He's Captured My Heart (Captured Series Book 1) (36 page)

As we enter my room, Karl takes me straight to my bedroom and lowers me gently onto the bed. The last time I was lowered onto this bed, it was by Alex, just before we made love all night. I wish he were here right now.

“Libby, sweetie, where are your pyjamas?” Sarah’s soft voice is right beside me again.

“In the drawer.” I point the direction of the dressing table.

“Do you mind me dressing you and washing your face?” she asks kindly.

I can only shake my head. I can’t find the words. I am so hot, and this bloody room is spinning. My mouth is dry. My eyes are heavy.

I hear Sarah ask Karl to leave the room until she can help me change. He tells her he’ll go meet the doctor, and she nods. Sarah’s hands feel cold against my skin but soft, soft like Alex’s. She takes her time removing my outer layer of clothes. I try to help as best I can, but I feel useless. She is gentle as she cleans my face, removing all traces of the makeup.

Soon I hear voices.

“Sarah, darling, how is she doing?” Richard asks.

“Not great. She’s burning up. I’ll be glad when the doctor gets here…and her brother. I don’t want to call Alex—I’ll leave that up to Ethan. He’ll want to
be the one to call their parents,” she answers. “Bring me another cold washcloth, will you? And some ice?”

I drift off to sleep again.

I hear a baby cry. My eyes spring open. Ethan is sitting beside me, holding my hand. Sarah holds a very tired-looking Lucy on her lap. She’s singing her a lullaby.

“What’s wrong, Libby? You not getting
enough
attention this week? You thought you needed some more?” He’s trying to make me laugh, but he’s not fooling me. I can tell he’s worried.

“Ethan, you didn’t have to come. You should be at home, and that beautiful baby girl should be in bed.”

“Look at her. She’s fine. She’s loving the extra attention, and I’ll put her to sleep in the pram soon. It’s you I’m worried about.” He looks towards Sarah.

“Where’s Karl? I though he was here?” I say.

“He’s headed down to bring the doctor up,” Ethan says. “That will be them now.”

I hear more voices coming from the next room. Sarah takes Lucy out of the bedroom, and the doctor comes in. He closes the door. Ethan stays with me.

“So, Miss Stewart. I understand you’re having a bit of a rough time of it lately. I’m Dr. Taylor.” He inserts a thermometer in my mouth. “I need to check your back now, if that’s okay. Can you roll onto your side for me?”

I turn slowly onto my side. Ethan is still holding my hand. The doctor puts on some gloves and removes the dressing. He cleans the wound thoroughly. I
wince at the coldness. I feel his gloved hand putting pressure on my back. He rolls me onto my back and reads the thermometer and then takes my blood pressure.

“Right. Miss Stewart, it would appear that you have an infection, which is not uncommon with such a deep puncture. We’ll treat it with a stronger antibiotic. Your temperature is a bit on the high side, as is your blood pressure, but I think at the moment I’m happy enough for you to remain here. If anything changes, you’ll be admitted to hospital. I’ll make arrangements for one of the community nurses to visit first thing in the morning.”

“So the infection explains how she is just now?” Ethan asks.

“Yes. I can give her something to help her sleep through the night. The fever will most likely get slightly worse before we start to see an improvement.”

Worse? I don’t think I could feel worse than I do just now. Maybe I should just let the doctor give me something to sleep. Maybe I’ll wake up feeling right as rain.

“I need to know that someone will be here the whole night with her,” the doctor says.

“Yes, I’ll be here,” says Ethan. “I’ll stay with her.”

The doctor tells Ethan when to give me the medication and what other signs to watch out for. Ethan sees the doctor out and thanks him. I can hear
everyone talking in the next room, but I don’t know what they are talking about. Although I can guess. Me.

Suddenly I hear Sarah shout. “
That. Damn. Bitch!
”

“Sarah, that’s enough! There’s a baby here, and Libby is right next door. She doesn’t need this just now.” Richard seems to be trying to calm her down.

“She makes my blood boil, Richard! You know how I feel about her! And as for Alex, I’ll cancel my flight tomorrow and deal with him.”

After my conversation with Sarah earlier, I know exactly which bitch she’s talking about, but I can’t imagine what Alex has done. I’m not sure I want to know—at least right now. Ethan enters the room with his phone stuck at his ear.

“Mum…no, it’s not Lucy. If you’ll hush and let me speak, I’ll tell you. I’m at the hotel. Libby isn’t well—Mum, calm down! Karl had to dress the wound in her back twice today, and she took unwell whilst having dinner with Mrs. Mathews. Yes, she fainted. The doctor says she has an infection, and he’s given us some antibiotic…no, Mum, she’s not being admitted into hospital. The doctor says that unless it gets worse, she’s fine here. Okay, I’ll speak to you again in a few minutes.”

I can only imagine how my mother’s end of the conversation went. Ethan sits down on the bed beside me. He takes my hand and strokes it gently. Such a simple gesture but one that means the world to me.

“Ethan? Is Mum okay?” I struggle to get the words out, but I want to know what Mum has said.

“She’s worried. She wanted to speak to Dad, and then she’ll ring back. They were just about to leave and go to some after party,” he says. He seems tense, edgy even. He’s hiding something from me. Ethan forgets how well I know him.

“Ethan, what’s happened?” My voice trembles.

“Libby, are you cold?” I nod. He gets up and grabs another blanket. “Here. You need to stay warm. You should try and sleep.”

His phone rings. I try to concentrate on what he’s saying.

“Hi, Mum. Yes, I’m with her just now. No, I’m not sure you’ll get much sense out of her. Libby? Mum wants to talk to you.”

“Libby, sweetheart, don’t you worry. Kirsty and I are heading to the airport right now. We’re getting a flight back up the road.”

“Mum,” I croak, but I can’t hold the phone. I’m trembling so badly it falls from my hand.

“Mum. I need to go. See you soon,” Ethan tells her. He takes me in his arms and cradles me, and I eventually drift off into a troublesome sleep.

21

I WISH I
could say I felt rested, but that would be a lie. I don’t remember much from throughout the night. There were nightmares. Plenty of them. Tears, I think, too. Plenty of those. There was Ethan, who stayed with me the whole night. Noise. Everything seemed so loud. But now it’s just quiet. I open my eyes slowly, blinking a few times to clear my view. The curtains are closed. The room is dark, so I’m unsure what time of day it is. It’s too quiet, considering. Something is wrong.

I try to pull myself up in the bed, but it’s much harder than I anticipate. My body aches, everywhere. I finally get myself into a sitting position, and I’m able to reach over and put a light on. I hear a noise from next door.

“Ethan?” I call out.

“No, Libby, it’s just me,” Karl says, walking into the bedroom. “Ethan needed to go home and get a few things for Lucy—I think clothes—and drop them off with your mum. He should be back shortly. He didn’t want you to be left alone.”

“Oh. Karl, what time is it?” I ask.

“Five o’clock.”

“In the evening?” He nods. Christ, I’ve been out of it for almost a day. “Poor Lucy…being stuck here all this time.”

“No, it was just Ethan with you all night. Your mum took her home after she arrived. She didn’t want the wee one to disturb you. But from what Ethan says, a bomb could’ve went off and you would’ve slept through it.”

“I think I spoke to Mum on the phone. There was a doctor here?”

“Yes, there was. Ethan can fill in any blanks for you. Can I get you anything?”

“Some water, please? I’m so thirsty.”

Karl gets some ice water and a straw. He holds the glass for me, and I take a sip. It’s cool and refreshing, just what I needed. I could also do with going to the toilet and taking a bath. My hair feels damp as I run my hands through it. So do my clothes.

“You were sweating from your fever,” Karl says, answering my unspoken question. “I could run a bath for you, but you’re not getting into one until Ethan gets back.”

“That would be great, because I must stink,” I say with a laugh. “So I presume Sarah and Richard are already away? I didn’t even get to say good-bye to them before they left.”

“No, they’re still here.”
Why are they still here?
“As I said, Ethan can fill you in on everything,” Karl says, walking towards my bathroom.

I get the feeling that something is going on. Karl is keeping something from me. I wonder if Ethan will tell me exactly what it is. Why are Sarah and Richard still here? On the plus side, it should only be a few hours before I get to see Alex.

I move my legs so they are hanging over the bed. I need to get up. I lower my feet to the floor and slowly lift myself off the bed. I manage to stand, albeit slightly unsteadily. I wander through to the sitting room. Karl must have been sitting watching TV. It’s still on. I don’t bother with it. It’s just good to be up and moving about. Each step I take gets easier.

The room door opens, and Kieran walks in with what looks like a pile of newspapers but stops dead in his tracks. He looks a little shocked and surprised.

“Oh, Libby. You’re here.”

“Where else would I be? This is my room, after all.”

“Yes, of course. I was…eh…just looking for Ethan,” he says, stumbling over his words. “I have a few things…no, never mind. Where is he?”

“He will be here shortly. Karl is here, though, babysitting me,” I answer drily. Something is definitely going on. Even Kieran looks shifty. I’ve seen Kieran look a lot of ways, but never this bad. I walk towards him. He’s still hovering by the door looking to make a quick exit.

“Kieran, what’s going on?” He shakes his head and says nothing. “Kieran, please tell me.”

“Nothing. Everything is fine.” He shifts from one foot to the other, agitated, and tries to hide the papers behind him.

“Kieran, give me those bloody papers!” I shout angrily. I can hear footsteps behind me.

“Libby, what are you doing up?” Karl shouts, looking as suspicious as Kieran. He tries to take my arm to lead me away, but I push his arm away.

“
I am not moving from this spot until someone tells me what the fuck is going on!
”

A voice distracts me, Alex’s voice. He’s back already? No, wait. It’s the TV. Alex is on the TV. He’s at what looks like an airport with my dad. Karl moves quickly to get the remote control, but so do I. I get it first.

“Alex, can you clarify your relationship with Katherine?”

“What about Miss Stewart?”

“You and Katherine looked very much together last night.”

“Have you ended things with Libby?”

“Libby, honey, give me the remote control. You don’t need to see or hear this just now,” Kieran says, his voice low and soft. He walks to where I stand in the middle of the room, transfixed by Alex’s face on the screen.

Kieran puts the papers down on the table and steps in front of me, blocking my view of the TV, but that doesn’t matter. I can still hear the questions being fired at both Alex and my dad. Then I remember that I heard Sarah shouting last night about that bitch. At the time I presumed she meant Katherine, and now I know I was right.

“Alex, will you be heading back to the States now that the buyout is complete?”

“Phil, what do you make of the allegations that both you and Alex used your daughter for the publicity?”

“Libby, please,” Kieran says, trying again. He puts his arms on my shoulders and tries to steer me back towards the bedroom.

“Kieran, is this what you are all tiptoeing about for?” I push him away from me.

“Libby, leave Kieran alone.” My brother’s voice echoes in the room. Karl is beside him. God, I never even noticed him leaving. “Guys, would you go and leave us to it?”

Kieran gives me a hug and a kiss and tells me he’s sorry before they both leave the room. Kieran has a little-lost-puppy look on his face now.

“Could you eat now?”

“No, Karl ran me a bath. I’m going to go for that and change into fresh, clean clothes. And then I want some answers from you. So you have a short time to think about what you will tell me. And the truth would be a good place to start. Could you also let Sarah know I am awake? If I remember correctly, she was quite worried.”

I head towards my bathroom, leaving Ethan with his thoughts. I strip and lower myself into the perfect bath, where I sink into the comforting water and my own less comforting thoughts. Could it really be true? Did Dad use me for publicity? If so, why? As for Alex, well, I don’t really know him. It could all have been an act. Maybe it had been planned all along. Both he and Katherine seem to have gotten the exposure they wanted. Good or bad, as far as press coverage goes, it doesn’t matter if you’re hungry enough for it. Or who gets hurt along the way.