Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (18 page)

“Can
I get ye anything?” he asked her.

“Do
you have anything for...” she pointed at her ribs, “pain.
Like, something good...” She turned her head toward him and
smiled.

“Right,
I do.” Sean remembered that he still had a couple pills left
over from a surgery he had had on his knee a few months prior. They
were sure to help with the pain. “Now, this wee pill will help
with the pain, but ye may forget your name,” he warned her as
he handed her a little white pill and a glass of water.

Morgan
giggled, then quickly stifled it. “Ow!” She held her side
for a few moments, then sat up to take the pill. “Oh, wait, I
have to text Angel first!” She didn't explain why, she only
grit her teeth as she lifted her hips to pull out her phone from her
pocket. She knew he was probably worrying to the point of insanity,
and she didn't know if he had gotten a hold of Finlay yet.

I'm
in Ireland, I'm safe.. Love you, my Angel.

She
set her phone on the little coffee table, on a coaster that displayed
a cartoon style sheep in a sunny pasture, then took the pill that
Sean had given her. In less than five minutes, the girl was out cold
from sheer exhaustion and the pill went to work to help her stay
asleep. As to not have anything wake the girl, Sean turned off
Morgan's phone then took her boots off and covered her in a thick
blanket. He found his spot on the other side of the couch and when
his adrenaline finally calmed enough, he fell asleep as well.

*****

“Ireland?
You're safe? Boo Boo, what happened to you? Oh, my Sticky Buns,
please be okay!” Angel paced around the large kitchen reading
her message for the thirty-eighth time. He had tried calling within
minutes of receiving her short message, but it had gone straight into
voice mail. Angel didn't know
what
or
who
she was safe
from, but he didn't believe her. He knew the guy would lie to ease
the worry and the fact she had turned her phone off made it even
harder to believe.

“Or
maybe it's a trap! That motherfucker still has her and he made her
write that! I bet she ain't even in Ireland!” Angel had no idea
what was really going on, all he knew was that he had to keep trying
Finlay. He'd know what to do. He called, called again, then a third
time and still no answer. The best he could do was send texts, and he
sent three more in addition to the four he had already sent.

Fin.
Call me. I swear to Jesus you best answer your motherfucking phone
boo. Morgan is in danger.
Each of the other messages were similar
in content, but he kept it vague enough to where Finlay would be
forced to call him so he could explain. Telling the poor Scot that
his Morgan was probably being held for ransom somewhere and being
tortured was not suitable for a text message.

For
the next three hours, Angel took turns calling Morgan and Finlay.
Missed call after missed call until the distraught Angel finally fell
asleep on the couch with the phone still in his hand.

*****

“Morgan?”
Sean jumped up on the couch when he heard the girls cry of pain.
After scanning the room, he saw that she was up and walking, but
holding her side, almost as if she were going to throw up.

“I'm
okay, don't worry. Just gotta pee.” He could hear the smile in
her voice and his heart broke again for her. She was a girl with a
bruised face and ribs who had lived through a night of hell and she
still managed to bring a smile to her face.

He
offered to help, but she told him that she could use the bathroom by
herself with another smile. When she came out, she still had the grin
on her face.

“So...”
she sat down awkwardly on the couch, “what are the chances that
you have a blueberry muffin around here somewhere?” Even though
she was in pain, she was still Morgan, the girl who's stomach worked
like clockwork. It growled loudly at her words as if to add emphasis
to her breakfast desire.

“Oh,
shit! I do have muffins, actually! Though, I don't think they're
blueberry. I'll go get you some!” Sean was already pulling on
his coat, but Morgan stopped him.

“No,
no. Don't do that. Just give me what you've got,” she stood and
walked slowly to the kitchen. “Holy shit! You weren't kidding!”
Morgan tried to stifle her laughter again, but there was no stopping
it. It brought tears to her eyes from the pain, but the sight of the
kitchen was just too much. “What are they doing? Reproducing?”
She laughed harder. The sheep had nearly doubled in numbers and as
she looked around the small kitchen, there was no longer an inch that
wasn't infested with figurines.

The
sink was lined in them, the cabinets were bulging open with sheep
heads and tails poking out, every part of the counter and stove top.
“Sean, you need to call an exterminator!” Morgan held on
to the side of the counter for support and tried to control her
painful laughter.

“Aye,
you're not kidding,” Sean walked past her and found the box of
muffins behind a large cookie jar. Of course, it was a sheep,
standing on its hind feet with a removable party hat. “They're
banana nut, I think?”

Morgan
was okay with the muffin choice, picking out the nuts would be fun.
She was also grateful for the tea that he made her as well, but he
promised to get her coffee later that morning.

Sean
insisted that she return to the couch with her breakfast and tea, and
carried everything back to the living room while she made her nest on
the sofa again. “Sean, I can't thank you enough for letting me
come here. I never intended for our visit to be...like this.”
She put her head down and picked out a small nut. Sean's laughter,
however, forced her to look up at the handsome man.

“Are
ya kiddin' me? I don't care what the circumstances are, I'd welcome
ye to my home anytime, for any reason.” He motioned for her to
drink up, and she relaxed a little more as she enjoyed her breakfast.
“If I remember correctly, that wee muffin won't hold ye over
for long.” He laughed and stood from the couch as she nodded
in agreement. “Ye like the Indian food we had before, aye?”
Again, she nodded as she shoved the last bite into her mouth. “Aye,
I'll get us that, and your coffee. Then after, we'll see if you're
up to a bath.” He kissed her head before going to the door,
and she watched him as he pulled on his boots and coat, then waved
when he finally left.

She
settled deeper into the warm couch and pulled the thick blanket up
around her neck. It would have been a great time to catch up with
Angel, but a quick scan of the coffee table in front of her warranted
no evidence of her phone. “It was right there.” Her
brows came together as she tried to remember where she had put the
thing, but nothing came to mind after her quick text to her best
friend the night before. Then, she smiled as she realized that her
hunk of a savior had probably put it up so that she could get some
rest. “Alright, you win.” It probably wouldn't take
much effort to find it, but the pain in her side helped her agree
that resting was probably the best thing for her at the time.

Twenty
minutes later, the front door opened and took Morgan by surprise.
Sean's mother, with a bag filled with lunch for her son, walked in
and shut the door without even noticing the small lump on the sofa.
Morgan cleared her throat softly, and the red haired woman nearly
dropped her bag of food.

“Sweet
Mother of...you! What are ye.... oh.... oh... what's happened to ye?
Did... no... did my Sean... he wouldn't...no..”

“Oh,
no! No, he would never hurt me! It was...someone else...but Sean
was nice enough to let me stay here, while I... got better.”
Rambling, that was the thing that usually got Morgan into trouble, so
she shut her mouth and let her surprise guest get a word in.

The
older woman stared, and finally shook her head at Morgan. “You'll
need te find another place te stay, my Sean can't find a decent woman
if he has one spread out in his livin' room like this.” She
dismissed Morgan without waiting for an answer, then walked to the
kitchen to put Sean's meal in the fridge.

The
woman had to know that Sean had no interest in finding a wife, but
Morgan could understand her need to be a grandmother. Sadly, there
was nothing Morgan could do at the time to please her, so she just
sat quietly and waited for her to leave.
The sheep!
The
thought hit her as the sound of ceramic sheep being moved across the
counter could be heard. “Uh...excuse me....I have something
for you.” Morgan threw the blanket off and slowly made her way
to her zebra print bag. She fell to the floor in a heap as she held
her side, and dug through her clothes until she found the small brown
bag that held her gift. “Here!” She held it in the air
with the hand that wasn't grasping her ribs, then turned around to
see the woman was only a few feet away. “Didn't mean to shout.
I got this for you...since..you, uh, like....sheep.” She
offered the bag to the woman, then stood and hobbled back to her
spot. She eyed Morgan as she reached into the bag, then looked down
as the little sheep knight came into view.

“Of
all the.. oh... “ Her eyes filled with tears as she turned her
little gift in her hands, taking in the fine detail in the suit of
armor, and the long lance in the little sheep's grasp. “No one
has bought me a sheep in years... I.. truly love it. Thank ye,
lass.” She looked up at Morgan and the tears of gratitude fell
from her light blue eyes, down her puffy red cheeks.

“You're
most welcome.” Morgan smiled, as much as she could with the
massive cut inside her lower lip, and looked down at her hands.
Nothing more was said until Sean walked through the door with arms
full of food, just seconds later.

“Mum!
What are ye doing here?” He looked between the two quiet
women, then shook his head as he walked through the living room. His
mom was the one that broke the silence.

“Sean,
ye take care of your wee friend here, and don't let her leave until
she's well.” She looked back at Morgan and winked before
walking to the door. “I mean it, take care of her!”
Sean walked back out of the kitchen and looked at his mom's back as
she left the house. The look of shock that Morgan saw made her laugh
to the point of breaking open the cut on her lip, and holding her
sides with both hands.

“What
did ye do to her?” He looked at Morgan and had to laugh as
well, then he just shook his head and went back to unpacking their
food.

Chapter
Six

“Oh,
this is so much better than I remember!” Morgan forked the last
bite of the chicken curry into her mouth and laid back on the couch
with a long sigh.

“Aye?
Ye think so? I think you were just hungry,” Sean answered as he
picked up the carry out containers, then took them to the trash.

“Maybe
so, but that was good, thank you!” She was still picking at a
roll when he returned back to the couch.

“Ye
want me to run that bath for ye now?”

“Hmm...”
Morgan assessed the situation, then nodded enthusiastically, making
them both laugh. A bath might help sooth the aching. She told him
what pocket he could find her bubble bath and he took the big bottle
into the bathroom, then returned five minutes later and told her that
it was just about ready. She gathered a warm outfit from her bag and
headed to her awaiting bliss.

Once
she was in the bathroom and undressed, she took another good look at
herself. “Holy shit...” Morgan ran her fingertips over
the four inch, dark purple bruising under her breast. It was still
swollen, but she'd live. She directed her attention back to meet her
own eyes in the mirror and sighed loudly. Her eyes had a matching
dark purple hue around them as well, and her lip was still swollen.
There was also a faint bruise on her left cheekbone, and around her
nose, which she also rubbed softly.

“Shit,”
she repeated. It looked a lot worse than it had the day before, but
she knew it wouldn't get any worse than that, so she just had to get
through the week and after that, she'd probably be able to hide the
worst of it with makeup. If anyone asked, she'd just say she fell. It
was a good lie, and anyone who knew her would know it wouldn't be a
stretch.

Morgan
climbed into the tub slowly, then sunk down into the water, bending
at the knees, then when she was on her butt, she laid her back
against the tub and slowly stretched her legs out. First thing she
felt was searing pain, but then comfort. Hot, steamy, comfort. It was
soothing and while she laid there in the water, she could barely feel
any pain at all. For a few moments, she was able to escape the
thoughts and visions of the nightmare and just relax.