Infinite Love (2 page)

‘Mia, Mia sweetheart, it’s ok, you’re safe now. You’re in hospital, remember? Mia, can you hear me? You’re on a drip so be careful with your arm.’

I turned my head to see a nurse standing over me and I started sobbing as I remembered that I
was
in hospital. In a clean bright hospital room. Flashes of consciousness came back to me, hearing Ambulance sirens, a nice Policewoman asking if she could run a sexual assault test on me.
No!
A memory of being on that bed came back to me. O God, had Milo really raped me? I started howling again as it all came rushing back to me and I felt her take my hand and stroke my forehead and I jumped as the door was flung open.

‘Mia? It’s ok baby, I’m here. I’m sorry, I was right outside the door, I thought you were sleeping again.’ This time I recognised the voice and even though it was full of relief, it sounded like his heart was breaking.

‘Gabe?’ I sobbed. The nurse moved out of the way and I saw him come running to me. I didn’t even have a chance to try and sit up before he hauled my upper body into his arms and broke down on my neck. I felt his hot tears washing over my skin while my own flowed down his neck. I could vaguely recollect moments where I’d been lucid in this room, where he’d smiled down at me with a sad look on his face as he’d stroked my hair telling me I was going to be ok. I had a weird recollection of Mum and Gerry having been in here as well, Lexi too, but I must have been dreaming. Neither of us spoke and I heard the door being quietly closed and assumed that we’d been given some privacy. I couldn’t even hug Gabe back, his arms were pinning mine to my sides, but even as I cried the smell of his familiar detergent and masculine scent reassured me, I felt safe. He smelled like home. We stayed like that, with him wrapped around me, until both of us stopped crying.

‘Baby, I can’t believe you’re finally awake and with it. God, I’ve been going out of my mind,’ he whispered against my neck as he held me tightly.

‘Gabe, what’s happening?’ I whispered. ‘Milo, he … he …’

‘
Sssshhhh
, you’re safe now, no one’s ever going to touch you again. I’m never going to let anyone ever hurt you again, Mia.’

‘Did … did he …’ I stalled, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. What if he’d raped me while I was unconscious? What if Gabe now saw me in a completely different light? If he was repulsed by me because I’d been tainted? He slowly let go of me and positioned me back on the pillows, tucking the sheet around me before stroking my forehead as I took panicked gasps for air.

‘Try and take deep breathes for me baby and stay lying down, I don’t want you passing out on me again. You kept waking up for a few minutes and then dropping off again. I’ll explain everything, but no one touched you, not sexually anyway. You’ve been in and out of it for hours, I’m not even sure you knew we were all here. You agreed to a sexual assault test, but the Police Officer asked your mum and I if it was ok to carry out as she wasn’t sure you knew what you were agreeing to, we confirmed that she could examine you. She said that there was
no
evidence of sexual assault and from what I’ve been told of what happened, the Police got in there and pulled him off you before he had a chance to do anything, ok?’ He smiled gently at me and clasped both of my hands in his. I nodded and gave him a half-smile of relief as I nervously chewed on my lower lip. I still felt scared and confused, but in there with those emotions was some relief to be safe, to be here with him, and to be told that I’d not been raped. I focussed on his handsome face as I lay back on the pillows. He looked
so
tired and stressed, and he hadn’t shaved, I’d never seen his stubble that long.

‘Mum’s here? How did she get here? How long have I been here? I can’t remember much. What happened to me, Gabe?’ I uttered between tears rolling down my cheeks.

‘Sssshhhh, take a deep breath and I’ll explain everything, ok. The important thing to remember is that you’re safe now. No one can hurt you in here and when I’ve explained everything your mum, Gerry, Georgie, Lexi and Doug are all impatiently pacing outside wanting to see you now you’re properly awake. Dad and Sofia should be here soon too, they’re flying back from New York as we speak.’

‘They are?’ I felt my bottom lips wobble as I watched him nod and looked at his pale drawn face. ‘You look
awful
. Casper the ghost awful.’

‘Thanks, you don’t look much better yourself,’ he laughed, then let go of one of my hands and reached up to gently run his finger down my face. I winced and he pulled a face. ‘Sorry.’

‘Why did that hurt?’

‘You have a really nasty bruise and some butterfly tape on a cut on your cheek. The doctor said it’s not deep and shouldn’t scar. Do you feel up to talking? Or do you want some rest?’

‘No, I feel oddly awake and alert all of a sudden and I need to know what happened Gabe, please tell me.’

‘You’re feeling better because the nurse gave you another dose of something to counteract the Methadone that was in your system. You’ve been having regular doses, which is why you had some short lucid moments, but as the Methadone is practically out of your body now, you’re pretty much back to normal.’

‘Methadone?’ I looked at him puzzled.

‘It’s a narcotic, you were given it to keep you drugged up and compliant,’ he hung his head and shook it as his voice quavered.

‘Gabe
please
, I need to know what happened. Please tell me, my imagination’s going crazy.’

‘What do you remember?’

‘You’re going to be so mad at me if I tell you,’ I whispered. He whipped his head up to hold my gaze and squeezed my hands.

‘It’s done Mia, I know now that you went to see him, against my express wishes, but none of that matters now, ok? You’re here with me and you’re safe. I don’t care about that anymore.’

‘
Thank you
,’ I nodded as I bit my lip. I suddenly registered that it was dark. ‘What time is it?’

‘It’s seven o’clock on Friday night, you were brought to the hospital last night, but that’s bringing you in at the end of the story. What do you remember?’

‘You dropped me at the gym, but Milo wasn’t there so I rang him. I
swear
I had no idea he was this crazy Gabe, I promise you. He just sounded so upset that Jenny had broken up with him, so I got a taxi to his house. He told me that Dan was there, I wouldn’t have gone if I’d known I was going to be alone with him, I
promise
. He was drunk, I found out that he’d lied about Dan being in the house and he was acting really weird, so I freaked and ran out of the house to stand outside where someone would hear me scream if he did anything. I was waiting by his gate looking for the taxi at the end of the street and then … then …’ I snatched my hands away from Gabe’s and covered my eyes and took a deep breath as I remembered the cold air, the palm sealing over my mouth, the horrible choking sensation as his arm tightened around my neck. ‘He … he grabbed me from behind and I remember blacking out. How could he do this to me, Gabe? I thought he was my friend, he was one of my best friends and all this time he was killing all of those girls. He had me chained to a bed. He was going to
kill
me
.
’ I started crying again as the terror of lying on that bed hit me full force. Gabe pulled my hands away and held them tightly in his.

‘No he wasn’t, Mia,’ he said quietly as his thumbs caressed the backs of them. I sniffed and looked at him confused.

‘I don’t understand, Gabe. I woke up feeling really ill and he was saying really horrible things, nasty things about me being a whore and deserving what was going to happen to me. He had me chained to some sort of bed and was going … he was going to
rape
me,’ I whispered as I lowered my eyes, too ashamed to look at him.

‘No he wasn’t.’

‘I’m not lying, Gabe,’ I uttered as I pulled my hands out of his. ‘Look, look at my wrists they’re all scratched and red raw from where he cuffed me. My feet were as well. He said he was going to fuck me because I was a brunette whore and then cut up my face with a knife he held to it. I was sick, I was so scared I was physically sick and it made him really mad because he had to go and get water to throw on me to clean me up. He was going to
hurt me
Gabe, Milo was going to hurt me, rape me and kill me, just like all those other girls.’ I started shaking as tears poured down my face again and I clutched my arms tightly around myself.

‘Milo would never have hurt you, Mia,’ Gabe said softly as he caressed my arm, I jerked it away from his touch.

‘I’m not making this up!’ I yelled, bolting upright, suddenly feeling angry. I shook my head as I went all dizzy from the sudden movement. ‘Why don’t you
believe
me?’

‘I know you’re not lying, everything you remember happened, except it
wasn’t
Milo baby.’ He reached up and palmed my cheek as he looked at me sadly. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I felt on the verge of passing out again.

‘It wasn’t …
Milo
?’ I whispered in disbelief.

‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘Milo was in love with you Mia, he’d never have done that to you. I may not have liked him, but I know now that he could never have hurt you, any more than I could.’

‘How do you know? How did I get away?’

‘You didn’t get away, you were found. Let me explain what happened before you get yourself all upset again, you’ve been through a horrific ordeal and I want to reassure you that traumatic as it was, your face and cuff bruises are the extent of your physical injuries, ok?’

‘You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?’ I sniffed as I wiped my eyes on my hospital gown sleeve.

‘Have I ever lied to you?’

‘No.’

‘I never will, Mia. You can see the Police reports later if you want reassurance, but I’m going to tell you what I know, ok? Just drink some water for me first and lie back, you look so pale, baby.’ He held up a glass to my lips and helped me gently sip it, before taking it away and lifting up my wrists and kissing the bruises and dressings around them. I shuddered as I looked at them, fuzzy memories of lying on that bed battering my senses. I didn’t resist when Gabe gently lay me back down.

‘Gabe, please stop stalling, I need to know.’

‘You were put in a carotid artery choke hold which made you black into unconsciousness, then you were injected with Methadone to keep you drowsy and out of it for a few hours, carried to a car, and driven to an abandoned factory where you were put on an old hospital bed and chained up.’

‘How do you
know
all of this? Who was it if it wasn’t Milo? I was standing outside his house, right by the front door, I only looked around to see if the taxi had come to get me and that’s when …’ I broke off. He
had
to be lying to me. It had to be Milo who’d attacked me.

‘Last week Doug told me that Milo had come onto you at the Halloween party.’

‘He what?’ I exclaimed and what did that have to do with all of this? I felt so drained and confused.

‘It’s done Mia, I know that you didn’t encourage him and I never said anything because I was so fucking angry that I didn’t want to lose it and take it out on you. I never liked him, I never trusted the guy around you … I really never did,’ he laughed as he shook his head and I frowned, none of this was making any sense. ‘I hired Mason, the private investigator, to look into him and tail him, hoping to get something on him to convince you to stay away from him. I knew me simply telling you not to see him wouldn’t work, I needed proof that he was up to no good. You have no idea how hard it was for me that night, leaving you at the gym to meet him, knowing what I knew about him wanting you. Christ … I shouldn’t have let you go … I should never have let you go. I should have refused to let you see him, if I had …’ he stalled and wiped away the tears filling his eyes.

‘Gabe don’t, please don’t. I should have been honest with you about what I was doing, but I was so worried how you’d react and I didn’t want to upset you, but my friend needed me. I still don’t understand what this has to do with what happened to me though?’

‘Mason was being paid to watch Milo, so he was in his car further up the street that night. I told him that Milo was meeting you at the gym, so he was waiting for him to leave to join you. That’s how I know what happened and that’s why you’re alive, sitting here now. God, if I hadn’t … Jesus Mia, if I wasn’t such a fucking control freak you’d be bloody dead right now.’ He covered his face and started sobbing again making my heart hurt at what I’d put him through.

‘Gabe, please don’t, I’m fine. I’m really confused, but I’m fine. Please keep talking, I need to know everything.’ I grabbed one of his hands and kissed it, and he sniffed and pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wiped his eyes again.

‘Mason was on his phone, trying to get hold of me to tell me that you’d turned up at Milo’s. He recognised you from your meetings when you were tracking down Lexi’s dad. I was playing bloody pool with Doug and had the music on. I didn’t hear my phone, I didn’t even check it, I really didn’t expect to hear from you for another hour or so and I thought you were safe in the gym with Mason keeping watch outside. Mason said when he’d left the message he hung up and looked back at Milo’s house and saw some guy lowering you into his car, a silver car, then suddenly … suddenly …’

‘Suddenly what?’ I asked as Gabe stalled. He rubbed his face, the noise of his stubble scratching against his palms. He took a deep breath as he shook his head.

‘He knew something was seriously wrong, so he rang the police as he tailed the car to a derelict factory on the outskirts of town. He watched you get carried in and reported your location to the Police and crept up to look through a broken window. Mason said the guy had a huge knife, so he didn’t dare go in and tackle him in case he made matters worse, so he bided his time. He saw him … he saw him cut your clothes off and …’

‘You promise me that I wasn’t raped, Gabe,’ I interrupted as a violent shudder ran through my body.

‘I
do
promise Mia, Mason said that the guy stripped and cuffed you, then ran his hand over your stomach before he went to get water to throw on you after you were sick. When he held the knife to your face Mason was about to risk it and go in to try and help you, but the Police turned up no more than ten minutes after you arrived at that factory and got ready to storm the place. They managed to get to him just as he’d climbed on top of you, thank God they weren’t a moment later … I …. Fuck,’ he groaned as he rubbed his face again and I winced at the thought of how close I’d come to something even worse. ‘They managed to grab him while the knife was on a table at the side of the bed, you were out of it, but woke up as they tussled him to the ground. They got you out of there and brought you straight here. I arrived with Lexi and Doug soon after and your mum and Gerry picked up Georgie and made their way straight here. So you see, other than stripping you and getting on top of you, no one touched you sexually baby, I promise,’ he said earnestly as he held my gaze. I smiled weakly at him as relief flooded through me and I nodded.