by Nicole Casey
“Yes,” I said, my voice sounding like it belonged to someone else. I crashed down onto the stool; “What happened?” Dr. Barrie replied; “She was in a car accident, nothing too serious but she has been heavily sedated all day; it’s the first time we have got any real information from her.”
“I’ll be right there, thank you Dr.” I could hear myself saying as I hung up. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as I turned towards the living room.
“Shaun,” I called. “Kate’s been in an accident, we have to go to the hospital.” Surprisingly Shaun was beside me in less than thirty seconds. She had really made an impression on him. “Are you okay dad?” He asked as I searched for keys and wallet; my mind still dazed.
“Yes,” I said firmly. “Let’s go.”
The drive to the hospital was only fifteen minutes; Shaun kept me distracted. “It’s never too late dad, all the movies show the couple getting together at the end.” I nudged him playfully. “Okay, you old romantic.” I paused before adding, “Perhaps we should see how she is first.”
It was amazing how quickly we were escorted through to the right wing of the hospital. The doctor guided us into a small room. “She is stable at the moment with a broken leg, arm and a large bump on her head.” He said, his face still serious. I nodded, waiting for the ‘but’ to appear. “But,” the doctor continued. “The bump is of concern; she has some swelling and is not completely aware of her surroundings. If it doesn’t improve in the next few hours we will need to operate.”
“Can I see her?” I could hear myself asking, desperately hoping he would say yes.
“Yes,” the doctor said after a pause. “But.” He continued, “It might be best if your son stays in here for a minute while you go in.” I looked at Shaun. “Is that okay with you son?” I asked him cautiously. He nodded, “Don’t worry dad, I’ll wait here with the toys.” I should have known he would have noticed the toys straight away. “A nurse will be here if he needs anything.” The doctor said reassuringly.
Taking a deep breath, I gave Shaun a kiss on the head and headed for Kate’s room.
Kate
My eyes were struggling to focus, my leg appeared to be in a plaster and my head was throbbing. Slowly I turned my head; every movement sent a shooting pain through my skull. I was in a hospital room; there was no one else in sight and I didn’t know how I had got there.
At that moment the door opened and a doctor came in. Behind him was Simon. I gasped, sending another wave of pain through my head.
“How are you feeling?” Asked the doctor, watching carefully as I responded, “Better, I think but I don’t remember what happened.”
The doctor smiled, “At least you are coherent now.” He paused, “You stepped out in front of a car. You are lucky to be alive.” He paused again; “You’re in good hands and the memory will probably come back in the future. Don’t worry.”
With that he was gone, leaving Simon facing me and an awkward silence.
“What do you want now?” I managed to say, unfortunately in my weakened state I couldn’t make my tone hostile. “I might have forgotten the accident but I haven’t forgotten what you did.”
Simon nodded at me. “I’m sorry.” He said softly. I could see it was hard for him to say but I had to milk it.
“Pardon?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” Simon said much louder this time.
He paused looking at me. “I understand, you don’t like expensive gifts and toys because you feel used or bought. But that’s not why I gave you the necklace.” He paused, his ice blue eyes boring into mine, pleading for me to believe him.
“I gave it to you because I was falling for you.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “I am falling for you,” he corrected himself. Simon continued before I could say anything. “My reaction to your rejection was extreme because I saw it as you being a gold digger. Of course you are not.”
For a moment I said nothing, hundreds of thoughts running through my head. Then I realized the only one that really mattered. “I’m sorry too.” I heard myself saying. “I overreacted to your gift when I could have explained it better.” Simon chuckled, “Don’t worry, a seven-year-old explained it all to me.”
“Shaun?” I questioned, amazed and grateful. Simon nodded. “I think he is quite taken by you, but then, so am I.” I could feel the smile stretching across my face as I replied, “That’s good because I’m quite taken with you.”
Simon moved slowly round the bed, approaching me. Gently he took my hand. “I promise not to give you expensive gifts or see you as a gold digger, providing you promise to tell me if I am behaving that way.” He looked at me. I could feel the heat of his body again as I nodded, “I will, I promise.” I said. “But,” I continued. “You need to tell me if I am comparing you to the past men in my life. It won’t always be easy for me to accept that you are different.”
Simon laughed, “Deal.” He said as his lips closed gently onto mine. “I love you Kate.” He murmured as our lips separated. “I know it’s early days, but when you know, you just know.” I smiled back at him. “I love you too Simon.” I murmured softly as my lips grazed against his. Suddenly I was feeling much better.
“Yeah!” Came a little voice, as Shaun bounced into the room. I winced as he leaped onto the bed, sending a shooting pain through my leg. “You know,” he said in his most serious voice. “I’m quite taken with you too.” I laughed as Simon looked at him, “How much of that were you listening to young man?” He questioned, pretending to be angry. Shaun just smiled, “Enough, just enough.”
I smiled too.
I hadn’t been looking for love or a family, but there was no doubt I had found both.
###
The End
Shipwrecked in Love
Story Description
There’s no way I would fall for Adam Hargreaves. Ever.
Sure he’s hot, charming and drop dead gorgeous.
But any physical attraction that I might have for him goes up in smoke as soon as he opens his mouth. He’s just another cocky, arrogant playboy.
I can’t stand this kind, and this self-righteous billionaire is taking advantage of my younger brother just because he is kind and innocent. So I must do something to protect him from being hurt.
He thinks I’m easy, that I’m going to fall to my knees the same way other young girls do.
But he’s wrong.
I have dreams. I’m going places. The last thing I need is having to spend an extra minute with this annoying but incredibly sexy man.
Problem is, I’m already picturing him… between my sheets, my legs, his hands doing dirty things, and the worst is yet to come.
We are now stuck on his yacht in the middle of nowhere, and that’s when I hear his deep voice:
“Looks like we are going for a sail together, Jess. Just you and me.”
Adam
Blood was slowly trickling down my nose and onto my expensive silk shirt. I hated it when that happened.
The guy who had hit me was standing laughing at me while his friends congratulated him in Spanish. I hated that too. To be fair, there wasn’t a lot to like about this situation.
The red mist came down over me and I lost all control. Didn’t these idiots even know who I was?
I had only been in Buenos Aires for 3 days and this was my third argument with locals. If that wasn’t a sign that the city was filled with horrible people then I didn’t know what it was.
I couldn’t let these guys get away with hitting me. As a big guy of well over 6 foot who worked out in his private gym every day I could handle myself, even if taking on a group of guys on my own seemed a bit too ambitious.
I shouted the only Spanish insult I knew and it had the desired effect on them, as the group abruptly stopped celebrating and looked at me. The blood thundered round in my veins. Getting into fights and showing people that I was boss was what gave me my greatest pleasures in life lately.
I threw a chair that h
it a guy square on the head. He staggered backwards and sent several glasses crashing to the ground. On the way out I would toss a few thousand pesos to the owner to pay for the damages and he would be happy.
The biggest, ugliest guy in the group stepped forward towards me. So, it was going to be a personal duel to settle it, was it? He was even bigger than me and looked almost as mean as I guessed I looked at that moment.
Just as I was about to launch into the attack, a strong hand held me back. Joe was there now. Joe Thompson, he was the guy who currently took on the role of looking after me. He was doing a good job, even if I didn’t admit it to him very often.
“What the Hell kept you, Joe? You left me here all alone with these savages.”
“Sorry, Adam. I was parking your car and I got lost on the way back. Do you need some help?”
“Go and get him, buddy.” I laughed as I took a couple of steps back towards my table. “He’s all yours.”
Joe didn’t complain, just like I knew he wouldn’t. Instead, he rushed in and sent the guy flying backwards.
I sat down with a fairly decent bottle of Argentine wine and lit up a cigar as the fight progressed. Joe was in trouble now as the guy got him in a headlock. I almost felt sorry for my little helper who was also currently my only friend in the world, but I had to admit that it was great entertainment.
It was only fair that I gave Joe a few pesos tonight to make up for the bruises he was going to have. God, this wine was actually awful but I forced myself to swallow the rest of the glass.
I must have spent tens of thousands of dollars on food and drink in the last few months but I couldn’t remember enjoying any of it. Life just seemed to lack flavor these days for some strange reason.
Ouch. That must have hurt. It was getting boring to watch now.
“Stop fighting! Paren de pelear!”
Every single person in the bar stopped what they were doing and turned around. Well, except me. I puffed slowly on my cigar and then looked round as coolly as I could (which was pretty damned cool, to be fair).
Wow. Who was that girl standing there with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes? This night might get interesting after all.
“Joe. Get out of here.” She grabbed my friend and pulled him away from the gang while the others just stood and watched. It couldn’t be his girlfriend, could it? There was no way he could get a girl like that without my help but why else would someone in this city know who he was? I was the famous one here and no-one had even recognized me yet.
The two of them were arguing at the other end of the bar now while the guys we were fighting left the bar giving us dirty looks and what sounded like vague promises of finding us in the city at some other time. My cigar was raised in a cheerful salute that made them all shake their heads.
I took the opportunity to look the girl up and down very slowly without her noticing what I was doing. She was very, very attractive indeed, I had to confess.
In fact, upon closer inspection, she was exactly the kind of woman that I like best. Tall and slim but with curves in all of the right places, she looked a lot like the famous model that I had dumped a couple of months ago due to boredom.
Her long, blond hair tumbled down over her shoulders as she argued with Joe. It was the sort of wild and untamed yet attractive hair that I would have loved to run my fingers through.
I could see that she had an intense stare and a way of gesturing as she spoke that made watching her a real pleasure.
It was clear that she was wearing pretty cheap clothes but she made them look as good as fine as the most expensive designer gear. She had on a faded denim shirt and a pair of stone colored pants with several zipped pockets on them.
Going by her appearance I decided that she was probably a backpacker or some other sort of budget tourist visiting Argentina but how did she know Joe?
I strolled over to them as slowly and casually as I could manage. The truth was that I was longing to find out more about her. It was a long time since I had been so intrigued by a strange woman.
“Hey Joe, you never told me that you had such a beautiful friend in this part of the world.”
The girl turned to look at me. Her light blue eyes were shining wildly with an emotion that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but that put me on guard right away.
“Adam, this my sister, Jessie. Jessie, this is the great guy I told you about the other day.”
I took her hand up to my lips and kissed it. Well, I tried to kiss it at least. My lips had barely brushed her smooth, tanned skin when I felt the hand pull itself away, leaving me to kiss thin air.
I looked at her furiously. No woman had ever done that to me and I felt utterly humiliated.
“So you’re the famous, rich playboy that I have heard all about.” She looked down her nose at me as though I was a piece of trash rather than one of the planet’s richest and most eligible bachelors. Most sane women would have given anything to be there with me, so I was going to take a wild guess at her being clinically insane or playing hard to get. Very hard to get.
“The very same, Adam Hargraves. What about if we go back to my hotel for-“
“I want you to stay away from me and my brother. You rich people sicken me, taking advantage of kind-hearted people like Joe just because he is such a nice guy.”
“The only person taking advantage of anyone here is your delightful brother. I give him somewhere to stay and plenty to eat every day, no questions asked.”
“Just like you do with your dog, eh? What don’t you leave us both alone?”
“I’m a gentleman, Jessie. I would never normally dream of arguing with such a highly attractive lady but Joe is my friend.”
“Your nose is still bleeding.” She nodded curtly in the direction of my bloody nose.
I wiped the blood away with one of the monogrammed handkerchiefs that I always took away with me.
“That group over there didn’t show me any respect. They spilled my drink and I hate when that happens.”
“So why was it Joe that was fighting them instead of you, little rich boy?”
“Your brother is a brave and loyal friend.” I gave him a thump on the shoulder as a mark of respect and tried to ignore her rudeness, even though I could feel my anger levels rising.
“And you’re a cowardly weasel who uses other people.” Her eyes burned with passion as she spoke.
I let my eyes wander down to where she had left the top buttons of her faded denim shirt unbuttoned, showing a generous amount of cleavage that tempted me to pop open the rest of the button and discover more right there and then.
A hand quickly closed the buttons. I looked up and saw her glaring at me as though I was the worst person she had ever met. Maybe I was.
“Why are so quiet, Joe? Why don’t you tell your sister how good I am to you? We’ve been through a lot in the last year while you were…” It just clicked in my head that she must be the sister who had gone off to hug trees and kiss sick monkeys better in the jungle. “…making the planet a better place for future generations.”
Hadn’t he called her a painfully shy nerd? She turned away from us. As she flicked her hair and leaned against the bar she looked anything like a nerd to me. She certainly wasn’t too shy to speak her mind either.
If she had been a timid little nerd before then a year in the jungle had apparently given her a degree of confidence in herself that intrigued me. No woman had ever treated me like this before and it was turning me on like crazy. Her supermodel looks were helping as well, to be honest.
Joe was looking uneasy, though. He grabbed my arm to get my full attention.
“The cops are outside asking questions of that group of guys we were fighting with.”
It was time for me to make a speedy exit.
Too late, though.
Jessie
I had been really excited about meeting up with my little brother again the night before. It was over a year and a half since I had last seen him face to
face, although we spoke regularly on Skype and chatted on Facebook whenever our paths crossed online.
It had all gone horribly wrong because of that spoiled rich kid that he had been hanging around with since I left. How could he have become best friends with someone so horrible and shallow?
Adam Hargreaves. I had a bad feeling about him the first time the Joe had mentioned his name and called him an international playboy. However, nothing could have prepared me for how truly annoying he was to meet in real life.
When he strolled over I had been struck first of all by his physical appearance. I had always imagined him to be a weak-chinned idiot with skinny legs but he was, well, an absolute hunk. With a broad chest and handsome tanned features, he looked like a sports star or an actor rather than a pampered rich boy.
Of course, any physical attraction that I might have felt went up in smoke as soon as he opened his mouth. Sure, he had that deep voice that sent vibrations through my body, but the words that came out of his stupid mouth made my blood boil.
His short dark hair and olive skin gave him a Mediterranean look but it was his eyes that had captivated me. Playful, arrogant, and dangerous, he looked at me with an expression that made me feel a wild mixture of contrasting emotions.
Should I punch him or ignore him when he looked at me with that typical arrogance? The other option that had crossed my mind was best ignored if I could help it.
I looked up at the police station in the San Telmo district of the city. There had been so many new experiences for me to deal with since I gave up my boring job to travel the world but this would be my first time inside a police station. Hopefully, it would be my last as well.
My legs were shaking a little as I walked up the stairs. I had no idea what the police were like in Argentina but I kind of half expected that corruption and brutality would be key elements to look out for.