Starr Destined (Starr Series) (37 page)

Liam.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as I ran over to get to him.

But I was prevented from reaching Liam by a pair of strong arms holding me back.

“Sorry, Miss.  You can’t go there,” a tall young uniformed police officer stated.

“You don’t understand, that’s my boyfriend,” I screamed at him, as I tried to break away, desperately trying to see what was going on.

I could see Liam lying on the ground, his clothes ripped undone, as one paramedic appeared to be searching for a vein to set up a drip, while the other was pressing wads of dressings against him, which I could see were soaked with blood.

“Even so.  You need to keep out of their way and let them do their job,” the policeman insisted firmly, as he tightened his grip on my arms.

I looked around in a panic until I saw Andrew coming towards us.

“What on earth’s going on?”  I yelled at him.

“It’s okay.  I know this young lady, and I’ll take care of her,” Andrew nodded at the policeman, who reluctantly let me go, although he didn't take his eyes off me, no doubt thinking I was some kind of a hysterical nutter.  Andrew slipped his arm around my shoulder and took me to one side, as I craned my neck t
o see what was happening.  “Mr. Starr was attacked as he got out of his car - he’s been stabbed and hit over the head.  By a stroke of luck, we happened to turn up as it was all kicking off.  When we saw what was happening, me and the boys jumped on the guy and between the three of us, we managed to restrain him. Then Stuart called the emergency services, while I tried to staunch the bleeding until the paramedics arrived.  At least the police have arrested the bastard now and taken him away.”

“But who would attack Liam…?”  I gazed at the floor, shocked and scared by the large pool of blood that showed up in stark contrast to the pale concrete surface.  I noticed that Andrew was co
vered in blood too.

Liam's blood. 

“Who would do this to him?”

“It was a bloke called Scott - the one who used to run the gym here. 
They’ve taken him away now, but the police mentioned something about him just being released from prison.  I'm not sure you’d know him.”

“Oh, I know Scott Franklin.”  A shiver of revulsion ran through me.  And remembering how ev
asive Liam had been whenever I’d asked him about the upcoming trial, I’d already worked out that he was worried Scott might get off.

Andrew nodded.  “The same.  I recognised him, because I’ve dealt with him in the past when I’ve been involved in maintenance for the gym.  But I don't know what happened to make him act like this - he’d gone crazy, acting like a wild animal, so it took all three of us to hold him down until St
uart had the presence of mind to use some of the cable ties he had in his tool belt to restrain him.”

“Trust me, Andrew.  Scott Franklin is one sick bastard.”

I watched the paramedic holding up the bag of fluid and squeezing it, once he’d finally managed to get a line into Liam’s arm.

“Right, he’s as stable as he’s going to get, so let’s move him now, quick as you like,” he ordered, as they got ready to lift him onto the stretcher.  “Call in that we’re on our way to the specialist trauma centre at Kings College, and have the team on standby in theatre.  This guy’s lost a hell of a lot of blood and he’s going to need immediate surgery.”

“We’ll escort you - traffic will be murder at this time of day,” the policeman offered.  The paramedic just nodded briefly as they started moving Liam into the ambulance, once they’d got him on the stretcher.

“I want to go with him,” I cried out, as I started running towards them.

“Are you his next of kin?” the paramedic queried.  “We can only allow close family or relatives.”

“Yes, she’s his fiancée,” Andrew lied, as he pushed me into the ambulance, murmuring in my ear.  “Just go along with it.  They won’t let you be with him otherwise.”

And so I got to go in the ambulance with Liam, just wanting to be as near him as I could, but still keeping out of the way of the paramedic.  He looked deathly pale and lifeless, and it was obvious that my big strong man was now fighting for his life.  All I could do was will Liam to hold on until we got to the hospital, and pray that the doctors could save him.

The next time
I was aware of Sera’s presence, I felt much more alert, as I fought off some of the fuzziness that still swamped my head.  I focused hard and remembered about going to look at Seraphina’s house, and then giving her that ultimatum about us getting married, before storming off.  I'd driven back home, and I’d parked my car, and then… 

Fuck. 

I'd been ambushed by Scott fucking Franklin, hadn't I?

“Just come back to me, Liam.  Please.” I heard Sera whispering, then felt my hand being squeezed by her much smaller, softer one.  “I’m so sorry that I’ve been such a cow to you.  You were right, I'd stopped listening to you, to what would make you happy.  Now all I want is for you to wake up, so you can ask me to marry you again.”

Oh?  This sounded promising.

“Come on Big Guy.  I know I've been incredibly selfish, so you have to give me the chance to put things right.  Just wake up and come back to me, and then we can get married.  Please, Liam.  Wha
tever you want, just so long as we’re together. Because I love you so much.  I don't care where we live, how we work things out, just as long as we do.  So you have to wake up.  Now.  Please.”

I felt her soft lips brush across my temple, and caught her wonderful smell as she leant over me.  And that finally brought me right back, not to quite my usual self, but enough for me to grab an o
pportunity to finally get what I wanted.

“Get me a priest.” My mouth and throat were so dry I could barely croak the words out, as I forced my eyes open.

I found myself looking straight into Seraphina’s beautiful, but worried green eyes.  She looked pale and tired, her hair was a mess, and her cheeks were tearstained, but she’d never looked more beautiful to me.  I could see we were in a hospital room, surrounded by equipment and monitors, most of which seemed to be attached to me.

“Liam!  Oh thank God.”   She leaned over to gently lay her head across my chest from where she was sitting next to my bed.

“Any kind of a minister or vicar will do,” I mumbled, trying to ignore the fact that my head was pounding as if it were about to explode.

“Why do you want a vicar?”  Sera frowned, as she pulled back to look at me.  “You’re going to be alright.  You were attacked, but the doctors have fixed you up, so you’ll be good as new in no time at all.  You don't need the last rites or anything.”

I tried to laugh, but then winced as a sharp pain lanced through my side, and
fuck
, it really hurt. 

Shit. 

Of course.  I hadn't been punched - I’d been stabbed.

“Careful, Liam.  You’re going to have to lie still and rest until you’re fully mended.  But there’s no need for a priest.”  She kissed my lips tenderly.

“Yes, there is,” I insisted.

“But why?  You’ve never been particularly religious up to now.”  She looked so worried, because she didn't understand what I wanted.

“I want you to get a fucking priest here to marry us straight away, before you can change your mind,” I managed to grunt out. “A priest.  A minister.  A registrar.  I don't fucking care which.  Anyone, just as long as we can tie the knot.”

“Oh Liam,” she burst out laughing.  “I guess you heard what I was saying to you just now?”

“Yes, I did, so there’s no backing out of it.  You can't break a promise to a dying man.” I collapsed back onto the pillow and closed my eyes, because I felt as weak as a kitten just from the effort of speaking.

“We’ll talk more about it when you’re feeling stronger, but right now I need to find someone to tell them you’ve come round.”  She started to rise from the bed, but I grabbed her arm weakly to stop her leaving.

“The doctors can wait.  I need to know you meant what you said.  That’s what brought me round.  Being with you, being married to you.  It’s all I want.”  I insisted, barely able to raise my voice above a faint whisper.

Sera sat back down on the bed, gently combing her fingers through my hair as she looked deep into my eyes. 

And as soon as we had that connection, I felt much calmer. 

It was going to be alright. 

We
were going to be alright. 

Seraphina was here by my side when I needed her. 

She would always be there for me. I would always be there for her.

Soul mates.

“Of course I meant what I said, Liam.  Sometimes you don't know what you’ve got until you nearly lose it.  I thought you were going to die, so now I've got you back, I’ll be with you any way you want.  You don't need to worry about anything except getting better, which is why I want the doctor to check you out.”

“Just let me ask you the question, so I can hear the answer I've wanted for so long,” I croaked.  “Then I’ll be sure it wasn’t just a dream.”

“Okay.  If you promise to let me get the doctor straight away afterwards.”  Sera insisted.

“Fine.  This isn’t exactly how I’d planned to propose, lying here in this stupid hospital gown, su
rrounded by machines, but I can't wait for the right moment in case it never comes.  So, Seraphina Róisín Jones.  I love you more than life itself, and I want us to be together for the rest of our lives.  Will you marry me?”

“Yes, Liam Joseph Starr. I will marry you,” she whispered, tears shining in her eyes, as she leaned over to kiss me very gently.  “And actually, now I’ve come round to the idea, I don't see any point in waiting.  No hanging around.   We can get married as soon as you like, so I hope you don't believe in long engagements.”

“Better go find that priest then.”  I sagged back as I closed my eyes in relief.

Finally.  I’d got what I wanted.  It was almost worth being stabbed if it had made Seraphina see things my way.

I fucking hated being a patient in hospital, and I couldn’t wait to get out, but I had to curb my impatience because I was so fucking weak I could barely even stand by myself for the first few days.  I’m not used to relying on other people for every single thing, but I quickly resigned myself to the fact that trying to do too much too soon would only hinder my recovery. 

But that didn't mean I couldn’t keep myself occupied while I was still resting and recuperating, so I got myself transferred to a private room, with the intention of setting up an office to work from there.  While I waited for my wounds to heal, I was hardly going to find working on my laptop too physically demanding, was I?

“Oh no you don’t,” Seraphina insisted when she found out.  “Everything is being taken care of at the office.  Joy’s been very efficient and has cleared your diary for the next few weeks, and seeing as Scott’s attack on you made headline news, everyone fully appreciates why they’re being asked to cancel or reschedule.”

“Come on, I can easily make a few conference calls from here, just to check in on a few things,” I protested.  “I’m not letting that piece of scum totally disrupt everything.”

I was still fuming,  because despite DS Marsden’s promise to keep me fully informed, due to ‘an administrative oversight’, I hadn’t been warned that Scott’s lawyer had managed to get the case against him dropped, and he’d been released.

I was just relieved that he’d chosen to come after me, rather than Seraphina.

Thank Christ Andrew had been in the car park at Butler’s Wharf, picking up his son Stuart and Aggie’s boy, after they’d finished working on a job there.  They’d seen me being attacked as they’d been walking to Andrew’s car, which as luck would have it, had been parked in the space opposite mine.  Even though they realised my attacker had a knife, they’d still all piled in and leapt to my defence, and I would be forever in their debt for their intervention.  Once they’d managed to restrain Scott with some cable ties, they’d called the emergency services and the police. 

I’d been stabbed and I’d received a heavy blow to my head from an iron bar.  I was under no ill
usions - if they hadn't been there, I would have died. The fact that I’d had a thick jacket on had helped to cushion me against the stab wound penetrating too deeply.  The blade had missed my heart by a hair’s breadth, the doctors informed me, and I was lucky not to have bled to death.  At least it meant that Scott was now being charged with attempted murder.  With the solid evidence the police had, there was little doubt this time he would be locked away for a very long time, where he would be unable to hurt Seraphina, so I guessed there was an upside to it - every cloud has a silver lining, as the saying goes.

“Liam, you know the doctors said you need complete bed rest.  And I told you; Joy’s taken care of everything.  She’s been pretty amazing actually,” Sera assured me.  My girl looked much happier than she had for a while, although I could still detect the concern in her eyes, and I hated being the cause of that worry.

“I thought you didn't get on with Joy?”