A&E in Manchester Royal Infirmary was taking longer than I expected that I gave in to the scent of TCP infiltrating the hall.

"Come on!" I said while holding the damp towel wrapped around his wound firmly. "If you stop squirming, this'll be easy."

"It's bloody painful! How do you expect me to be still?" Abs hissed in pain, pressing the wound with the towel that was redden with blood. I'm a hemophobic so I get nauseated easily if I have direct eye contact with blood at a certain period of time, or in short I can pass out when I see blood.

"Who is he?" I asked while waiting for our turn to be called and to distract myself from the red stained towel.

Abs was reluctant to answer but I insisted once more.

"Nick Pholadi," he said finally. "He's the reason best friends don't exist but a bunch of fake friends do."

"Hey, watch your words, buddy" I replied in defense. "If you picked the wrong friend, you get douchebags like him. Fake friends don't drag you to MRI."

Abs cocked his head to the side and shrugged in agreement. "I guess you are right."

"What's with him?" I urged another question which he winced. It felt like peeling off layers of onion as I shoot out questions about Nick.

"Nick's parents and I were from Hazarajat, so we connected that way," he told his story. "We both grew up in Sunderland and we were not just as close as bros, we were compatible. But his dad was dealing with some organised crime syndicate. They didn't go by any names, their operation was incognito. Smuggling, killing people for sport, some folks at Hendon and Mowbray were living in fear.

"Me dad thought it was dangerous for me to be friends with him so he separated us. But things got worse, Nick and his dad stealing things from us, terrorising our homes, took me mom's gold wedding ring, some of me dad's prize possessions, you name it. When they had us ganged up, we left Sunderland and moved here to live with me uncle. His dad is still trading cokes and gunrunning, with Nick as his successor. Never thought he'd be here."

"That's some shit friend you have there," I gaped. "You didn't call up the fuzz? So you owe him some?"

"I took what's mine and he can say whatever he wants. I know I owe him nothing," he answered in contempt. "We did call the police, that's why we ended up here. The authorities had their fair share, if we exposed them, I'd be deported. Never knew 10 years' worth of brotherhood he could betray me."

I opened my mouth to counter but halted when the nurse at the reception called out Abs' name. She scanned across the room looking for a response, then I raised my hands in the air high enough for her to spot us. Then, I gestured at Abs nursing his injured arms next to me. I held Abs gently by his ribs but he later nudged me away indicating 'I got this', still holding his manly ego to the stand despite being in pain.

The nurse directed him towards the sliding door behind the counter. The door was partially open and I could see rows of cubicles, each covered with thick curtains.

"You could stay outside here with me, love," the nurse turned to me. "We'll return him to you once he's done."

"Oh," I blushed, realising that I was like a worried mother with a sick child. "I suppose you're right." I located a seat nearby and rested my bum on its hard padded surface.

"So, what's with him?" the nurse probed, trying to have a conversation with me.

"Got in a fight," I answered blankly. "Involving drunk dudes with sharp objects."

'Tell me about it," the nurse sighed. "There was a bloke who stabbed his pal at the back of a First Bus. That poor guy couldn't make it, though."

"Yeah, it was on the tabloid last week."

"Youcan't trust who you are with nowadays," she shook her head bitterly. "Anyways,your mate there. Have you seen that smolder? He is a total lush."