Twelve Days: The Beginning Part 23

Chapter Thirty-Three.

Present Day Elise drove aimlessly for what seemed like hours whilst the adrenalin still kept much of the pain at bay. Although she felt like a great weight had been lifted, she was also very much aware that this was just the beginning and when the low petrol light on her car started flas.h.i.+ng, she realised that she was going to have to find somewhere to stay and fast. She couldn't just drive around without direction all night.

The problem was that she really had nowhere to go. In the back of her mind, she registered that she would probably need a hospital but that was the first place that Dale would look for her. Then he would move onto her parent's house and then Cole's place so both of those were out of the question too. She could go to Vaughn's; Dale didn't know where he lived but Vaughn was out of town and she had no means of gaining entrance her lifeline to Vaughn was lying in smithereens on the bedroom floor. She also wasn't entirely sure she could even remember the way.

Briefly, she considered a non-descript hotel somewhere that would maybe buy her some time, but belatedly she remembered that it was Christmas Day, which would mean that would also be a complete non-starter. Any hotel worth its salts would be fully booked this time of year and she was in no fit state to go to anywhere that didn't have basic hygiene standards.

The dark was starting to draw in now and the rush of the last few hours was beginning to wear off making her become aware of pain and throbbing in virtually every part of her body. Her legs were aching, her head was pounding and her left arm was still partially numb making it awkward to continually change gear. Running out of options, she pulled over to the side of the road and into a fairly secluded lay-by. She needed time to think but she was also smart enough to realise that she had to get off the road. Dale could wake up and start searching for her at any time and she couldn't just park up here and wait. She would be like a sitting duck.

Frustrated, she banged her hand on the steering wheel, willing her brain to think. Think. There must be somewhere she could go, somewhere she could at least stay the night until she could work things out in the morning when she had a clearer head. Surely her life hadn't been so controlled by Dale that she didn't have anyone she could feasibly turn to?

Her handbag was on the seat to the side of her and she opened it up and started rummaging through it looking for her address book. She was hoping that she would come across somebody that she had forgotten about that she could look up in this time of crisis. She didn't hold out much hope but she felt that it was her only chance.

As she hunted through, her hand connected with her mobile phone and she pulled it out, amazed to see that it still had some charge in it. Not all that much use to her though, as she didn't have anyone to call. Pressing the power b.u.t.ton on the side, the screen flashed into life and the display stated 'One Missed Call' and suddenly she remembered that Celeste had phoned whilst Dale had been 'punis.h.i.+ng' her. A wave of relief washed through her as she realised that maybe she had just found her lifeline.

Dale didn't know Celeste at all and he sure as h.e.l.l didn't know where she lived. Elise did know where Celeste lived and she also knew that she was going to be at home for Christmas as she and Roger were planning to spend the day together. She knew that she was potentially going to be breaking up a very romantic day for the two new lovers but she was desperate, had nowhere else to turn and she just hoped that her friend would understand.

Starting the car again, she groaned at the pain of physically getting her body to drive and tried to keep her breaths even to alleviate some of the pressure around her damaged ribs. Calling upon every last ounce of strength that she possessed, she left the lay-by and joined the main road out of town towards Eastwood, where Celeste and hopefully sanctuary, lay.

Elise found Celeste's block of flats relatively easily and was relieved to see that the parking was in an underground garage, meaning that her car would be hidden from sight just in case Dale did happen to drive this way.

Celeste lived in a modern block containing ten flats which had been sympathetically designed to have the overall appearance of a grand Georgian house. There was a main entrance door right in the middle of the property which led to the two ground floor flats, one on each side and then a staircase and lift arrangement to the further four floors; each of which contained another two flats. The fact that the stairs and entrance were in the centre of the property meant that as for the first floor, there was a flat on each side, effectively giving every flat their own half of the floor. This benefitted the residents by allowing them to enjoy the traditional Georgian bay-style window at the front but also a view to the rear of the property which stretched out over the main town area. The flats were, as a result, relatively large and Celeste had often commented that she had been extremely lucky to be able to rent one of them. A few of them were now privately owned but at least half of them were still rental properties although they were so much in demand that they hardly ever became available.

Celeste had heard about it through a friend of a friend who had given her an inside tip off and so she had been able to get in quickly, even before the flat had been advertised. She often complained that the rent was a bit steep, however, and sometimes took on extra bar and waitressing work in order to make ends meet. Elise had asked her if she had ever considered having a flatmate as she had two bedrooms but she was adamant that she much preferred to live on her own so that she didn't have to make any excuses about her sometimes-eclectic lifestyle.

Celeste lived in number six on the third floor and Elise dragged herself into the foyer and pressed the b.u.t.ton for the lift. Usually, she used the stairs as a concession to a general lack of physical fitness in her life but today she would be lucky to make it to the first floor if she took the stairs, let alone the third. When the lift arrived it was empty and Elise was glad. She hadn't looked in a mirror so she had no idea what she looked like but she could only imagine that it wasn't a very pretty sight.

Walking into the lift car she realised that her head was really pounding and she could see flas.h.i.+ng lights as objects began to spin. Clearly she had been functioning purely on adrenalin since she had walked out, and now that she was coming down from the enforced high, her body was beginning to present the very real physical symptoms of the injuries that she had sustained.

The lift began its steady climb to the third floor and Elise found herself giggling manically as her body started to feel completely weightless and she imagined that she was actually flying. Her feet didn't feel like they belonged to her anymore and she started flapping her arms about birdlike, in a bid to take to the skies.

Her senses were rapidly leaving her and as the lift arrived at the third floor, she wobbled out on unfamiliar legs and headed towards the door of number six. She was still flapping her arms in a crazy but rhythmic motion and only paused long enough to press the buzzer, and then carrying on with her bizarre movements as soon as she had released the b.u.t.ton.

A mere few seconds later she realised that the door was opening and had just about enough sense left to register her friend's shocked face before she felt the floor coming towards her.

Within seconds of seeing her friend's face, blackness. .h.i.t and she collapsed to the ground, flapping her arms no more.

There was an army doing battle in her head and they were being accompanied by a band of drummers - in fact she was fairly certain that the Sergeant Major was leading his very own military tattoo inside her brain. Never had a hangover felt this bad before and she cracked her eyes open fractionally, initially surprised to register that she didn't recognise the room or the wallpaper. Still thinking she must be dreaming, she braved opening her eyes a little further, and her vision was instantly filled by the darkest and most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen.

Vaughn. Now she knew that she was dreaming. Vaughn was at his sister's house and she had clearly just overindulged herself on Christmas Day. She was hallucinating. Perhaps the alcohol still hadn't worn off.

She closed her eyes again to find the army were still cras.h.i.+ng around although the Sergeant Major must have given them an order to be a little bit quieter as the volume seemed to have diminished a fraction.

She tried again, but this time she took in a short breath before she opened her eyes, alarmed to feel pain rip across her chest as she did so. Reflexively she lifted up her left hand to clutch at her chest, only to realise that it was weighted down by some sort of dressing. Christ, she must have really made a night of it.

This time when she managed to get her eyes open, she found herself looking into a familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes and she instantly recognised them. Cole. Her best friend in the whole wide world was here taking care of her she had clearly imagined that she had seen Vaughn when she had opened her eyes the first time.

Knowing that Cole was here with her made her want to smile although when she tried, the pain that seared across her face was unbelievable. Instantly she frowned and nearly cried out in agony as further pain cascaded down the back of her head. s.h.i.+t! What the h.e.l.l had she been drinking last night?

"Elise? Elise, can you hear me?"

It was Cole. Her wonderful, beautiful Cole. Come to save the day.

"Elise. You don't need to say anything - just lift up your hand or something. Do anything that tells me you can hear me."

Of course I can hear you, Cole. Hang on did she say that out loud or not? Her eyes had drifted shut again and the army were doing a final march past as her head began to clear a little. A short nap sounded like a good idea now that the army had finished so she allowed herself to start to drift back into a land of total peace and contentment.

"Elise. Elise. Elise. Come on. Open your eyes. Can you hear me? Elise."

Cole. He was getting annoying now she wished he would just go away.

Hang on a minute. If Cole was here, then Dale must be out otherwise Cole would not still be standing there alive. Odd. Why would Dale abandon her when she clearly needed him?

Then something else filtered into her brain and she opened her eyes again to take in the unfamiliar wallpaper. She was not at home and she was not in her bedroom. Had she drunk so much that she'd ended up in some random house? If so, how the h.e.l.l did Cole know where to find her?

"Elise it's me, Cole. Please look at me. I need to know if you can hear me."

Her eyes began roaming the room, looking for clues, objects, familiar items and Cole's eyes - but things had begun to spin and so she abruptly closed her eyes again.

Another sound this time from her right-hand side. Someone running into the room. She felt the whoosh of air as they ran past her to stand on her left.

"s.h.i.+t, Andrews. Is she still not responding?" Vaughn?

"No, nothing. She keeps opening her eyes but then closes them again. I don't think she has a clue where she is."

"That f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d...." Definitely Vaughn. What the h.e.l.l was he doing here? Last she could remember she was talking to him at his sister's house and she was sure it was still Christmas holidays. And who the h.e.l.l was he talking about?

Too much to process and the army had decided on one last hurrah. She kept her eyes closed and allowed her mind to drift and empty, permitting slumber to claim her once more.

The next time Elise woke up it was dark in the room and she was aware of a gaggle of noise coming from outside. Chattering it was people chattering but they were too far away for her to make any sense of it.

This time the army had definitely gone home and her head felt a lot clearer, so much so that she chanced turning her head from side to side, relieved to realise that much of the sharp pain had now gone and she only had a dull ache to contend with.

She lifted both her hands and rubbed her eyes, stopping when her palms came into contact with her face, which was alarmingly sore and stinging. Her left arm had a bandage on just above the wrist and she vaguely remembered noticing that, the first time she had awoken.

She tried to move her legs, only to realise that they felt raw and tender against the softness of the quilt and she once again tried to piece things together. She was definitely not in her house or any house that she knew, and she had never been in a situation where she had drunk so much that she had ended up with a complete stranger.

The fact that her whole body felt like it had been through a blender also wasn't right; she couldn't begin to imagine how she had sustained such injuries just by having a heavy night out and, in any case, her and Dale were spending Christmas Day at home. That's right...they'd gone for a nice walk and Dale had cooked. How on earth had she gone from that to this? And speaking of which, where was Dale?

She vaguely remembered Cole and bizarrely Vaughn's voice from when she woke up the first time but now as she looked around the room, she realised that she was completely alone. Alone, and in agony, and in some strange bedroom. Perhaps she had died and was now living in a parallel universe? She remembered reading about those places existing once. Although if she was in a parallel universe, she would have rather ended up somewhere with better wallpaper this was seriously ghastly. On the wall facing the bed was black patterned wallpaper that led around the room and blended into ghostly grey shades of paint. One of the other walls had a deep red contrasting paper and on the basis that Elise already felt queasy, she was fairly certain that this decor was going to finish her off.

The chattering was still coming from outside the door and now that she was fully conscious she could make out certain words.

"Memory loss........amnesia.......nerve damage.......concussion."

It all sounded very medical and Elise wondered if she had been re-born into a private hospital ward would they decorate their rooms in such a ghastly style? The lack of medical equipment in the room though seemed to suggest that this wasn't the case so she was still none the wiser.

Fed up of lying here and wondering, Elise decided to try to get up and find the source of the chattering perhaps whoever was out there would be able to tell her exactly what was going on. She sat up and immediately experienced the ripping pain in her chest again and her head began to throb. Not good. She lay back down and kept still for a moment, letting everything settle back down, immensely grateful that the army had not made a re-appearance.

Her options limited, she tried to call out in the hope that perhaps they would hear her and come to her aid.

At first she could only manage a tiny croak and she realised that her throat was ridiculously dry. It would take more than that to get anyone's attention so she tried again, drawing in a deep breath and steadfastly ignoring the searing pain in her chest.

"h.e.l.lo.....?" This time it was louder and Elise could hear it resounding around the room.

Abruptly the chattering stopped and then all of a sudden there was a whirlwind of activity as the door was brutally swung open and several people all came cras.h.i.+ng through it at the same time.

Vaughn was the first to reach her bedside and sub-consciously she registered that she hadn't been dreaming him he was really here.

"s.h.i.+t, Elise I'm so sorry, baby." He said, "I only stepped outside for a second to talk to the doctor. How are you feeling? Christ, angel we've all been so worried." She could tell that was true from the expression on his face. She still had no idea why though.

She turned her head and encountered Cole on her right hand side, an equally worried expression on his face. What the h.e.l.l was going on?

At the foot of the bed stood Celeste and Roger. Celeste and Roger? Now she was really freaked out. And then standing just behind Vaughn was an older man that she didn't recognise. He seemed to be the medical person as he had a stethoscope hung around his neck. This wasn't a parallel universe if all of these people were here - unless there had been some major catastrophe and they had all died at the same time so what the h.e.l.l was going on and where was Dale? She needed to know.

"What's going on?" she croaked, "Where's Dale?"

"f.u.c.k." said Vaughn almost under his breath and then he turned to the doctor-type person. "She doesn't remember."

The man moved forward and gently pushed Vaughn to the side so that he could get closer to Elise. To her right, Cole had reached for her hand and was rubbing his thumb up and down the back of her hand in a soothing kind of gesture.

The stranger put his hand gently on Elise's shoulder.

"Elise," he said, "I am Doctor Edwards. Can you tell me...do you know where you are?"

Elise shook her head and then realising that it hurt she opened her mouth and spoke instead.

"No." her voice was barely a whisper now.

"Cole," Dr Edwards said, "Pa.s.s me that water would you?"

Cole obliged, reaching for a cup that she hadn't previously noticed sitting on the bedside table.

The doctor put his hand behind her head and lifted it upwards slightly, supporting her whilst he put the cup to her lips and she drank the cool liquid gratefully. Vaughn reached forward as soon as she was done and took the cup out of the doctor's hand, all the while regarding her with an expression of worry and concern.

"Elise," Dr Edwards addressed her again, "Can you tell me what day it is today?"

"Yes," she replied, relieved that her voice sounded much more normal now. "It's Christmas Day."

Cole and Vaughn exchanged a look across the bed and then they both glanced at Celeste who had let out a small gasp and was now covering her mouth with her hand. Roger had moved and put his arm around her in a consoling kind of way and Elise was beginning to find this whole situation really strange.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" she said, "Where the h.e.l.l am I and where is Dale?"

All three of them glanced nervously at each other and then Vaughn turned to Dr Edwards, as if asking for some kind of permission. The doctor nodded at him and Vaughn moved forward again, taking up the position that the doctor had vacated and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Elise," he said, "You are at Celeste's flat. You turned up on the doorstep two days ago and collapsed. You've been pretty much out of it ever since. It's not Christmas Day, baby; it's the day after Boxing Day." He paused and glanced at the doctor again as if checking whether or not he should continue. Again the doctor nodded.

"We don't know where Dale is," Vaughn continued hesitantly, "although we presume that he is at home. To be perfectly honest, none of us cares much right now where he is." His voice broke suddenly as emotion began to take over and he looked to Cole an almost pleading expression on his face.

"Cole? Can you..?" he said.

Cole nodded and then tugged lightly on Elise's right hand to make her look across at him.

"Elise, baby. We don't know for sure where Dale is because we don't give a s.h.i.+t. We all hope that he's rotting in h.e.l.l somewhere." Cole swallowed. "It's not Christmas Day anymore, baby, and we know that you don't remember but the thing is..... Dale did this to you, baby.

Just before you lost consciousness completely you told Celeste that, although it wouldn't have taken a genius to work it out anyway. He beat you up baby h.e.l.l, he nearly killed you, and now you have to just rest and get better and soon, when you're ready, you'll be able to remember and we'll all be here to help you deal with it." The last words were said with such emotion and sincerity that Elise felt her eyes begin to fill with tears. She didn't remember, she didn't have a clue if what they were saying was true. All she knew was that her best friend and the man that she was in love with were here with her now, and if that's what they said had happened then she had to believe them.

When he had finished speaking, Cole lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss into her palm and she watched as she saw tears begin to fall silently down his face. She looked across to the other side of the bed where Vaughn was standing and as their eyes met and she felt the familiar pull, she was completely and utterly shocked to realise that he was crying too.

Chapter Thirty-Four.

The next few days pa.s.sed in a blur and Elise remained at Celeste's flat, recovering. She had not been left alone for five minutes since she had come round and she had got used to the rota that Celeste, Cole and Vaughn had worked out between them, beginning to know when to expect each one of them to come in and sit with her.

The worst part though was when she needed to go into the adjoining bathroom and it happened to be on either Cole or Vaughn's s.h.i.+ft. They both insisted that they come in with her but there were just some things that a girl needed to do on her own. Reluctantly, they had both finally agreed to wait outside the door, providing that she took no longer than five minutes. Initially that had been an issue when she had wanted to take a bath but she had worked out that she could do that on Celeste's s.h.i.+ft as the other girl would come into the bathroom with her and Elise found that she didn't mind.

Dr Edwards visited daily and usually stayed for about an hour. He was a private doctor - a friend of Vaughn's parent's - and Vaughn had called him the second he had heard about Elise's injuries. On the one occasion, Dr Edwards brought a young woman called Rachel with him, who was a physiotherapist and she had begun to work on the nerve damage that Elise had sustained to her left wrist. Rachel had arrived during one of Cole's s.h.i.+fts and Elise had not missed the look of appreciation that he gave when she walked in. His eyes had been pretty much glued to her during the whole of Elise's treatment and she was amazed that the girl had managed to keep her cool and continue with the programme whilst under such intense scrutiny.

Elise had teased Cole about it afterwards but he had denied it all, merely saying that it made a change to see another female other than her and Celeste. She had just smiled and filed the information away, ready for another day.

Vaughn's visits were the best and she looked forward to those the most. He had made sure that he had all of the night s.h.i.+fts and after the first night, when he had slept on the airbed on the floor, she had insisted that he sleep in the bed beside her. At first he was reluctant as he didn't want to make her any more sore or uncomfortable but they arranged the duvet in such a way as to provide her with a protective coc.o.o.n and still allow him to be near enough to cuddle her carefully. He also visited numerous times during the day and Elise began to wonder how on earth he, or either of the others for that matter, were getting any work done.

To begin with, none of them spoke about Dale and what had happened but over the coming days, Elise's memory started to return in bits and so it was inevitable that the subject should be raised.

She had questioned Dr Edwards initially as she still couldn't remember how she had come to be in Celeste's flat. The doctor had explained that they had found her car parked downstairs so had a.s.sumed that she must have driven here herself although how on earth she had managed that, given the extent of her injuries, seemed to be in question. He had concluded that she had been functioning purely on adrenalin and was amazed that she had not pa.s.sed out before she did. It was ridiculously fortunate that she had made it safely to her friend's house and not pa.s.sed out whilst she was driving. He didn't know any other details though and so she knew that she was eventually going to have to speak to Cole or Vaughn.

By Sat.u.r.day she was feeling a lot better and persuaded Celeste to let her go into the lounge and watch some television. She didn't need to sleep anywhere near as much now and she was getting bored with looking at the same awful wallpaper. On that subject, when Elise had taken it up with her, Celeste had vigorously defended her decorating choice, which had lead to a very spirited debate between the two girls. It was totally beyond Elise how her friend could consider the look of the bedroom to be anything other than terrible but in the end they had had to agree to disagree and Elise realised that she would probably never completely understand this girl with her unusual tastes.

As she exited the bedroom accompanied by Celeste, Elise immediately noticed the large man standing just outside the door dressed in a security type uniform. He was a typical butch bodybuilder type with a shaved head and a big bulky body. He was tall as well - well over six feet.

"Hi Sean," Celeste said as they walked past, "I'll be putting the kettle on in a minute if you fancy one?"

"Oh thank you Miss Brown that would be great." 'Sean' replied, "Do you need any help there, Miss?"

"Oh, no thanks, we're fine." Celeste replied as she continued to help Elise wobble on slightly unsteady legs towards the lounge and onto the sofa.

'Sean' immediately moved from his position outside of the bedroom and took up a post on a chair that was adjacent to the front door thereby allowing him to still see into the lounge.

"OK, Celeste who the h.e.l.l is that?" Elise hissed, keeping her voice low in case 'Sean' heard her.