Page 32 of Redemption

Megan

My eyelids feel overly heavy as I come around from the anesthetic. I’m not in pain, which I’m glad about, but that’s probably a result of the drugs flooding into my body. I want to open my eyes, but I’m too scared to know whether the operation to improve my arm has been successful or not. When they came to wheel me down to the operating room earlier, Gawain refused to let them take me without him joining them. He vowed to stay with me for the entire time to protect me. Our relationship has changed, and he’s no longer looking after me because he’s been hired to, he’s doing it because of the pull between us, which is unending. I never thought it would be possible to fall in love after what happened to me, but I know I am.

“Megan.” Gawain’s deep timbre invades into my consciousness, and a warmth spreads throughout my body. My eyelids open, and my handsome hero sits next to me, holding my hand.

“Hello.” Gawain leans forward and kisses me on the top of the head.

“Hello,” I reply groggily.

He picks up a glass of water with a straw in it from the nightstand and offers it to me. I take a long sip. “Did it go ok?” I ask.

“Yes.” We both look at my arm, which is in a cast and has been elevated in a sling to alleviate any pressure on it. “The doctor said it was a simple operation, in the end, and you’ll never know it’s been broken when healed.

“Good.” My eyelids flutter shut again with the anesthetic still working its way through my body.

“Sleep some more. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Will you read to me?”

“Of course.”

Not knowing how long I’d be in hospital after the operation, I packed my copy of ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Gawain retrieves it from my bag and flicks through to where I’ve placed my bookmark. He’s about to start reading when his phone buzzes.

He pulls it out of his pocket and checks it.

“Shit.”

His face fills with worry.

“What’s wrong?”

“Kay’s in trouble.”

He turns the phone around to me, and instead of a message asking for help, I see a pair of boobs with ‘Meet you at Arthur’s’ typed on the screen.

“Er, please tell me they aren’t Evelyn’s, because he really will be in trouble?”

Gawain smirks, but then the lines of concern mar his face again. He tucks his phone back in his pocket.

“No, he’d gouge my eyes out if I ever see Evelyn’s tits, again. It’s a signal we use when one of us needs help. I’ll message a couple of the others and get them to go help him.”

“No.” I can see he’s torn between staying with me and helping his friend. “Go help him. I’m in a hospital. Nothing’s going to happen to me while I’m here. You need to help Kay.”

“I can’t leave you alone.”

“Gawain, go. Please.” I reach out to him with my good hand and squeeze his, giving him the reassurance he needs. “I’m going to sleep anyway.”

Gawain pulls out his phone again. “I’ll get someone to come and sit with you. My friend Erec works nearby. I’ll call him.”

“Good idea.” My eyelids are becoming too heavy to keep open, and all I can think about at the moment is sleeping.

Gawain kisses me, and I fall back to sleep as he leaves.

I don’t know how much later it is when I wake, but I feel more refreshed than I did the first time. It’s still hard to focus properly. I look around the room, and a man in a white coat is standing there. He’s unplugging the cables attached to me. I can’t see his face. Neither Gawain nor his friend Erec are here, so I assume I must have only been asleep for a short time.

“May I have some water, please?” I ask the man.

An eerie laugh comes from him. His back is still to me, but the sound is hauntingly familiar, and it freezes my blood. The last of the cables attaching me to the machines is removed, and he turns around. He may be Gawain’s brother, but they are nothing alike. Gawain’s eyes are full of emotion and love. Mordred’s are as dark as the hell he made me live through.

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