If Sam needed me, I came. How could I leave my brother on the brink this time, while I lived it up on a mini break with my millionaire fiancé?
Nobody would do that!
Perry took another sip of coffee.
‘Give me a couple of minutes. I’ll call you back.’
‘What? Faith? No! What if he comes?’ I could barely understand him now.
‘Sit tight, you’ll be fine for a couple of minutes. I will call you back.’
I hung up, my guts rolling over.
‘Sam.’
Perry nodded his head, one sharp movement.
‘I’m going to call April, see when she can get back.’ I paused, made an effort to slow down. ‘I’m sorry. It won’t take more than a few minutes.’
April didn’t pick up. I wanted to call Gwynne, but with Perry standing there glowering, I didn’t think now was the time to reveal that particular secret.
I called Sam back and asked him for the number he’d been given for the psychiatric crisis team. He refused to give it to me, adamant he would be fine if I came. His problem was Kane, not his mental health.
I hung up, sinking into a yellow, flowery sofa near to the reception desk, my head in my hands.
Perry sat down beside me, leaning his elbows on his knees.
‘What’s happened?’
‘He thinks he saw someone from his past. Someone who threatened to hurt him.’
‘Is that likely?’
‘No. But it’s possible. And doesn’t really matter. If he thinks he saw him, that could be enough to tip him over the edge.’
‘Over what edge? If you stay here for one more day, what’s the worst that could happen?’
He takes a drink, and then a thousand more? He finds a dealer, and scores?
I straightened up. ‘Sam has tried to kill himself twice. That I know of.’
‘You’re saying that if you don’t go home, right now, Sam will attempt suicide?’
‘I don’t know. Would you take that risk?’ I pulled my phone out again. ‘Hang on a minute.’
Taking a few steps away, I called one more number.
‘Hello?’
‘Dylan? It’s Faith. I need your help.’
Thirty minutes later, while I was fretting in my hotel room, Dylan called back to say he was with Sam. He didn’t fudge the truth: my brother was in serious distress. But if he’d really seen Kane, who could blame him?
Perry knocked on my hotel room door a few minutes later.
‘Sam all sorted?’
I gaped at him. ‘Are you joking?’
