TouchStone for giving (The Story of Us Trilogy) (11 page)

colourless eyes and try to smile. He’s done all he can to save me.

“You’re so amazing Beth. You’re so brave. Hold on, help’s on the way.”

Seeing him so distraught makes my chest hurt. The pain in my back is nothing compared to that.

“Don’t worry Ayden.” I push back against the pounding and see his eyes closing, his hands covering

his face. He cannot endure my suffering. I feel the trickle of tears on my cheeks, not out of self-pity or

pain but because of the irony of it all. I’ve been waiting for the bubble to burst for so long and tonight

it’s doing just that in spectacular fashion. Is this the night when I die – or worse?

And then … around the fingers of Ayden’s left hand I notice my lock of hair. “I see you holding

me, keeping me safe. I can do this Ayden. I won’t let him in.”

He’s lifting it up so I can see it clearly. “I won’t let you go. I’ll never let you go.”

I believe him. There is silence.

“What’s happening?”

The still air chills the room. He is waiting for me to speak. I tip my head to listen. “I can hear

voices, men’s voices.”

He is alarmed and so am I. “Voices! Get away from the door Beth!” I jump up and back away,

lifting my laptop so Ayden and I are face to face. “
Jay, get Lester there now! There’s more than one of

them.”

I pace slowly backwards towards the window, blood solidifying in my veins. The sound of breaking

glass behind me has me screaming like a demented creature caught in a trap. I drop the laptop and fall

to the floor. My trembling knees are folded into my chest. I’m making myself invisible, the way I

have been for the past seven years.

Now the curtains are shifting. I witness a blood stained hand reaching out for me; crimson fingers

clutching, clawing.

I open my mouth but no words come out. I hear Ayden calling me, screaming out my name over

and over. I reach across to my laptop and see his ravaged face.

“For fuck’s sake, Beth! What just happened? Are you okay?” His breathing is laboured and his eyes

are wild with terror.

“He’s broken the bedroom window!” I cry, screwing up my eyes to escape the nightmare.

Voices on one side and a bloody hand on the other: it’s too much. I wrap my arms around my knees,

bury my head in them and rock back and forth. There is no escape.

“He can’t get you Beth. He can’t get you baby. You’re safe.”

I catch his words but they have little effect.

“Speak to me. I need to hear your voice. I have to know you’re alright.”

I lift my head and look into those crystal green pools; even in this anguished state, he’s still the

most beautiful sight I could ever hope to see. He’s my saviour and the only man I will ever love. Our

eyes lock. “I’m here Ayden.”

He smiles and gives me an intensely intimate look. I mirror the look. We connect.

With the nightmare over, he visibly collapses and drags his hands through his hair until they rest on

his neck.

“Miss Parker …” Outside the bedroom door I hear Lester’s voice. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright,” I mutter, exhausted and unable to move.

“Can you lift out a couple of the drawers so we can push back?”

I pull myself up, holding onto the bed and drag out the top drawer, letting it fall clumsily onto the

bed. I do the same with the second drawer, feeling spears of pain lancing into my back.

“Go ahead, try it now.”

I watch as the door opens slowly and the drawers edge, inch by inch towards me. I was only two

drawers away from being caught. Observing just how close I came to being discovered does something

to me. I step backwards towards the window, away from the door. Is it really Lester? Only when I see

his face, can I exhale. He slides himself behind the drawers and pushes them to clear a path

through to me.

“Are you alright Miss Parker?”

I nod yes but it’s a lie. What’s happening to me? I’m shivering, trembling, cold to the touch and so,

so tired.

“Please sit down.” Gently he ushers me to the other side of the bed, dragging the blanket off the top

and wrapping it around me like an Arctic quilt. He picks up the laptop from the floor and looks into it.

“Let me see her,” Ayden commands.

In slow motion, I turn to face the screen and offer a weary smile. “Ayden ...”

“Beth ... you’re so brave. I love you baby.” He covers his trembling mouth with his hand.

Even in my jaded state I perceive his love for me; it glistens from his tear filled eyes, warming me

from the inside. My eyelids are heavy and my head is nodding. I cannot focus on him. Even though my

eyes are closed I hear every word.

“Lester,” he calls. “How does she look?”

“Pale Mr. Stone, but I think she’s okay.” I feel him lifting me onto the bed. “Wait!”

“What!”

“There’s blood! It’s all over the carpet and down her legs .”

“Is it Beth’s?”

I sense the panic in his voice but I cannot wake. My eyes will not open. I’m fading out of

consciousness.

“Yes! I’m sorry Mr. Stone. I had no idea ...”

“Then fucking deal with it. Call an ambulance. Fuck! Fuck! Do something ... I can’t lose her. Beth

… Beth! Wake up baby, wake up.”

The room is spinning.

I’m sitting on my mum’s knee … she’s singing a lullaby...

I’m playing gin rummy with my dad ...

I’m dancing, twirling on a terrace in Rome with the man of my dreams …

I have wings …

5

Familiar
fragrances and sounds bring me to consciousness.

Where am I?

Without even opening my eyes I know Ayden is here; call it a sixth sense. I manage a watery smile

and even that hurts. One at a time I engage my other senses: my ears pick up gentle, even breathing;

through eyes that refuse to focus, I make out shapes and shadows that are unfamiliar but reassuring

somehow. My mouth feels so dry I doubt I could speak. But that’s nothing compared to the dull ache

coming from my back and the barbs of pain spiking in the soles of my feet. What’s happened to me?

Snippets of information filter through to my memory; images, words …

Why is my head so muzzy? I feel like my brain has been wrapped in a thick, impenetrable blanket. I

try to turn left onto my back but there are pillows and, when I crush them, I realise they are a man-

made barricade between Ayden and me. Why! And when did he get back? Finding some strength in

my arms I try to sit up, but I’m dizzy and have to grip onto the sheets to steady myself.

Ayden is sleeping peacefully on top of the bed; he’s still wearing his suit pants and a white shirt

that is open to the collar bone. His shirt is creased and pulled roughly out of his waistband and his

tailored trousers are gathered at the knees.

Stuffing down the pillows I reach out to him and push his messy hair from his face. He wakes with

a start. I whisper softly, “Hi,” and rest my chin on the cotton barricade.

“Hi to you too.” He pushes down the pillows and kisses me softly on my parched mouth. “Am I

glad to see you?”

“Not half as glad as I am to see you.” I smile as broadly as my cracked lips will allow. “What time

is it?”

“It’s three o’clock.”

“In the morning!”

“No, in the afternoon. You’ve slept nearly ten hours straight.” He sits up and yawns noisily. “The

doctor gave you a sedative. I wanted to be here when you woke up.” He leans over and brushes back

my unruly hair.

I lean into his hand. “And so you are.”

“And so I am.”

I try to pull away the pillows between us but the pain in my back causes me to wince.

“I’ll get them. Keep still.” He drags one away, allowing our arms to touch.

“Why are they here? Were you afraid I might sneak up on you?” I flutter my eyelashes.

He sniggers. “The doctor put them there to stop you from rolling onto your back.” He brushes his

fingers along my arm. “My little genie has got some nasty bruises.” I watch his face reshape and form

into a sympathetic frown. “That was a close call Beth. I don’t want you to ever have to go through

anything like that again. I can’t afford to lose you.” The anguish in his voice is perceptible. “You’re

irreplaceable.”

“It’s okay Ayden. I’m alright now. You saved me.”

He is shaking his head. “No. I didn’t. It was my fault the security wasn’t on duty. I left early, I was

more concerned about the fucking merger and I forgot to tell the guys to cover you on Sunday night. I

fucked up Beth.” His guilt ridden eyes lock into mine with more emotion than I can handle right now.

I try to speak but he looks away and cannot hear my words.

“You see, I was planning on staying with you and flying out this morning. I wanted us to have the

weekend together, you know, after Rome.” I nod and continue to offer a patient ear. “How could I have

missed that …?”

“Ayden, I made you leave early, remember?” I try to lean over to wrap my hand around his face but

the feeling of tightness and discomfort in my back prevents me. “Remember, you had a bolt put on my

bedroom door and the bars on the window. Those things saved me Ayden.”

“Don’t Beth. Don’t let me off so lightly. I deserve to feel bad about this. Look at you. You’re

bruised and bandaged.” With his hand on his neck in that visible display of anxiety I’ve come to

recognise, he inspects my body from top to toe. “Fuck! Look at you!”

“Calm down. You feel like you’ve let me down, I get it. But you’re wrong, you haven’t. This is
my

past, it’s come back to haunt
me.
I knew it would one day.” I offer a smile of resignation but it’s not

enough to banish his guilt.

“He wouldn’t have found you if I hadn’t been so eager to show you off. For all those years you were

safe and then I come along and … this!” As if embracing a small child, he softly wraps his arms

around me, keeping clear of my back, resting his hands in my hair. “If anything had happened to you

…” Harrowing notions cause a mask of pure anguish to obscure his beautiful features. He is a man

tormented by dark thoughts of what
could
have been.

“It didn’t and it won’t. I’ll heal.”

“I want you to stay here until you’re well, so I can take care of you.”

I smile inside and out at the prospect of being waited on hand and foot by this gorgeous man. “Have

you any nursing experience?” I enquire playfully.

“No but I’m a fast learner.” In that simple declaration, all shame and fear begins to dissipate. The

muted hues of green begin to fade as that wondrous sparkle returns.

“You do know that you’ll have to attend to my
every
need?” I purposely put my thumb nail to my

mouth, faking innocence, waiting for the reaction. I’m not disappointed. He takes a lingering look that

has me forgetting all about bandages and bruises; I see the sizzling intensity of his stare and it occurs

to me I have not touched him, I mean really touched him for two whole days.

He’s tutting. “Are you going to be a difficult patient?”

“Not difficult but very demanding.” I lick my lips.

“In that case I think I might contact the doctor and have him increase your medication. You’ll be

less trouble, sedated.”

I fake surprise. “I thought you liked trouble?”

“Oh, as a rule I do but I think your body has been through enough. The last thing you need right

now is any …” He stops to consider his next word. “ … exercise.”

He means sex - I hope he means sex. There’s no way we can simply lie here together and do

nothing. “I can do without the exercise, it’s sex I want.” I lean in so close our noses are touching.

“Hot, wet, gentle sex with you. That’s the best medicine.”

So what do you make of that Mr. Stone?

I do believe he is lost for words. “And, as my back is sore, I’ll have to be on top.” Just saying the

words makes me needy and ready.

Pain, what pain?

“Like I said, I knew you’d be a difficult patient but, you do have me at a disadvantage …”

“I do?”

“Yes. I still feel like shit for leaving you unprotected.”

Not that again!

I decide to put him out of his misery. “Then, I’ll have to think of a suitable punishment won’t I?” I

raise my brows to signal the start of our game.

He is more than happy to play along. “I’ll accept whatever punishment you think is appropriate

Elizabeth.”

I’m happy to report his eyes have turned into my favourite colour, midnight blue. I can even see

stars flickering and sparkling behind those rings of teal green. “I’ve never had to carry out punishment

sex …”

“You’ve been on the receiving end of it though, remember?”

I shake my head. “No. I have a bad case of retrograde amnesia.”

“Oh, really? I’m glad about that.” He’s holding back on a grateful smile.

“I’m not very experienced in the punishment department, so I’ll have to improvise.” He has no idea

what I’m about to say and is content to stroke my hair adoringly. I remember his words and prepare to

replay them. “Now this is what we’re going to do. You’re going to get me a glass of water and get

naked.”

With happy obedience, he rolls off the bed and starts to unbutton his shirt. It lands on the floor a