'm ok... not really hungry."
"Come on...my cooking isn't that bad, right? How about something light...a sandwich?"
"Rob...honestly... eating is the last thing on my mind."
Brushing off a small smile followed by a worried look he perches onto the arm of the sofa, which i'm resting on. "You'll get worse... i'm worried about you Mark...whatever has happened... you wont loose me as a friend."
"I don't deserve you as a friend... i don't deserve anyone... Gary, you, our baby, Yasmin... non of you... i'm never going to forgive myself... and before you think it, i'm not feeling sorry for myself...i don't do that..." Gently Robbie shakes his head patting my bare kneecap.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Mark... you can't change the past, but you can change the future...just remember that." Leaving me with the though, Robbie stands up heading towards the door again. "I'm going to run you a bath, then i'm going to cook you something to eat so you can have your tablets." In a friendly way he smiles at me before leaving the room to run my bath.

My entire body aches, but mainly my heart. For the rest of my living days i'm going to question myself with 'why on earth did i ever sleep with her?!'. Carefully i sit up on the sofa which pretty much drains most of my energy. "Ow..." Quietly i wince whilst reaching for my crutches which lay on the coffee table in front of me. It pains me being away from Gary, we need to talk face to face to sort this all out... sorry will never cover it, but it will be a start... we have to sort this before our baby is born. Glancing around the living room something catches my eye- maybe the start of fixing our future? My breathing increases as i struggle over to the fireplace noticing Yasmin's mobile. She must of left it behind when leaving to go shopping with Eleanor. Hearing the water running in the bath upstairs i slide open the lock on the phone which brings up the menu. Instantly i click on the contact icon, before scrolling through the list of names until i reach what i'm looking for. The name sticks out to me like a sore thumb. Gaz Barlow. Pressing my eyes together i'm in two minds whether to press call or not. After a couple minutes of thinking it strikes me that this could be the only opportunity i have to call him, seeing as there's no chance he's going to accept my calls. Nervously i press call which starts to ring on loudspeaker.

It rings at least three or four times until a rustling sound appears on the other end of the phone. "...H...Hello...Yaz?" It sounds like Gary's taking the garbage out judging by the amount of noise he's making with the bags, maybe it's my belongings he's throwing away. "Yasmin? You there?" It feels like my heart has literally stopped beating by the sound of Gary's voice- the voice i haven't heard in a few days, which i use to hear 24 hours a day. Tears prick in my eyes feeling the coldness of one which manages to escape rolling down my cheek. "...Has Ellie stolen your phone again?" Gary laughs quietly slamming down the metal bin lid. "I'll give you a call back later i'm a bit busy at the moment-"
"G...G...Gary...w..wa..wait." The words tumble out of my mouth uncontrollable from panic. Silence fills the other end of the phone.
"Who is this?" A serious voice speaks now which causes my hands to shake.
"P...please...please...we...we...need...to talk...Gary i-" The phone goes dead. He's ended the call. "Hello?? Gary?! Gary no! Please...please...don't go...Gary..." Unable to hold them back any longer, the tears come flooding out of my eyes.
"Mark?!" Angrily someone shouts behind me. Quickly wiping the tears from my eyes with my sleeve i steadily turn around to find Yasmin standing at the door. Eleanor is sound asleep in her pushchair whilst anger fills Yasmin face, she's almost turning red with rage, as her eyes latch onto her phone which is gripped in my palm. "Was that Gary? Did you just call Gary?!"
"I...I...Y...yes... we need to talk...please understand..." The aches fill my legs now from standing up too long. I shouldn't even be moving fully by myself yet, never mind standing unattended.
"No! What you need is to leave Gary alone!" Walking over to me, she snatches her phone out of my hand. "And do you understand how heartbroken he is over what you have done?! He might be putting on a brave face, but it's easy to see through. It's killing him inside. He doesn't even seem like the same person anymore ,and that scares the life out of me knowing what he could be capable of doing whilst being alone. If anything...and i mean anything happens to him... You will be the entire blame for it...just leave us all alone."
-------------------------------------------------------
Robbie's POV

Once i've carefully helped Mark into the warm soapy bath, i sit at the side of it. "Now... is there anything you need... a drink? More bubbles?" You can barely see Mark through the amount of bubble bath i've put in for him. Not saying anything Mark shakes his head. "...Are you ok? You've gone awfully quiet... feeling tired? You look it." Sympathetically i stroke his forehead. There's no temperature so it doesn't seem like he's ill, but then again heartbreak is easy to cover up...trust me, i know...
"Rob...please stop fussing... i just want to be alone... to try and relax for a while." Forcing out a smile he strokes my hand causing himself even more pain.
"Ok ok... i know when i'm not wanted." Playfully i wink walking towards the bathroom door. "I'll be back soon you can watch a DVD in bed or something... and tonight i'll promise i won't snore."
"I really do appreciate everything...thank you."
"Anytime buddy...now relax." Exiting the bathroom i leave the door ajar, before skipping downstairs to the smells coming from the kitchen.

Yasmin stands at the cooker stirring a steaming pan whilst humming softly to herself. "Something smells nice." I walk into the kitchen placing my hand onto her shoulder, whilst having a quick nose of what she's cooking.
"Thanks." She shrugs off my hand, as she continues to stir. "...Hope you're both hungry."
"Starving." I pinch a piece of bread which sits on the worktop already buttered.
"How is he?" Still facing away from me she adds some herbs to the pot.
"For some reason... he's being quieter than usual, but i guess it's understandable, you know? It's hard for both of them."
"Yeah..."
Finishing off the slice of bread i notice that Yasmin also is acting different. "Everything ok...?"
"Er...yeah...of course...why wouldn't it be...?" Avoiding eye contact she walks over to the sink where she fills a glass with water. Walking over to her it's pretty obvious that something has happened between her and Mark whilst i was upstairs.
"Because you're acting different... and i know when you're hiding something."
"Shame i didn't know that with you..." Quietly she mumbles hinting at my affair which i mange to act like i didn't hear.
"Yasmin...tell me what happened."

Sighing deeply she turns around with her arms folded. "I caught him on the phone to Gary...my phone..."
"Oh...really? Did you hear what he said? Did Gary speak?"
"I don't know...probably not... but he shouldn't of done it... now is not the time..."
"And i'm guessing you didn't just ask for the phone back...am i right?"
Rolling her eyes she walks back to the cooker turning off the hob. "I just told him a few things...that's all."
"Go on...?" Rising my eyebrow i slouch against the work top studying her guilty looking face. Not answering my question she just shrugs her shoulders. "Yasmin. This is serious..what did you say to him?"
"Just that...he needs to leave Gary alone..."
"And...?"
"...And that...and that... if anything happens to Gary...then he's to blame for the entire thing...especially now Gary's living home alone...anything is possible."

My jaw drops open shocked at her for telling Mark such things. Mark also isn't in the right state of mind, and saying things like that could cause Mark to possibly harm himself too. "Are you kidding me Yasmin?! Gary isn't the only one who is capable of those things... Mark is in the wrong and i know that he wants to be punished by what he did."A worried expression forms on Yasmin's face by my comments. "What...What is it? Has he said something?" Again the room drops into a silent level.  Taking grips to her arms i look her in the eyes searching for answers. "Yasmin!"
"W...Where...where is Mark now...?"
"He's upstairs...having a ba-" That's when it hits me, what Yasmin's worrying about. Mark is alone in the bath with the only company of his thoughts.