32

Dom heard Adrian's first desperate scream as he planned how they were going to close in on the couple with the plain-clothed officers.

Ignoring the calls of the officers for him to come back, Dom raced into the gardens. He scanned rows of neatly trimmed, knee-high hedges, rose bushes and tall oak trees, looking for Adrian. He spotted them in the middle of a grassy square beside some rose bushes.

Jamie was on top of Adrian, his hands around Adrian's neck.

Dom saw two plain-clothed officers heading towards Adrian from the corner of his eyes.

As he reached the pair, he heard Adrian groan his name, before he saw Adrian's eyes roll back in his head.

Dom hauled Jamie off Adrian by the collar of his coat. His fist swung into Jamie's stomach before Jamie could twist to face him.

The smaller man groaned softly, but recovered quickly. His legs lifted to strike out at Dom, who grunted in pain when Jamie's booted foot connected with his knee.

He dropped the man, allowed the two plain-clothed officers to restrain him, and instead fell to his knees beside Adrian.

Jamie was still screaming at Adrian, and now at Dom as well, cursing and threatening, until the two officers hauled him away to their car and locked him safely inside.

Dom quickly scanned Adrian's body, cataloguing the several wounds on his slim torso.

Blood was leaking slowly from his abdomen, the wound already clogging with blood.

However, the wound in his chest was bleeding freely.

Dom's hands were red with Adrian's blood, bubbling beneath his fingers from the deep stab wound.

Leaning closer to listen, Dom realised air was leaking out with the blood. He pressed his hands harder against Adrian's chest, blocking the wound with his fingers, looking about for the ambulance.

Finally, it arrived.

Two paramedics leapt out and hurried over, carrying bandages, a stretcher, sticky tape, blankets, pillows and an IV drip. One quickly inserted the drip into Adrian's arm and squeezed the bag gently, re-hydrating Adrian.

The second began covering the wound with bandages and tape to stop the bleeding as best he could, before they gently eased Adrian onto the stretcher and carried him off to the ambulance.

Dom watched them go, still in shock.

They were almost at the doors of the van when he gathered his wits enough to start making his way over to them, only to be stopped by a young man in an apron.

"Sir? We've found some spare clothes for you. They're inside. Come with me, sir. We'll take you to the hospital afterwards."

The young man insistently tugged Dom towards the castle, and took him to the cloakroom beside the kitchen.

Seeing the big detective's still-blank look, the young man pushed him gently into the cloakroom and began stripping off Dom's shirt and jacket. He washed the blood from Dom's hands and torso, dried him, and re-dressed him in a plain white shirt and denim jacket.

"Thank you," Dom muttered, starting to leave his reverie, and feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

He saw two older police officers stood beside the front doors of the castle, waiting to take him to the hospital.

He thanked the young man again, and hurried over to them.

No words were spoken as they clambered into a police car and sped off towards the motorway.