“The girl, she’s inside. Drunk. She’s only 15.”
Alan watched the brother and sister stare at one another. Blaine handed him the phone. He hit a speed dial.
“I need a taxi to Toronto Western Hospital at 22 Wales Avenue, at Augusta,” he said. He hung up. “Go out front,” he told Natalie. “Get a towel for your face on your way.”
“Andrew—” she said.
“I’ll call the cops,” he said. “I’ll tell them where to find you.”
It was as she turned to go that Krishna made a lunge for the hammer. Billy was already kicking it out of the way, and Link, thrown from his chest, got up on one knee and punched him hard in the kidneys, and he went back down. Natalie was crying again.
“Go,” Alan said, gently. “We’ll be okay.”
She went.
Link’s chest heaved. “I think you need to go to the hospital too, Link,” Alan said. The injured knee was already so swollen that it was visible, like a volleyball, beneath his baggy trousers.
“No,” Link said. “I wait here.”