Room 103 02 - Thrilling Heaven (20 page)

JEN

 All the group of men laughed loudly from the other end
of the garden and I narrowed my eyes on Ethan, knowing he had retold the story
of my traumatic strip experience.

Six male heads turned to look at me and I flushed from my
toes to my forehead. “You are so dead” I mouthed to Ethan.

He paled slightly but beamed at me when Bulk shouted,
“Epic, little lady.”

“What did you do?” Zoe asked from beside me as she took a
pull of cola from her bottle and eyed me suspiciously over the rim.

E started laughing loudly and I turned to her, “My god,
did he tell you too?”

She desperately tried to hold on to her laughter but
nodded and closed her eyes. “Sorry, Jen… honestly I’m not laughing at you.”

“Humph”

We were currently all in E and Jax’s garden celebrating
their wedding anniversary with a barbeque and a few beers, apart from Zoe who
was on pop as she was our taxi home, but so far it was me who had been the only
source of the entertainment.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“Will you tell me?” Zoe barked and my eyes widened at her
tone. “Sorry” she huffed out and I frowned at her.

“You okay, Zo?”

Her eyes flicked to Romeo and I sensed his tension from
across the expanse of grass. “Ahh” I mumbled and Zoe’s head swung round to me
with a glare.

“And what does that mean?”

I held up my hands in surrender, “Nothing, treacle. I
just gather you’ve had a… disagreement.”

She barked out a bitter laugh. “You could call it that!”

“What did he do?” E asked as she peered past me to look
at Zoe.

“Nothing! Ab-sol-ute-ly nothing. That’s the fucking
problem.”

E nodded as if she understood what was going on but I
frowned. “Well…”

Zoe’s bottle flew across the grass at a velocity that
matched her mood - fierce, before she stood up, walked away and we all heard
the rev of her engine before she pulled away.

“Okayyy. That’s our lift home gone” I murmured.

E leaned in to me as I spotted Romeo’s worried glance. “Romeo
has a small problem with… commitment.” She said as if that explained
everything. Which I suppose it did.

I nodded. “And Zoe has a problem with hanging on to my
brother” I explained with a sad expression as my fingers got caught in a knot
in Bruce’s, E’s dog’s, fur and he whined slightly. I was sure he narrowed his
eyes on me so I pampered him and stroked his tummy instead, prompting a grin
from him in its place.

“It must be hard for her.” E sighed as she picked at the
grass and tickled Lily’s nose with it, causing a delicious giggle to filter
over us and triggering a much needed smile.

“Yeah, we both miss him so much but Zoe, well they were
inseparable you know. I think she feels guilty to him for being in a happy
relationship.”

“Well, we have to let them hash it out on their own. How
are you and Boss doing now?”

I flicked a glance at my man, his loud laugh bringing a
smile to my face as he and Jax whispered something, I presumed rude, to one
another. “I bet they’re comparing sex techniques.” I said more to myself but E
chuckled loudly beside me.

“Yup. It’s a man thing.”

“We’re doing okay. I still… still can’t forgive him yet
but…” I shrugged, trying to find the words to explain, “He was right, in a way
when he said Kyle wouldn’t want me destroying myself. We just have to work
through it. I know I love him enough to want to work through it.”

“Then, that’s all that matters” E whispered as she pulled
me into a side hug.

I nodded in reply. It was all that mattered. Finding that
middle point where even if we didn’t forgive, we understood.

***

“Are you sure you don’t want a lift?” E asked.

“Nah, were good, hot stuff. It’s a nice night, we’ll
enjoy the walk.” Ethan told her as his arm slipped round my waist.

He kissed E’s forehead before we started the two mile
trek home.

“You have a good night?” he asked in my ear as his tongue
tickled my birthmark.

“I did, even though everybody was laughing at me” I said
to him with a mock glare.

He rolled his lips and looked away guiltily. “It’s okay
though, I told E that you didn’t know that Titanic was based on real life.”

His eyes widened on me as I beamed at him, playing him at
his own game.

“Awww shit, Jen. They’re gonna rib the fuck out of me,”
he grumbled and I nodded.

“Yup, they sure will Superman!”

He gave me a little growl and I squealed as he bared his
teeth playfully. “Oh no…” I warned him as he waggled his fingers at me.

I made a dash for it, laughing loudly when he couldn’t
keep up. “You are such a slow coach” I shouted over my shoulder as I rounded
the corner and took the alley behind Tesco to plan an escape route through the
wire fencing at the rear.

It was dark and I stumbled on something then skidded into
an industrial bin as Ethan caught up with me.

“You are such a slow coach” he teased as he pinned me up
against the bin, his hands already palming my breasts.

“Not here” I scolded him as a group of people entered the
alleyway. He pushed me further into the corner as he nuzzled my neck.

“Be quiet until they’ve passed, then little Boss wants to
say hi.”

“Little Boss always wants to greet me with a hi.” I
giggled when his tongue slipped over my ear.

“That’s because he has a romance going with Little Miss
Jen, baby.”

“Little Miss Jen? That’s different.”

We both chuckled quietly as we heard the group approach.

“Well, well. Look who it is!” a male voice sounded from
behind us and my stomach clenched when I realised who it was.

“Shit!” I whispered as Ethan reared around to see who was
talking to us.

“Jake” Ethan greeted without emotion as he turned to face
the group and held me back behind him.

I slipped Ethan’s phone out of his back pocket and hid it
behind his back as I dialled Jax.

Jake tipped his head with malice and my whole body froze
when he and seven of his mates picked up some planks of wood from beside the
bin.

“Oh fuck!” I rasped.

“Stay there, Jen. Whatever happens you do not come out of
this corner” Ethan said with plea in his voice.

“Ethan, don’t.”

“Do – as – you’re – told, Jen. Promise me!” he was sterner
this time and my throat was closing in.

“Ethan…”

I could hear Jax’s voice through the phone and I leant
down and whispered, hoping the group couldn’t hear me. “Jax, we’re in the alley
behind Tesco. Ethan needs you… NOW!” I finished with a shout and a scream when
all eight guys piled on to Ethan.

“JAKE, NO!” I screamed when Ethan went down under them.
“PLEASE…. NO!”

They were beating the life out of him. His loud grunts
tore through my heart as tears streamed down my face. I didn’t know what to do;
my throat was hoarse from screaming, my nose stung from the torrent of my salty
tears and my whole body was violently shaking as Ethan’s harrowing cries massacred
my soul.

Oh god….. Please…. Somebody… Anybody…

“Please….” was all I could whimper as I held my hands
over my ears, desperately trying to block everything out so it wouldn’t be real.

Ethan was quiet now, so quiet, but they still went at
him. His blood was trickling along the ground in small rivulets and my stomach
exploded at the sight of it but they still kept hitting and hitting him, each
of them bringing down each piece of wood with so much force I was sure I could
hear the crack of Ethan’s skull.

My instinct kicked in finally and I jumped on Jake’s back
trying to pull him off. “Get off, Jen!”

“NO!” I screamed at him. “Please Jake, please don’t.
You’re killing him!”

“That’s the plan! It’s called revenge, darling” he
laughed as his elbow smashed into my face. I flew backwards and slammed my head
on the wall.

Sirens filled the air as I heard running footsteps then
everything went blissfully black.

It was dark, my head hurt, my back hurt and I didn’t want
to open my eyes.

“ETHAN!” I screamed as I flung upright.

Hands came around my upper arms and held me down as I
tried to scramble out of bed. “Shush, Jen.” Bulk’s voice soothed from beside me
and I finally open my eyes.

He was pale, his eyes rimmed red and his lips seemed to
hold a blue tinge. “Ethan?” I stuttered.

His eyes were sad as he looked at me, his eyelids lowered
slowly and my heart ripped in two.

“No, no Bulk!” I whispered, “No….”

“Shush, little lady. He’s… he’s in a coma, Jen and… and
it doesn’t look…”

“NO!” I shouted at him as I punched him in the chest and crawled
out of bed. “I need to be with him.”

He nodded slowly but took hold of my hand. “He’s… you
need to prepare little lady, he’s… a mess” he said quietly.

 I chewed on my lip all the way to where Ethan was. My
memory replaying his screams and cries, the crack of the planks and the stream
of Ethan’s bright red blood in my head as my stomach emptied right in the
middle of the corridor.

“Shit, sweetheart” Bulk muttered as he desperately looked
around the corridor for someone.

A healthcare assistant hurried up to us and grabbed my
arm to lower me into a chair but I shook my head, wiped my mouth with the back
of my hand and carried on down the corridor barefooted and probably with my
arse showing through the back of my gown.

Bulk slipped his hand in mine as we reached Ethan’s room
and I was suddenly frightened to go in.

“You need to drag it in, Jen. You need to be strong for
Boss. Okay?”

Squeezing my eyes closed, I sucked in a huge breath
before he opened the door and led me in.

My world tipped sideways when I saw him and Bulk slipped
his arm around my waist to support me.

“Oh… G..G...God…”

The vomit rose as my legs plummeted and my arse hit the
floor before Bulk had chance to catch me. My lungs seemed to have collapsed and
my whole body trembled viciously. My nails were pressing into my palms with so
much force I could feel the trickle of blood seeping down my wrist.

My head wobbled from side to side before a scream so
feral and primal rushed forward as my whole world, my lover and my life died
right there and then.

The sound of the flat-line didn’t want to register until
Bulk screamed at nothing in particular; E shot out of her chair from the other
side of the room and raced over to Ethan, punching him repeatedly in the chest.
I presume it was just instinct that made her do it, either that or she was so
damn angry at him for dying right there and then.

“Don’t you dare you bastard!” she screamed at him.

Everything seemed surreal as I watched, suspended from
the ceiling as doctors, nurses and some other people that I wasn’t aware of
what their role entailed, forced their way into the room and over to Ethan.

Things were shouted. Needles were inserted into him. Lights
were shone in his eyes. Paddles were placed on his bruised and broken chest. Electricity
was shot through him.

And I sat, on the dirty floor, with no emotion, no tears,
no words, no thoughts, no song in my soul and no beat of my shattered heart.

***

“Jen! Jen! Sweetie, it’s okay…” E whispered as she rocked
me to and fro on her lap, both of us still on the floor. “It’s okay, he’s
back.”

I stared at her, my brow puckered as I tried to hang on
to her words but they were muffled and heavy in my daze. She nodded firmly and
cupped my face, “Boss is okay. Well… he’s alive.”

I nodded slowly with her, involuntary following the
movement of her head up and down. “Yes” I whispered, “he’s okay.”

She nodded again and smiled faintly. “You wanna hold his
hand, Jen? I’m sure Boss wants to feel your hand in his.”

I nodded slowly as Bulk helped me up off of the floor and
propped me up across the room and into a chair beside Ethan.

He placed Ethan’s hand in mine and I stared at it. It was
limp and floppy and I frowned when I wondered why he didn’t curl the length of
his fingers around mine like he usually did. I glanced at what was left of his
face and cocked my head in confusion when he didn’t smile at me.

The tube that was shoved in his mouth was stopping him
from saying my name the only way he could, in that gruff sexy way of his, and I
reached forward to pull it out so he could talk to me. Bulk’s fingers closed
round mine, “No, baby.”

“But he can’t talk to me, Bulk. I need to take it out for
him.”

He shook his head and looked at me sadly, “The doctor’s
will remove it soon. Leave it in for now.”

He smiled and nodded to me and I frowned slightly but returned
his nod. “Okay” I whispered as a nurse came into the room.

“We need to take Ethan now.”

I reared back slightly and stared at her in confusion.
“Why? What for, he wants to stay here with me.”

She smiled softly and patted my hand. “We have to prep
him.”

“Prep him for what?”

The stupid woman wasn’t making any sense and I glared at
Ethan to stand up for himself. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Ethan needs to have an operation to mend some bits and
pieces, pet” she said gently as she crouched before me and took hold of my
hand.

“You can come and wait in the special waiting room if you
want or you can stay here with your friends.”

“What bits and pieces?”

I saw the length of her throat bob and I sucked on my
lips. I was missing something here; they were all keeping something from me,
even Ethan.

“What the hell is going on?” I snapped at Bulk.

He sighed heavily as he squatted beside the nurse and
took my hand out of Ethan’s but I pulled it back and grabbed hold of Ethan’s
again.

“Jen, sweetheart, Boss has been hurt and they need to
find out what’s wrong inside, what’s causing him to bleed.”

I turned to look at Ethan and frowned. “He’s not
bleeding.”

“Inside, little lady. He’s bleeding somewhere inside and
the doctors need to find it and stitch it up for him to make him better.”

I huffed and shook my head. Why the hell weren’t they listening
to me? “Bulk, there is nothing wrong with him. Look at him. He’s got some
bruising and stuff but he’s fine. What happened to him anyway?”

His eyes were so sad and I palmed his face gently. “Don’t
be sad, Bulk. Why are you sad?”

“Jen,” he blew out a breath and swallowed heavily. “Boss
has been beaten badly, sweetheart and… and you need to understand that… that he
might not…”

I nodded and widened my eyes in encouragement for him to
continue. E came up beside me now, all three of them looking at me with so much
sympathy I knew something was really wrong here.

“He might not make it through the operation, Jen.” E said
slowly and quietly as her voice broke and she choked out my name.

I rolled my eyes at her and laughed. “Don’t be daft, E.
Ethan’s okay.” I smiled at her but her face was full of pain and anguish.

“Her brain is blocking the memories. It’s a natural
instinct, a way of coping with what’s happened.” I heard the nurse say and I
tutted at her.

Silly cow! There was nothing wrong with my brain; she needed
to get her own tested. It was her mumbling something about mending things that
weren’t broken.

Some more people entered the room and Bulk took my hand
from Ethan’s again but I grumbled at him and tried to snatch it back.

“Jen…” Bulk chastised when I struggled against him.

He pulled me behind him to let the other people get to
Ethan and a memory of Ethan pulling me behind him slammed into my brain.

I looked at the floor in confusion against the images. A
slow stream of blood was trickling across the floor to me and I frowned at it.
My head tipped to study it when it started to increase, the flow and spill swelling
as it oozed towards me.

I took a step away from it but it changed course and
followed me.

“What the….” My jaw dropped and my eyes widened when it
started to merge into a shape, the globules coming together and forming a
person. Then more people emerged from the pool of blood and my breath caught in
my throat.

“Jen?” Bulk dipped his face and looked at me in confusion
when I pointed to the mass of people generating from the now pond of bright red
blood.

“Ethan?” he was stood in the middle of the people. He was
the only one covered in blood at this point as each drop jumped from the other
people onto him and swathed him in red.

Then they were hitting him, each of them soundlessly laughing
as they smashed a piece of wood over Ethan’s head.

Ethan’s mouth was open, his silent screams and the agony
on his face, ripping out my own scream.

I ran over to one of the men and tried to pull him off
but as I went to grab him my hands fell straight through him.

I stared at my hands like they weren’t my own, “Jen!”
Bulk near shouted from beside me.

I turned to him, “Help him, they’re hurting him. Don’t
just fucking stand there!”

A doctor approached me slowly, his hands held out in
front of him as though he was advancing on a stray dog. “Mrs Hart, listen to
me.”

I glared at him before I tried to grab another man and
pull him off Ethan but he disappeared.

Ethan’s screams were now loud and full of raw
excruciating pain, each horrific thud of the wood shattering my soul piece by
piece.  “Oh God, somebody help him, please.” I begged as I looked at the people
staring at me in the room as though I had gone mad.

Why weren’t they helping him? They were just stood
watching Ethan get beaten.

The doctor got close as somebody’s hands wrapped around
the top of my arms from behind and I tried to shake them off. “Get off me, I
need to help Ethan. GET THE FUCK OFF ME!!!”

Someone scratched my arm and I turned, growling at the
doctor who was shoving some stuff in my arm through a syringe.

“What the….”