An Artist's Kiss [Dark Desires 4] (Siren Publishing Sensations)

by Suzy Shearer

  “I don’t care. Please, what about Gabriel?” she begged.

  She tried to roll the stool closer to him but the paramedic was in the way. She looked over his back, watching as the man with Gabriel examined his stomach. It frightened her to see Gabriel so white and unresponsive. Two more paramedics came in from a second ambulance. She watched as one man gave Gabriel oxygen and inserted a line into his arm while another worked on his stomach. There seemed so much blood and Isabella felt terrified for him. One paramedic hooked up an IV of some type of liquid while another injected something into the line. Their pace seemed frantic, desperate.

  The man working on Gabriel’s stomach lifted his head and said to the others, “We need to get him to hospital immediately now he’s stabilised.”

  She saw the look the paramedics exchanged and her heart plummeted.

  “Gabe! Gabe, wake up!” she pleaded desperately but he didn’t reply.

  One of the men left then came back with a stretcher. As they went to put Gabriel on it one of the paramedics shouted.

  “He’s coding!”

  Isabella screamed.

  Three of the paramedics began working on Gabriel while the fourth held her back. One was forcing air into his lungs while the other prepared an injection.

  “No. No. No.”

  Isabella kept repeating the word over and over again as the two men tried to save Gabriel’s life.

  He couldn’t die!

  She couldn’t exist without Gabriel. He was her whole life. He had made her live, showed what it was like to be loved. How could she live if he wasn’t in her world?

  It seemed like an eternity when they finally looked up and settled him on the stretcher with one man keeping pressure on the wound in his abdomen. Isabella burst into tears as they raced him out to the waiting ambulance. She looked up at the man treating her arm.

  “He’s going to be all right, isn’t he? Please. Please tell me he’s going to live.”

  “He’s in the best hands, Miss,” he said noncommittedly.

  That wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. She wanted him to tell her he’d be fine and would be waiting to see her once she arrived at the hospital. It felt like she was in a dream, a nightmare, nothing made sense and a terrible heavy feeling of impending doom hung over her.

  The paramedic who had helped the other two work on Gabriel returned with a stretcher and the two men got Isabella onto it. The brightness outside made her feel very woozy when they pushed her to the remaining ambulance. Sergeant Wales came over to her.

  “Miss Coburn. I’ll need a statement. I’ll come to the hospital later.”

  “Statement? What happened? Yes.”

  She knew how confused she sounded then she looked around. Surprisingly there were several police cars as well as the ambulance.

  “How come you arrived here when you did?”

  “Mister Milford rang us. He said he could hear you screaming and there was a strange car in the drive outside.”

  “Excuse me, we need to get her to hospital.”

  “I’ll see you there later, Miss Coburn. My men will be staying here. We need to collect evidence.”

  Isabella agreed distractedly and they sped off with one paramedic continuing to check the bleeding from her arm and head. She felt sure she was pale and now she was very frightened she was going to vomit. Trying hard to swallow and look reasonably okay, she spoke.

  “You helped with Gabriel. Is he going to be okay?”

  “I honestly couldn’t tell you, miss. That stab he took to his abdomen is rather deep and we don’t know what damage it’s done. Rest assured, the doctors will do everything they can to save him.”

  His voice sounded strange, as if it was coming from a long way away. She tried to ignore the sick feeling, knowing if she turned her head she would vomit and his words didn’t sound hopeful to Isabella. She tried to wipe away the tears.

  Grimacing with pain, she felt sweaty and pale. Moving her head made it ache. That last time Peter pushed her into the cupboard she’d banged her head very hard and she could feel the lump still growing under the skin of her eyebrow. She felt queasier by the second.

  “Are you all right, miss?”

  Somehow she managed to answer, “I’m okay.”

  The man stared hard at her.

  “Miss, are you okay? You’re very pale and clammy. Is your head aching? Best tell the truth, Miss.”

  “I feel sick and…”

  “You have a concussion.”

  “I don’t care, I just want to know about Gabriel,” she muttered angrily as she clamped her mouth shut and tried to stop herself from vomiting.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Isabella groaned painfully just as they reached the hospital and she was whisked inside. A doctor came over with a nurse beside him and he began examining her, pressing her cheek, her head and the large bump on her temple. By now she felt very ill, her stomach roiling. The nurse went to leave.

  “I‘m going to be sick,” she managed to gasp.

  She could feel herself begin to sweat even more and hoped she wouldn’t vomit before the nurse gave her something. She felt even more nauseous. The nurse quickly gave her a basin just in time then took her pulse when Isabella stopped vomiting. She gave Isabella a glass of water to rinse her mouth then left, giving Isabella a clean basin. The doctor looked over at her.

  “We need a CT scan.”

  He directed a nurse to arrange it while he looked at her arm. He probed and prodded painfully at the long cut.

  “This will need stitches, the muscles look undamaged as do the tendons. I won’t be long.”

  He left and a few minutes later came back and gave her a series of injections around the cut, telling her it would block the pain but not before she vomited again.

  “Give those a few minutes to work and then I’ll get you stitched. I’ve also given you something to help with the nausea and vomiting.”

  Holding her basin tightly she asked desperately, “Thanks, but what about Gabriel Milford, he came in the same time as me? He’s my partner. Can you tell me what’s happening?”

  “Sorry, I don’t know. Someone else would be looking after him. He’s not here in Emergency.”

  “Not here? Where would they have taken him,” she pleaded worriedly. “How can I find out?”

  “Just wait and I’ll see once I’ve done your arm.”

  “Thank you.”

  Fourteen stitches later Isabella watched as another nurse covered her arm with dressings then slipped it in a sling The doctor had instructed him to dress her head after saying it didn’t need stitching. Isabella was impatient to find out what was happening with Gabriel but instead was taken off to the CT scan. She was feeling weird and having trouble remembering exactly what happened. When she returned the bay she panicked, convinced Gabriel had died.

  “Where’s Gabriel! Please, please tell me,” she demanded hysterically, pleading with a nurse who came in to check her blood pressure.

  “Calm down. Is that the man who was stabbed in his stomach and hand?”

  “Yes, he’s my partner. Please, where is he?”

  “He went directly to surgery. The paramedics radioed ahead to have the theatre ready for when they arrived with him.”

  “No!” she cried. “He’s alive? Please tell me he’s alive.”

  The nurse pressed her down against the pillow as she tried to get up.

  “Please lay still. I don’t know much, all I know is he- was in a bad way. He’s being operated on now.”

  Isabella was forced to lie back down. Panicking was useless, she knew, but when she didn’t know what was happening her mind went into overdrive.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Awful. My head hurts.”

  “Headache?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you still feel like vomiting?”

  “No.” She begged again, “Can you please find out about Gabriel? Oh please.”

  A few minutes later the nurse came
back and injected something into Isabella’s IV line. Isabella burst into tears just as Sergeant Wales walked in. He spoke quietly with the nurse then sat down alongside Isabella’s bed and pulled out his notebook. Isabella wasn’t sure why she kept bursting into tears, she thought it must have something to do with her worry for Gabriel.

  “Miss Coburn, I know this is upsetting but I do need to get a statement from you. Can you tell me everything that happened?”

  “It’s all rather jumbled up,” she said distractedly.

  “That’s okay, just tell me what you can remember.”

  Isabella half-heartedly told him what had happened. She had an idea things were out of order but Sergeant Wales didn’t seem to mind. Feeling disorientated, she kept wondering what was happening to Gabriel. Just then the nurse she’d asked to find out about Gabriel came in with a plastic bag.

  “These are Mister Milford’s things, better they’re here than lying around.” The nurse put the bag on the cabinet beside the bed then said, “I’ve checked for you but he’s still in surgery.”

  Fearfully Isabella asked, “Is he going to make it?”

  “I honestly don’t know but he’d in the best hands.”

  “Thank you.”

  She patted Isabella’s arm as she said, “If I hear anything I promise I’ll let you know.”

  She left the bay and Sergeant Wales held out his notebook to Isabella.

  “Can you read and sign this please? Later I’ll get you to come down to the station so we can get all the paperwork out of the way.”

  “I don’t have my glasses, you’ll have to read it.”

  The sergeant read out what she’d told him then gave her his pen.

  “Think that’s what happened.”

  Isabella scrawled her name at the bottom of the report. It looked like a child had written it because even her eyes were hurting now. The sergeant left as the doctor who had fixed her arm came in.

  “Well, nothing’s broken. Fortunately there’s no bleeding in the brain. You do have a grade two concussion. That’s why you’ve been sick and why you have a bad headache. How long were you unconscious for? Do you remember?”

  “Not long. It only felt like a minute.”

  He nodded then said, “We’ll keep you under observation for the next few hours. I thought your nose may have been broken but it looks fine even though it’s badly swollen.”

  He asked her a pile of questions about what day it was and her name. She felt rather listless but managed to answer everything he asked.

  “Is there anyone we can contact?”

  “Yes, Erica Jones, no, it’s Erica Holland. Her number is…” Isabella tried to remember it but it was on her mobile. “I can’t remember it.”

  “If you tell me her address I’ll get one of the staff to look it up and ring her.”

  “Thank you, she’ll be at work—Modern Models in London will give you her direct number. Can you tell her Gabriel’s here, too, please?”

  “Right.”

  He left and Isabella lay back in the bed. She felt so weird and shut her eyes. The room had this odd habit of spinning every now and again. She must have fallen asleep despite her fears for Gabriel because the next thing she knew someone was telling her to wake up. A nurse shone a light in her eyes and asked her the same questions as earlier. She heard a laugh and turned her head carefully. Erica was sitting alongside the bed. When the nurse finished taken her obs Erica stood and kissed her cheek.

  “How are you, kiddo?”

  Isabella burst into tears.

  “Hey, sweetie, don’t cry. You’ll ruin your beautiful face. Mind you, it looks rather spectacular at the moment.”

  Between her sobs Isabella cried, “Gabriel’s hurt. He’s hurt bad. I don’t know if he’s going to live.”

  “The doctor who rang me told me you’d both been stabbed.” Erica tried to hold back a sob. “Oh Issie, I was so scared.”

  “Gabriel can’t die, Erica, he can’t. I won’t let him,” she cried desperately.

  “He’ll be okay. Ian has gone to try and find out about him. What happened?”

  “Peter. Peter tried to kill us both.”

  “Peter? But that makes no sense.”

  Isabella felt flustered with her mind still focused on Gabriel. Still she managed to tell Erica what she could remember.

  “Peter wanted money and when I wouldn’t give him any he stabbed me. Gabe…” Her voice choked as she whispered, “Gabe tried to stop him.”

  Erica sat on the edge of the bed and tried to comfort Isabella. The two women cried together until a nurse came in to take Isabella’s obs again. Ten minutes later a worried looking Ian came in. Isabella tried to sit up as he took her hand.

  “Lay down. He’s still in surgery. They couldn’t tell me much. All I know is the knife pierced his liver and he lost a lot of blood.” Ian looked pale.

  “Oh god, no!”

  She felt the blood drain from her face. Her Gabriel. He had to live!

  “Come on, Issie, he’ll be fine. He’s a fighter, you know that.”

  Ian tried to reassure her as he squeezed her fingers and forced her to lie back down. She saw the look he exchanged with Erica and knew he was very worried.

  Sinking back against the pillows, she heard Erica ask, “Are the police still at your house?”

  “I don’t know. The sergeant said they’d be there a while.” She lay quietly then sat up quickly, making her head throb and the room spin again. “Shit. The house is open and I don’t have my keys or anything.”

  “That’s okay. Ian spoke to the doctor. You’re here for at least a few more hours so we’ll go over and lock up, collect the keys then come back.”

  “Thank you.”

  A nurse came in with some paperwork.

  “Miss Coburn, we need some details. Can you fill this in or get one of your friends?”

  “Okay.”

  “I was told Mister Milford is your partner. Can you give me as many details on him as possible?”

  “Is he still in the operating room?” she asked fearfully.

  “Yes.”

  She nodded and the woman handed over the papers. Ian took the lot for Gabriel and Erica took Isabella’s. Between the three of them they managed to fill out most. Isabella signed her name and was happy to see it looked a little more legible that the one in the police notebook. Isabella pointed to the bag on the cabinet.

  “That’s got Gabriel’s stuff in it, everything’s covered in blood.”

  Ian took it and said, “I’ll pick up some clean stuff for him and we’ll bring it back.”

  Erica added, “I’ll get some clean clothes for you, Issie, you’re covered in blood, too.”

  Isabella looked down. The front of her pale green T-shirt was now a dirty rusty brown. It had been cut from the left sleeve to the shoulder on the side of the stab wound. She lifted the sheet and saw her jeans had large patches of blood on them as well.

  “Oh god, Mum and Dad!” She panicked.

  “What about them?”

  “We were supposed to meet them for late lunch. Oh hell. They’ll be so worried.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll ring them now. Where were you meeting them?” Erica asked.

  “That pub we usually go to on Sundays.”

  “That’s on the way so I’ll tell them we’ll meet them there then I’ll drive their car and Ian can drive your dad’s so they don’t panic.”

  Distressed she cried, “Thank you, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Erica kissed her.

  “We’ll be back soon. Anything else you need?”

  “No. Only Gabriel.”

  They both smiled at her as they left so she settled back down in the bed, wondering what was happening with Gabriel. No one she asked could tell her. Dozing on and off, she finally woke and sat, actually feeling a lot better. The ache in her head was now a dull throb although her arm was really painful. A woman came by and asked if she’d like a cup of tea.

  “I’m not
sure if I’m allowed to.”

  “That’s okay, dearie. They told me you could.”

  “Oh, in that case I’d love one.”

  She was given a tea and she tried to get comfortable on the bed. It stung her lip to drink but it tasted heavenly. A different nurse came in and checked her. She was able to answer everything easily.

  “How’s the head? Still feel sick?”

  “Just a dull headache and I don’t feel sick anymore.” She gave a little giggle. “And the room has finally stopped spinning.”

  “That’s excellent.”

  “My arm is really sore though and so is my face but not the headache.”

  “I don’t doubt you’re in pain. I’ll get you some more painkillers and you have to have some antibiotics as well.”

  “Is Gabriel, Mister Milford back from surgery?”

  “Not sure. He’ll go up on to the surgical ward rather than come down here.”

  “Oh no. How will I find out?”

  “I’ll ask when I get your meds.”

  “Thank you.”

  The woman took her blood pressure and temperature then left. In a few minutes she was back and injected some liquid into her IV, telling her it was a painkiller. She gave her an antibiotic injection as well. Isabella had finished her tea and was dozing when Erica returned.

  “Where’s Ian?”

  “We found out where Gabe is going so he’s gone up to his room to put some clean clothes in there for him.”

  “Is he out of surgery?”

  “I don’t know. Ian’s talking to someone about him. How are you feeling?”

  “Better. I think I can get out of here soon, just have to see the doctor again.”

  “Well, here are clean clothes for you to put on. Your mum and dad are safely back home. I’m glad we told them to stay at the pub, your dad was shaking. I doubt he could have driven. They send their love and I told them it didn’t make sense coming to the hospital because we don’t know when you’ll be released but it would be sometime tonight. Ian rang Gabe’s parents. I’ve locked the house, I’ve got your keys, also your mobile and wallet.”

  “Thanks.”