Page 44 of After the Rain
He called me last night to tell me that Rain and Corey were both safe and well and had been taken into hospital in London. Nash and I had both shed tears of relief. Mine were uncontrollable and witnessed by my whole family, while Nash took himself out on the porch alone, but I saw him wipe his cheeks. I hope he manages to do something about these feelings he has for Corey.
DI Martin advised that they would bestaying in hospital overnight, and that we should wait to hear from them before heading down there. However, he obviously had the measure of myself and Nash, as he gave us the hospital details and told us he’d see us in a few hours.
And he did.
After Nash and I pulled ourselves together, we each packed a small bag for Rain and Corey with some clean clothes, their toiletries, toothbrushes etc., and then we were in Nash’s new ‘daddy’ car – a green Land Rover Discovery – and on our way to London. I have never known my brother to break a single law in his life, but his regard for speed limits was non-existent on that journey.
We arrived at the hospital at a little after eleven o’clock at night. We found DI Martin in the Reception area, and he took us both straight up to the ward where both the boys were being monitored. Nash disappeared into Corey’s room without a word, and I continued down the hall past a couple of other rooms before DI Martin indicated the door behind which I would find the love of my life.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, my throat thick with tears of gratitude. He gripped my shoulder tightly and told me to look after him and that he would be in touch with an update. And then he left, and I stared at the door in front of me, almosttoo terrified to open it and see the effects of Dan’s last attack on Rain.
I knock gently on the door, but when there’s no response, I softly turn the handle and creep into the darkened room, lit only by a small lamp and the glow of the monitors keeping track of Rain’s vitals.
The soft lighting does nothing to disguise the brutality of the bruising on his face and body. His torso is bare, and, like that day I found him on the side of the road, he’s covered in dark bruises and small cuts that are covered in white bandages and even some butterfly strips on his left eyebrow. I swallow the lump in my throat, deciding that my pain is nothing compared to his, and make my way to the empty chair by Rain’s bed. I sit down and lean forward, taking his pale hand in mine. I turn it over, trying to get a better look, and see that his knuckles are swollen and scabbed, as though he had been able to get some good hits in himself.
“I hit him back.” My head snaps up at the sound of his soft voice laced with pain. The sight of him smiling softly at me from his hospital bed, despite the pain he must be in, will live in my brain forever.
“You did, baby. You did. You did so well. I’m so proud of you.” I bring his hand to my lips and leave the softest kiss imaginable on hisdamaged knuckles. When I look back at his face, his expression crumples, and the tears come.
I press my forehead gently to his and try to soothe him with words of love and praise. I cup his cheeks as though he were made of glass. Tears are running down my own face now, but I couldn’t care less. This man – the love of my life – the sweetest, kindest, most caring person I have ever known has been to hell and back again. I wipe his tears and kiss his face wherever I can without hurting him, while he does the same to me. We’re clinging to each other as though we’ll die if we let go.
“Baby,” I choke out, “I promise I will never let anyone hurt you again. I can’t lose you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. I’m so sorry—” He cuts off my words with a kiss – a habit of his that I love.
“You couldn’t have known what he would do. Aidan, my love.” He kisses me again and strokes my cheeks with reassuringly strong hands. “You couldn’t have predicted what he would do, and you can’t be with me every hour of every day. But you know what?” he asks. “I got myself out of it. I stood up to him. I hit him back. And I got myself out, so I could come home. To you. My love. Fuck, I love you so much.”
“I love you so much, Rain. I was so scared.” My tears are falling again, and it takes a few more minutes of soft words and reassuring kissesbefore I calm down and step away from the precipice of panic that I was dangerously close to. We find a rhythm and breathe together. In. Out. In. Out. Our heads pressed together, and our hands cupping each other’s faces, unwilling to part.
When we’ve both calmed down and are simply relishing being close to one another again, there’s a soft knock on the door. Nash enters, holding hands with a red-eyed Corey, who clings to my brother’s arm like it’s a life ring.
“Corey,” my angel breathes in relief. His friend reluctantly steps away from my brother at Nash’s gentle encouragement and makes his way to the other side of Rain’s bed. Rain holds his hand out to him, and Corey takes it gingerly. “You OK?” Rain asks.
“All good,” Corey says, a sob breaking his voice a little. “They discharged me into Nash’s care.” Corey hesitates in his words, then looks over his shoulder, an expression I can’t quite identify on his face as he looks at my brother. My brother, who looks at him like he just wants to drag him back to his side and wrap him in cotton wool. I think more than anything, what is worrying Nash is that Corey will decide that, now that the threat has passed, he’ll move on somewhere completely new. I hope not, for Rain’s sake as well as Nash’s. “You know, because he’s adoctor and all…” He trails off, embarrassed.
“Yeah…” Rain says with a smile. “Yeah, because he’s a doctor.” Rain raises an eyebrow at his friend, who frowns at him in return. “I can go home in the morning. I’m all good, just bruised and battered. But nothing that I need to stay in for.”
The relief that hits me at that statement is overwhelming, and the four of us sit and chat about nothing of importance until the doctor comes at a little after seven o’clock in the morning to discharge Rain.
Nash drives a lot more sedately on the way home with Corey in the front seat beside him, and Rain lies across the back seat with his head on my lap, as comfortable as we could make him.
DI Martin called Rain when we were halfway home and advised him that the police were able to get a restraining order put in place for the ex’s brother in his absence. Apparently, the judge deemed the situation suitably serious and put the order in place in Dominic’s absence, and the police in London will continue looking for him so as to facilitate an official serving. So now we have at least a little bit of reassurance.
And we are on our way home. Home to where Rain’s – and Corey’s, if he wants it – familyis waiting to welcome them back. I’ll never forget the look on the twins’ faces when we watched the video message that unexpectedly came through on Rain’s phone, which was hidden underneath the sofa. A few seconds was all it took before I was almost violently sick. I dropped the phone after and left the room, only to hear both Archer and Cole swear up a storm about what they wanted to do to the cunt who was beating the shit out of their ‘bro’.
My brothers and sister, not to mention my parents and my friends, have really stepped up the last few days. Wren has done laundry, cleaned the house, and cooked so much food, my freezer is full to bursting. All so that we don’t have to worry about anything when we get back. Archer and Cole have completely stripped the studio and started making the repairs needed in there, so it’s ready for Rain as soon as possible. Mum and Dad have been texting me non-stop, checking in on Rain and Corey, as well as reminding Nash and me to eat and take care of ourselves, too.
Mum has also continued preparing for Nancy’s arrival in Nash’s absence – pre-cooking meals, shopping for toys, clothes, and all manner of lotions and potions. I can’t imagine the emotional upheaval in Nash’s head right now, worrying about Corey and Rain, as well as trying to mentally prepare to become a father.
We haven’t talked again, not in any great detail, about his feelings for Corey, but he knows I’m here if and when he’s ready. It’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow, and as we approach my house, he tells me he is going to drop Rain and me off, then head back to his house to meet Mum and Dad as they prepare the last few touches for Nancy’s arrival. Nash had a call while we were on our way to London to explain that they needed to move Nancy’s arrival date forward, as she was unsettled in her foster home and kept asking for my brother. So now he has to make sure he has everything she will need, and deal with the final social worker visit – and apparently both Corey and Pax are going with him.
“I’ll, erm, drop Pax back home in the morning. Give you and Rain both a chance to catch up properly,” Nash says as we approach my driveway. Rain and I look at each other in slight confusion, both of us clocking that he said he’d drop Pax, andonlyPax, home in the morning. Corey just keeps his gaze out the passenger side window and doesn’t say anything, seemingly happy for Nash to make this decision.
Once we park up and exit the car, Wren rips open the front door and rushes out to embrace Rain and Corey gently, while Pax is rubbing up against both of them, frantically trying to get his scent back on them. Rain extricates himself frommy sister and bends over carefully, fussing over Pax with tears in his eyes. No surprise really, since the last time he saw Pax he was unconscious with a knife to his throat.
Wren tells us that the twins left earlier to give us some space, but they’re looking forward to catching up with the boys when they are up to it, and after kissing both Rain and Corey on the cheek, Wren leaves as well. Corey hugs Rain, then climbs back into Nash’s car without a word, while Nash guides Pax up into the back seat.
As we watch them drive away, I take Rain in my arms and guide him up the porch steps into the house. I’m careful not to squeeze him, mindful of his bruises, but I can’tnothold him. I breathe him in. He smells clinical, like hospital soap. Not likehimat all. Or rather, not like me. And the possessive streak he brings out in me can’t wait to get him in the shower and washed in my disgustingly expensive amber and oud shower gel. I want my scent all over him. It’s like I’m a wolf and I need to mark him.
His body shakes in my arms, and I know he’s crying. So am I. We sob together, not a word spoken between us for several minutes. I scoop Rain up in my arms as gently as I can and carry him up the stairs and into the bathroom. I turn on the water and just hold him while I wait for it to heat up. As we undress in comfortable silence,I take my phone from my pocket and switch it off. The world could end, but I don’t want to know about it – about anything – except Rain and me tonight.
