by Casey, L. A.
“Is it normal for me to feel so sleepy?” I yawned. “I’ve been asleep for over two weeks.”
The nurse smiled. “You’ve been in a coma, honey. That’s not a regular sleep; your brain is recovering and the best way for it to do that is for you to—”
“Rest,” I finished with a grin. “I’ve got to get plenty of rest.”
“You’ve got it in one.”
I looked back to the hand Elliot was holding. He was squeezing it a little as he watched the nurse. He didn’t release his grip until she left the room.
“Hey,” I said, causing him to look up. “I’m okay, you know?”
“I know.”
He was lying, I could see that he was worried about me. It was in his eyes, and in Mum’s and Dad’s eyes too. I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for them to be told my memory was wiped. They must be feeling like they were walking on eggshells around me.
“Am I still in the ICU?”
“Yes,” Dad answered. “You’ll be moved to a different ward in a few days if your condition continues to improve.”
I nodded slowly, then I shifted and hissed when I felt a slight stinging in between my legs.
“Between my legs.” I winced. “What is that?”
Elliot lifted up the blanket before I finished speaking. He moved my gown up my legs, but he didn’t part my thighs. He relaxed and looked at me.
“Ye have a catheter . . . in you.”
Of all of the things for him to see when we were in such a situation . . . it made my face burn.
I groaned. “Bloody hell.”
“Hush now,” Mum said as she fixed my blanket back around me. “You were in a coma, a catheter is necessary. Don’t be embarrassed.”
“Easy for you to say.” I yawned. “Is the catheter bag in view?”
“It is for me,” Elliot answered. “I just noticed it.”
I groaned again. “Is it full?”
“Yup.” He winked. “Your kidneys are workin’ well it appears.”
“Pig.” I playfully scowled at his teasing. “I think I’m gonna close my eyes for a minute, if the doctor or nurse comes back in, tell them to take it out, okay? I can get to the bathroom by myself now that I’m awake, even if I have to crawl. I know I look broken, but I promise I’m not . . . or not entirely, anyway.”
Elliot leaned back in his chair, and his hand let go of mine so he could salute me.
“Anythin’ else, boss?”
“Yeah,” I murmured, closing my eyes. “Trim the beard, Chewie.”
The ache in my head faded away to nothing, allowing me to enjoy the low laughter of the people I loved most in the world as I drifted off into a deep, peaceful slumber.
CHAPTER TEN
ELLIOT
Twenty-one years old . . .
“Bailey McKenna!” I hollered up the stairs. “If you’re not down these bleedin’ steps in ten seconds or less, I’m gonna—”
“I’m comin’!” My sister’s screech cut me off. “I’m comin’, ye feckin’ ape. Keep your knickers on.”
“Give over,” Ma called from the kitchen. “The pair of ye.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at the red-headed pixie as she descended the stairs, pulling her hair back into a half-bun thing. I didn’t understand it – half of her hair was tied up while the other half was down and curled.
“Your head looks like a pineapple with that hair.”
She shoved by me. “Like you’d know anythin’ about style.”
I followed her into the kitchen where our parents were eating lunch.
“What’re ye talkin’ about?” I quizzed as I held my hands out. “I am style. D’ye not see what I’m wearin’?”
I had on a standard grey Calvin Klein tracksuit, paired with brand-new white Nike runners. I looked fresh.
The kid barely glanced my way. “Please, ye’ve got common MW style.”
I blinked. “Common what style?”
“MW.” She grinned, then mouthed the words “man whore”.
I never wanted those words to leave my baby sister’s mouth again.
I glared at her. “Let those words slip past your lips again, and I’m staplin’ them together.”
“Ma! Elliot’s threatenin’ me!”
“Elliot, don’t threaten your sister.”
I grinned. “Sorry, baby.”
My sister scowled. “I’m not a baby, ye hav’te stop callin’ me that!”
“Ye’ll always be me little baby, baby.”
Bailey cringed. “Whatever, are ye ready to go?”
“Am I ready?” I repeated on a laugh. “I’ve been waitin’ for you the last half an hour.”
“Ye were rushin’ me,” she said, scowling. “When ye rush me, it stresses me out and I move slower. Fact.”
“The only fact is you’re doin’ me head in. Get out into me car. Now.”
“You’re not the boss of me!” she huffed, as she did exactly what I’d told her to do.
She shouted her goodbyes to our parents, then stormed out of the house with me following behind. I smiled as I trotted along after her. This was typical behaviour with my sister; she acted like I was the bane of her existence, but in reality she loved me and always wanted to hang out with me. I had always been close with her, but when we moved from our home in Dublin to London, she didn’t take the transition very well and our bond deepened. I was seven years older than her and I had always been protective of her – and that instinct only grew as she got older.
When we got into my car and I reminded her to buckle up, she rolled her eyes. “You’re such a loser, Eli. It’s always ‘buckle up, buckle up’.”
I shook my head, not understanding her logic.
“Only losers don’t wear their seat belt. Ye’ve no idea how many scenes I’ve been to that someone could have survived if only they were wearin’ one.”
Bailey didn’t reply, instead she buckled her seat belt.
“I can’t even believe I’m doin’ this,” I grumbled as I put the car in reverse. I put my hand on the back of Bailey’s headrest and looked over my shoulder as I backed out of the driveway. “Of all things in the world she wanted to do with me, why does it have to be this?”
“Don’t be such a bloke,” Bailey said, her tone clipped. “Ye love Noah, and she never told ye she wanted to do this, she told me and I told you.”
“Still,” I sighed, putting the car in first gear. “Dance lessons. I’m feckin’ dreadin’ it.”
“Not just any dance lessons.” Bailey shimmied her shoulders. “Salsa lessons.”
I glanced at her as we drove. She looked entirely happy about salsa lessons, and it irked me.
“You’re enjoyin’ this, aren’t ye?”
“More than ye’ll ever know, big brother.”
I snorted. “She better appreciate this – she bleedin’ well better.”
It was mine and Noah’s three-year anniversary, and up until a few weeks ago I’d had no idea what to do for it. Noah didn’t like bags, jewellery or shoes. I had more clothes and runners than she did. The only thing she actively bought was make-up, but I’d checked her dressing table in our bedroom and she was stocked up on everything. Apparently, Superdrug had a half-off sale and she’d gone a bit mad on her way home from work recently, which left me with limited options as to what to get her as a present.
I was stuck, until I happened to mention it to my sister, who then told me that Noah had mentioned that she wanted to take dance lessons with me for fun, but had never told me because she thought I’d say no. She thought right – I would have said no . . . but I’d let my kid sister bully me into arranging four weeks’ worth of lessons beginning on the afternoon of our third anniversary.
Today.
“Ye know she’ll be happy with anythin’ ye get her, Eli,” Bailey said. “Noah is so in love with you that if ye picked wildflowers for her, she’d be over the moon.”
I smiled. “I know. She’s smitten with me, right?”
/> “Right.” My sister chuckled. “But you’re equally as smitten with her. I still can’t believe ye asked the first girl ye’ve ever liked to be your girlfriend. I didn’t think ye had it in ye.”
“Ha ha.” I grinned when Bailey laughed. “Ye should learn from me. I knew what I wanted and went for it with Noah. There was no point in beatin’ around the bush when I knew she was my one.”
“How did ye know though?” Bailey asked, turning her body slightly to face me. “Was it love at first sight?”
“Love? No. Lust? Yep.”
“Ew! I’m fourteen, don’t talk to me about how ye sex up Noah. She’s practically me sister.”
She sounded revolted at the very thought.
“Let me finish,” I laughed. “I saw her before she saw me. It was me first day in school the week after we moved here, and she was sittin’ on the basketball court outside – she was readin’ a book and eatin’ an apple. I wasn’t sure what caught me eye first, how captivated she was by what she was readin’ or how her hair seemed to shine like gold as the sun hit it. Either way, I was instantly attracted to her . . . and because I had no clue what to do about it, I ignored her for the first few days at school.”
“That was almost poetic until ye got to the end, dumbarse.”
I shook my head, amused.
“She liked me too, but I didn’t realise it,” I continued. “I caught her lookin’ at me a few times, and when I started to pal around with AJ and realised she was his friend too, I started to plan ahead.”
“What’d ye do?” my sister quizzed. “Bully her until she loved ye?”
“What the hell? No. That’s toxic, Bailey. No boy will treat ye like shite if he truly likes ye . . . If one ever does, tell me and I’ll kill him.”
“Yeah, yeah, continue with your story.”
“There’s not a whole lot to it. We were friends and we grew closer; we had a bonfire on me eighteenth birthday and I kissed her that night. We started casually datin’, then I asked her to be me girlfriend a few months later. We haven’t looked back since.”
“That’s like a Wattpad story . . . except nothin’ dramatic happened before ye both got together. It’s a little anticlimactic, I won’t lie.”
I laughed. “That’s what’s perfect about Noah. She doesn’t play mind games and she doesn’t fight with me just for the hell of it. She calms me in a way I didn’t know I needed to be calmed. I’ve never met anyone like her and I never want to. She’s my one.”
“I should have brought a bucket,” Bailey teased. “All that sweet talkin’ may as well be honey drippin’ from your lips.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t even know why I’m lettin’ ye come along.”
“Ye had no choice,” Bailey answered as she tapped away on her phone. “Ye need someone to record her face when ye surprise her, and since AJ is on watch at the station today, I’m all ye’ve got, loser.”
“Stop callin’ me that.”
She snorted, then she shamelessly took about twenty-seven selfies before she smiled and bobbed her head happily, obviously liking one out of the whole fucking film reel.
“This one is Instagram-worthy.”
I stopped at a red light and glanced at her as she chuckled.
“Oh my God, I posted twenty seconds ago and he’s already liked the picture.”
My big-brother senses began to tingle as my hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“He?” I repeated. “Who is he?”
“A lad from school.” She shrugged. “Pretty sure he likes me. He double-taps every picture on me Instagram and always comments . . . Ha! Look, he commented too.”
She showed me her phone, and I read the words the little creep wrote.
So sxy.
“He forgot the E, the dumbarse. Stay away from boys who can’t spell easy words.”
“He’s only lookin’ at the menu, Elliot, not orderin’ from it.”
I felt my jaw drop. “Little boys like that can’t afford to order what you’re sellin’ on your menu. Which, let me be very fuckin’ clear, is absolutely nothing.”
My sister giggled, rolled her eyes, then flipped her hair over her shoulder, dismissing me.
“I will not be ignored,” I protested. “You’re fourteen. Ye don’t get a menu yet. Your restaurant isn’t openin’ for years.”
My sister burst out laughing as a car beeped its horn behind us. I realised the light was green, held my hand up in apology to the car behind, shifted into gear and drove.
“I’m serious, Bailey. Stay away from boys, we’re no good at that age . . . at any age, really.”
My sister chuckled. “I’ll be frigid until I’m eighty if ye get your way.”
“Eighty is still too young in my humble opinion.”
“You’re full of it.”
I grinned.
Ten minutes later we parked in town and I rang Noah.
“Hey,” she answered on the third ring. “Where are you?”
“Hey, gorgeous, just got into town.”
“I’m in the town centre where you told me to meet you. I got off work a bit earlier.”
“I’ll be right there, don’t move.”
I hung up as Bailey spotted her.
“She’s there,” she squealed. “Right there.”
I looked to where Bailey was pointing. Noah was standing outside H&M, looking at the outfits on display in the window.
“Sit here on this bench,” I said to my sister as we got out of the car. “I’ll bring her across usin’ the pedestrian crossin’, so point your phone that way. Make sure ye start recordin’, okay?”
She saluted me. “On it, boss!”
I nodded, turned and jogged across the road, after checking for cars.
“Noah,” I called.
She heard me and turned around. When she spotted me, she smiled, and for a moment my breath caught in my throat. She was beautiful with her long, wavy blonde hair, her huge green eyes and her thin but delicate pink lips.
“How did I get to be so lucky to have a girlfriend like you?” I asked her when she reached me and slid her arms around my waist.
“You’re Irish.” She grinned up at me. “That’s all the luck you need.”
Amused, I kissed her forehead. “How was work?”
“Not so good.” Her smile faltered. “I thought Helen was gonna discuss the manager position with me, but she gave Lesley the promotion instead.”
I blinked. “But ye’ve been workin’ at her shop for two years; you’re her best worker.”
Noah shrugged. “Lesley’s older than me by ten years and has more experience.”
“That’s bollocks,” I stated. “Ye came up with fifteen new arrangements for Helen since ye started workin’ there. The pieces ye did at that funeral last month were gorgeous, and ye did them by yourself because Lesley was off sick.”
Noah smiled up at me. “You’re my champion.”
“I’m pissed off is what I am.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Stick it out at the place for a few more years. I’ve saved up a few grand and I’ll save up some more. I’m gonna buy ye your own flower shop one day, one that you’ll run and call the shots in.”
Noah leaned up on her tiptoes and puckered her lips, so I lowered my head the rest of the way and kissed her. She relaxed against me as I deepened our kiss ever so slightly. When I pulled back, I grinned down at her. Her eyes were closed, and she looked happy. That was my Noah – even if she’d had a shitty day, she didn’t dwell on it.
“Are ye ready for your surprise?”
Her eyes popped open. “Yes, sir, I am.”
“Three years already,” I whistled as I took her hand and led her towards the crossing. The light was with us so we crossed the road, and I stood on Noah’s left so she wouldn’t have a full view of Bailey. “Where has the time gone?”
“I know,” Noah chuckled. “I swear it was yesterday when you told me you loved me for the first time.”
“Ah,” I mused. “The very d
ay ye broke up with me before I even asked ye to be me missus, if I remember correctly.”
Noah’s cheeks heated as she playfully shoved me. “Don’t bring it up.”
Smiling, I moved behind her and turned her to face the dance studio.
“Happy anniversary, sasanach.”
There was a prolonged moment of silence that I wasn’t sure was a good or a bad thing.
“We’re going to watch a dance?”
“Nope, we’re takin’ salsa lessons.”
“Salsa lessons?” Noah looked over her shoulder and blinked. “Of all things to do on our anniversary, you picked salsa lessons?”
I felt my smile drop away and my gut churn.
“But . . . but didn’t ye tell Bailey that ye’d love it if we took lessons together but ye never asked because ye figured I’d say no?”
Noah shook her head. “No, never.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion, then widened my eyes to the point of pain.
“Bailey McKenna!”
I spun to face her and found her still sitting on the bench a few metres away, her phone pointed in my and Noah’s direction.
“Bailey’s here?”
“Ye filthy liar!” I shouted at my sister. “Ye stitched me up!”
“Oh,” Noah giggled as she moved to my side. “The little devil!”
My sister laughed so hard she fell off the bench and on to her behind, which concerned me for only a moment because she never stopped laughing. In my mind, I was imagining all of the ways I was going to redden her arse for embarrassing me like this in front of my girl, but when I realised that Noah was laughing, I relaxed for about a second.
“It’s not funny.” I looked at her and frowned. “She lied to me.”
“She took the piss outta you, more like,” Noah snickered as she moved by me and helped a still-laughing Bailey to her feet. “You got him good.”
“I really did, but what’s better is ye both actually have to take the classes . . . he already paid two hundred quid for it. No refunds.”
My sister jumped behind Noah when I made a play to strangle her then and there. It was hard to be mad at her; she had tears rolling down her face from laughing, and the smile it put on Noah’s face made it worth the money, and humiliation. Barely.