Takes You

by Nicola C. Priest

  I check my watch and see that it's a little after five p.m. I've been out most of the day and my feet are screaming at me. I kick off my shoes just as my phone starts to ring. I smile when I see Cal's face on my screen and answer.

  "Hey, baby, did you find the dress?"

  "I think I might have done. How are you guys doing?"

  "All sorted. Just got to wait for them to be ordered in. They said it should take no longer than six weeks."

  "That's great, looks like we both had a productive day." I sit down on the sofa and curl my legs underneath me, waiting as I hear Cal's muffled voice as he talks to someone who's with him. He comes back on the line a few seconds later.

  "Your dad and mine have gone home, but Gary and I were thinking of grabbing some food and then a few drinks. Do you want to join us?"

  Do I want to join them? Normally, I'd say yes. I've not spent much time with Gary, so it would be good to get to know him a bit better before the wedding, but my feet are telling me to have a nice hot bath and a quiet night in. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm just going to have a bath and then crash. It's been a long day."

  "Okay, baby, if you're sure. I shouldn't be too late. I'll drop you a text when I'm on my way back. Love you."

  "I love you too. Have a good night." We end the call and I plug my phone in to charge before heading into the bathroom. Turning on the water, I pour in a generous amount of my jasmine bath oil and go and grab a couple of towels before stripping off my clothes and climbing in to the warm water.

  I sigh loudly as I sink down up to my shoulders, closing my eyes as I lean my head back and just let myself relax. My mind wanders as I lie there, and I find myself thinking about the last few years and how much my life has changed since I got together with Cal.

  I never thought this would be my life. This was the life others had, not me, a normal girl from Chester. What have I done to deserve being this happy? Sure, we’ve had our ups and downs—what couple doesn’t—but we’ve come through them stronger than before. We’re a team, a unit. You want one of us, you get both of us. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without Cal, and I don’t want to. He’s my future husband, and just thinking that puts a ridiculous grin on my face.

  Sighing again, I close my eyes and let the warmth of the water envelop me.

  I wake with a start, seeing the room is in darkness. Realising I must have fallen asleep on the sofa, I push myself into a sitting position and check the time on my phone, seeing it is almost two a.m. Swinging my legs round so they’re planted on the floor, I unlock the screen and see a text from Cal, sent at 11:23p.m., saying he was on his way home.

  I smile and get up from the sofa and walk through to the bedroom. He must have come in, seen me asleep and didn’t want to disturb me. The room is lit by the streetlight outside, and I can see Cal isn’t in our bed. He sent that text almost three hours ago, so where is he.

  Returning to the living room, I snatch up my phone and call him. When I receive his cheery voice telling me to leave a message, I furrow my brow. Scrolling through my phonebook, I groan when I realise I don’t have Gary’s number.

  My rational brain is telling me he probably just stayed out for a few more drinks and his battery died, but it’s my irrational brain that’s screaming louder, telling me something’s wrong. This isn’t like Cal. If he had decided to stay out longer, he would have let me know. He hates it when I worry, and he knows that telling me he was coming home and then not arriving would worry me.

  Taking a breath, I try my hardest not to panic as an idea comes to me. I practically run through to the bedroom and grab Cal’s tablet, praying that it has power. When I touch the screen, I smile when it comes to life and I scroll through the apps to locate the one to help find his phone.

  I don’t know if his phone battery has died or if he’s just switched it off, but I’m hoping the app will be able to give me an idea where Cal’s phone was before it lost signal.

  I wait impatiently while the app starts up before asking it to find Cal’s phone. My heart sinks when I see the last known location, and I grab my bag and slip my feet into my ballet flats as I race out of the flat.

  Chapter 32

  Crissie

  It’s almost three a.m. by the time I make to the Countess of Chester hospital. I park my car and rush through the double doors that lead to the accident and emergency department. I don’t know if Cal’s even here. Part of me is hoping his phone lost signal as he was walking past on his way home, but deep down I know that’s a ridiculously long shot.

  I stop in the reception area and see about two dozen people all waiting to be seen by a doctor. I scan the crowd, seeing no sign of Cal or Gary, before I walk over to reception.

  “Can I help you, miss?”

  I look up when I see the girl behind the counter looking up at me. She seems tired, and I briefly wonder how long she’s been here today. “Um, yes. I’m looking for Caleb Roberts. Can you check to see if he’s been brought in tonight, please?”

  “Are you family?”

  “Yes, I’m Crissie Walker. I’m his fiancée.”

  “One moment, Miss Walker. I’ll check for you.”

  I wait by the desk as her fingers fly over the keyboard. I see nurses coming through and calling the names of people who are waiting to be seen and wonder how long they’ve been there already. I turn when I feel a hand on my arm. “If you’d like to take a seat, Miss Walker, a nurse will be out to see you shortly.”

  All I can do is nod as I walk over to an empty seat, realising the app was right and Cal is here. Part of me had been hoping—no, praying—that my theory on him just walking past when his phone died was true. What is he doing here? What happened?

  The number of questions running through my mind is never ending, and I jump up when I see a nurse walk over to the reception and speak to the girl who points over to me with a small smile.

  “Miss Walker?” the nurse asks as she comes over. “Please come with me and I’ll take you to Mr Roberts.”

  “What happened to him? Why’s he here?”

  “From what his friend has said, they were attacked as they were waiting for a taxi to take them home earlier tonight. He hasn’t stopped asking for you since he got here, even refused to let the doctors treat him until they got you here. They had to give him a sedative to calm him down.”

  “Attacked? Oh god.” I stop walking as my vision blurs and my head begins to spin. Before I can fall, I feel hands take my arms and lead me over to a chair. I sit and hear a soft voice telling me to take deep breaths as a glass of water is placed into my hands.

  After several minutes, I begin to feel normal again and see the nurse crouching next to me, her hand on my arm.

  “You feeling better now?” she asks softly, and I nod, a little embarrassed. “Want me to take you through you Mr Roberts? The nurse has just told me he’s woken up. He’s asking for you again.”

  I jump up from my seat, water sloshing over the rim of the glass and onto the floor. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Let me—”

  “Don’t worry about it. Someone will clean it up.”

  “He’s awake? He’s not—”

  “No, Miss Walker, he’s alive. I won’t lie to you, his face is pretty bruised and swollen, but it looks a lot worse than it is. He has a couple of cracked ribs and several pretty nasty bruises on his back and legs, but considering what his friend has told us, he’s a lucky man.”

  She takes my arm and leads me down the hallway. I see several bays, the contents shielded by a curtain. I hear moans and groans from the patients hidden from view, and I’m about to say something when I hear someone shout my name.

  I look up and see Gary coming towards us, his left arm is in a sling, and he is limping as he moves. He has a split lip and the start of a black eye. When he reaches us, he wraps his free arm round me in a brief hug before pulling away.

  “I’m so sorry, Cris. I tried, but they wouldn’t stop. One of the guys held me back. I tried, Cris. I really t
ried to get away to help him, but they just kept kicking and punching him. I don’t know why. They didn’t say anything; they just came out of nowhere and jumped us. If someone hadn’t seen everything and called the police, I don’t know what would have happened.”

  I feel myself begin to shake at Gary’s words, hearing the emotion in his voice as he tells me what happened. I’ve never been as grateful to a complete stranger in my life. Whoever rang the police will be getting one hell of a thank you present, if I ever find out who it was.

  “I had no way of getting in touch with you. I don’t have your number, and Cal’s phone is dead. It must be damaged, as it won’t charge. God, Cris, I’m so sorry.”

  I try to tell him it’s not his fault, to make him feel better somehow, but all I want to do right now is see my man. I turn back to the nurse as she carries on forward, stopping when she reaches one of the bays. She puts her hand on the curtain before turning to me. “Now remember, it looks worse that it is. Provided all his tests come back okay, he should be able to go home tomorrow. Apart from his ribs, which will take a few weeks to heal properly, the rest of the injuries are superficial. As I said, he’s very lucky.”

  I nod at her words and take a breath as she pulls the curtain across. When I see him, my heart falls and I fight to keep back the tears that have been threatening to fall since I found out he was here. I try and remember what the nurse said, but it’s hard when I see how bruised his face is.

  Like Gary, he has a split lip which is starting to swell, and both of his eyes are already swollen and red. A bed sheet covers him up to his waist, and I can see his chest is wrapped in bandages to support his ribs. He has bruises covering his arms. When he turns his head and smiles, I can’t stop the tears from falling as I hurry over to him.

  I want to hug him, but the thought of causing him more pain stops me, and I just grip his hand tightly.

  “Oh God, Cal. I thought… I was so worried.”

  “Hey, don’t cry, baby. I’m going to be fine.”

  “When I woke up and saw your text, but you weren’t there, I knew something was wrong. I just had a feeling.”

  “How did you know I was here? Gary said he hasn’t been able to contact you. Did the police get you?”

  “No, I used your tablet and that app that helps find your phone. It told me your last location was here.”

  Cal nods and smiles, and I just look at him; my strong, handsome guy. A guy who would do anything for anyone, lying here because some scumbags decided they wanted to beat someone up for no apparent reason. I feel myself starting to get angry, just as the curtain is pulled back. I turn to see the nurse stood there, with two police officers behind her.

  “Sorry to disturb you both, but the police would like to speak with Caleb, if that’s okay?”

  I glance at Caleb who nods at the nurse before turning back to me. “Will you stay?”

  “Of course. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Three days later, the hospital released Cal, and he was able to come home. The doctors had recommended keeping him in for observation as they had some concerns about one of his brain scans. They had said the CT scan showed some slight swelling and they wanted to monitor him to ensure it didn’t get worse.

  When a repeat scan two days later had shown the swelling had gone, they were happy to release him. He was still in pain with his ribs, but the medication he’d been given helped. The bruising on his body had come out fully now, and he looked like he’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.

  The doctors had assured me that, once everything had healed, there would be no lasting effects from the attack, something that I, and Cal, were really happy about. Thankfully, we lived in a ground floor flat, so there were no stairs to climb, which made getting around a lot easier for Cal.

  I was to be his chauffer until his ribs healed, which Cal hated. He was a terrible passenger, and I caught him using his right foot to press on the imaginary break more than once. I thought I was a good driver and, up until now, so had Cal. I’ve always known he hates losing control, so I’ve no doubt that as soon as the doctor says he can drive again, my chauffeuring days will be over.

  My work has been great. When I called Amanda to explain what had happened, she told me to take as much time as I need, which took a lot of pressure off me and meant I could make sure Cal would be okay. I’ve spoken with his parents and they’ve agreed to keep and eye on him when I go back next week. He’s going to hate it; I know he will, but I wouldn’t be able to go back to work knowing he was here on his own.

  The police made an arrest the following day. CCTV from the shop across the street had caught the attack, and the faces of all four people who had set about Cal and Gary. I couldn’t believe it when the police told me they’d been kids, the oldest being only seventeen. To add insult to injury, it had turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

  Apparently, one of the kids had believed Cal was the guy who had stolen away his girlfriend, and he was out for revenge. They’d kept calling him Robbo during their interrogations, and because of Cal’s last name, the police didn’t pick up on it straightaway.

  It wasn’t until the ex-girlfriend came in to the police station to find out what they wanted to see her for that they put everything together. They’d all be charged with assault, and now we were just waiting for the court date to come through so Cal could go and testify.

  It had been a long few days, and I was physically and emotionally drained. Cal hadn’t done much more than sleep since he got home, mainly due to the medication he was taking for the pain, which had given me some time to rest also, and boy do I need it.

  Finishing off my coffee, I walk into the kitchen and place the cup in the sink. Checking my watch, I see it is almost five p.m. and realise Cal has been asleep for most of the day. Clearly, he needs to rest, which, according to the doctor, can only be a good thing, especially when it comes to his ribs healing.

  I put more water in the kettle and flick it on, then prepare a mug to make Cal his favourite hot chocolate. He never used to drink it much before the attack, but, apart from water, it’s all he’s drunk since he’s been home.

  I know he’s going stir-crazy being limited to what he can do. He just wants to get back to work and has been making several calls a day to the garage to check up on certain jobs. He’s driving the other mechanics nuts with his constant phone calls. They’ve told him more than once, in the nicest possible way, to leave them alone and to concentrate on getting better, even hanging up on him more than once.

  When the kettle clicks, I pour the boiling water into the mug and stir until the drink is ready. I pick it up and go through to the bedroom, placing the mug on the bedside cabinet. I take a moment to just look at Cal’s sleeping form. The swelling on his face has mostly gone now, and the bruises are turning that horrible yellowy colour.

  I know in a few more days, they’ll be gone, and all that will be left is the cut lip. The rest of his injuries can be covered with clothes. No one can see them unless Cal wants them to. Reaching out, I brush his hair off his face, smiling when he stirs and turns his head into my hand but doesn't wake.

  I feel a lump form in my throat as I watch him, realising how close I came to losing him. I haven't seen the CCTV footage that helped the police catch the kids who did this, but from what the police had said, it was a completely unprovoked attack, and was really vicious.

  I shiver as I think of Cal going through that; the pain he must have been through. While he was in the hospital, he told me that, when it was happening, all he could think about was me, and by concentrating on me, he was able to imagine he was in another place. He said he didn't actually feel any pain until he woke up in the hospital, and then they gave him painkillers to combat it.

  I continue to look at him as his eyes flutter open and he gives me a small smile.

  "Hey, you," I say quietly. "How are you feeling?"

  “Better. A little sore, but better.”

  I sit on the bed and watch him wince as he
pushes himself into a sitting position. The sheet falls away, and I can see the bandages that are still wrapped around his chest. The doctors said they needed to stay for at least another week, just to support the ribs, but they’ve said they’re healing nicely so, as long as he’s careful, he shouldn’t need the extra support after the week is up.

  “I brought you a hot chocolate,” I tell him, indicating the mug on the bedside cabinet.

  “Thanks, Cris,” he says with a sigh as he leans his head back, briefly closing his eyes before opening them again. “How can I still feel so tired? I’ve been asleep all bloody day.”

  I can hear the humour in his voice, but also the frustration. It’s hard for him to just lie around doing nothing. Usually, he’s so active; either at work or at the gym. He knows he's got at least another week of taking it easy, and it's not going to get any less frustrating.

  "The doctor said you'd feel like this for at least several days. He said something about your adrenaline spiking from the attack and this is the come down. The painkillers aren't helping either, I bet."

  Cal nods and winces again as he shifts. It's only his ribs that are causing him the pain now. The bruises are healing well, but the ribs will take longer. The more rest he gets, the quicker they'll heal, and I know it's for that reason Cal is taking the doctor's advice to rest as much as possible.

  It’s not going to be easy—we both know that—but the sooner Cal is back on his feet and out of pain, the better. We just want things to get back to normal, so we can carry on with planning our wedding, move on with our lives and put this horrible episode behind us.

  Chapter 33

  Crissie

  Present Day