Invisible: An Alpha Company Military Romance

by Beth Abbott

  Instead of staying in his seat, Luke knelt by Ellen’s side, holding her hand to his lips.

  “Hey, baby?” Luke whispered. “Everything is going to be just fine now. We’ve got you in the ambulance and you’ll be in the hospital in no time at all. They’ll have you all patched up soon, and then we can get back home to London.”

  He swallowed hard to clear his throat.

  “You know my mum is going to want to take you shopping for that wedding dress! And Matt will have to bring Suzy down for the weekend, cos you know there’s no way she’s missing out on that gig.”

  “I’ll have to check with your dad what religion you guys are.” Luke mused. “You’re gonna want a church wedding aren’t you, and while we’re Church of England, I’m happy wherever you like. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” He kissed her palm, ignoring the tubes running fluid into her arm.

  “I’ll ask JT to be my best man, but the other guys will stand up for me too. Bet you’ll ask me to wear my uniform, huh?” He snorted. “Yeah, you know I look freaking hot in my Dress Blues!”

  Luke heard the paramedic chuckle behind him, and turned to look at him.

  “She’s your fiancé?” The paramedic asked.

  “Yeah.” Luke smiled sadly. “She is. Only she’s too stubborn to wake up so I can ask her properly.”

  The paramedic grinned at him.

  “The way you were talking, I thought it was a done deal.”

  “Oh, it’s a done deal all right!” Luke growled. “She’s my whole world, and she knows it. And I’m her forever. She told me so just this morning.”

  The paramedic nodded, leaning forward to adjust one of the monitors.

  “Well, you’re a lucky guy!” He said. “She’s a beauty. And a fighter. Two of the best qualities in my book.”

  Luke looked down at his beautiful Ellen.

  “Oh, she’s a whole lot more than that!”

  The ambulance pulled in after what had felt like an interminable amount of time.

  Within seconds, the ambulance doors flew open. From the relative silence of the journey, the sudden furore around them was deafening.

  Luke was pushed back as the medical team surrounded Ellen, and he followed behind as she was wheeled into the emergency room. He managed to make it in virtually un-noticed and stayed at the back of the room while they worked on her.

  He flinched when they cut her shirt off her, wanting to protest at all the eyes looking at her nakedness. But he stayed silent, knowing any sound from him could gain the attention of one of the staff, which could ultimately get him evicted from the treatment room.

  He watched the doctors work diligently and methodically, assessing the gunshot wounds, and cleaning up the dried blood.

  “Theatre is ready.” A senior nurse announced, sparking another round of activity. “Neuro are already there, and there’ll be a general surgeon there within half an hour to remove the shoulder bullet.”

  The senior doctor started issuing instructions.

  “Ok, pack her up for transport!” He barked. “Get the mobile monitors hooked up, make sure all the lines are clear and ready to go.”

  There was a flurry of activity around her, and then she was ready to go.

  Luke stepped forward to follow.

  “Who are you?” The doctor demanded, spotting Luke for the first time.

  “He’s the fiancé!” The paramedic stepped forward.

  “Ok.” The doctor sighed. “We’re sending her up for surgery to remove the bullet in her head. The bullet in her shoulder isn’t a major concern at the moment as although it’s bled a lot, it’s not touching anything vital. They’ll remove it once she’s stabilised.”

  “What about her head injury?” Luke asked.

  The doctor shook his head.

  “Unable to say at this time.” He replied. “The bullet entered through her temple, and has ended up at the back on the same side.” The doctor indicated the rough position of the bullet by pointing at his own skull, finishing up pointing to a spot about two inches behind his ear.

  “Without knowing the calibre of bullet, it’s not possible to tell you how significant the damage will be. All we can do is hope for the best.”

  Luke nodded.

  “Thank you!” He managed to choke out.

  “Are you coming?” The senior nurse called over to Luke.

  “Good luck!” The doctor said, patting him on the shoulder as he passed.

  Chapter 45 - Luke

  Luke stared at the door of the waiting room. He’d been sitting there for about four hours, and apart from the occasional visitor coming in to use the vending machine, nobody had been in to see him to give him any sort of update.

  He was as strung out as a heroin addict, desperate for his next fix.

  It was a good job he hadn’t been allowed to take his weapon with him to the hospital. He was so jumpy he’d probably have sprayed a shit load of bullets at anyone coming through the door!

  His heart leapt as the door opened and JT’s head came around the corner. It popped back out, and Luke heard him say, ‘He’s in here!’ to whoever was behind him.

  With that, JT, Matt and Danny barrelled into the room

  “Any news?” JT asked, taking the seat next to him.

  Luke repeated what the doctor had told him, but confessed that he didn’t have any more recent news.

  Matt stood up. “I’ll go see if I can get anyone to give us an update.”

  “Thanks man!” Luke was grateful. He didn’t think he could go and ask for it himself. If they told him there was no news, or worse, bad news, he knew he’d lose it. He was so close to having a technicolour freak out it was ridiculous.

  “Ellen’s dad came out of surgery half an hour ago.” JT informed him. “He lost a lot of blood, and they’re going to keep him sedated to allow his neck to heal, but he came through the surgery well and he’s expected to make a good recovery.”

  Luke nodded. He couldn’t bring himself to care very much. The only reason to care about anything at all, was currently in an operating theatre somewhere down the corridor. If she didn’t make it, David Lansing could go to hell!

  “How did it go with the police?” Luke asked. He knew at some point he’d be called on to make a statement, but so far they’d left him alone.

  “Quite well.” JT grinned. “I contacted our colleagues at the Met, and explained what had gone down. They’ve sent a whole squadron down by the look of it. They flew in the team that’s been working the George Drayton case, plus a whole team of armed protection officers. They landed a couple of hours ago. The detectives went straight out to the house to identify the shooters. The protection unit are here at the hospital guarding this floor and the ward where David Lansing is being treated. Both floors are on total lockdown, with limited access to non-hospital personnel.”

  “So, who were the shooters? Luke asked.

  JT smiled widely. “You’re gonna love this! Tweedle Dumb and Dumber from down the lane, were none other than Mickey Tanner and Jack Dunne. They’re well known to be Drayton’s henchmen. They’ve been with him for nearly thirty years, and are suspected in taking part in dozens of murders. That gives us a direct connection to Drayton, as they’d never make a move without his giving the orders.”

  “What about the other one?” Luke looked at JT. “The close shooter.” The one probably responsible for shooting Ellen.

  “Oh, that’s even better!” JT laughed. “Matt identified him first, as Gary, the barman from the restaurant.”

  Luke’s jaw dropped.

  “What?” He gasped. “That asshole tried to warn me away from Ellen! We thought he was a jealous stalker.”

  “Uh, that wouldn’t actually be far from the truth.” JT confirmed. “But he wasn’t stalking her to get into her pants. Or if he was that would have been a fringe benefit. Nuh-uh! Gary the barman is also better known as Gary Drayton, only son and heir of one George Drayton!”

  “What?” Luke was stunned. “But Ellen sa
id he started work in the restaurant just after she did, three and half years ago. That means he must have followed her up there immediately after Casey died.”

  “Yup!” JT nodded. “My guess is that they wanted to keep her under close surveillance until she reunited with her father.”

  “And we led them straight to him.” Luke hung his head. “And once again, Ellen ends up in the thick of it.”

  “I guess so.” JT’s voice had lost any of its former excitement.

  “On the bright side, I gave the Met guys the details of where David said he’d stored his evidence, and they were having it picked up a short while ago. They’re talking about having Georgie and the rest of his crew picked up and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, over Casey’s death and the shooting of Ellen and David Lansing. Added to the charges he’s already facing, that should give them enough to have him remanded without bail. Once David and Ellen are well enough to provide statements, they can add more charges as they go.”

  Luke nodded.

  “So did Georgie’s car ever ping on this side of the bridge?” He asked.

  JT hesitated, before blowing out a breath.

  “Yeah, it did. They followed him as far as the Services to the west of Cardiff, but our guy was keeping track of the car not the men, and we lost them about three hours ago. They must have switched cars as the one we were tracking is still at the Services.”

  Luke’s head shot up.

  “You mean he could be here at the hospital?” He jumped out of his seat.

  Danny shot up to catch Luke’s arm.

  “Hey man, it’s all cool!” He reassured Luke. “The police have all the details of the cars we know about and who he was travelling with. There are twenty-four armed police in the hospital whose only job is to protect Ellen and David. The Met are here, and South Wales police are all over the place. The only people who aren’t here are the press! Somehow, they’ve managed to enforce a complete media blackout on everything that happened today.”

  “Hmmm.” Luke tried to decide if there was enough security to protect Ellen. He wished he could get his gun back…

  With that thought, the door opened and Matt came back in with a female doctor in tow.

  “The lovely Doctor…. Williams…” Matt said, reading her name tag, “has some news for you!”

  Luke shot up and took two paces forward.

  The doctor held her hands up, as if to stop him.

  “Miss Thomas is still in surgery.” She began. “But they’ve managed to remove the bullet, and they’re working on clearing out any damaged tissue. There was a bit of an issue with her blood pressure early on, but that’s been stable for the last few hours, so things are looking better. The bullet in her shoulder has been removed and that’s all patched up now.”

  Luke nodded. That all sounded like good news, right?

  “They should be able to close within the next hour, so the surgeon will come out and give you a more up to date report, and a more accurate prognosis.”

  The doctor reached out and touched Luke’s arm, bringing him out of his trance.

  “She’s alive, Ok? After almost five hours of surgery, that’s absolutely huge! There’s no argument that her injuries were severe, but if she’s still stable after this length of time? That tells me that she’s fighting hard to get back to you.”

  Luke’s eyes were filled with tears.

  “Thank you!” He managed to choke out.

  “Will you be all right?” She asked him, her concern obvious.

  “We’ve got him.” JT reassured her.

  She nodded. “OK, I’ll get a nurse to bring something for you to change into. If your girl sees you looking like that, you’ll scare the crap out of her.”

  Luke looked down, surprised to see his shirt and jeans covered in dried blood. Ellen’s blood!

  “That would be great.” Matt flashed a smile at her again, as he led her from the room.

  Luke almost smirked. Damn the man had flirting down. It was a good job he only used it for a good cause or Suzy would have his balls in a vice!

  It was after eight in the evening when the Doctor finally came to tell Luke that Ellen had made it through surgery.

  He sagged at the news, and it took Danny and JT to hold him up.

  “She’s just being moved into the ICU at the moment. Once she’s settled you’ll be able to go in with her. Only you for the moment though, as we need to keep visiting in the ICU to a minimum. She’s in an induced coma for now, as we want to give her brain time to recover before we allow her to wake up. As long as the swelling starts to subside, we should be able to bring her out of it tomorrow. She was very lucky, you know. The bullet skimmed along the side of her brain. Had it penetrated any deeper, we could be looking at a totally different outcome.”

  Luke nodded and held out his hand. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “Good luck to you both.” The doctor replied, shaking his hand before moving towards the door.

  Luke breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time since he’d rounded the corner and seen Ellen lying on the floor, he had a glimmer of hope that she would come back to him.

  His head swam, and he felt the dizziness come over him. JT guided him to a chair and pushed his head down between his knees.

  “Easy does it.” JT murmured.

  Luke stayed like that for a minute, until he felt his equilibrium right itself. He sat up slowly.

  “Thanks for everything.” He said to his friends.

  “Yeah, whatever…” Danny responded, pulling his phone out of his pocket and playing with the keyboard.

  JT grinned at Luke. Yeah, they’d both seen the moisture in the tough guy’s eyes!

  Matt patted him on the shoulder.

  “I’ve got to ring Suzy and try and explain this shit-show to her. Wish me luck.” He blew out a long breath.

  “Tell her it’ll be a few days until Ellen’s allowed to have visitors. Maybe that’ll stop her getting on the first train!”

  “Yeah, and maybe I’ll just cancel her bloody credit cards before I ring!” Matt grinned. “Just thank your lucky stars she can’t drive!”

  As Matt left to ring Suzy, the nurse came in to collect him to take him to the ICU, and for the first time in hours, Luke felt calm.

  “I’m off to see my girl.” He told JT, who just grinned back at him.

  Chapter 46 - Luke

  When the nurse led him inside the ICU, Luke braced himself for what he’d find. They’d gowned him up before allowing him in, and he’d spritzed his hands with a disinfectant spray, following the instructions he was given to the letter.

  No way was he going near Ellen if he could spread any sort of infection that could harm her recovery.

  When they approached her bed, the nurse pointed to all the tubes and monitors.

  “Don’t pay too much attention to all of those.” She explained. “They’re essential to us to monitor Ellen’s condition, but they’re not actually doing anything to her. She has oxygen being fed to her through that tube, helping her to breathe, but apart from some medication to keep her asleep and pain free, we’re not doing too much at the moment. We may change that when we bring her out of the coma, but we’ll be letting you know what we’re doing, every step of the way.”

  Luke nodded, studying Ellen’s still form in the bed. Her head was wrapped tight in what looked like a turban.

  “I’m afraid they had to shave her head completely.” The nurse grimaced. “Will that upset her?”

  “I don’t think it will, too much.” Luke hoped he was right. “She was going to change her hair colour after Christmas anyway, so this will be a good way to start.”

  “Well, it will help if she’s got people to support her through it all.” The nurse smiled.

  “She’s got me.” Luke picked up Ellen’s hand gently. “And I don’t give a shit whether she’s got hair or not. Just as long as she wakes up!”

  The nurse pointed to a big chair next to the
bed. “You may as well make yourself comfortable.” She smiled sympathetically. “You could be in for a long stay.”

  Luke nodded and pulled the chair closer to the bed.

  It wasn’t exactly at the ideal height to hold her hand, but by turning it so that his back was to the room, Luke found he could thread his hand through the bars and hold Ellen’s hand firmly.

  It had the added benefit that he could look into her face, as the top of the bed had been raised so she was facing forward.

  For the first few hours, Luke repeatedly thought he’d felt her twitching or moving. After about the fifth time he had jumped up to check on her the staff nurse came back over to check her monitors.

  “She’s not going to wake up yet.” She smiled at Luke. “The drugs will make sure of that.”

  “But she keeps moving!” Luke whispered.

  “It’s probably muscle spasms.” She reassured him.” Nothing to worry about. Just like when you get a random muscle twitch.”

  Luke settled back down, and relaxed a bit more now he knew better what was going on.

  As soon as he was alone again with Ellen, he started talking to her.

  “So, right now, you have to have some sleep, honey.” He crooned. “The doc said you needed it to let your brain heal up a bit, and so you have to chill for a little while to let it get better.”

  He stroked the soft skin on the back of her hand.

  “And don’t worry about everyone else.” He went on. “Your dad is doing well. He had surgery to remove the bullets, but he’s on the mend now. By the time you’re fit and well, I’m sure he’ll be beating the door down to come and visit you.

  Oh, and Matt was going to ring Suzy a while ago. I bet she’s freaked out by now! He doesn’t want her to come down to the hospital yet, not while there are a few things unresolved, but you know the Spitfire. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be seeing her sooner rather than later, so you’d better get yourself well pretty quick, because you need to be out of ICU by the time she arrives or she’ll go bloody ape-shit!”

  Luke stood up to stretch, and used the opportunity to straighten the bedcovers and tweak her pillow.