by E. S Hoy
“Why angel?” I unzipped him and slipped my hand inside to grasp him
“You want to get me naked in that pool don't you?” he slid my denim skirt up my legs and his fingers found me and slid inside he kissed me then and I relaxed against his fingers I giggled “I think we are going to be very happy here”
I could hardly contain myself that evening Morgan was packed and ready for his trip away, all the men were at the hotel bar with the girls ready for a quick drink altogether before we separate and our celebrations began. We planned on telling them all about the baby tonight to explain why I would be alcohol free, I couldn't wait to see Lorna's face, I was already hair up make up on and I had on my new little black dress that clung to all my new curves I slipped into my laboutin pumps turned round and saw that familiar look on Morgan's face
“Oh no Drake don't even think about it” needless to say he decided he wanted to see what the dress looked like back on the hanger and we were now running late
“It’s not my fault you are so hot!” I grimaced at him
“I am away from you tonight baby I needed to get my daily dose” I elbowed him as we entered the bar
“With you its hourly not daily” he laughed held my hand and we walked into the throng of our family and friends all waiting for hugs and kisses. There was one person I was desperate to see but I scanned our little group and couldn't see her, Uncle Luca and Theresa were there my aunt was as lovely as ever and we stood holding hands
“Carmella where is she?” she rolled her eyes at me
“Probably being held up by my future son in law Thomas!” I smiled sounded like she had the same problem as I did that was when I heard her shriek
“Elli!” I turned round and there she was my beautiful cousin, I had always looked up to her she had been my idol tall slim sexy, beautiful black hair which was at the moment cut into a sharp angular bob that suited her features perfectly. We dived onto each other hugging tightly and giggling, it was so emotional we had been inseparable all our lives and the five years apart had been torturous. We gradually became aware of all eyes being upon us, most looking tearful at our obvious closeness, particularly my aunt who was sniffing into a hanky Morgan was beaming at us I clasped his hand and drew him in
“Morgan meet my wonderful cousin Carmella” he hugged her and I could see her sizing him up for approval
“Delighted to meet you at last I have heard so much about you Carmella,” she smiled at him obviously won over by his looks and charm and the genuineness of his greeting
“Thomas?” Carmella turned to the very smart and dashing man behind her
“This is Elisa my best friend” I was moved by her reference to me
“Pleased to meet you Thomas” he kissed both cheeks then the two men greeted each other “Marcelli women hey, we must be brave!” they seemed to weigh the other up and decided to head to the bar and get a round in
“well that's them sorted Carmella and I linked arms as I introduced her to Rose who had flown in from Spain with Leo and Morgan's parents and of curse Olivia who looked the picture of health, Kate and lastly my gorgeous niece, we were off upstairs for a final dress try on before the party so Olivia was filling the others in on head dresses and bouquets. I looked around me and felt a real sense of belonging after being so lost for so long it felt strange to suddenly be surrounded by love, I drank it in Mrs Flint winked at me and I gave her a warm smile, she was an added bonus to my inner circle and had become a very good friend.
“Everyone can I have a moment” Morgan signalled me and I stood to join his side “as we are now going to go our separate ways we thought we would take a minute to firstly thank you for travelling from your respective countries to help us celebrate our wedding, as you all know we have had a rocky ride to get here with some real lows and some extreme highs you all know what they are, but we want to share with you some more good news that neither one of us expected, planned for or dreamt of and that is the news that Elisa is carrying our first child ” there were cheers shouts and crying all round (the crying from Lorna)
” its early days but so far she is fighting fit so we are optimistic. So Hen's I am entrusting my woman with you for 24 hours and if she is any less radiant than at this moment when I return, this stag will be doing some butting of heads” everyone laughed and once again I was surrounded by congratulations.
Chapter 20
This massage was exactly what I needed, we were all recovering from last night’s karaoke and were being pampered at the hotels spa, I was exhausted it was 2am before Carmella and I stopped gossiping and retired to bed, Kate Rose and Olivia hadn't been off the dance floor all night and of course I had to do a song or two on the microphone, funniest thing of all was Lorna and Margaret (Mrs Flint) doing the Elton and Kiki Dee duet “don't go breaking my heart”, it was so bad it was genius and we kept replaying it on our phones over breakfast to wind them up. First thing this morning my hair had endured the keratin straightening treatment and I had the ends trimmed off, because it had been curly for a long time and tied up I hadn't realised how long it had got so I was stunned to see it straight and hanging to my waist
“Elisa your hair is beautiful, it’s so glossy too Morgan is going to love it” Olivia had her eyebrows tinted and all of my bridesmaids (apart from Louisa) had gel nails applied, mine had little crystals embedded in them. Then I had my Brazilian wax ouch I had forgotten how bad that was, the men had been texting us periodically, they were heading back at 2pm so would be home for tea, we were planning on a big celebratory meal tonight, our chef had planned a special taster menu for us kindly avoiding shellfish and offal for my condition. Once we were all buffed and polished, rubbed and relaxed we all went back to our rooms to change for dinner, my outfit was in the staff quarters with Kate's so we got dressed together a jersey stretchy dress in grey for me and I noticed you could just make out a tiny bump now, I placed my hands on it and stared in the mirror, it was still such a novelty imagining my tiny blob growing inside me. Kate was smiling at me “you suit pregnancy Elisa, I hope Simon and I will be not far behind you, he is desperate to get married we are hoping to set a date for next May but I am so excited, Elisa did you ever believe things would work out so well for you after the year you have had?” I sat down next to her on the bed
“No Kate it still feels like it’s happening to someone else, I can't accept this is real “just then my phone vibrated
“Morgan he must be on the way back” Graham was driving him, his dad Luca and Antonio, Simon was driving Thomas, Tony, Leo and Sam.
“Hey Drake how’s it going?” I could hear laughter in the car so spirits were high
“Hey baby I've missed you, I am an hour away we are roaring down the A roads to avoid the M25 so we can be back for dinner, how has your day been?” I was about to tell him about my hair when I heard a loud bang down the phone
“Morgan? “there was a roaring sound then silence. My heart had stopped and I was just staring at the phone
“Elisa what is it what’s wrong?” She looked worried my face must have lost its colour “Elisa is it Morgan?” suddenly Kate’s phone started ringing
“Simon? What's going on Elisa was..what shit how,? go help but ring me as soon as you have news” I took in her words
“What is it Kate something happened to the car didn't it?” she looked terrified not wanting to talk to me, the door flew open and Carmella stood there
“quick to the bar now everyone is there Lorna has Harrison on the phone” I ran in a daze to where everyone was gathered around Lorna, she was crying, when she saw me she held her hand out to me I ran over heart pounding she was talking to someone in a trembling voice
“Is the ambulance there yet? You must tell me when they get him out” him? She must be talking about Morgan
“What is it Lorna what’s happened? “ Lorna covered the mouthpiece and swallowed back the tears
“there was a puncture and the car lost control and spun off the road, it hit a tree t
hen flipped onto the roof, Harrison, Antonio and Luca managed to crawl out of the back but Morgan was in the front with Graham and they can't get them out” my heart was racing so hard I was feeling dizzy “ the fire crew are cutting them out now and the air ambulance is on its way” she carried on talking to her husband in a low voice, we all stood there waiting for news, I could see relief on Sara's face that Antonio was okay and as she held on to Louisa she was silently crying, Theresa was saying a few hail Mary’s of thanks to God the good catholic that she was, I decided to start reciting my own and I started to pace around to calm myself down, this couldn't be happening I rubbed my tummy
“Blob needs you Morgan you better not leave me I can't do this without you” Carmella walked over and put her hand in mine, Kate took the other one, I wanted to shout at Lorna for information but I knew she would tell me as soon as she could. For what seemed like forever we stood waiting then the phone trilled again
“Harrison? “she nodded a few times looked at me then hastily looked away, shit this was bad “Spire Hospital? We are on our way send the others back here the girls are all in need of a cuddle, I will bring Olivia and Elisa” she hung up and we all waited for her to speak
“Graham is dead, he took the full impact and there was nothing they could do for him, Morgan is alive and being airlifted as we speak” I dropped like a stone Kate fell with me
“Elisa I'm here its ok “Lorna dashed to my side and they helped me back up
“We need to meet Harrison at the hospital” Morgan was alive, but Graham dead? How bad must Morgan be if Graham was killed?
“Elisa, Morgan appears to have suffered only a head injury, they don't know how bad it is until he has a CT scan, he is unconscious but no bones broken “ I nodded and Olivia took my arm, Lorna turned to Mrs Flint her new friend
“Margaret all these ladies have had a shock and when the men arrive they will be in shock too, make sure the bar is closed off to the public and keep everyone together, brandy's or tea on the house for as long as it takes, get extra security on reception as when news of this gets out the press will swoop, Carmella take care of Sara keep your phone on and we will keep you up to date with everything” Carmella and my aunt gave me a hug and we set off to get a cab to the hospital. The journey dragged and by the time we arrived in the neurology ward Morgan was already having a scan, there was no doctor to give us information yet so we were directed to the family room
“Olivia get Elisa a strong sweet tea, I don't like her colour” Olivia scooted off. I sat like a statue my new family either side of me, then Harrison walked in the room, he had been given a lift here by Simon as nobody else could fit in the air ambulance with Morgan, he looked pale dishevelled and his clothes were torn, he had a cut to his forehead but otherwise seemed fine Lorna threw herself on him immediately and burst in to tears Olivia soon joined the huddle. Me I just sat there wishing that was me greeting Morgan, Harrison knelt in front of me
“Elisa he is tough he will survive, the last thing he said as we were being thrown around in the car was dad tell her I will never leave her” tears were flowing freely down my face as he held my hands in his
“You are his anchor Elisa, you and that child you are carrying and if I know my son he will be doing everything he can to get back to you as soon as possible” I nodded through my tears. The Surgeon Mr Richborough came a couple of hours later to give us an update
“ Mr Drake has a severe contusion on his head and this has created a bleed in his brain, we needed to stop the bleeding first and in order for his brain to fully heal we needed to induce a coma” darkness swept into my vision
“Coma?” he nodded kindly
“he is in a recovery suite now attached to a ventilator, we are taking all the pressure off his brain to just allow it to concentrate on healing, you can sit with him if you like he will be able to hear you but he won't react in any way” I stood up but my legs were like jelly
“How long will he be like this? Will he have brain damage?” he put a hand out to steady me “ we will not have a prognosis until we take him off the ventilator and allow him to wake up by himself, he could be as good as new but we will not know until then, as for how long, we hope not too long but 72 hours is the minimum” he let go when he felt my balance restored “I will send a nurse to take you to him, and please Miss Marcelli don’t worry too much” he smiled at me and left us in the care of a nurse. When we walked into Morgan's room and I saw my beautiful man with all manner of tubes and wires poking out from him, it was just too much to take in and the combination of stress and lack of food meant one thing my legs gave way and I ended up on the floor.
“Elisa?” my body surged to the voice and I dragged my eyes open
“Morgan oh Morgan “I put my head on his bed and sobbed until my throat hurt.
The pattern of the following week was a blur I spent almost the entire time sat by his bed reading to him, chatting away telling him stories and I was joined by various people on a rota basis through the hours everyone was very worried about me they were trying to get me to eat more, sleep more and take some time out, but there was no way I wasn't going to be here when he woke up he was breathing for himself now he just needed to wake up in his own time. It was Sunday and yesterday should have been the happiest day of my life; instead I spent it here staring at my lover. The wedding had been cancelled and guests had returned to their respective countries, I promised to keep them all informed Carmella hated leaving me but they all had jobs and lives and they needed to get back to them. Graham’s funeral was Friday and the staff and Mrs Flint took care of the arrangements he had no family to speak of, he had become part of Morgan's and I knew how upset he was going to be, I said a few words at the service the only time I left his bed as I knew Morgan would want me too, Harrison paid for it all I think we did him proud. Morgan's parents along with Leo and Rose had stayed on to help run the hotel and obviously to take care of Morgan and their future grandchild but unfortunately Olivia had an art exhibition of her works so needed to fly home for a few days, she didn't want to leave me but promised to return as soon as she could. The days passed by nothing changed and by the following Wednesday I was beginning to feel a sense of loss like I was losing him I was alone in the room, his daily checks had been done. I was crying it was a desperate feeling I fumbled in my pocket for a tissue and pulled out a scrap of paper, it was our vows that we had written together my crying stopped as I stared at the crumpled up sheet of paper, sniffing loudly I took his hand in mine.
“Morgan from the day I met you I loved you”
“From the first time we kissed I belonged to you”... I felt a gentle twitch in his hand I gasped but carried on
“You saved me from a life of hiding and loneliness” the twitching became pressure I held back a sob
“You gave me my life back and taught me how to love and be loved” the pressure increased “Now we have grown a child out of that love as a symbol of our love” he squeezed my hand and I stopped to look at his face, his eyes were fighting to open
“I love you with all my body all my heart and all my soul” his eyes opened fully then and he smiled and then he spoke
“And I love you with all my heart and body and soul” I fell onto his chest my heart soaring out of somewhere in the skies
“I love you Elisa” I looked up at him hardly believing what I was seeing, Lorna walked into the room
“Oh My God Morgan you are awake NURSE!” nurses came running in and cleared us from the room while they checked him over Mr Richborough had been paged and he was in there for what seemed like forever. Lorna had called Harrison we were just stood holding hands waiting to go back in, the surgeon came out smiling
“he is strong that one, all signs are his brain has made a full recovery, there will be fatigue to overcome and he needs to stay here for another 48 hours to do some physio and regain some of the weight he has lost, but all being well you should be able to take him home after that”. The sense of relief left me feel
ing giddy we both went back in the room and just stared in wonder at him
“What’s with the faces?” I went back to my chair and Lorna after giving her son a big kiss gave us some privacy while she went to meet his dad, I knew it was down to me to fill Morgan in on everything that had happened, he was holding my hand and gazing into my eyes “You look drained baby and so sad what is it?” I stroked his face and leant forward pressing my lips on his just to make sure he was real
“Morgan do you remember what happened?” he thought hard for a minute
“I was on the phone with you and then the tyre blew, “he sat up a bit frowning
” the others are they alright?” he could see my expression straight away
“Elisa?” I took a deep breath
“The tyre blew your car span and over turned everyone managed to get out except for you and Graham, you had to get cut out “he was staring at me trying to read between the lines “Graham didn't make it Morgan I am so sorry, you have been in a coma for almost two weeks, your dad and I organised a funeral for him he has no family” Morgan nodded sadly “I met him at a charity event for Help The Heroes he was an out of work war vet and had no direction so I hired him as personal security and driver, I was his family, he was a good man I will miss him” I stroked him gently allowing him to absorb the information but he was then distracted “Two weeks? But the wedding? I missed it, oh no our special day, I wanted us to be married before blob comes, how is blob?” I smiled glad to be back on safe ground
“Blob is fine though its mummy probably needs to eat and sleep for that to stay that way” I turned to see Harrison he marched over to his son and hugged him
“you gave us a scare there son, I knew you wouldn't leave our princess here but you have kept us waiting” we talked for a while and Harrison told him about Graham’s funeral he was grateful his father had taken care of it for him, he looked exhausted despite the two week sleep “Morgan rest time Elisa home time now he is awake you can start thinking about you and blob again” I looked at Lorna and didn't argue, a bed and a shower sounded like heaven, the cottage was ready for us but I hadn't been since before the hen party, it was closer to the hospital so I decided to go there as all our stuff was moved in now. I kissed him goodnight and Tony was outside with the car he took all three of us back to mine. Lorna and Harrison wanted a tour and they stayed for a cup of tea, it was quiet when they left but this place was home and I immediately felt settled though saddened when I saw the champagne and rose petals on our bed for our wedding night, a soak in the bath later and I could hardly pull the duvet over me I was so tired. It was almost eleven before I got back to the hospital the next day I had slept like a log Tony had picked me up, he had replaced Graham as hotel driver neither of us referred to the change of job as mentioning Graham brought back bad memories, Tony had been very close to him but he was the perfect man to fill his shoes. I could hear Morgan asking his mum where I was when I arrived