Hidden Away (14 page)

I could hardly contain myself that evening Morgan was packed and ready for his trip away, all the
men were at the hotel bar with the girls ready for a quick drink altogether before we separate and
our celebrations began. We planned on telling them all about the baby tonight to explain why I
would be alcohol free, I couldn't wait to see Lorna's face, I was already hair up make up on and I
had on my new little black dress that clung to all my new curves I slipped into my laboutin pumps
turned round and saw that familiar look on Morgan's face
“Oh no Drake don't even think about it” needless to say he decided he wanted to see what the
dress looked like back on the hanger and we were now running late
“It’s not my fault you are so hot!” I grimaced at him
“I am away from you tonight baby I needed to get my daily dose” I elbowed him as we entered the
bar
“With you its hourly not daily” he laughed held my hand and we walked into the throng of our
family and friends all waiting for hugs and kisses. There was one person I was desperate to see but
I scanned our little group and couldn't see her, Uncle Luca and Theresa were there my aunt was as
lovely as ever and we stood holding hands
“Carmella where is she?” she rolled her eyes at me
“Probably being held up by my future son in law Thomas!” I smiled sounded like she had the same
problem as I did that was when I heard her shriek
“Elli!” I turned round and there she was my beautiful cousin, I had always looked up to her she
had been my idol tall slim sexy, beautiful black hair which was at the moment cut into a sharp
angular bob that suited her features perfectly. We dived onto each other hugging tightly and
giggling, it was so emotional we had been inseparable all our lives and the five years apart had
been torturous. We gradually became aware of all eyes being upon us, most looking tearful at our
obvious closeness, particularly my aunt who was sniffing into a hanky Morgan was beaming at us I
clasped his hand and drew him in
“Morgan meet my wonderful cousin Carmella” he hugged her and I could see her sizing him up for
approval
“Delighted to meet you at last I have heard so much about you Carmella,” she smiled at him
obviously won over by his looks and charm and the genuineness of his greeting
“Thomas?” Carmella turned to the very smart and dashing man behind her
“This is Elisa my best friend” I was moved by her reference to me
“Pleased to meet you Thomas” he kissed both cheeks then the two men greeted each other
“Marcelli women hey, we must be brave!” they seemed to weigh the other up and decided to head
to the bar and get a round in
“well that's them sorted Carmella and I linked arms as I introduced her to Rose who had flown in
from Spain with Leo and Morgan's parents and of curse Olivia who looked the picture of health,
Kate and lastly my gorgeous niece, we were off upstairs for a final dress try on before the party so
Olivia was filling the others in on head dresses and bouquets. I looked around me and felt a real
sense of belonging after being so lost for so long it felt strange to suddenly be surrounded by love,
I drank it in Mrs Flint winked at me and I gave her a warm smile, she was an added bonus to my
inner circle and had become a very good friend.
“Everyone can I have a moment” Morgan signalled me and I stood to join his side
“as we are now going to go our separate ways we thought we would take a minute to firstly thank
you for travelling from your respective countries to help us celebrate our wedding, as you all know
we have had a rocky ride to get here with some real lows and some extreme highs you all know
what they are, but we want to share with you some more good news that neither one of us
expected, planned for or dreamt of and that is the news that Elisa is carrying our first child
” there were cheers shouts and crying all round (the crying from Lorna)
” its early days but so far she is fighting fit so we are optimistic. So Hen's I am entrusting my
woman with you for 24 hours and if she is any less radiant than at this moment when I return, this
stag will be doing some butting of heads” everyone laughed and once again I was surrounded by
congratulations.

This massage was exactly what I needed, we were all recovering from last night’s karaoke and were
being pampered at the hotels spa, I was exhausted it was 2am before Carmella and I stopped
gossiping and retired to bed, Kate Rose and Olivia hadn't been off the dance floor all night and of
course I had to do a song or two on the microphone, funniest thing of all was Lorna and Margaret
(Mrs Flint) doing the Elton and Kiki Dee duet “don't go breaking my heart”, it was so bad it was
genius and we kept replaying it on our phones over breakfast to wind them up. First thing this
morning my hair had endured the keratin straightening treatment and I had the ends trimmed off,
because it had been curly for a long time and tied up I hadn't realised how long it had got so I was
stunned to see it straight and hanging to my waist
“Elisa your hair is beautiful, it’s so glossy too Morgan is going to love it” Olivia had her eyebrows
tinted and all of my bridesmaids (apart from Louisa) had gel nails applied, mine had little crystals
embedded in them. Then I had my Brazilian wax
ouch
I had forgotten how bad that was, the men
had been texting us periodically, they were heading back at 2pm so would be home for tea, we
were planning on a big celebratory meal tonight, our chef had planned a special taster menu for us
kindly avoiding shellfish and offal for my condition. Once we were all buffed and polished, rubbed
and relaxed we all went back to our rooms to change for dinner, my outfit was in the staff quarters
with Kate's so we got dressed together a jersey stretchy dress in grey for me and I noticed you
could just make out a tiny bump now, I placed my hands on it and stared in the mirror, it was still
such a novelty imagining my tiny blob growing inside me. Kate was smiling at me
“you suit pregnancy Elisa, I hope Simon and I will be not far behind you, he is desperate to get
married we are hoping to set a date for next May but I am so excited, Elisa did you ever believe
things would work out so well for you after the year you have had?” I sat down next to her on the
bed
“No Kate it still feels like it’s happening to someone else, I can't accept this is real “just then my
phone vibrated
“Morgan he must be on the way back” Graham was driving him, his dad Luca and Antonio, Simon
was driving Thomas, Tony, Leo and Sam.
“Hey Drake how’s it going?” I could hear laughter in the car so spirits were high
“Hey baby I've missed you, I am an hour away we are roaring down the A roads to avoid the M25
so we can be back for dinner, how has your day been?” I was about to tell him about my hair when
I heard a loud bang down the phone
“Morgan? “there was a roaring sound then silence. My heart had stopped and I was just staring at
the phone
“Elisa what is it what’s wrong?” She looked worried my face must have lost its colour
“Elisa is it Morgan?” suddenly Kate’s phone started ringing
“Simon? What's going on Elisa was..what shit how,? go help but ring me as soon as you have news”
I took in her words
“What is it Kate something happened to the car didn't it?” she looked terrified not wanting to talk
to me, the door flew open and Carmella stood there
“quick to the bar now everyone is there Lorna has Harrison on the phone” I ran in a daze to where
everyone was gathered around Lorna, she was crying, when she saw me she held her hand out to
me I ran over heart pounding she was talking to someone in a trembling voice
“Is the ambulance there yet? You must tell me when they get him out” him? She must be talking
about Morgan
“What is it Lorna what’s happened? “ Lorna covered the mouthpiece and swallowed back the
tears
“there was a puncture and the car lost control and spun off the road, it hit a tree then flipped onto
the roof, Harrison, Antonio and Luca managed to crawl out of the back but Morgan was in the front
with Graham and they can't get them out” my heart was racing so hard I was feeling dizzy
“ the fire crew are cutting them out now and the air ambulance is on its way” she carried on
talking to her husband in a low voice, we all stood there waiting for news, I could see relief on
Sara's face that Antonio was okay and as she held on to Louisa she was silently crying, Theresa was
saying a few hail Mary’s of thanks to God the good catholic that she was, I decided to start reciting
my own and I started to pace around to calm myself down, this couldn't be happening I rubbed my
tummy
“Blob needs you Morgan you better not leave me I can't do this without you” Carmella walked over
and put her hand in mine, Kate took the other one, I wanted to shout at Lorna for information but I
knew she would tell me as soon as she could. For what seemed like forever we stood waiting then
the phone trilled again
“Harrison? “she nodded a few times looked at me then hastily looked away, shit this was bad
“Spire Hospital? We are on our way send the others back here the girls are all in need of a cuddle, I
will bring Olivia and Elisa” she hung up and we all waited for her to speak
“Graham is dead, he took the full impact and there was nothing they could do for him, Morgan is
alive and being airlifted as we speak” I dropped like a stone Kate fell with me
“Elisa I'm here its ok “Lorna dashed to my side and they helped me back up
“We need to meet Harrison at the hospital” Morgan was alive, but Graham dead? How bad must
Morgan be if Graham was killed?
“Elisa, Morgan appears to have suffered only a head injury, they don't know how bad it is until he
has a CT scan, he is unconscious but no bones broken “ I nodded and Olivia took my arm, Lorna
turned to Mrs Flint her new friend
“Margaret all these ladies have had a shock and when the men arrive they will be in shock too,
make sure the bar is closed off to the public and keep everyone together, brandy's or tea on the
house for as long as it takes, get extra security on reception as when news of this gets out the
press will swoop, Carmella take care of Sara keep your phone on and we will keep you up to date
with everything” Carmella and my aunt gave me a hug and we set off to get a cab to the hospital.
The journey dragged and by the time we arrived in the neurology ward Morgan was already
having a scan, there was no doctor to give us information yet so we were directed to the family
room
“Olivia get Elisa a strong sweet tea, I don't like her colour” Olivia scooted off. I sat like a statue my
new family either side of me, then Harrison walked in the room, he had been given a lift here by
Simon as nobody else could fit in the air ambulance with Morgan, he looked pale dishevelled and
his clothes were torn, he had a cut to his forehead but otherwise seemed fine Lorna threw herself
on him immediately and burst in to tears Olivia soon joined the huddle. Me I just sat there wishing
that was me greeting Morgan, Harrison knelt in front of me
“Elisa he is tough he will survive, the last thing he said as we were being thrown around in the car
was dad tell her I will never leave her” tears were flowing freely down my face as he held my hands
in his
“You are his anchor Elisa, you and that child you are carrying and if I know my son he will be doing
everything he can to get back to you as soon as possible” I nodded through my tears. The Surgeon
Mr Richborough came a couple of hours later to give us an update
“ Mr Drake has a severe contusion on his head and this has created a bleed in his brain, we
needed to stop the bleeding first and in order for his brain to fully heal we needed to induce a
coma” darkness swept into my vision
“Coma?” he nodded kindly
“he is in a recovery suite now attached to a ventilator, we are taking all the pressure off his brain to
just allow it to concentrate on healing, you can sit with him if you like he will be able to hear you
but he won't react in any way” I stood up but my legs were like jelly
“How long will he be like this? Will he have brain damage?” he put a hand out to steady me
“ we will not have a prognosis until we take him off the ventilator and allow him to wake up by
himself, he could be as good as new but we will not know until then, as for how long, we hope not
too long but 72 hours is the minimum” he let go when he felt my balance restored
“I will send a nurse to take you to him, and please Miss Marcelli don’t worry too much” he smiled
at me and left us in the care of a nurse. When we walked into Morgan's room and I saw my
beautiful man with all manner of tubes and wires poking out from him, it was just too much to
take in and the combination of stress and lack of food meant one thing my legs gave way and I
ended up on the floor.
“Elisa?” my body surged to the voice and I dragged my eyes open
“Morgan oh Morgan “I put my head on his bed and sobbed until my throat hurt.

The pattern of the following week was a blur I spent almost the entire time sat by his bed reading
to him, chatting away telling him stories and I was joined by various people on a rota basis through
the hours everyone was very worried about me they were trying to get me to eat more, sleep
more and take some time out, but there was no way I wasn't going to be here when he woke up he
was breathing for himself now he just needed to wake up in his own time. It was Sunday and
yesterday should have been the happiest day of my life; instead I spent it here staring at my lover.
The wedding had been cancelled and guests had returned to their respective countries, I promised
to keep them all informed Carmella hated leaving me but they all had jobs and lives and they
needed to get back to them. Graham’s funeral was Friday and the staff and Mrs Flint took care of
the arrangements he had no family to speak of, he had become part of Morgan's and I knew how
upset he was going to be, I said a few words at the service the only time I left his bed as I knew
Morgan would want me too, Harrison paid for it all I think we did him proud. Morgan's parents
along with Leo and Rose had stayed on to help run the hotel and obviously to take care of Morgan
and their future grandchild but unfortunately Olivia had an art exhibition of her works so needed
to fly home for a few days, she didn't want to leave me but promised to return as soon as she
could. The days passed by nothing changed and by the following Wednesday I was beginning to
feel a sense of loss like I was losing him I was alone in the room, his daily checks had been done. I
was crying it was a desperate feeling I fumbled in my pocket for a tissue and pulled out a scrap of
paper, it was our vows that we had written together my crying stopped as I stared at the crumpled
up sheet of paper, sniffing loudly I took his hand in mine.
“Morgan from the day I met you I loved you”
“From the first time we kissed I belonged to you”... I felt a gentle twitch in his hand I gasped but
carried on
“You saved me from a life of hiding and loneliness” the twitching became pressure I held back a
sob
“You gave me my life back and taught me how to love and be loved” the pressure increased
“Now we have grown a child out of that love as a symbol of our love” he squeezed my hand and I
stopped to look at his face, his eyes were fighting to open
“I love you with all my body all my heart and all my soul” his eyes opened fully then and he smiled
and then he spoke
“And I love you with all my heart and body and soul” I fell onto his chest my heart soaring out of
somewhere in the skies
“I love you Elisa” I looked up at him hardly believing what I was seeing, Lorna walked into the
room
“Oh My God Morgan you are awake NURSE!” nurses came running in and cleared us from the
room while they checked him over Mr Richborough had been paged and he was in there for what
seemed like forever. Lorna had called Harrison we were just stood holding hands waiting to go back
in, the surgeon came out smiling
“he is strong that one, all signs are his brain has made a full recovery, there will be fatigue to
overcome and he needs to stay here for another 48 hours to do some physio and regain some of
the weight he has lost, but all being well you should be able to take him home after that”. The
sense of relief left me feeling giddy we both went back in the room and just stared in wonder at
him
“What’s with the faces?” I went back to my chair and Lorna after giving her son a big kiss gave us
some privacy while she went to meet his dad, I knew it was down to me to fill Morgan in on
everything that had happened, he was holding my hand and gazing into my eyes
“You look drained baby and so sad what is it?” I stroked his face and leant forward pressing my lips
on his just to make sure he was real
“Morgan do you remember what happened?” he thought hard for a minute
“I was on the phone with you and then the tyre blew, “he sat up a bit frowning
” the others are they alright?” he could see my expression straight away
“Elisa?” I took a deep breath
“The tyre blew your car span and over turned everyone managed to get out except for you and
Graham, you had to get cut out “he was staring at me trying to read between the lines
“Graham didn't make it Morgan I am so sorry, you have been in a coma for almost two weeks,
your dad and I organised a funeral for him he has no family” Morgan nodded sadly
“I met him at a charity event for Help The Heroes he was an out of work war vet and had no
direction so I hired him as personal security and driver, I was his family, he was a good man I will
miss him” I stroked him gently allowing him to absorb the information but he was then distracted
“Two weeks? But the wedding? I missed it, oh no our special day, I wanted us to be married before
blob comes, how is blob?” I smiled glad to be back on safe ground
“Blob is fine though its mummy probably needs to eat and sleep for that to stay that way” I turned
to see Harrison he marched over to his son and hugged him
“you gave us a scare there son, I knew you wouldn't leave our princess here but you have kept us
waiting” we talked for a while and Harrison told him about Graham’s funeral he was grateful his
father had taken care of it for him, he looked exhausted despite the two week sleep
“Morgan rest time Elisa home time now he is awake you can start thinking about you and blob
again” I looked at Lorna and didn't argue, a bed and a shower sounded like heaven, the cottage
was ready for us but I hadn't been since before the hen party, it was closer to the hospital so I
decided to go there as all our stuff was moved in now. I kissed him goodnight and Tony was outside
with the car he took all three of us back to mine. Lorna and Harrison wanted a tour and they
stayed for a cup of tea, it was quiet when they left but this place was home and I immediately felt
settled though saddened when I saw the champagne and rose petals on our bed for our wedding
night, a soak in the bath later and I could hardly pull the duvet over me I was so tired. It was almost
eleven before I got back to the hospital the next day I had slept like a log Tony had picked me up,
he had replaced Graham as hotel driver neither of us referred to the change of job as mentioning
Graham brought back bad memories, Tony had been very close to him but he was the perfect man
to fill his shoes. I could hear Morgan asking his mum where I was when I arrived
“Sorry Morgan I slept for 14 hours, I guess I was catching up” he held his hand out to me, he
looked like his old self apart from the gaunt face
“Are you a sight for sore eyes I missed you” tears sprang to my eyes
“I have been missing you for two weeks so stop with the guilt trip!” he pulled me into an embrace
and gave me a long lingering kiss that made his mum cough
“well you do seem better today” he grinned
“I am physio was good I am weaker than normal but the fact I was so fit before means I haven't
deteriorated too much they are letting me home tomorrow” I looked at his mum and she nodded
“oh Morgan that's wonderful I can't wait for you to see the cottage it is just right our furniture
looks great and Olivia's paintings set it off beautifully” Lorna told us Olivia was flying back tonight
to see him, her exhibition had been a massive success all her paintings had sold and she had taken
commissions for more so she was over the moon. Morgan had news of his own
“Simon came to see me last night he and Kate have set a date for May next year, he has asked me
to be best man” I smiled sadly “that's nice” I couldn't help feeling jealous my wedding didn't
happen, but it didn't matter I had him back that was the most important thing.
Bringing Morgan home was wonderful it was late September but the sun was shining I settled him
on the terrace on a lounger while I made coffee and sandwiches, we ate in relaxing silence
occasionally glancing at each other to check it was real, the sparks were still there Morgan seemed
to be watching me like a hunter on his prey little touches little growls if I brushed past him, it was
nice to know he still had the same desire for me despite his convalescence. I cleared the plates and
he came into the kitchen behind me making me jump
“Morgan you need to rest go back and sit down “he snaked his arms round me and held my belly
“mmm a little bump now” he slid his hands to my breasts
“Not so little tits though angel, you’ve been teasing me with these all day” I had on a t shirt but
due to my blossoming size it was rather snug
” you are still a perv Drake not even a blow to the head can sort that out” I took him by the hand
and led him to the bedroom pushing him backwards on to the bed
“you are not fit enough for too much excursion but allow me to relieve your over active libido” he
watched me as I lowered his fly and freed his cock it was already lengthening in my hand before
my mouth got to work, I worked his frustration out with expertise loving the familiar groans he
made when aroused. After we lay naked under the covers and slept for a while just enjoying the
closeness and the reuniting of our bodies after the stress of the past couple of weeks, a couple of
hours later I woke to Morgan caressing my breasts sucking my nipples and well and truly inserted
inside me
“I said no Drake it's too soon” he bit my nipple gently turning my protests into moans of delight as
he slid in and out gently and tentatively “Baby It's so good to be home”