When she awoke it was daylight. Greg was already awake and stroking her hair. When she lifted her head to look at him, the oxygen mask had been removed from his face and he looked a lot brighter. He was still attached to the machines but his whole demeanour was much more alert.
‘Hey. How are you feeling?’ she asked him softly.
‘Much better for seeing you beside me,’ he croaked. ‘I’m still terrified you’ll tell me it was the drugs or that I was dreaming.’ He looked at her with pleading eyes.
She reached up and stroked his face. ‘Well, that’s not going to happen. I’m not going anywhere this time.’
‘Do you promise? Because I’m in this for the long haul, Mallory.’
‘I promise. After what we’ve been through since we met I think we can deal with whatever gets thrown at us, don’t you?’
Greg squeezed her hand. ‘I hope so… but I’m scared.’
‘You have nothing to be scared of, Greg. When I thought I’d lost you last night I realised that some things are totally insignificant. You and I can work things through together. No more secrets, eh?’
‘Well… there’s one more I need to tell you…’
Mallory’s heart sank and she braced herself for what was to come. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. His grave expression was not instilling her with confidence for what he was about to impart.
She opened her eyes and looked directly into his as he said, ‘I… I… I’m a huge Bee Gees fan…’ He smiled and Mallory burst out laughing.
She kissed her funny, bruised and sore man gently on his poor swollen lips.
*
Mallory went home to freshen up and pick up some things for Greg. She bought him a couple of music mags and picked up her iPod. She called at Greg’s to collect some of his CDs to load onto it. Sure enough as she flicked through the discs on his old jukebox there it was, plain for all to see, ‘The Bee Gees Greatest Hits’. She chuckled, it was a far cry from the nineties heavy rock he loved so much but very sweet.
She carried on collecting a few more things that she guessed he would need in hospital and noticed a pile of official-looking documents on the coffee table. She knew they were private, but couldn’t help herself.Curiosity killed the bloody cat!But she ignored the voice in her head and picked them up to quickly examine them.Divorce papers.She breathed a sigh of relief when she realised that both Alice and Greg had put their signatures to the documents. She placed them back on the table as they were and left the house.
Stella was out and about as she drove back from Greg’s. She was walking Angus… well, if the truth be told, Angus was actually walking Stella. Mallory was laughing as she pulled to a stop beside them.
‘Hi, Mallory. How are you doing, hen? It’s good to see you smiling that’s for sure. How’s Greg?’
‘He’s doing much better now thank you and I’m just relieved that he’s okay. He’s bruised and sore, but not in any danger now. Thanks for taking Angus. I’m sure he’s getting spoiled rotten just like Ruby is with Ron,’ she giggled.
‘Oh, it’s nae bother. He’s eating me out of house and home, mind. Look Mallory… I wanted to say that… I hope you and Greg work things out… you’d make such a lovely couple.’ Stella waved and took off to finish her drag, as opposed to walk.
When Mallory arrived back at the hospital, armed with goodies for her new love, his bed was empty. She panicked. There was no one at the nurses’ station so she had to hang around tapping her foot and waiting. The thing she hated most in the world was waiting.
Eventually, a nurse came along and informed her that Greg had been moved onto a general ward. She breathed a huge sigh of relief and made her way to his new location.
He was sitting up when she got there. His chest still gloriously bare, apart from a few remaining disconnected electrode pads and bandages. The drips had been removed and the heart monitor had gone too. He looked a little like he’d had the proverbial altercation with Mike Tyson, but his eyes sparkled all the same.
She nearly ran to the bedside. ‘Oh, Greg, look at you. So much better.’ She leaned in to kiss him gently, but his hand came up to the back of her head, pulling her in for a deeper kiss. When she broke free she looked around to see if anyone had just witnessed the veraciously passionate exchange between them. Thankfully no one was taking the slightest bit of notice. She looked back to Greg who was smiling and shaking his head.
‘If being out there in that icy water, fearing for my life, has taught me anything, it’s that from now on I’m not going to hide my emotions any more. I love you and I want you and I don’t care who sees or who knows it.’ His low growl sent shivers down her spine.
Her cheeks heated and she returned his gaze with just as much passion. ‘Have they said when you can come home?’ she asked, hopeful that it would be soon.
‘Well, it turns out I have no internal bleeding, just bruised ribs and a bust-up face so they’re happy for me to go home at the end of the week. I’ve been so lucky, Mally.’ He looked pensive.
‘What happened to Little Blue?’ she asked cautiously, knowing how much he loved his boat.
‘Capsized. I got thrown overboard. There was quite a bit of damage, but they managed to tow her in. Hopefully I can repair her. But she’ll be out of action for a while. That’ll teach me for trying to be the hero, eh?’ He looked puzzled for a while until he spoke. ‘Mally… what happened with that couple I saw who viewed your house?’ Worry was once again etched on his features.
She bit her lip, feeling anxious at telling him everything now that he was fully conscious. ‘They made an offer.’
Greg gasped and stared for a moment, open-mouthed. ‘Oh god. What will you do? I mean… please be honest… do you want to go back to Yorkshire?’
