Bailey grinned, “You old match-maker, you.”
Later on that afternoon, Bailey went home to get a change of clothes and I made my way to the hospital. Seth was being woken up and I wanted to see him.
I pushed the door open to the burns unit and went up to the reception area.
The young woman behind the counter looked up and smiled, “Ah, hello – it’s Simon, isn’t it?”
I nodded and smiled, “Well remembered.” I teased. She’d been utterly smitten with River the last time we’d come to see Seth. It had been very embarrassing for her to realise that he was extremely loved up already – with Jodie.
Pretending that she hadn’t been beside herself with acute embarrassment the last time we met, I asked, “How is he?”
She smiled again, looking relieved that things weren’t going to be awkward, showing very white teeth. She was a very pretty girl, “He’s doing okay.” She said, beaming at me. She was obviously rather fond of Seth, too. It must have been rather nice for her to be treated to all the eye-candy traipsing in and out every day to see him. “He’s been awake since yesterday afternoon – not long after you left, actually,” She said, “He remembers everything – and obviously he’s very upset about losing Siobhan.” Her face fell at the mention of his dead girlfriend.
I nodded, sadness flooding through me as I was reminded of his terrible loss.
Peyton, Siobhan’s ex and father of her son, hadn’t been to the club since the accident. He was of course, having to look after William who would be traumatised from losing his mother. Hell, we were all traumatised one way or another following the accident – Peyton included, who loved her just as much as the rest of us. They’d been best friends when they were younger and William had been the result of a bit too much to drink. Peyton, like me, was gay. Like I said – too much to drink and an error of judgement on both of their parts.
They had both fiercely loved William though, and Peyton was a very hands-on dad.
I was shown through to Seth’s room. He was sleeping but at least he wasn’t in a coma anymore. He’d been in the coma for a few weeks now, which I guess was good for him but it was still distressing to see. His face still had scabs but we’d been assured they wouldn’t be bad scars and he’d look just the same as he always had.
His arms and chest would be a slightly different matter however – and as for his legs, well, they hadn’t been burnt too badly at all – but one of his legs had been very badly crushed in the accident, smashing his femur and then he’d tried to get Siobhan out of the car and had done further damage. He’d be very lucky to walk without aid – not that any of us were willing to break that news to him. To hear that he was heartbroken was bad enough.
He stirred.
“Seth?”
He smiled slightly, still with his eyes closed, “Hey, Si,” he said, “How’s it going.”
I took a deep breath. I really wanted to tell him about Bailey but I was worried that it would make his terrible sadness even worse, “Oh, you know – same old.”
He opened his eyes and frowned at me, “Same old?” he raised an eyebrow, “Since when?” He smiled slightly, “I know you, remember – what’s his name?”
I grinned bashfully. Seth really did know me too well, “It’s Bailey.” I gushed, “And he’s fucking gorgeous!”
Seth chuckled, which made my heart soar. It was the first time I’d heard his deep chuckle since before the accident, “So, go on then,” he said nodding slightly towards the edge of his bed, “make yourself comfortable and tell me all about him.”
Grinning all over my face, I sat down in the chair next to his bed – there was no way I was going to sit on his bed and make something hurt – and I started talking.
After half an hour, Seth was looking sleepy again – although he definitely looked a little brighter than he had when I got there. He was smiling at me, “He sounds like a keeper, Si.” He said, “Don’t fuck it up.”
I nodded, rolling my eyes, “Well, I’ll do my best not to.” I said, “But you know me. I’ve got form...”
He chuckled, “Just tell the olds to go fuck themselves – and tell him about them.”
I grinned at him, “How do you know I haven’t?”
He shook his head as much as he was able, “Because I know you.” He said, “And if you’ve told them, I’ll eat my right arm.”
I laughed, “You’d better get yourself a knife and fork, dude.” I said as his eyes widened with surprise, “I have told the olds to get lost – and I’ve told him all about them – and army cadets too.”
His eyes about popped out of his head, “What? You’ve told him about Angus and Tim?” his voice went higher with surprise.
I nodded, biting my lip. I really had come on leaps and bounds with Bailey, “Yeah. I’ve told him everything.”
He looked impressed, “Well, that’s good.” He said with a massive yawn, “Because keeping secrets is just stupid.”
I nodded, “I know.” I agreed. I’d almost lost Bailey for being a secretive idiot.
I kissed his cheek and got up, “I’ll be back in a couple of days,” I promised him, “Look after yourself.”
He nodded, his eyes closed, “I’ll do my best,” He murmured, “Can’t really get into any trouble here...”
Halfway down the corridor towards the exit, I bumped into Buzz and Franz. “Hi, guys.” I said, “I’ve just about talked him to sleep – you might have a little wait before he’s awake again.”
Buzz grinned, “Is he okay?”
I nodded, “He’s a bit brighter.” I said, “Make sure you keep things upbeat – don’t let him dwell.”
He nodded and gave me a hug before they carried on towards his room.
Outside, I leaned on my knees with my hands and gulped in a lungful of fresh air. God, I really hated hospitals...
Chapter 25 – Seth’s slow recovery...
Five months later...
Simon
I’d never seen Studs looking more romantic than it had for Alfie and Harley’s wedding. What a fantastic night that had been – well, the bits I remember of it... And yet only a few days later and Seth’s life had been changed beyond all recognition. Now he was going through painful skin grafts and numerous operations on his leg to try to repair the damage done to him through the crash and then trying to walk on it.
He was out of hospital now but his recovery was far from over. Still, at least now he was officially an outpatient. We were all taking it in turns to take him in when he needed to have his check ups and it was my turn to go and pick him up.
I got to his flat to fetch him. I let myself in and through to his lounge where he was usually to be found. “Hey, buddy.”
He was sat on his sofa with his eyes closed. He was surrounded by pillows and his leg, that was still in plaster – for today at least – was propped on the table in front of him. He had dark rings under his eyes and still looking completely exhausted with life in general. He opened his eyes and looked at me, the desolate look in them was becoming familiar and I hoped against hope that things would get better for him one day and that he’d eventually find his way back to some sort of peace and happiness. “Hey, Si.” He murmured, “How’s things?”
I shrugged and smiled, “Not bad. How are you feeling? Ready to get this thing off your leg?” He’d had numerous operations on his leg and he was in plaster again – but hopefully for the last time. The consultant was confident that they’d managed to finally get it right. Seth had suffered extensive damage to his femur and had then gotten an infection in the bone. It had been touch and go for a while if he’d actually be able to keep his leg. It had been a long and stressful five months.
At the same time as his leg was giving him grief, the poor guy had also had skin grafts for his arm that had been badly burned. His shoulder and chest had taken months to heal too but finally he seemed to have been put back together again – physically at least. I wasn’t so confident about his mental state.
His eye
s filled with tears, “Yeah, I guess I’m okay.” He said, his voice wavering, “Well, you know...”
I nodded. Wondering how to say what I wanted to say without pissing him off. I decided to just go for it and say it, “I think you need to talk to someone professional, mate.” I ventured, “Grief’s really hard to deal with alone.”
He shook his head, “I don’t want to talk to anyone. I don’t want to feel better – if I feel better, then I’ll begin to forget her and I never want to do that...”
I could kind of see where he was coming from but it wasn’t exactly the healthiest of approaches. He’d never really forget her anyway – just the rawness of the pain but I could see that he wasn’t going to take advice from me. I decided to change the subject instead – only I think I made things even worse.
“You’re gonna love what Rob’s done to your bar. It’s been a real success.”
He frowned, “What do you mean? What’s he done to it?”
I faltered. Hadn’t anyone told him? Fuck. It had been months... Well, someone had to tell him before he came back... “Rob’s extended the bar all down the wall – he’s taken out the seating and the bar reaches all the way down to the bathrooms now.”
His jaw dropped, “What for?”
I grinned, “Without you there, we couldn’t cope – he’s hired three or four new members of staff to cover what you alone did.”
“But, but what am I going to do then? When I come back?” his face paled, “Oh, shit.” He ran his hand through his hair, “I am coming back, aren’t I?”
I was quick to reassure him. “Of course you are.” I said, reaching for his hand, “We can’t wait to get you back.”
He nodded, biting his lip, “Right, right.” He muttered.
I frowned, “What’s worrying you?” I asked.
He sighed, “I’m not gonna be able to walk properly even when this fucking thing comes off my leg.” He took in a deep, shuddery breath and went pink, “And I know it’s not about looks, but... well, look at me – I’m fucking hideous to look at. How the hell am I going to be able to do my job properly? All of the guy’s that come to Studs expect the staff to be eye-candy. I’m going to be the freak show behind the bar now.”
I sighed, “You’re anything but hideous.” Even with bags under his eyes and his hair all over the place, Seth was a very attractive man. “And as for not being able to get around so easily – we’ll make any adjustments necessary.”
His eyes filled with tears, “I don’t want everything to have to change just for me,” he said, his voice cracking, “I just want to be fucking normal.”
I didn’t know what to say. He was perfectly normal as far as I was concerned – he’d just been badly injured and it took time for the body to adjust to such an injury. He’d be limping for a while, sure – but that didn’t make him any less of a person, any less of a man. “We’ve all got your back, mate.” I said softly, “Don’t push us away, please. We all love you and we all want you to back behind that cocktail bar where you totally belong – Studs just isn’t the same without you.”
He smiled, “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence.” He muttered, “The doctors are hopeful that I should be able to come back in a few weeks.”
“We’ll have a party to celebrate your return.”
*
True to our word, we had a party for Seth when he finally got back to work.
He beamed around at us all, propped up on crutches, I had absolutely no idea how he was going to be able to shake cocktails, but he was totally up for giving it a go.
“Wow, this place looks absolutely amazing!” he gushed as he made his way slowly along the new bar that stretched all the way down the wall towards the bathrooms at the back of the club.
River was fussing around him and showing him the different stations.
He met Jaime, Raife and Bailey for the first time and winked at me when I introduced him, “It’s really nice to meet you finally,” he said, “I’ve heard a lot about you over the past few weeks.”
Bailey had blushed and shot me a curious glance but I wasn’t embarrassed to have talked about him. I just grinned at him and slung my arm around his shoulder possessively. Bailey was mine as far as I was concerned. I absolutely adored him...
Surprising everyone, Seth was back behind the bar and had started mixing cocktails within a few minutes of walking through the doors.
“Feeling at home?” I asked as Bailey and I watched him adding the final finesse to our cocktails.
He nodded, smiling at me, “This is all the therapy I need.” He said, “I belong here.”
I nodded, “You do,” I agreed, “It really hasn’t been the same without you.”
He smiled, “So how many other members of staff have started while I’ve been out of action?”
I grinned, “Well, you’ve met three of them – there’s one more –well, actually he still needs his formal interview but you know what Rob’s like – it’s in the bag. His name’s Joel and he’s actually Harley’s younger brother – he’s one of the dancers – he might be along later.” Or he might bottle it since he knows you’ll be here and he’s secretly in love with you...
Seth nodded, “Oh, right.” He said, “Is he good?”
I nodded, “He’s definitely a mover and shaker.” I confirmed.
Chapter 26 – Joss again...
Bailey
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I sighed. Not again. I’d been receiving texts constantly for the past three days – all of them from Joss and all of them begging for my forgiveness and asking me to take him back.
Well, sorry and all that – but that ship had long sailed. I’d long moved on. I was falling in love... hell, I was in love – we just hadn’t gotten around to saying it to each other yet.
To be fair, we hadn’t even gotten around to discussing exclusivity yet, but I was pretty confident that we were exclusive. We’d been dating for a few months now – but between working and Simon being very involved in getting Seth back on his feet, we really hadn’t seen a whole lot of each other, maybe a couple of times a week outside of work – and no, I wasn’t suffering from any sort of jealousy towards him any more. I was just looking forward to him being completely independent so I could have my boyfriend all to myself.
Simon hadn’t enjoyed being the third one in his relationship in the army cadets. He’d been jealous of his friends and had felt like they were cheating on him – so surely he wouldn’t want to cheat while he was with me?
We really had to have that discussion. Again, it wasn’t something I was particularly comfortable with. I didn’t like making waves but my anxiety levels were up again, which would start to play havoc with my IBS and then we’d be in trouble – no one wanted to have sex with someone who couldn’t control their bowel movements...
I shuddered at the thought. This was why I preferred to top. There was no risk of shitting all over someone if you were the one on top...
Anyway... I digress. The main problem I had right now was Joss. What the fuck did he think he was doing? Getting in contact with me again months after we’d broken up? I really didn’t need this shit...
I jumped as Simon came up behind me and slid my phone back into my pocket. I’d talk to him about that later.
“Who was that?” he asked, nodding to my pocket.
I felt as if I was acting like a startled rabbit. “No one.” I said pathetically.
He raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t look like no one to me.” He snapped, “It looked like a text from someone – are you seeing other guys as well as me?” He sounded hurt and his eyes definitely looked worried.
I shook my head, “No,” I answered truthfully, “I’m definitely not seeing other guys. I only want you.”
“So, who was that?”
I sighed, “It was Joss.” I said. Before I could explain that he’d only just started to harass me, Simon had taken that as me telling him it was over between us and that I’d gone back to Joss. He had a tendency towards bei
ng a little dramatic...
“Well, that’s just fucking great.” He stormed, throwing his hands up in the air, “I finally find the fucking one – and he’s shagging his ex behind my back.”
I stared at him – along with River, Thai, Raife and Jaime – to be fair, Jaime probably hadn’t heard him but his lip reading was so fucking good, I’m sure he was pretty clued in.
With my face on fire, I excused myself to the rest of the staff. I wasn’t taking this shit from anyone – and definitely not from the man who was supposed to be my boyfriend. Fuck, didn’t he trust me at all?
Grabbing Simon’s arm, I marched him into the kitchen area behind the bar and then I turned to face him, “Now listen to me – and you’d better listen good.” I snarled, “I was treated like a piece of shit by Joss. I told you all about him cheating on me with his boss – and I witnessed him sucking off another guy and being fucked by another guy, as the form of entertainment at a party. Do you remember me telling you that?”
He nodded, looking decidedly uncomfortable – probably due to the volume this was all coming out at – I’ll admit that I was actually screaming at him – well, sometimes you’ve gotta get your point across...
“I’d have thought even you would understand that I never want to see that fucking arsehole again as long as I fucking live.” My chest was heaving and I was beginning to feel a little light-headed. Fuck. The last thing I needed was an anxiety attack.
He put his hands up in surrender, “Yeah, yeah – I’m sorry, okay – I overreacted.”
“I’ll fucking say your overreacted.” I yelled in his face, “I don’t want anyone else! I just want you!”
He blinked. Nodded and then swiftly left the room.
Well, that went well...
Chapter 27 – Jealousy...
Simon... Spellbound (Studs & Steel Book 6) Page 9