Part 14
Wil sensed danger behind him and turned around, quickly stepping out of Belinda's way as she stabbed at him. As he was not there, she fell to the ground and as her face hit the pavement, she realised the mistake she almost made.
Leaving the knife on the ground in front of the Town Hall, Belinda stood up. She faced the road where Rove's body lay. Paul and Corinne were already at Rove's aid. Paul had been directing traffic around Rove's body while Corinne called for an ambulance. Belinda turned back around to face Wil, who still had a shocked expression on his face. Too much had just happened in such a small amount of time for his brain to register it all.
"I'm sorry." Belinda said, trying to apologise. "I'll say more as soon as I know Rove is all right - he needs you by his side."
These words triggered something in Wil's brain and finally he ran to Rove's side. He lay beside him on the road, a hand running through his hair. Wil forgot where he was and only thought about the man that he loved�he leant down and kissed Rove's lips in almost a sleeping beauty moment - only Rove did not awaken. Tears rolled down Wil's cheeks, he felt helpless. A few minutes later, sirens were heard and an ambulance turned the corner. Paul directed the driver to a safe spot to park and paramedics were on the scene immediately.
Rove's body was placed onto a stretcher and as the paramedics were about to roll him to the ambulance, Wil grabbed hold of Rove's hand. He didn't want to let him go.
"Can I ride beside him?" Wil asked one of the paramedics.
"Of course." He replied.
Wil followed the paramedics as they packed Rove's body into the ambulance. Wil then followed Rove's body and climbed up into the back along with one of the paramedics. The other paramedics closed up the back of the ambulance and drove off.
Paul and Corinne stayed back at the Town Hall to talk to Belinda, curious of why she had the knife.
"What the hell did you have to do that for?" Corinne screamed at her. "You could have killed two of my best friends!"
Belinda looked away in shame. She knew it was wrong and she felt guilty. She had no idea what had come over her. Why couldn't she have just accepted that Rove was gay and didn't love her any more? Why didn't she just break up with him when she first found out?
"Jealousy." Belinda finally answered.
Corinne just shook her head. She didn't know what to say to that but at least now she knew that Belinda knew about Wil and Rove.
"Well Belinda, we've sort of developed a friendship over the years you and Rove have been together, so I hope you don't mind me asking, what now?" Corinne asked.
"It's hard finding out that your boyfriend is gay." Belinda said, with a sigh to end her sentence. "I mean, I'd only suspected it since last night, before that I had no idea. Sure I saw Rove flirting with Wil while they rehearsed McManderson but I just thought that was part of the act. I feel terrible knowing that my shameful jealous fury could have just destroyed what they had together, knowing that if Rove dies, I am the one responsible for him never, ever, being able to love again."
Corinne wrapped her arms around Belinda and their eyes filled with tears. Paul was standing a few metres away, only picking up on the minor details of the conversation, then finally decided to step in.
"I think you're forgetting to realise that Rove is deeply in love with Wil. Nothing can stop them from being together, not even a tram." Paul commented.
Corinne and Belinda broke apart from their intimate hug and wiped away their tears.
"I suppose you're right." Belinda replied.
"Good - now we're going to the hospital to find them. You can come with us if you promise not to attack either of them again." Paul joked, though with a serious tone.
"I promise. I just want Rove to be happy." Belinda said.
Corinne and Paul turned to find Corinne's car, Belinda lagged behind so she could pick up the knife she'd left on the ground.
* * *
Wil held Rove's hand tightly in his own; there was no way he would let him go just yet. The paramedic in the back of the ambulance kept asking questions that Wil preferred not to listen to but accepted them as reasonable and answered them.
"So are you friend or family?"
"I guess you could say both, I feel like it sometimes, though I'm not blood related." Wil wasn't going to mention that he'd had sexual relations with Rove, it was none of the paramedic's business.
"What happened?"
"His ex-girlfriend chased him onto the street with a knife."
"Do you mind telling me why?"
"Well actually I do." And that's the last sentence that was spoken in the back of the ambulance that night.
On arrival at the hospital, more paramedics were on the scene. They aided Rove out of the ambulance and rushed him to the emergency ward - Wil ran to try to follow them but a doctor stopped him.
"Woah, slow down, you can't go in there." He said.
"But I have to�" Wil insisted.
"I'm not interested. You're not allowed in there, I'll let you know when you're allowed to see your friend. Please wait in one of these chairs." The doctor persisted, pointing to the chairs that lined the hallway.
Wil reluctantly followed the doctor's orders and sat down in a chair. The doctor kept a watchful eye on Wil as he left, making his way further down the hallway.
* * *
Wil sat in the chair for what seemed like days, just waiting for news from a doctor, any doctor, about Rove's condition. After he'd been there for about twenty minutes, Paul, Corinne and Belinda joined him.
He stood up when they arrived, and Paul wrapped his arms around Wil in a comforting hug. Wil felt fresh tears building and he quickly blinked them away, pulling away from Paul and forcing a smile. Corinne then hugged him as well and it was as he pulled away from her that he saw Belinda standing there just staring at him.
The four of them stood in silence, Belinda and Wil just staring at each other. Wil opened his mouth about to say something, but then just shook his head and sat back down in the chair with his head in his hands.
Belinda wanted to say something, part of her wanted to apologise for what had happened. But there was another part of her that still hated Wil for coming between her and Rove, and she knew that it was something she wasn't going to be able to accept anytime soon.
"Excuse me?"
All four of them looked up to see the doctor standing there. Wil quickly got to his feet.
"Is Rove okay?"
The doctor took a deep breath and then opened his mouth to speak.
part 15