‘Did you really’ she was almost embarrassed to say it in case it wasn’t true ‘hire out the whole place just for tonight?’
‘I did’ Adam held her as they danced to the melody in the background.
‘Why on earth did you do that?’
‘Why on earth wouldn’t I?’ Adams face was now closer to Amy than she would like. Moving away a little, she watched him looking at her. He was very confident and looked like the type of man who was used to getting what he wanted.
‘I have just realised that I have absolutely no idea who you are! I thought I had an idea but clearly not’ Amy watched a waitress come over with a bottle of champagne.
‘That’s why I wanted you to meet me. I really want to get to know you’
They stopped dancing suddenly ‘I saw you that day in Salthill. You took my breath away. You were so sad ….I’m not making sense to you’ his face reddened somewhat. Amy still said nothing, not knowing what to say.
‘You probably think I’m crazy. I probably am’ he laughed ‘Just give me a chance?’
Amy looked at his face. He had two small dimples, one each side of his mouth and a tiny scar just above his left eyebrow. She hadn’t noticed before. Then again, she had never been eye to eye with him before. He really was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He wanted her and right now she was fairly certain she wanted him. Adam kissed Amy ever so lightly on the lips. Afraid to move or even respond, she closed her eyes. Adam, not wanting to push her, pulled away leaving Amy against her better instincts wanting more. She dared not ask for more. They listened to the music and looked into each other’s eyes. She didn’t want it to end.
Eventually they went back to their table, Adam taking Amy’s hand. Over the next few hours, they talked, ate gourmet food and listened to the beautiful music. Amy really enjoyed Adam’s company. He was easy to talk to and wanted to know all about her. She told him of her childhood, her parents, family and her ambitions. He too told her of his. Amy had had no idea that Adam’s family were indeed very wealthy. His dad owned numerous businesses around the country. But because he wanted Adam to take over control of everything, he believed it would be useful for him to work for someone other than his own father. It was his Dad’s way of teaching his son, you have to work your way to the top. It should not be handed to anyone. Therefore, Adam worked in different jobs getting a feel for diverse commercial avenues. He told her that he didn’t mind because he knew that one day he would take over for his father. They were very close and trusted each other. Amy liked that Adam was close with his father just as she was with hers. Family was very important to him he explained. She agreed. He had two older sisters, Eva and Andrea whom he was also very close to. He told her that they were very protective of him and that they spoiled him. Both sisters were in business too but they lived in the UK coming home on the rare occasion of a family wedding or funeral. Eva was divorced and had two little girls, Caoimhe, seven and Ciara five, who he admitted to spoiling. Andrea on the other hand was unable to have children and choose to remain single. Coming to terms with it at an early age, she devoted her life to her career. Adam also told her of his mother. It seemed that she was the only one that he didn’t see eye to eye with. Her incessant spending and her attitude to her husband drove her only son mad. As he grew older, Adam felt that his mother often took advantage of her husband. She would have huge dinner parties and get drunk with people who were not even close friends. It was all about moving ahead within the social circle for her. Who had the bigger house? Who had the bigger boat? It was endless.
Coming up on ten thirty, Amy realised that they had been talking for hours. Lovely and all as it was, she knew that they could not stay there forever. Walking her to her car, Adam put his arm around Amy. She was happy that she didn't have any alcohol, apart from a few sips of champagne earlier on in the evening. She had no interest in waiting around for a taxi.
‘I had a really nice time Adam, thank you so much’
‘No, thank you. I was positive that you wouldn’t come at all’
‘I couldn’t leave you hanging now could I?’
Reaching her car, she turned around ready to say goodbye, to find him very close to her.
‘Do you mind if I kiss you now?’ Amy shook her head indicating that she didn’t mind one bit. He kissed her so gently and slowly that it made her want him more. Placing his hand on the back of her neck and leaning her gently against the car, his lips were hungry for hers now.
‘Get a room’ a group of teenagers screamed from across the road. Smiling, both of them looked at each other, the youngsters bringing to an end their kiss.
‘I better go’ Amy whispered as she got into her car.
‘Meet me again?’
‘Ok’
She had no doubt that they would meet again.
He waved her off while she looked at his reflection in her rear view mirror. Her heart thumped as she drove down the road. Unable to process the wonderful evening she shared with Adam. It had been like something from a movie, something that would never happen to her. Up to this point, her life was very uneventful. Over the past two and a half months, her life was no longer just ordinary. She had felt like a ship in a storm. Being battered and whipped from all sides. Whiplash; that's what it felt like. Maybe, she was being given a break. Her mind wandered thinking back to the piano, tired now because of the long day and the long weekend. Her eyes started to get a little blurry, the road in front of her moving side to side. Knowing that she had at least another twenty minutes in the car, she thought the best thing was to pull in for a couple of minutes. Putting on her hazards Amy wiped her eyes as she drove the car into the hard shoulder on the dual carriageway. She knew she would be ok to drive in a few minutes, she just needed a moment to close them.
Oblivious to the car behind her coming at speed, it hovered from one lane to the other. The driver, a father of three had been drinking all day with friends while his wife was away with their three children for a few days in Dublin. He rarely got out these days, too busy working all the hours God gave to keep up payments for the house and two cars. The friends he had shared the day with were just as bad as he was. He never meant to get into such a state but before he knew it, he was thrown out of the pub. Too drunk to walk but at the same time knowing that he had to go to work in the morning, he needed his car. Nearly smacking into parked cars in the city and narrowly missing some pedestrians, by some miracle he made his way onto the dual carriageway. Aware that he shouldn’t be driving, he felt very tired all of a sudden. Closing his eyes, the last thing he thought of before he fell asleep was his children. He would never see them again.
10
Frank paced up and down, staring at his shoes. He was afraid to look up at the deathly stares he was getting. Adam stared out the window, not really knowing his place there at all, yet he would not be any place else. Sean felt like his chest was about to explode. He wanted to knock Frank’s head off his shoulders. Crossing his arms locking them in place he managed to hold it in. Amy’s family and a number of her friends waited patiently in the hospital waiting room. They were told that it would be another few hours before they would know anything. In any case, it would be a miracle. All they could do was pray.
‘Amy was not supposed to go yet. It’s not her time’ Amy’s father cried in the corner.
‘She’s not going anywhere. Get that straight’ Derek retaliated charging out of the room elbowing Frank as he left. Frank looked up in shock staring at Amy’s brother. It was probably better that he was not even here but he knew that he had to be. Admitting to himself that he had no right at all to Amy, he wanted to make sure she was ok. Sharon had to wait out in the car. Liz had gone for her, fists and all.
Over the past number of months while he was with Sharon, he had gone from one extreme to another. The initial thrill of being with Sharon was amazing. He had been with Amy such a long time that he had felt numb to their relationship. Years had slipped by and they went about their daily lives the
same as everyone else. Going to work and coming home from work. She was always there. He felt smothered by her. Then, out of the blue, he met Sharon in town one day while she was in Galway for work. She invited him for some lunch. Over her caesar salad, Sharon flirted with Frank non-stop. Firstly, thinking that this was just friendly banter, he came to realise that she was coming on to him. He liked it. It was exciting and it was wrong but he couldn’t resist it. After spending, the afternoon in her company, when the time came to go home, both of them hesitated outside the restaurant. One looked suggestively at the other. So, instead of going back to work, they went to a hotel for the evening.
The very first time he didn’t come home until midnight, blaming work for keeping him out late. This was to become a regular pattern. Shortly after he had made the decision to leave Amy and that fateful day had gone through with it, he realised that he made a huge mistake. Sharon had become unbearable. She complained continuously and nothing was good enough for her. He knew that he deserved everything he got but unable to go crawling back because of his pride, he stuck it out. That was until he heard about Amy’s accident. The shock was too much for him to bear.
Feeling like he had been given a kick to the stomach, he ran to his car, Sharon to his heels. Sarah, Amy’s mum didn’t have to call him but as she explained, she felt that she had to. After all, they had been married and he deserved to know that Amy had been in an accident. ‘What have I done?’ he thought to himself as he drove towards the hospital ‘I love her’.
The accident happened very quickly, Amy unaware of it all. Once the drunk man, now dead, hit Amy’s car she was knocked unconscious. Her car was completely destroyed. When the ambulance arrived on the scene, she was very close to death, the technicians amazed that she was alive at all. Her pulse weak and her blood pressure very low. It turned out that she had internal bleeding, which the surgeons were now desperately trying to stop. If she were left much longer, she most certainly would be dead but she was still not out of the woods. The surgeon operating on her looked around him at the glum faces in the theatre. This was a bad one, even he had to admit. Once he had the better of one bleed, another appeared. Alarms went off every few minutes warning the team around Amy of dips in blood pressure and heart rate. He often wondered what he would be doing if he hadn’t become a doctor. Often, he convinced himself it was too much. Today was one of those days. Beads of perspiration gathered on his forehead as he worked. Would this girl be ok? He had no idea. He longed to be at home now. This girl reminded him of his wife. They had the same hair and shape face. Normally he was ok with just doing his job. He looked at peoples bodies as a job, almost as they were a car and he was a mechanic. He had to. There were times he was unable to save patients. He had to come up with a way of separating himself from the emotion of it all. It had worked for him for years until lately and especially today. This woman looked so much like his wife that it frightened him.
Sean’s held his head in his hand. Coming close to tears, he remembered Amy’s face after he had kissed her in Dublin. She had no idea how beautiful she was. None. He looked at the man who called himself her husband to the doctors not one hour ago. He fought very hard not to launch himself at Frank. It had taken all his strength. He left her all by herself. It took her so long to get over him and now he was back. Did he think that he could just waltz in here with his girlfriend? Definitely a bad decision on Frank’s part, bringing his girlfriend along.
Sharon was not long waltzing back out of there when Liz threw herself at her old pal. Cursing and clawing at her, Amy’s brothers holding Liz back roaring to get the hell out if she knew what was good for her. Getting the message loud and clear, not only from Liz but from the rest of the room, she ran out of the room sobbing ‘I don’t know why everyone’s always against me!’ He shuddered at the thought that he himself had kissed Sharon at Amy’s wedding. God he thought to himself, he must have been high to think about going there. She was a walking anti christ. Looking from one to the other, he swore that there was no way on this earth that he would let anyone hurt her again. Unable to concentrate on anything, getting angry one minute and sad the next, he wondered why Adam Staunton was there. Had Amy started seeing him? Why would she, she barely knew him. Although that day in Salthill was a little unreal. Maybe she knew him better than he imagined. He knew that this was no time for it but jealousy swept over him like a cold wave. Who even called him? Liz he guessed. She must be seeing him then! He felt sick. Afraid he might expel the contents of his stomach he walked outside for some water. He could not handle this anymore. He just wanted her to be all right. He would do anything for her to be okay. She could see whomever she wanted so long as she lived. He realised at that very moment that he would do anything for her.
They had been friends since college but over the past few years, their relationship had grown. He considered her his best friend. There had always been harmless flirting but apart from that, they had a solid friendship. That, above anything, he did not want to lose. He had messed things up with her but if she survived, he would make it right. He HAD to make it right. He had known for some time that he loved her. He had loved her long before she had married Frank but Amy had no idea how he felt. He loved her so much he almost felt physical pain. If anything happened to her, he would surely die of a broken heart. Promising God at that moment that if she made it, he would tell her how he felt. He would tell her he loved her.
Liz wiped a tear from her left cheek. She would never forgive herself if her friend died. It would be her fault and she knew it. If it had not been for her, Amy would not even be on the road. Even so, she would not have been as tired. Why had she insisted that they stay up so late on Saturday night? She knew one thing. People she knew died, especially those she loved. She was tired of it. Her heart always ached and no matter what she did or said. It was as if she was a magnet for sadness. When her sister died, she felt guilt. Why was she taken instead? When her mother died, she felt guilt that she hadn’t done enough. If her friend died now, she would give up. That would be the end of her. Watching everyone in the room was torture. Poor Seamus and Sarah were white with fear. Death had not touched them before.
Adam didn’t know anyone in the room except for Sean. He recognised him from the interview that day in Salthill. He could see from the corner of his eye that he watched him now and again. Probably wondering what he was doing there. A few hours ago, just as he was getting into bed he got a phone call from a girl called Liz. Apparently, she was Amy’s friend. She had known that Amy was meeting him. Hysterical she called him telling him what had happened. Unable to stay in Sligo, she had made her way to Galway University Hospital as fast as she could. Liz had said that she thought it was her fault. Adam being the gentleman, he was told her that she was nothing but a true friend to Amy. If anything, he was to blame. He kept her out. He knew she had a long weekend and she was tired but he was selfish. He wanted her for himself. He knew when he saw her that first day sitting alone tears rolling down her face that she was special. He was drawn to her and he had no idea why. She was beautiful that was true but it was something else. It was something deeper that he couldn’t explain. He had made his mind up there and then he had to have her. He wasn’t even sure how he could even know this. Anyone would tell him he was crazy but he could easily love her.
11
Unable to open her eyes properly, she turned her head. Wincing at the pain in her abdomen, she felt like she had been ran over with a truck. ‘What the hell happened?’ she tried to talk but to no avail. Hearing beeping noises, shuffling feet and people moving around her, she eventually succeeded in opening her eyes. Around her were doctors and nurses. Feeling extremely confused, she tried her best to remember what had gone on. A nurse came towards her bed, smiling.
‘Sweet heart, you’re in the hospital. You’ve been in a car accident but you’re ok’
‘What’ Amy found it hard to speak.
‘It’s ok. There’s no need to talk. Your throat is probably a little raw. You
’ve had surgery but the doctors were able to help’ the kind nurse gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. The last thing Amy remembered was closing her eyes after pulling into the hard shoulder, something very hard, very fast pushing her forward, and crushing her up against the steering wheel. After that, she had nothing.
‘Can you get my mum and dad please?’
‘Of course I can. Just hold on a few minutes and I’ll go get them’
Seamus and Sarah were relieved to say the least when they saw their daughter awake. Both of them crying, they got a bit of a shock when they saw all the wires coming from her arms and body. The nurses had explained what to expect but on sight, it wasn’t the same and they were taken aback. Luckily, Amy was over the worst. She would have a lot of healing to do but she would be fine. Suffering a ruptured spleen, a partially perforated bowl, a punctured lung, cracked ribs and a broken leg, after some time in hospital with intensive physiotherapy, she would be ok.
‘Are you ok love?’ Seamus held his daughter’s hand. He was barely able to hold back his tears.
‘I’m fine dad, honest’
‘Do you have a lot of pain?’ Sarah added
‘A little, but I’m fine really I am’
‘You were so lucky. You have no idea’ Seamus shook his head.
‘What happened’ Amy asked
‘Well it looks like a drunk driver, hit you from behind. That’s what the police are saying, although they can’t confirm it. He hit you so hard, shoving your car into the barrier at the side of the road. You could have been killed’
‘Well, it’s a good job I wasn’t then’ Amy winced again, as she tried to move in the bed.
Whiplash Hotel Page 9