New Story - With new ideas and directions to hand. I'm writing this and posting it straight onto Steemit - You can not get more exclusive than that! 39

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Please remember this story is being written and posted 'live' every day. I am writing today's episode and posting it here without benefit of a read-through, let alone an edit. I don't usually work this way and this experiment is exciting and different for me, not my normal work-ethic at all. To that end, please forgive me any typos, grammar errors and anything that you may think should have been picked up in an edit - it WILL be picked up in the edit.

I've already spoken with a publisher about getting this story published - possibly after Christmas, we'll see how it goes.

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Images from Google (licenced for reuse) and Pixabay*

“Jesus, he’s gone downhill since I last saw him,” Justin said.

Robin looked at Justin for a brief moment, nodded his agreement and followed Ash and the Junkie at a discrete distance.

Ash went up the stairs first, Nigel shambled along after her, looking at where he was putting his feet, careful of every step. Robin was put in mind that he could be following two decrepit old people, looking at the speed and agility they had between them.

He almost got a fit of the giggles when a phrase came, unbidden to his mind. ‘Don’t break a hip, you two!’

Ash paused at the top of the stairs. She looked back at Nigel following her for his fix and then her glance passed to Robin.

She shook her head to tell him she didn’t need his escort. She waited for Robin to give her the OK and then she turned the corner at the top of the stairs and the only view Robin had was Nigel’s painful ascent, head down, both hands on the walls of the staircase.

Robin heard, “Come on, fuckface, let’s get you sorted out and junked up.”

The junkie looked up only that once, at her words, then he lowered his head to see where he was putting his feet. He could have been a Victorian chimney sweep’s boy, clambering in slow-motion up one of the massive manor house chimneys.

Nigel made it to the top and paused to catch his breath. He looked down at Robin and scowled. The menace in that scowl was lost as he overbalanced a little and the shock and terror on his face was comical to see. Robin had to look away for fear of angering the unstable junkie.

Nigel took one last look down at Robin and shuffled off to the bathroom where Ash was waiting to give him his fix.

He heard Ash’s voice giving Nigel instructions and he couldn’t help himself. He crept up the stairs to hear what she was saying.

“Hold fucking still,” she said. “I can’t find a vein there, you stupid fucker, you’ve destroyed them all. Why don’t you learn how to stick yourself properly?”

A whining mumble from Nigel told Robin the fight was gone from the junkie and Ash seemed to have it all in hand.

Robin went downstairs to wait for Ash.

“Everything ok?” Justin asked.

Robin didn’t need to ask how he was, he could tell. Justin sat trembling. Not from cold, but from stress. He wasn’t as strong as he’d like to think he was and all this had started to take its toll.

Justin saw the concern on his face.

“Not long now, it’ll soon be done and dusted. That junkie scum and that nonce will both be out of our hair, at least for a while.”

Robin nodded.

Ash came back downstairs in time for Robin to make her a cuppa along with his own and Justin’s.

“Is he ok?” Justin asked.

Ash gave a humourless laugh. “He’s as ok as a junked-up waste of skin can be. He’s not doing too well. If his dad doesn’t get him some help quickly, his organs are gonna fail and he’s a dead man.”

“He seems worse than he did a few days ago,” Justin said.

“He’s worse than he was yesterday.” Ash nodded and took her cuppa from Robin. “If he’d been in this state yesterday, he’d never have been able to give me that kicking… or to… or…”

Suddenly she was sobbing. Her tea was taken from her by Robin and both hers and his cups were hurriedly put onto Justin’s table, spilling a little of Justin’s tea as he did so.

Ash collapsed onto the sofa, her legs tucked up, fists to her eyes. Robin took her in his arms and rocked her.

“He… he…” She couldn’t string two words together, let alone finish a sentence.

“Later, Ash. You can tell us later, when you’ve pulled yourself back together.” Robin spoke soothingly to her and rubbed her scratchy, bald head. She gave one giggle at the sound and sensation and hugged Robin tight.

Justin sat in his chair, unable to do anything but watch the two kids giving and receiving comfort. He veered from sympathy to fury with no way of resolving either emotion.

“Come on, kids. Work to do. Mike will be here very soon. We’ve got to get things sorted.

Ash peered out from Robin’s embrace and nodded. She pulled away from his arms and wiped her face with her sleeve.

Justin took in her features and his breath caught in his chest. Her eyes were the biggest, most forlorn things he’d ever seen and that image, of her face - her devastated, broken and ruined body - someone so frail and injured, yet so determined and strong. Willing to push herself further than he ever imagined even a toughened adult would be able to go, that image wrenched at his heart.

Ash went to the kitchen and splashed water on her face. She took two more painkillers though she knew she probably shouldn’t, and she went back to the living room with her ‘war face’ firmly in place.

She sat next to Robin and took her cup from him when he offered it. She sat sipping the warm liquid, not tasting it.

The phone on the table in front of Justin pinged once. They all looked at it. Robin and Ash looked at Justin, he stared at the phone. That was the signal. Mr Fitz-Stanley was ready and in place and Mike was on his way.

“Game on, kids.”