An Unexpected Gift

by Lily Zante

  Something about the vehicle that was parked silently on the road worried Daniel. Cars weren’t allowed to wait here because even this side road into Covent Garden was extremely busy. He had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up slowly. While Caitlin was trying to get off the phone from Kerrie, Daniel tried to remember what Caitlin had said about Carl. He had never seen Carl before and he tried to remember if she had mentioned that he was blond. Which might have explained why she had frozen in terror on the night of the attack when she first saw Daniel. The thought came to him as suddenly as he realised that there was a blond haired man sitting on the driver’s side of the maroon vehicle parked up on the side. He was sure it had turned into this road only after they had.

  He had barely put two and two together and they were just about to cross the road again, when the sudden revving of the engine sent alarm bells ringing in his head. There was a sudden surge of people who walked past obliterating his view for a split second and then he saw the car lunge towards them at rocket speed. He saw the angry glare of the bright headlights turned on high to blind him and heard the angry engine, loud and throbbing. With lightning reflexes, he shoved Caitlin quickly, throwing her out of the way.

  But not before the car clipped him on the side, just skimming past the right side of his hip. He felt a sharp, excruciating pain shoot down his right leg and then he buckled and fell onto the pavement.

  The first Caitlin heard or saw that anything was wrong was when Daniel roughly pushed her onto the pavement. For a split second she was completely dazed and confused. Her mobile phone went flying and a second later, Daniel collapsed on top of her, as a car careered past them at breakneck speed. There was a lot of screaming after that and as she turned to look at Daniel’s face, she saw that his eyes were closed. When she shook him, and tried to move his body off her, her hands were filled with blood. That was when she let out a scream so loud, so guttural and so stricken with fear, that everyone nearby stopped immediately in their tracks.

  She checked his pulse. He was still alive. “Daniel! Daniel! Wake up! Wake up!” she screamed out the words over and over again.

  A crowd had formed around them. Vaguely she saw a police officer approaching her and he quickly radioed for help. She remembered him telling her to stay still and not get up. She watched detached as he put Daniel in the recovery position.

  As a police officer shone a torch their way, she saw that the ground all around them was drenched with blood. Feeling weak, her gaze fell on the huge pool of blood that was slowly spreading out from beneath Daniel’s body. And that was when she started to shiver uncontrollably.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The pain in her wrist was nothing compared to the dread she felt when she came to.

  Her first thought was that she was back in hospital again.

  Her second thought was that Daniel was dead.

  She sat up in the cranked up hospital bed. A nurse nearby heard her and came over. “How are you feeling?” she asked tenderly.

  Ignoring her question completely Caitlin asked, “How’s Daniel. Is he alright? Can I see him?” All in one breath as if all were affirmative.

  The older woman placed her hand gently on Caitlin’s shoulder. Don’t tell me anything I don’t want to hear.

  “He had a very bad accident,” she began gently.

  I know, I was there.

  Caitlin looked at her steadfastly, not daring to blink in case she missed anything. Her heart was beating faster and she dared not breathe. “Tell me he’s going to be fine.”

  Just then DCI Osborn appeared at the nurse’s side. “He’s going to be fine, Caitlin. Just fine. I’ll take it from here nurse if you don’t mind.”

  The nurse nodded her head and turned away not before saying to Caitlin. “You’ve had a very bad fracture on your wrist and you need to rest up. You’ve had quite a shock this evening.” Turning to the officer she said, “Not too long please.”

  DCI Osborn beamed her his most loveliest smile.

  “Daniel, how is he?” asked Caitlin impatiently. She had a sinking feeling in her heart. Not now, please don’t let anything happen to him. Not after all we’ve been through to get to here.

  “He’s fine Caitlin. He’s alive. He’s got a badly broken leg and concussion. But he’ll live.”

  The immediate relief flooded over Caitlin’s face and she burst out crying.

  “There, there,” soothed DCI Osborn. This woman had been through a nasty couple of months. He wished there had been more that they could have done to protect her but thankfully nobody had been fatally injured.

  That brute was under lock and key and he felt sure they would be able to hold him until this particular case of hit and run and attempted murder got to trial.

  Caitlin wiped away her tears with her good hand. “I’ve called your parents and your flat mate,” said DCI Osborn, pausing long enough for Caitlin to acknowledge this as she dried her tears.

  “From witness statements it appears that Carl Summers drove the car into you but Daniel pushed you to safety. In doing so he ended up taking the brunt of the injury himself.”

  At this Caitlin burst out crying again.

  “Sorry,” she blurted, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the tissue he handed to her. “I want to see Daniel now please.”

  He helped her out of the bed and showed her to another part of the ward where Daniel was. He lay on his bed but was wide awake. His right leg was raised and covered in thick snow white plaster. He had dark shadows under his eyes but managed a weak smile when he saw Caitlin.

  “We’ve got to stop meeting like this” he said, and there was just the hint of a twinkle in his eyes.

  Caitlin looked down at him and placed a finger over his mouth, tracing his lips gently. “You’ve got to stop saving my life.”

  His expression grew soft at what she had said. “Thank goodness I was there,” he murmured quietly.

  DCI Osborn coughed behind Caitlin, more to announce this presence than to clear anything from his throat. He looked as though he wanted to say something. “I’m going to leave you two alone, goodness knows you’d want some peace and quiet now. But I’ll come by tomorrow to take a full statement from you both. Carl Summers has been charged with a hit and run offence. He’s going to go down for a very long time. Oh and one of my colleagues, Lyall Pritchard says hello.” DCI Osborn winked at Daniel.

  “Goodnight now.” He slipped out of the room as quietly as he had come in.

  “What was all that about?” asked Caitlin with interest.

  “Nothing too important,” said Daniel quietly. His laid his hand tenderly against her hand which was bandaged up and in a cast. “Ouch’” he said, “that must hurt,”

  “And yours doesn’t?” she laughed. They were both trying to make light of such a terrible situation. Neither of them wanted to talk about the actual hit and run or about Summers.

  “You don’t need to worry about Summers anymore Caitlin. He’ll have to do time for this. And whenever he does come out, Osborn and Lyall Pritchard will see to it that he never bothers you again.”

  She looked down at him and then sat on the edge of the bed, close to him. He was still holding her wrist gently.

  As if reading her mind, he said, “And whenever he does come out, he’ll have to get past me first.”

  “Are you always going to be around?”

  He gently brushed the tear that was sliding down her cheek. “I’ve been so far haven’t I?” She nodded in answer then leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. It was a slow, soft kiss and as she backed away, he placed his hand gently on her neck and moved her towards him again. He kissed her again, this time more passionately and she responded in kind, not wanting to stop.

  Moving back slowly, Caitlin let out a sigh. “So our first date didn’t work out so well. Let’s go somewhere else next time.” Daniel’s mouth lifted slightly at the corners before he replied, “No cars, no roads, no darkly lit quiet streets
at midnight.”

  She held his hand gently in hers, and propped her legs up onto the hospital bed beside him, before snuggling up against him, feeling safer and happier than she had in a long time.

  *** The End ***

  I hope you enjoyed this book.

  If you would like to, please feel free to leave a review Amazon.

  Thank you.

  Lily.

  Booklist

  Other books by Lily Zante:

  Love, Inc

  Lexi Stanning is a beautiful and intelligent secretarial temp who loves working in lots of different places. Not content with working for a boss, Lexi is also working on her side business where she is selling her own line of sexy lingerie.

  Wayne Blunt is an entrepreneur whose company WB Enterprises makes products for the building and construction industries. His company is doing very well and he wants to take it to the next level. When Wayne and Lexi first meet they are worlds apart. Young, intelligent and beautiful Lexi is used to working at sleek, corporate offices. When she is offered a stint at WB Enterprises, working for the rather ruggedly handsome and hard-working boss, she instantly regrets accepting this contract. Wayne takes one look at Lexi and in her Prada high heels and doesn't think she will last long at his company.

  However, the business of love leads these two people through a roller coaster ride of emotional highs and depressing lows. Will Wayne and Lexi ever get their business together? Find out in Love, Inc.

  http://www.amazon.com/Love-Inc-ebook/dp/B00AGXZDCQ

  The Proposal

  Nadine Stefano is a high flying career woman. She has no time for relationships and having been recently promoted at work, she wants to make a good impression with her boss. At her sister's hen party Nadine meets Ethan who is one of the performers. She finds herself attracted to him and they end up talking that first night.

  A few weeks later, the company Nadine works for are holding their annual convention at a luxury hotel away from home. Not having a date to take with her, and wanting to present the image of a settled and happy woman in a relationship, Nadine resorts to calling Ethan at the escort agency and asking him along. Theirs is a strong attraction, although there are various company politics and characters that stand in their way.

  Will their meeting lead to love, despite seemingly different career choices, or will Nadine dump Ethan in order to pursue her career goals?

  Find out in The Proposal.

  http://www.amazon.com/The-Proposal-ebook/dp/B00ARFOGQ2

  For more books by Lily Zante, or to find out about her latest novels, please connect with her at:

  www.LilyZante.com

  Email: lily@lilyzante.com

  Twitter: @LilyZanteBooks

  FB: http://www.facebook.com/lily.zante