Bound Angel Bound Demon (8 page)

“That’s right suck hard,
rub harder,” her back arched as she came again, this time she lay still and took off the blindfold and reached for the phone.

“I love you so much Alex
, you always surprise me,” said Gary.

“I love you too, I will be home soon, sleep tight
and thank you,” Alex replied.

“Go
to sleep Alex. I’ll see you soon, and thank you for tonight, I feel better.” Gary blew a kiss down the phone and hung up.

Alex
climbed under the covers, still naked. She closed her eyes, a smile came to her lips; she knew everything would be ok.

Chapter Thirteen

Alex woke early as the sun was rising; she looked at her mobile and remembering last night she chuckled.
Early morning swim is needed,
she thought, and got up and picked out one of her new bikinis.

It was quiet
and she wasn’t sure what time her mom and dad had come home, they were still sleeping. She got into the pool. It hadn’t had a chance to warm up yet, but she dipped herself under to try to get used to the water, then began to swim up and down the pool.

She felt like a great load had been lifted,
she’d had a great night’s sleep and now felt she could enjoy herself. After about half an hour of swimming, she got out and went back into the house. Still no one was up. Alex went to her room and had a shower and put on one of the new dresses her mom had bought her.

Still no sign of anyone, so Alex went in the kitchen and set about making b
reakfast for everyone. Bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, the works . . . the smell did the trick, and her parents wandered in, still half asleep, smiling at the sight of Alex laying the table.

“Morning, did you
have a good night?” asked Alex as she set out the plates on the table. Her mom and dad sat down, watching her bring all the different food to the table.

“Do you want tea?
I have got a pot brewed just as you like Mom, and the coffee is done as well Dad,” Alex sung out, bringing the cups over and sitting down.

“Some
one’s feeling better I see,” laughed her dad and began to tuck into the big breakfast. Alex just gave her dad a look and winked at him.

“Have you sorted it out with
Gary then?” asked her mom.

“Yes, we still have a few thing
s to talk through, but we sorted a lot out last night, so we are on the right path.” Alex gave her mom a look to show she was fine.

“Uncle Joe and the gang are coming today
aren’t they? I thought I’d go and get some extra supplies in, while you relax and get ready,” said Alex. Her mom began to say something but her dad touched her arm to stop her.

“That would be great Ally, thank you
,” he said.

Alex got up and kissed both
her mom and dad, and then fetched her mom’s car keys.

“Can I use the car?”
asked Alex.

“Yes, sure go on
,” replied her mom, and with that Alex left.

Alex was soon in town picking up food and drink for the evening.
Her mobile rang and she answered the call, which was from a number which she didn’t recognize.

“Hello
.”

“Hello is that
Mrs Sterling?” said a woman.

“Yes
, speaking. How can I help?” said Alex.

“
Mrs Sterling, I’m calling from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, it’s your husband, he was rushed into hospital in the early hours of this morning, he is stable now, so nothing to panic about, but he’s been asking for you.”

“What happened?
I spoke to him last night and he was fine,” Alex’s voice faltered, her heart was in her mouth.

“He was found this m
orning, collapsed on the floor. Please Mrs Sterling, don’t be too anxious, he is comfortable, they are just running a few tests. If you could just come as soon as you can, and we will be able to tell you more.”

“Ok, I’m in Spain at the moment, so
I will be there as soon as I can get a flight,” answered Alex.

“Thank y
ou Mrs Sterling and please try not to worry too much, he is doing fine.”

Alex ended the call
and she numbly went to the till and paid for her shopping. She put it in the car and drove back to her mom and dad’s in a daze.
What happened? He was ok when we finished the call.

As she carried the shopping in
she felt like everything was moving in slow motion.

“Ally what’s wrong
Ally?” said her mom seeing how pale Alex was.

“It’s Gary, the hospital called,
something’s wrong with him. I don’t know what, I just need to get back, he needs me,” cried Alex in a rush to get her words out.

“Ok calm down
, everything will be ok,” said her mom coming over to her. Her dad went and got her a drink of water as Alex dissolved into floods of tears. He put his arms round her and held her tight.

“Right
, first things first, we need to get you packed, I’ll help you with the packing and your dad can find you a flight.” Alex’s mom took her arm. “Come on Alex, you have got to be strong for Gary.”

Alex looked at
her mom, she never called her Alex unless it was something serious. Alex nodded and followed her to the bedroom and started to put things in her shoulder bag first, the box and the contract, her phone and passport, and make-up things. Her mom was packing her clothes into her suitcase.

“It will be ok Ally, he will be fine, so don’t go blaming yourself
,” said her mom finishing the last of the packing. Alex looked at her and smiled gratefully.

“Thank you
Mom, I don’t know what I would’ve done these last few days without you and Dad.”

“It’s ok h
oney; all you need to do is concentrate on getting Gary better.”

Her dad
came into the bedroom, “I have pulled a few strings and called in a favour from one of my friends, they have a flight planned to England anywa, for a business trip, and said you can go on their plane.”

Alex looked at
her dad. “Their plane?” she asked.

“Yes, one of my old contact
s is over here at the moment, we met up last night and I remembered him saying he had to go back today. He has a private jet so you will be back in no time, I need to take you to airport now as they are leaving in an hour,” said her dad. She looked from her mom to her dad.

“Go on love
it’s ok, you can always come back when Gary is better, now hurry, go!” Her mom said and hustled her off out the room, Alex grabbed her bag and her dad picked up her suitcase. As Alex went to get in the car she turned and held her mom tight.

“Thank you again, I will call as soon I know more
,” said Alex.

“Don’t worry
, everything will be fine, I’ll see you soon,” said her mom giving her a kiss.

Dad started the car, and Alex
watched her mom waving in the wing mirror, and soon she was out of sight. Her dad was quiet on the journey to the airport, understanding that Alex was too preoccupied to make small talk. When they arrived his friend was waiting for them, and Dad introduced her.

“
Alex, this is my old friend Dan.”

Alex shook his hand.

“Your dad told me about your husband, it must be very worrying. I’m happy to help in any way I can, anything for your Dad. Come, our flight is ready to go.”

Alex turned to
her dad and gave him a hug and a kiss, “Thank you Dad, I won’t leave it so long before we visit again.”

“
Go on Alex, stop making a fuss, we’ll speak to you later,” he said and Alex turned and followed Dan towards where his plane was waiting for them.

When they were in the air Dan came and sat with Alex, offering her a
cup of tea. “Here, have this, it will help calm you down a bit.”

“Thank y
ou Dan.” He was younger than her dad, but not by much.

“So you’re marrie
d to Gary Sterling, I knew his dad, great man.”

Alex looked up at
him, Gary had never talked much about his family. “I’m sorry I never met his father.”

“Oh, right. Well it must have knocked Gary hard
, when he passed, they were very close.”

Again
Alex looked at Dan. “I met Gary after his father died, and Gary never really said much about it. He’s a very private person, and I never questioned him.”

“I’m sorry Alex I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable
.”

“No
I’m
sorry Dan, you haven’t. I’m just worried about Gary that’s all, did you work with his dad?” She didn’t want Dan to feel like he’d offended her as he was doing her a real favour.

“I worked with him at his company, he taught me everything I know, I’m surprised Gary
’s never mentioned me,” said Dan.

Alex shook her head, “Sorry
, Gary never talks about his job, I bet you think I’m awful, not knowing things about him.”

“No Alex, I
know Gary keeps a lot of things close to his chest, I didn’t know he was married. It wasn’t until I was speaking to your Dad last night about you, and he mentioned who you were married to, that I realized.”

Alex swallowed hard. “It’s ok, as I say
, I know Gary like things kept private.”

“What business
was his father in?” asked Alex.

“Y
ou’re not into sport, are you?” Dan laughed.

Alex looked at him and shook her head
, not getting why he found this so funny.

“Gary’s
dad created ‘Sterling International Sports’, we represent most of the top sporting names out there. When his father passed away, Gary asked me to take over the running of day to day things. Gary became more of a silent partner after that; he just comes in now and again to see how things are going.”

Alex didn’t know what to say,
Gary owned his own business, he hid so much from her, didn’t he trust her at all?

“We will be landing soon at Birmingham airport; I have called ahead and arranged for a company car to take you straight to the hospital
.”

“Oh thank y
ou, I’ll be sure to let Gary know how much of a help you have been,” said Alex.
Yes once he’s better we will have a talk about everything from the beginning,
she thought.

Chapter Fourteen

Alex said her goodbyes and thanked Dan for his help again. As she walked towards the car she noticed it was a black limo, it looked like the one that had taken her to the club. The driver got out to take her bags from her, it was Mr Briggs.

He smiled at
her as he took the bags. “Good afternoon Mrs Sterling. How was your flight?”

Alex blushed. “T
he flight was fine thanks, do you know what happened with Gary, I mean Mr Sterling.”

“He is resting at the moment.
I will take you straight to the hospital. Sorry I don’t know any more than that,” he waited for Alex to sit in the car and closed the door. Mr Briggs got in the driver’s seat, this time he left the partition down.

Alex felt strange
recalling the last time she’d sat in this car.

“He didn’t mean to keep things from you
,” said Mr Briggs.

Alex looked at
Mr Briggs reflection in the rear view mirror.

“He’s j
ust not very good at opening up. . .”

“I’m beginning to notice
,” replied Alex, “so you work for ‘Sterling International’ as well?”

“
Mr Briggs smiled back at her. “Look he will explain everything to you. He knows he messed up on this, it’s best you hear it from him.”

Alex gave him another smile
. She understood he knew more but didn’t feel comfortable talking about it. She looked at him he drove, there was a rugged look about him, and he was quite nice looking, looked like he’d been a soldier or something.

“What’s your first name, if you don’t mind me asking
?” asked Alex.

“John
.”

“Well that’s better than me calling you
Mr Briggs.”

He laughed
. “Well people normally just call me Briggs, but if you feel better calling me John that’s fine with me.”

They pulled up outsid
e the hospital and Alex got out.

“Here is
my number, call me when you’re ready to come out and I will come back for you, you can leave your bags with me if you like,” Briggs said.

“Thank you, I’ll
just take my handbag, I need to call my parents to let them know what’s happening,” Alex touched his hand as she took her bag from him, his hands were rough, this man had done manual labour.

John smiled back and then got
back in the car and drove away. Alex entered the hospital and after speaking to the receptionist she was on her way to Gary’s room. He had a private room.
Nothing but the best for Gary,
thought Alex.

The
door to his room was open. Gary was asleep and a nurse was checking one of the machines that he was hooked up to. The nurse looked up.

“I’m Alex, Gary’s wife
,” Alex said.

The nurse finished what she was doing and
came over.

“Hello Alex, it’s nice to meet you, I feel
I already know you, you’re all Mr Sterling talks about. Please take a seat, you must be tired,” the pretty nurse said, with a faint blush coming to her cheeks.

“How is he, what happened?” asked A
lex as she sat down.

“The doctor will be
in on his rounds soon, he’ll be able to tell you much more, but rest assured, your husband is in the best place he can be.”

“Do you want a drink fetching?” asked the nurse
.

Alex shook her head and loo
ked at Gary. He looked so pale, and like he’d lost weight, there was a bandage on his head and heart monitor pads on his chest. She ran her fingers over the places where the pads were.

Gary started to open his eyes. He gave a weak smile
and whispered, “Alex.”

Alex felt tears come into her eyes and
leant down to give him a hug. “God I don’t know what I thought or expected to find, you have scared the hell out of me,” she sobbed.

“I’m o
k, I’m better than I was, and I’m sorry for scaring you,” he wiped her tears with his hand.

“What happened?”

“I’m not all that sure, I remember finishing our phone call,” Gary looked at her and saw she was embarrassed. He smiled. “I got up, and the next thing I know Ray was standing over me with medics everywhere, and then I was rushed here.”

“What
happened to your head?”

“When I
passed out, I fell and caught my head on the way down. I had to have a few stitches, and some tests to find out why I passed out. Please don’t worry I’m fine. I am tough as an ox!” he tried to make light of his situation.

“Who’s Ray?”
Alex looked into his eyes.

Gary looked at her
seriously now. “You’ve already met him,” he paused, “the other night,” and before Alex could say anything, he continued, “Alex I promise you I will tell you everything, just not here.”

Alex just held his hand and nodded. She knew
it could wait, getting him better and out of here was more important.

The doctor entered the room “
Mrs Sterling,” he shook her hand and then looked at Gary. “Well the tests have come back, your accident was caused by your blood sugar levels, they were very low Mr Sterling. You have diabetes, have you been eating healthily? By the looks of you, you are normally a fit healthy man so perhaps you didn’t realise you had this problem.”

Gary just looked at the doctor.

Alex said, “Gary has always looked after himself. He exercises near enough every day and has always eaten the right foods.”

“He will
need tablets to keep it under control, have you been unwell over the last week or so, or under stress?” asked the doctor.

Alex looked at Gary, who said,
“My wife was away for a few days, so I just relaxed on the eating habits a bit.”

“You need to eat well and regularly.
If you skip meals you may feel weak or dizzy, and this could have been why you passed out and banged your head. You were lucky with the fall, the blow to the head could have caused complications.”

“He will be ok now, won’t he
?” asked Alex.

“Yes
Mrs Sterling he will, if he keeps on top of his health and manages his condition, people can live normal lives with diabetes, but we did find something else, an irregularity with his heart, which would also explain the blackout. Have you had many blackouts?” the doctor asked and Alex squeezed Gary’s hand.

“No, look I’ve
never had any health problems, I just maybe missed a few meals these past few days, and I’m fine. I feel better.”

“I see, PVC
s
are among the most common arrhythmias and can occur in those without heart disease. They are that skipped heartbeat we all occasionally experience. In some cases it can be related to stress, too much caffeine or smoking, or over exercise. But sometimes, PVCs can be caused by heart disease or electrolyte imbalance. I believe yours may be due to stress or too much exercise, this again will have to be monitored.”

“So will he have to stay in?” asked Alex.

“We have been monitoring him while he’s been in and the last few times we checked his heart, it seemed to have settled down. I would like to keep him in overnight just because of his heart and the blow to the head and I will reassess his condition in the morning,” answered the doctor.

“Thank you for your help D
octor, Gary will stay tonight. He won’t argue with that.” Alex looked at Gary and smiled.

The doctor nodded and
left, leaving Alex and Gary alone.

She
leant down and held Gary and cried, “Gary I thought I’d lost you, don’t ever do that to me again.”

Gary put his arms around her and held her till she stopped crying. She sat up and looked at him.

“I think you need to go home Alex, I will be ok here, there’s enough people to look after me, go home and unpack and rest, we don’t want you ending up in here as well,” he said. Alex kissed him again softly on the lips.

“
Should I phone John to pick me up?”

“John?” said Gary.

“Mr Briggs, he picked me up from the airport, I will explain when you’re home,” she smiled, teasing him.

“Oh so you’re on first name terms now?” Gary joked back.

“Yes, and don’t go getting jealous either, he has too much respect for you to ever cross that line, more’s the pity,” she giggled.

“I do believe I’m going to have to keep
my eye on you Mrs Sterling.”