31 Days of Autumn (11 page)

‘She’ll be asleep, Mother,’ I reminded her,
bending down to kiss my daughter’s forehead before reluctantly handing her
over.

‘No one knows what she may or may not hear. Go,
we will all be waiting when you come back and I will ask for breakfast for you,
you must be starving, no?’

‘That would be great,’ I nodded, kissing her
cheek. ‘Thanks everyone, I can’t tell you what it means to me that we have your
support.’

‘Go, before you make me cry again,’ scolded
Brooke, shoving me towards the door. ‘And tell her that we all love her.’

The nurse opened the door to the private room and
another nurse quickly got up and walked out, with a nod at me.

‘We’ll be just outside. The machine noises are
nothing to worry about, it’s just the heart rate monitor and blood pressure
machine,’ she smiled. I resisted the urge to tell her it wasn’t my first
experience of a wife hooked up to machines, and stepped inside. Ellie was lying
on the bed, propped up on a load of soft-looking pillows, with oxygen tubes up
her nose. The beeping was nothing new to me, but the transfusion drip was. I
leaned over and kissed her lips as I stroked her hair.

‘Don’t you
ever
do that to me again,
Ellie. There are only so many deaths I can die before you kill me for real.
There’s a waiting room full of people who haven’t slept all night for worrying
about you and Lucas is on his way too, with Summer.’ I pulled up a chair and
sat next to her, lifting up her hand and running my thumb over her wedding and
engagement ring. I had her new ring at home, ready for when she came home, but
I had no idea how long they were going to keep her. ‘Our daughter is fine, as I
know you’ll be worrying about her. You did an amazing job, she’s absolutely
beautiful, and I can’t wait for you to meet her. I can’t believe I didn’t say
it in the car, but I love you, Ellie. So much, it cripples me when we’re apart.
So this is a formal warning that I shall punish you severely if you ever leave
me alone again. I’m going to have faith that I’ll be seeing you soon, because
you’re the strongest woman I ever met.’ I quickly kissed her again as the door
opened and the nurse stuck her head in.

‘I’m sorry, but it’s time.’

‘When can I see her again? How long before she
wakes up?’

‘I’d suggest going home, all of you. Leave Eva
with us, we can watch them both while you freshen up. We’ll call you as soon as
we’re happy to let you see her again, but I’ll only allow you in on the
condition you let her rest if she needs it.’

‘Ok,’ I sighed, not wanting to leave her side.
People weren’t going to be happy, but Ellie’s recovery took precedence.

Ellie

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. I
felt confused and sleepy. I quickly reached down to my stomach with my hand,
but winced as I felt a sharp tug.

‘Hello, Ellie. Welcome back, you’re in the  hospital.
You came in as an emergency in the night, but you’re on the road to recovery.
Mind the IV’s in your hand and arm.’

‘My baby?’ I whispered, the memory of realising
I was bleeding quite badly coming back to me.

‘She’s perfectly healthy and right here, fast
asleep. I’ll get her for you. You might feel some pain in your stomach, you had
an emergency caesarean, so be careful how you move. I’ll ask the doctor to come
in and talk to you if you’re up to it?’

‘I just want my little girl and my husband,’ I
nodded, noticing two bags of fluid attached to me, one clear and one red. I
must have lost a lot of blood. I’d known it was bad before Dan had brought me
my clothes, but I hadn’t wanted to worry him.

‘He’s in the waiting room, we’ll let him know
you’re awake and that he can come in for a while. You had a lot of people here
all night waiting for news on you.’

I smiled, fighting against the urge to sleep
again. All I could think of was seeing Eva and Dan. I couldn’t bear the thought
of what I’d put him through. I gasped as the nurse carried my daughter over and
carefully put her against my unhindered arm. She said something, but she may as
well have been speaking a foreign language, I was too transfixed. I had the
most beautiful little girl I’d ever seen. She scrunched up her nose and pursed
her tiny lips as I gazed down at her.

‘Hello, Eva Davenport,’ I murmured, drinking
her in. Dan might not agree, given I’d not even been fully aware of what was
happening, but I was sure she was worth the payoff of whatever had happened
last night. I rocked her and kissed her pink hat, feeling overwhelmed with
love. Now I had the perfect family, she was the last thing I’d ever dreamed of.
Dan wasn’t just my Prince Charming, he was my fairy godmother as he’d made all
of my wishes come true. I shivered when I heard my name in his deep baritone
voice, and looked up to see him just inside the door.

‘Dan,’ I choked, a river of tears suddenly
flowing from my eyes at the thought of how close I’d come to never seeing him
again. He strode over quickly, clasped my face, and kissed me forcefully.

‘God, you gave me one hell of a scare, Ellie.
Don’t cry, everything’s ok now.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I sobbed.

‘You were born to test me, Ellie. You once said
we were perfectly imperfect and this was no different. It just strengthens my
love for you, to know how hard our battle has been to get here today. What do
you think of our girl? She’s the epitome of beauty, isn’t she?’ He smiled as he
looked down at her and ran a finger gently over her rosy cheek. ‘Just like her
mother.’

‘She’s gorgeous. I’m so happy,’ I nodded.

‘So these are happy tears?’ He grabbed a tissue
from the box on the bedside table and gently wiped my eyes and blew my nose for
me.

‘Relieved and happy tears. Where are the boys?’
I asked with a gentle sniff as I tried to pull myself together.

‘They’re fine, totally oblivious and with my
parents. Magda stayed with them last night, so my parents could be here, along
with everyone else, but the hospital insisted they’d only let me back in.
Everyone sends their love. God, I hated not being with you, Ellie. They
wouldn’t allow me in the theatre and I was only allowed a few minutes with you earlier
this morning. I’m not leaving now, no matter what they say. They’ll have to
bring in another bed for me.’

‘Thank you.’ I pursed my lips for a kiss. I
couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving me here. I felt so emotional and needy
right now.

‘Someone’s hungry,’ he smiled, rubbing my
shoulder. I looked down to see Eva smacking her lips, so Dan helped undo the
tie on my hospital gown and pull it down at the front. I held her to my breast,
but it took her a while to latch on. The boys were much faster. She soon
realised what was happening and I felt myself warm all over as she fed from me.
‘Please tell me this is temporary, that you’re putting her on the bottle? I
can’t remember the last time I could suck your nipples without a foul-tasting
mouthful.’

‘Dan.’ I half laughed as I shook my head.

‘Are you in pain?’ he asked, turning serious
very suddenly.

‘My stomach feels a bit tight and stiff, no
different to my caesarean with Jonas. What happened?’

‘I’m not one-hundred percent sure myself, baby.
The doctor will be here soon to explain it all. All I care about is that you’re
both here. I love you, and this is the start of another new chapter of our
lives. We’ve had all the bad luck one couple can possibly have now. From here
on out, it’s going to be smooth sailing.’

‘I hope so,’ I nodded, leaning my head against
his toned stomach as he stood at the side of the bed. He stroked my hair and
held one of Eva’s tiny hands as she continued to nurse. ‘I really hope so.’

Friday 11
^th
October

Damien
Daniels

I could barely contain the smile on my face as I sat
in my car outside the hospital. Two fucking years it had taken, but I’d finally
tracked them down. I’d taken on some private consultancy work, earning enough
cash to purchase my new identity last year.
Damien Daniels
. It kind of
suited my persona. Whenever I heard someone call me Damien, it sounded dark and
dangerous. For all intents and purposes, from now on I was Damien. That was the
name on my bank accounts, passport, and driving licence. It was astonishing
that such a relatively small amount of money could purchase fake papers that
were good enough to fool the British authorities.

After earning enough to pay for my documents,
I’d finally moved out of that shit hole in Tower Hamlets. I was renting a small
studio apartment in Waterloo. It was clean, warm, and functional, but more
importantly, mould and vermin free. Much as I’d have loved to upgrade my
accommodation to the standards I used to live in, it would eat into the money I
was saving to recruit the team that I’d need. I’d purchased a second-hand car
and figured Davenport Technologies was my best starting point. After two weeks
of sitting outside in the car, hoping for a sight of the great man himself, I’d
grown impatient and walked in, requesting an appointment. The attractive
brunette had batted her eyelids at me as she took my details and I quickly
realised she could be my perfect way in. I’d flirted with her and asked her out
for a drink and she’d agreed. It hadn’t taken her long to part her legs for me.
I’d taken her to The Dalton Hotel, not wanting her to see that my rented flat
didn’t quite live up to the millionaire consultant role I was playing. Jessica
wasn’t a bad fuck, but seriously mentally challenged. The stupid bitch worked
for one of the best software firms in the world and didn’t put fucking
protection on her phone. Accessing her calendars while she took her morning
shower had been simple. Then it was just a case of taking photos on my own
phone of the days he’d be in London.

When I’d failed to trail his driver, due to his
skilled evasive tactics when he left the office, I’d purchased a GPS tracker,
which I’d secured on his limo. It was kept in a secure, patrolled, underground
car park, but Jess was so enamoured with my cock, it hadn’t taken much
persuasion for her to have sex in the car park, up against a concrete pillar
next to the limo. I’d planted the tracker under the wheel arch while she had
her eyes closed as I licked her out. It was easy then to trace where his London
house was. Pavilion Mews in Knightsbridge. It also helped me to narrow down the
private airport he used for his plane back up to Scotland. As far as England
was concerned, with my never-ending mine of information from Jess’s phone and
her willingness to gossip about her employer, there was nowhere they could hide.
Finding them in Scotland was another matter. Even she didn’t have his home
address.

I rubbed my eyes as I fought the urge to sleep.
It was a dull grey day, with a constant stream of drizzle. Bright sunlight
might have kept me awake after sitting out here since the limo registered as
being static here for some time, but this overcast weather had my head nodding.
Ellie had obviously had her kid, as there had been a flurry of activity with
her parents-in-law coming, her best friends, and two of their security team.
One of them looked old enough to be my bloody dad. I reckoned he was their weak
point, he’d be easier to take down than the other guy who looked like
The
Rock
on speed, minus the baby oil. He was a great bloody driver though, but
get him one on one, or more, on the ground and he’d be an easy target. Yeah,
the old guy was going to be my best bet at grabbing that kid of theirs.
Oliver
fucking Davenport
. Number two. I just didn’t get people naming their kids
after themselves. Talk about fucking narcissistic. I jerked my head up when I
felt myself nodding off, then reached into the glove box and pulled out a hand
mirror and my stash of blow. I checked around me and snorted a couple of lines,
then leaned my head back against the head rest and waited for the buzz to kick
in.

My eyes pinged open as I felt a burst of
adrenaline, suddenly feeling wired. I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled
out the carefully folded piece of paper and studied it.

Four steps down, and the fifth and sixth were halfway
there with London under surveillance. I just needed that Scottish home address
to work out where they were most vulnerable. The clients I’d managed to poach
from my former firm would boost my income substantially. I reckoned it would be
less than a year before I had the deposit to take on my team. From there,
things would snowball really fast. My payday was now closer than it had ever
been. I started the engine of the car. I didn’t need to sit here any longer.
They had no regular routines that I could see in London. Everything seemed
sporadic. Scotland was going to be the key, I was sure of it. Half an hour ago
I’d wanted sleep. Now I had a hard-on that I needed to deal with. The question
was whether it was going to be Jessica or a prostitute or two. I decided on
Jess. I could work on her to bring a friend along to liven things up, and save
my money at the same time. I looked up at the hospital and grinned.

‘I’ll be seeing you soon,’ I chuckled, feeling
more elated than I had in months.