Sebastian - Secrets (21 page)

“Typical, so you’ve poishoned my daughter now.  Get in the car Joe, itsh unlocked.  Beth you have no bloody right to tchell me what I can and fucking can’t do so leave it…”

Joe looks from Alan to me and at Alan again, unsure which of his parents to obey.   His brow creases as the volatility of the situation upsets him and his eyes brim with tears.  He gauges his father’s anger to be more acute and decides to do as his f
ather says rather than antagonise him more, and he picks up his bag and reaches up to kiss me goodbye.

“Joe, put your bag down an
d go to your room.  Everything’s fine, your dad and I need to talk,” I order.   Joe puts his bag down and, red faced with tears tumbling down his cheeks, turns to go upstairs but Alan grabs his arm.

“GET IN THE CAR NOW” he barks.  Alan picks up Joe’s bag and I try
to snatch it away from him.  I’m overwhelmed with the sudden need to protect my son – mothers’ instinct screaming through every cell of my body.  Alan shoves my chest and I stumble back falling against the hard edge of the stair bannister knocking the wind out of me.

“Alan FOR GOD’S SAKE!” I scream but he seems like a different person; a ma
n I don’t know, not the man I’ve been married to for seventeen years.  Joe is sobbing now and the next thirty seconds are a blur.

Alan pushes Joe through the open doorway and up the pathway, his bag clutched in Alan’s hand.  I see them but am powerless to stop them.  My desolate boy, shoulders heaving as he cries, being jostled into the passenger seat of Alan’s car and the screeching of
tyres, as Alan speeds away.  I’m sobbing too now, huge wracking sobs, which come from my core.

Hands shaking, I dial my mother’s number and when she answers I can barely speak.  I have a terrible dark foreboding, which I can’t rationalise but my mother will understand.  Only a mother can understand.  My mother sooths me and tells me she is on her way to me.

Call twenty-seven. There’s still no answer - just Alan’s voicemail message.

“
Hi you’ve reached the voicemail of Alan Dove.  I’m sorry I can’t take your call but leave a message.  Cheers.”

I try Mike’s mobile and landline numbers again and am about to hang up when he answers.

“Mike thank God,” I sigh.  “Look, Alan picked Joe up nearly two hours ago and he was drunk… and I know he’s probably stopped off for something to eat… but I’m worried Mike.  He was pissed again.”

“He’s not here Beth.  Did you two fight?”

“Yes.  But only because I wouldn’t let him drive Joe when he’d been drinking.  He reeked of booze Mike.  Look, can you call me the minute they get there please?”  I end the call. 

My mother calls the accident and emergency department at the local
hospital but thankfully, they’ve had no traffic accident victims admitted this evening.  I try Bella’s mobile number, wondering if Joe or Alan have been in touch with her but she curtly replies that she hasn’t seen or heard from Alan and doesn’t care if she never sees him again, ‘the dick’. 

I waste no time admonishing her, instead I decide to drive to Mike’s house in case Alan and Joe have arrived there.  As I grab my coat from the hook by the front door my mobile phone rings, it is Mike. 

“Beth love, there’s been a terrible accident.”

19

Mum holds my hand as we sit in the family room of the Accident and Emergency Department, at The Lakes General Hospital.  It’s a stark little room with peach walls, 1980’s floral border and pastel striped curtains. 

Mum and I sit together on the hard green sofa.  A plastic cup of water has been thoughtfully placed on the battered old teak coffee table in front of me, next to the obligatory box of tissues and untactful leaflets on becoming an organ donor.  I take a tissue from the box and blow my nose, my cheeks hot with fresh tears. 

It’s been forty minutes now and there is still no news of Alan and Joe.  All we know so far is that Alan’s car collided with a tree and it took the fire crew over an hour to cut Alan and Joe free, and paramedics a fu
rther twenty minutes to stabilise both prior to the journey to hospital.  The emergency helicopter could not be diverted apparently due to it already attending a further accident near Dorchester.  All this information serves to increase my sense of panic at the severity of their condition.

My phone pings and I look at the text message on the screen, it’s Sebastian wondering why I haven’t called him to say that I arrived home safely.  I type a brief message back telling him about the accident, I will call him later.  My phone immediately vibrates as Sebastian calls me and I stand and leave the room as I answer his call but a nurse shoots a disapproving look at me, so I exit through the automatic doors to the ambulance loading area and burst into tears when I hear Sebastian’s voice. 

He has such a soothing, calming tone as he assures me that the doctors will be doing all they can to help my boy and that he’s sure that Joe will pull through, as he’s such a tough little guy.  Sebastian sounds genuinely concerned and choked up too and I am so grateful for his support, suddenly longing to feel his strong protective arms around me.  Just listening to his comforting voice makes me feel calmer and he tells me he is on his way to me.

“Beth!” My mother bursts through the automatic doors and grabs my arm.  “The doctor is looking for you, come on!” she implores. 

I cut the call without saying goodbye, thrust the phone in to my coat pocket and follow mum back in to the family room where a tall, wiry doctor dressed in blue scrubs and rubbing the back of his neck is waiting for me.  He tells me to sit down and I want to scream… “Joe?” my voice is thready, and barely audible.

“Mrs. Dove.  Beth.  My name is Doctor David Sutherland.  I’m the A&E registrar on duty
, and I’ve been leading the team looking after your son and your husband.  As you know, Joe and Alan were in a very bad way when they arrived here.  Each had a Glasgow Coma Score of just three, Beth.  This means that, in essence, their brains were not functioning.  You must understand that they were both in the front seats of the car and both took the full force of the impact head on.  I only say this so that you understand how difficult it has been to try and reverse the damage that was done.  I have to tell you, Beth, with deep regret we have not been able to save either Joe or Alan.” 

My mother wails from somewhere in this cold miserable little room.

My world falls apart.  I can’t absorb what the doctor is saying to me.  The room starts to spin and I hold on to my mother’s arm to steady myself.

“Immediate CT scans showed considerable fracturing of the skull in Joe, and unfortunately Alan sustained a ruptured aorta on impact.  I have to say, that neither will have been in any pain
, nor have known anything about the accident… Mrs. Dove… Beth… I and my team are so very sorry for your loss.”

Coming Soon …

March 2013

Sebastian – Dark Bonds

© Janey Rosen

www.janeyrosen.com

In the aftermath of the tragedy that befalls her, Elizabeth Dove heads for the tranquillity of Penmorrow with her daughter Bella, under the protective guardianship of the sultry and dominant Lord Sebastian De Montfort.  However, his beautiful maid Scarlett is hiding a dark and foreboding secret.  Elizabeth knows that Scarlett means to harm her, and yet Sebastian remains Scarlett’s protector too.  Time is running out for Elizabeth as she succumbs to Sebastian’s sexual dominance, while Scarlett’s evil plans to rid Penmorrow of her adversary threaten Elizabeth’s very existence….