Healing Hands (2 page)

Chapter 2
Sophie didn't know how long the luscious Dr Taylor would be at the chemist so she quickly stripped
off to shower as the salty wet clothes had begun to chafe, her ankle was nicely swollen and
beginning to turn purple “lovely “she thought “that’s me in flats for a while!” not that she was
planning any nights out at all, she hadn't involved herself with anyone here yet although that isn’t
surprising as she has only ventured out to the stables or shops so far. She could tell a friendship
would blossom with Charlotte as she was really good company they had chatted quite a lot, Sophie
careful not to give too much away about herself, but she always seemed pleased to see her and
they always shared a pot of tea after a ride so perhaps sometime soon she would invite her round
or arrange to go out, Charlotte had a boyfriend who was a local farmer but he worked long hours
so she would probably be happy to kill time with her. Sophie really did want to try and make this
place home at least for as long as she could so long as she remained hidden from Jasper.
Sophie hadn't realised how long she had been day dreaming in the shower until she heard her
door bell “shit” she said as she quickly dried herself, threw on her favourite jog pants and Super
Dry T Shirt and hopped down the stairs drying her hair brusquely as she went.
Marcus was just beginning to consider knocking the door down thinking Sophie had fallen again or

fainted when it was yanked open, she stood before him panting and apologising and all he could
think was oh my God she had obviously just got out of the shower and not dried herself properly
and her yummy small t shirt was clinging to her in obscene places leaving nothing much to the
imagination wow her breasts looked luscious and on the large side compared to her slight figure,

her tiny waist led down to a snug pair of joggers skimming her beautiful shapely legs, she flicked
her hair out of her eyes a beautiful red curly mane that hung down almost to her waist. Her cheeks
were flushed from the hot shower and her bright inquisitive green eyes stared straight into his
waiting for him to come in and all he could think was how much of a delight it would be to trail his
fingers over her pale perfect skin and kiss her frankly pornographic mouth . Cross with himself for
losing his Dr face so quickly he cleared his throat and followed her inside closing the door behind
him. The cottage was truly stunning with amazing views of Lligwy beach, the road in had been a pig
to drive down and he realised then it was so worth it to be this remote, he wondered briefly why a
young gorgeous woman who appeared to live alone would seek out such isolation.

Sophie led him to her living room and sat herself on the comfy leather sofa placing her foot
delicately on the foot stool for him to examine, she watched him as he expertly dressed and
wrapped it not once causing pain, she studied him whilst he worked, she guessed age late twenty's
he must work out other than riding as although his bottom was definitely a riders shape, his
shoulders were broad and his arms very defined she started to imagine his torso but stopped
herself and instead ogled his gorgeous thick brown hair instead, she would love to grab handfuls of
it with him riding her. Eek this was bad and quite surprising for Sophie had not let a man so much
as touch her since Jasper, the man had violated her in unimaginable ways and she couldn't ever
contemplate allowing a man that close to her again so it made her feel quite optimistic that
someone had penetrated her barriers enough to think it a possibility.
Marcus sat back and admired his efficiency and handiwork “there, you are done, I am going to give
you some tablets to ease the swelling and you need to take some more before bed and then again
first thing tomorrow, you need a drink to wash them down so point me to the kitchen and after
that I will make us both a coffee if that fine with you?” Sophie nodded at him and pointed to the
door on the right, he walked into a cosy and cute country style kitchen and saw straight away she
was a women with good taste in coffee as she had a state of the art machine on the counter. “ the
coffee beans are in the freezer Dr Taylor, top drawer do you know how to work those machines as I
will make it if not” Marcus had the exact replica at home so got to work.
Ten minutes later they were both sat opposite ends of the sofa chatting happily and enjoying their
drinks, “you did well Dr, this is as good as I make” Marcus confessed then to owning the same
model at home. “where do you live Doc?” she asked politely “just over Menai Bridge close to
Bangor” he replied,” but along the water’s edge, its handy to get to the Hospital for work” Sophie
found herself wondering if his home was opulent or homely, she sighed knowing she would
probably never get to find out as he was just a good Samaritan and she may never bump into him
again. “and please call me Marcus” he said kindly “we may run into each other on the beach again
and Dr makes me feel old , how often do you ride?”
“every day usually unless its too windy or wet” she replied “I saw your horse being delivered
yesterday” Marcus then explained he had just bought Jewel up from his mum's place in Cheshire
as he never got home often enough to ride him it was Jewells first time on sand and he had not
taken to it well but that now he was settled he hoped to ride more often “especially now” he
thought. Sophie was sorry when he stood to leave “thank you for the house call Marcus, it was
very considerate and well beyond the call of duty” he smiled at her feeling an emptiness at the
thought of walking away she had a certain sadness or hurt in her that he wanted to mend
somehow, he turned and let himself out “ bye Sophie I have left my card on your worktop if the
swelling gets worse or you are at all worried just phone me and I will see about getting you in for
an x ray” he sort of hoped she would but for purely selfish reasons as just being near her seemed
to awake parts of his body he had thought were long devoid of feeling.
The door closed behind him Sophie wanted to run to the door and ask him to stay for a while but
as she couldn't run anyway it was a silly idea, she heard his car drive away and closed her eyes with
a sigh, until next time Dr Taylor she thought. Marcus drove away determined to see her again he
needed to see what her story was and why such a beauty was so forlorn and living in such a
remote place, Sophie Sophie he thought what are you doing to me....

It was Friday and Marcus sat in his office at the hospital waiting for his shift to end it had been a
long 12 hours since lunch time and all he wanted was a hot bath and a very long sleep, his mind
wandered back to the events of Monday morning he had been riding twice since then and
although he knew she wouldn't be there as her ankle would not be up to a ride he still half hoped
to see her, Marcus had a sudden flutter inside wishing the weekend away so he could hopefully
get to see her again.
Tucked away in bed Sophie was just recovering from one of her crippling panic attacks brought on
by the nightmares that persisted to haunt her daily, she sat up but for some reason this time she
just wasn't recovering her breathing and she was beginning to feel dizzy and nauseous she jumped
out of bed to get to the bathroom before she threw up but tripped on the rug next to her bed she
fell hard and whacked her head on the bedside table darkness swallowed her up. Sometime later
Sophie opened her eyes she knew she didn't feel right her head was thumping and she felt a sticky
patch where she had hit her head , crawling to her phone she wondered who to call, she didn't
want an ambulance as her records would reveal exactly who she was and it held all her history of
mysterious injuries and would raise questions, she only knew Charlotte and Marcus and it was a
bit late to phone Charlotte so she dialled her good Samaritan hoping he wasn't on night shifts his
tired but gruff voice answered “ Dr Taylor” he snapped Sophie hesitated unsure she should bother
him as he didn’t sound very happy but she was feeling really strange and was struggling to stay
awake “hi Doctor I am sorry to bother you its Sophie here I didn't know who to ring, I don't know
anyone else, I feel totally stupid and you are going to think I am the clumsiest idiot around but I fell
over and banged my head I must have passed out and have just woken up but I’m struggling to
keep my eyes open now” before she could say any more he told her he would come straight away
as he was on his way home after his shift so he could be with her in 20 minutes, she told him
where the spare door key was hidden under the plant pot and before she hung up she felt the
blackness descending again.
Marcus was suddenly wide awake all thoughts of hot baths behind him as he raced to Sophie’s
house he had shouted down the phone when she didn’t hang up properly and knew she must have
passed out again, he contemplated calling an ambulance but he was nearer and sould call from the
house if she needed to be airlifted or anything so he drove like a maniac and arrived faster than he
had planned, he grabbed his bag and he retrieved the key from its hiding place and shot up the
stairs to find Sophie curled up on the bedroom floor he had no time to take in the fact she was
wearing nothing but a t shirt and panties before he scooped her up and lay her on the bed he
could tell she was breathing and her pulse was strong, he shone his light into her eyes and the
pupils showed good reactions, it didn't look like a fracture but she had a lump and small cut just
above her eyebrow, he used a cooling pad he had in his bag and held it gently to her head trying
to coax her awake. The cut was not deep enough for stitches so he just cleaned the wound with
antiseptic wipes, as he studied her more closely he noticed she had scars that were quite new
around her wrists that looked to be from some type of restraint he ran his eyes over her exposed
flesh and noticed that at the top of her thighs she had small scars that looked like burn marks he
desperately wanted to examine the rest of her but resisted the urge as he felt a sudden burst of
rage as he was starting to work out the reasons that this beautiful girl was so frail and isolated
someone close to her had abused her at some point, he wanted to snap them in two as the anger
began to overpower him he noticed her eyes were fluttering so he swallowed his emotions back
as he didn't want to startle her.
As Sophie opened her eyes she looked into those of her Good Samaritan “another house call Dr
you must be an angel” she knew she was still feeling odd as he seemed to have two heads, he was
so gorgeous she was enjoying seeing both of them. “What happened how did you fall?” Sophie
tried to explain without going into detail about the cause of the panic attack and the need to vomit.
Again Marcus had to fight back the anger as he imagined the abuse that would drive her to suffer
with panic attacks to the point of throwing up, he wanted to wrap his arms around her but
instinctively Sophie drew her hands to herself and huddled into a ball pulling the covers over her as
she was suddenly acutely aware of her partial nudity and the range of emotions she saw crossing
Marcus face was disturbing her, Marcus pulled himself together sensing her unease with his
mood,“ You don't need stitches Sophie but I need to sit with you for a while to make sure you don't
fall asleep or vomit, just to be sure you don't have a serious concussion.”
Sophie relaxed a little as Marcus kicked off his shoes and lay back against the headboard keeping a
polite distance from her physically, he chatted amiably with her for the next hour or so, he
discovered Sophie was 24 years old she had grown up around the Manchester area she spent
every year holidaying here, she was a good student and had achieved an MBA in business studies,
he wondered what happened during the gap between her graduation and living here, she seemed
to have plenty of money but no career? He didn't push for an answer but those missing two years
were puzzling. Marcus was quite surprised to discover she had been raised by a single mum who
was a successful business woman whom he knew of in the world of media she had obviously been
a huge influence on the direction Sophie had taken in her studies.
Sophie watched Marcus as he talked about his medical studies and his swift rise to become a
renowned surgeon from a middle class background, he was 29 years old and had transferred from
a small hospital in Cheshire for the larger Bangor Hospital she could have listened to him talk all
night but her eyes were failing her.
The next thing Sophie knew she heard her mobile trilling next to her bed she sat up too quickly and
the pain thudded through her head, she was suddenly aware of the sound of her shower rumbling
away, Marcus must had fallen asleep next to her on the bed, typical the most sexy man she had
seen in her life had spent the night in her bed and she had been oblivious to the whole thing!
She grabbed the phone “mum hi how are you?” Diane Merchant was a formidable woman
hardened by her time in the city of London battling her way through sexist red tape and male
ego's to become a respected individual and she loved her daughter to death she checked on her
every day since the attack. “Sophie did I wake you up? I have been in the office for 2 hours already,
I hope you are not wallowing honey you need to start living now do I need to come and visit?”
“Mum I'm fine really I had a night out with friends and it was late when we got in that’s all”
Sophie’s mum was thrilled she was making new friends at last, oblivious to the lie she was just so
happy to have her daughter back in her life, the trauma Sophie had suffered shot pains in her heart
every time she thought about them she hated Jasper from the start but not once since did she say
“I told you so” she had dropped everything on that awful day she had got the call to say she was in
hospital recovering from a near strangulation at his hands and ever since she had been there for
her recovery and had been the one to suggest Anglesey as it was a place they both loved she
resisted the urge to go with her as she knew Sophie had the inner strength to beat this but being
mollycoddled would not do her any favours.
Marcus stepped out of the bathroom and was immediately stopped in his tracks at the sight of the
tiny beauty staring straight into his eyes blushing profusely, she was on the phone and it sounded
like she didn't want to have to explain the presence of a man in her bedroom so he went back in
the bathroom discreetly.
“Yes mum I am making friends no job yet but I will keep you posted, and no I don't need you to
sort me out I will speak to you later bye love you”
Marcus tentatively stepped out again “is it safe?” he asked amused at her expression
Sophie relaxed visibly and smiled at him shyly “mother!” she got up carefully as her head still
pulsed and held on to the headboard as she felt a little dizzy, Marcus handed her two painkillers
and a glass of water “thank you Doc I really need to shower I think I shall manage it without
incident hopefully, if you need to shoot off its fine you have done enough looking after the
disabled person now” Marcus smiled at her sarcasm and when she was safely in the bathroom he
dressed, he had struggled to keep his erection hidden from her, a sign of his appreciation of her in
panties and her very delightful derrière. “Coffee is required “ he decided and went down to settle
his emotions and hopefully settle his obvious arousal.