I suddenly remembered that Elle and Drew were getting married and tried to sit up. “Shit!” My right arm hurt like hell. I cried out in pain. “What’s wrong with my arm?” I looked down, and it was heavily bandaged from my hand to my elbow.
“Do you remember what happened, Lily?” What happened? The last thing I remembered was playing in a stadium and it was raining, then nothing after that.
“You were electrocuted. You’re lucky to be alive. You have a contact burn on your right hand and forearm. It happened when you started to play your guitar. One of the cables had a break in it and wasn’t fully insulated. The rain conducted the electricity when you played with the plectrum. An electrical surge entered your body on that side.
“I saw the whole thing, and it’s a sight I still see, every time I close my eyes.” I bunched my brows, confused at how he could have seen me when he was supposed to be in London.
“You’re wondering why I was there, aren’t you. I used my Christmas present from you to come and see you that night. I couldn’t stay away any longer. Sometimes things happen for a reason, and I guess I was supposed to be there.
“You were very lucky the stadium has its own medical team and defibrillator, so they were able to restart your heart quickly.” I could hardly believe what he was saying. I didn’t really remember that much about it.
“You’re not going to be playing your guitar for a while. The doctors said there should be a minimal amount of scaring, but you’re going to need intensive physical therapy on your arm, because the muscles and nerves were affected by the surge.”
I suddenly remembered about the XrAid guys. “Where is Lennon, Cody and the others?” I realized that I never heard their voices before I woke up. Alfie smiled and rubbed my hand.
“They’re playing alone, Lily. I’ve been keeping them updated on your progress, but they have a contract with Cobham Street, and they needed to finish the commitment they made to the tour.”
I felt awful that they had to go on without me, especially after seeing what had happened to me, but Alfie was right, the show must go on
There was one thing that was still gnawing at me. Alice. “I saw the pictures of you and Alice, Alfie.” He smirked and exhaled in a kind of snicker. “Yeah, that. You know she’s gay right?” I stared at him wondering why he let her sit on his lap, and he must have known how that would have affected me. As if he read my mind he started to explain.
“She was on my lap as a message Lily. No woman could come near me, she was protecting your position from the groupies and fans. I figured Rick would tell you about her so that you wouldn’t worry.” So Rick was right after all.
My parents arrived, and my dad hugged me tightly. “Hello sweetheart, you had us all scared for a while, guess you were waiting for Jack to show before you woke up.” Dad smiled his tender smile, full of love, and I could see the relief on his face.
“The doctor says that there are a few tests to make sure there are no gaps in your memory bank, and then we can take you home in a couple of days.”
As if the doctor had heard my dad, Dr. Scott came into the room. “Can everyone give us a few minutes, I just want to ask Lily some questions, and she is going to need to rest again afterwards. We don’t want her getting tired out.” He was right, I was drained and feeling a little overwhelmed at everything I’d learned since opening my eyes.
Alfie didn’t want to leave the room, insisting he could stay with me, but the doctor was firm, telling him that I would perform better without any distractions.
Seeing the torn look on Alfie’s face between wanting me to perform well and having to leave me here alone was painful. I shook my head. “Please, can he stay, I want him here.” The doctor hesitated, but when he saw I was becoming tearful, he agreed that Alfie could stay in the room, as long as he was not directly in my field of vision or touching me.
Alfie sat on a small leather couch that was over by the window, and the doctor then gave me the third degree about my memories both since I was a child and what happened immediately before the accident.
He was satisfied that my memory was intact and smiled at me. “We’ll just run one more MRI tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll be able to give you the all clear to go home.”
Alfie stood and walked over to me. He was smiling. “So,” he said, and the wicked glint in his eye told me he was going to be up to mischief. “You remember when you agreed to marry me the other day.” It wasn’t a question, more of statement.
I must have looked confused because he continued, “You’re not going to tell me you don’t remember. Maybe I should call the doctor back and tell him that you’re having gaps. He might need to keep you here a bit longer.”
He looked serious, but there was a hint of a smirk playing on his lips. He was teasing me. “You did. I do remember, and I believe I said no.” If he was going to play games with me, there was nothing in the rules that said I couldn’t play them back.
By then he was looking pissed, because his little ruse had backfired. I waited to see where he’d go with it next. “You did, but then we talked, and you confessed you could never live without me and agreed to be my bride.” It was my turn to smirk now. He recovered well from that one.
“Well I did agree, but only if you wore one of my thongs under your tuxedo.” Alfie’s eyes widened, and I could see the humor waiting to burst out of him, but he held his lips tight to prevent him from showing me what he was really feeling.
“I remember, and I agreed, but only if it was the black satin ones with the side bows and frilly mesh at the edges.” Alfie sat completely stern-faced, daring me to defy what he’d just told me. I wanted to giggle so badly, but I was tired again.
“We need to pick this up again later, I’m exhausted, and I think I need to nap again.” A worried look crept over Alfie’s face. “What’s wrong, Alfie?”
He looked a little unsure of himself, and I saw he was nervous. Alfie rarely gets nervous. In fact, the only time I’ve ever really seen him nervous was the first time we stayed together at Christmas after all our time apart.
He touched my cheek and gazed adoringly into my eyes. “I’m frightened, Lily.”
I bunched my brows. “What are you frightened about?”
Alfie stared at me with so much love and hurt in his eyes, and I was confused that he was feeling this way. I was fine. “I’m worried if you go to sleep you won’t wake up again.”
Lifting my good arm, I patted the bed, motioning Alfie to get in beside me. He didn’t need to be told twice. He climbed on and snuggled into my side, placing his arm across my waist.
He inhaled heavily. “God, I’ve missed this.” His voice was gruff, and he sounded as if he might cry; his vocal range changed several times as he tried to keep his emotions in check.
“Just lie with me, listen to my heartbeat, and hold my hand.” He did, and he must have been exhausted too, because he drifted off to sleep before I did.
Chapter 34 – Wedding Plans
Alfie moving away from me woke me. “Hey,” he cooed, and bent to press his soft lips against my forehead. “I didn’t mean to wake you, but I’m kind of relieved to see that you are.” His smile was wide, and he looked so disheveled.
I felt really sorry for everything I had put him through. This was my fault, I was the one who wanted to tour with Cobham Street, and so it was my own fault that I was in the hospital. If I had just stayed with him, none of this past week would have happened.
Jack arrived and I persuaded Alfie to go home and take a shower. He almost had a beard, and he must have felt so tired and drained after being here for the past eight days.
Alfie protested like crazy, but when I told him that he would be staying in a hotel in London instead of with me if he didn’t take care of himself, he reluctantly conceded that he could use a good bath, something to eat, and maybe a nap.
Jack pulled him into a man-hug
, and I saw Alfie’s body physically sag into Jack’s. “Take care of her until I get back.” His voice was raw with emotion. I wished I could have videoed the scene and kept it to show my kids in the future. “With my life,” Jack replied.
This honest-to-god rock star was hugging my best friend from my childhood, and my heart warmed to Alfie even more.
Who could have known that those two guys would become firm friends? Alfie got what Jack and I were to each other, and that Jack would never come between us unless Alfie wasn’t treating me right.
Alfie dipped his head and kissed my lips softly. His tongue barely grazed along my lips. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Kissing the end of my nose, he laid his forehead against mine, gazing longingly into my eyes. He inhaled sharply and pulled away.
“I love you so much, Lily,” he murmured.
“I love you too.” We smiled affectionately at each other, and Alfie backed away until his back hit the door.
Turning, he pulled the handle to make his way out, then turned back and winked at me before walking out, letting the door swing closed after him.
“Ack! Jesus, I’d tell you two to get a room, but you were already in one. That’s sick honey, staring all hot and sensual at each other, even when you’ve just come out of a coma.”
I swatted Jack’s arm. “Shut the fuck up, Jack.”
He chuckled. “Uh huh, damn, you’re defending him with his lusty, I- could- fuck- you- right- here- never- mind- you’ve- been- a –coma- for-a- week eyes? I giggled at Jack, who almost ran out of breath when he said it.
“Seriously, Lily, I am so relieved you’re okay. I couldn’t live without you, you know that, right? I nodded, because I felt the same way about Jack. He leaned in and hugged me, pouring all the love he had for me into it.
After persuading Jack to leave, I slept again. When I woke the oversized clock on the wall displayed 3:20am. Alfie was sitting on the chair to my left, his head resting on his arm on my bed. I hadn’t heard him come back, but felt bad that I was laid on the bed, and he was crouched over like that.
Running my fingers through his silky hair, I was rewarded with a soft moan escaping his throat. His head turned to the side so that I could see his beautiful face. Stroking his cheek produced a soft groan. His eyes fluttered open, and a slow, sleepy smile spread across his lips when his eyes met mine.
“Hey,” he cooed, as he sat up straightening his back and running his fingers through his hair.
“You want to come over here beside me, since you wouldn’t stay at home?” I smirked.
Alfie pulled his hoodie over his head, took his shoes off, and gently placed himself beside me then scooted down a bit, taking me in the crook of his arm, and snuggling me against him.
He inhaled deeply and kissed me softly on my head. “God, Lily, I desperately wanted to do this again with you, but I was beginning to waver a little, on my faith, that he’d give me another chance, to have this closeness with you.”
Pulling my head back so that I could see him, his face was serious. The sadness in his eyes almost tore me in two. If I had ever had any doubts that Alfie truly loved me, they were demolished when I saw how tormented he was at the thought he would never be able to hold me again.
Daylight streaming through the window woke me. Alfie was still beside me sound asleep, his arm firmly tucked around my waist. I could hear giggling and looked over in the direction of the door. There were some student nurses staring at us through the glass, as we lay together in my bed.
I heard one of the students say, “Damn, what I’d give to be in her shoes. I can’t imagine what it would feel like having someone like that drool over me and sit patiently waiting for me while I was in a coma. Most rock stars would have seen it as an ideal opportunity to get laid somewhere else and blame her for being unconscious at the time.”
Smiling, I glanced back down at my sexy- as- all- hell boyfriend. The girl was right. Most rock stars had problems being faithful, just from the temptation of what was offered night after night backstage.
After hearing tons of stories about guys that Alfie was in contact with, and some of the stuff I had seen with the groupies throwing themselves at guys like him, and even the guys in XrAid, I was lucky Alfie wasn’t like that.
He’d even told me that there had been a few times where some of the women had found their way into his hotel suite or show, one even managed to hide in the trunk of a limo one time.
After all we’d been through, and all we were to each other, I couldn’t believe that I was Alfie Black’s girl, or that he was finally mine. I swore to myself that I would do anything to keep it that way.
Stretching, I turned my butt to relieve the pain of laying in one position. Alfie’s grip immediately tightened on me. “Hey,” he cooed. “You okay, honey?”
I smiled down at him. “Don’t look now but you’ve got an audience.
His body tensed. “In a fucking hospital?” I nodded smirking, our faces were so close, our voices so soft together.
He smiled slowly. “Well honey, you know me, always the showman. He took his hand from around my waist and brushed some hair away from my forehead, tucking it behind my ear.
Moving to kiss me, I said, “Wait. I need to brush my teeth.”
Alfie smirked. “Lily with the stuff we’ve done in the past you think a little morning breath is going to stop me from kissing you?” He didn’t let me answer, just pushed his lips and pressed them firmly against mine. His tongue swept out, asking for entrance, then demanding it.
My lips parted, and his tongue brushed against mine. He groaned and exhaled raggedly. I moaned, and he pulled away. “Fuck, what time do I get you home?” he muttered into my neck.
I giggled and the girls at the door were still there, but were standing silently. We heard them sigh in unison. “Damn, how hot is that?”
We heard a commotion and the voice of the nurse from yesterday telling them to get away from the door. She was scolding and shooing them, and I could hear murmurs of apology.
The nurse, whose name I now knew as Angela, came into the room and walked over to us. “You need to get off the bed, Alfie. Dr. Scott is coming to discharge Lily after reviewing the latest MRI results.
“Let’s get you up and showered before he gets here.” Alfie smiled at me and turned to Angela, “Okay Angela. I’ll shower her, there’s really no need for you to stay as well.”
Angela’s eyes flicked to me then back to Alfie. “Actually, Alfie the way you were looking at Lily when I came through that door tells me I absolutely have to stay. Otherwise, Dr. Scott might be reviewing something he definitely won’t be expecting to.” She smirked at me, and I felt myself blush for the first time in a while.
Alfie chucked. “Damn, what is it with you females? Anyone would think we can’t care for our women without sex coming into the equation.” Alfie was met with silence and the deadpan faces of Angela and me.
He smirked but it turned into a chuckle as he threw his hands up in submission. “You can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?”
I giggled and blushed again. “Maybe you should go find some breakfast and come back in half an hour, Alfie.” He nodded, stretched out, placed a chaste kiss on the end of my nose, and made his way out of the room.
Angela shook her head and sighed. “You have no idea what I’d give for one night with a man like Alfie,” she swooned, looking wistfully at the door long after he’d gone.
I cleared my throat, and she smirked then looked sheepishly at me. “God, I said that out loud didn’t I?” Her face registering the shock she’d given herself. I giggled, and she relaxed. “Come on let’s get you clean so that we can throw you out of here and give this bed to someone who really needs it.”
When I was clean and looking fairly normal, I realized that my skin had lost a lot of its color, and I was looking slightly yellow instead of the healthy glow I
had built up over the past few years.
My arm still ached and was weak. There was no way I could have played my guitar. I couldn’t even hold a plastic beaker of water at this time.
Dr. Scott seemed pleased with me though. He told me that I might feel a bit tired for another week or so, but to listen to my body and just rest when I felt I needed to.
I wondered how I was going to rest when there was so much left to do for Elle’s wedding. This gave me the thought that maybe she’d changed her mind and didn’t want me there now. I hadn’t seen or heard from her since, but I’d worry about that when I got home.
Alfie had a car waiting for us when I left the hospital, and there were a lot of reporters. Alfie told me on the way down about the media frenzy there had been around what had happened. He told me that it wasn’t as bad as it would have been if it had happened in London or the USA.
We were still relatively unknown here in France. I kept forgetting that because we were in a private US hospital. Alfie was big news, and the fact that my accident happened in a French stadium, and I was still in France made me newsworthy apparently.
As soon as he wheeled me outside and stepped out of the hospital into the fresh air, there were a huge amount of flashbulbs going off. Photographers all fought for the best pictures of us to sell to the newspapers.
Alfie shielded me by pulling my face tightly into his chest, while Henry and Carl pushed them aside and helped us into the limo. I was worried for the photographers as they ran alongside the car, still flashing through the blacked-out windows beside us.
We drove to a private airstrip where a charter plane was waiting, courtesy of Rick, and within about twenty minutes of being on board we were in the air and on our way home to London. Alfie stated, “I guess I need to get us one of these.”
I was exhausted and fell asleep as we took off, and the next thing I knew, Alfie was stroking my cheek and smiling. Stretching I was suddenly reminded my arm was still sore, and flinched when I had extended it so much I jolted my damaged nerves. Alfie lifted my fingers and kissed them. “We’ll get you settled in the car, and I’ll find your pain relief pills for you.”
Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?... Page 28