As soon as Helen woke up, he’d tell her again how wrong, foolish and afraid he’d been. How he should never have walked out on her. He hadn’t been able to cope with the emotion overload—but that was before his stone walls had been decimated, and now he had this ferocious surge of … offeelingsbuilding inside him, gathering pace, ready to explode and radiate.
Helen, I love you.
That’s what he’d tell her as soon as she opened her eyes. He’d never been in love before—but now he recognized that the shaky platform he’d been standing on had been love all along, and it had suddenly gotten steadier. Seb had found his balance—and he was ready to surf it, grip it, ride it. Ready to explore his new world, a new world he’d share with Helen. Seb’s mind, heart and soul raced away with a myriad of plans and dreams for the future.
While Helen slept, he texted Brenda with an update on her condition. When he’d run out of the event, he’d simply told her Helen had been involved in a minor car accident, cautioned by Grice not to reveal the truth of the police operation.
So glad she’s OK. Will you make it tonight?
The finale dinner.
Seb considered Brenda’s question. He had three hours in which to get back to the hotel he’d stayed at last night, shower and change, and make it to tonight’s venue in the center of Bath by 8:30 p.m. He didn’t want to let Brenda and the rest of the team down. He didn’t want to let Mikey down either. But neither did he want to leave Helen’s side. He had so much to tell her.
At that moment, Helen stirred.
“Hey,” Seb whispered. “How you feeling?”
“My head hurts.” She winced as she moved. He shot out of his chair to help her sit up. “Is there any water please?”
Seb grabbed the jug next to the bed, gave her a glass. “Do you need anything for the pain? Shall I call a nurse?”
“No, thank you. I just need a minute.” Helen sipped water, then stared at his hand, his knuckles still red and sore from striking Bates. “Youwerethere. You came back. I wasn’t dreaming?”
“No. Helen, I—”
“When Jax—” She sniffed back tears, her chest heaving for air.
“Helen, don’t—”
“When he turned up … I … I …”
“Shh … He’s gone now, you’re safe.” Seb took the glass from her and covered her hands with his. “I don’t know where to begin to tell you how sorry I am. But I am. I’m so sorry. Helen, I—”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” Tears were streaking down her cheeks, her bottom lip trembling. “You came back.”
“Of course I did! I should’ve stayed in the first place. I should never have thought—”
“The worst of me?”
“Yes, I’m so sorry. Helen, I—”
“Don’t.” She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Don’t feel guilty. Don’t feel bad. Just don’t. You’re not to blame for what happened today. Even if I’d never met you, Jaxon would still have come for me. And you saved me.” She took a shaky breath, fragile, like she’d break at any moment. “So please, please don’t feel bad.”
She was so gracious, so kind. He didn’t deserve her. “Helen, I—”
“Jaxon smashed my phone.” She pulled away from him. Seb straightened, noticing her withdrawal and not blaming her in the slightest for it. She’d been through a lot today. She needed space and time to process all that had happened. “I need to call Tom.”
“Tom’s on his way.” Seb hadn’t known Tom’s number so he told Helen how he’d googled hair salons in the village, of which there were two, found the one where Emma worked and asked if one of her coworkers could pass a message on for her to call him as a matter of urgency. Seb had left his number and within ten minutes, he was giving Tom and Emma the lowdown on what had happened. “He should be here any minute.”
“That was … really thoughtful.” Helen burst into tears again. “Thank you.”
“Hey, it was nothing, really.” Seb soothed and hushed. “Helen, I—”
Voices and footsteps outside the cubicle came nearer. A nurse swooshed back the curtain and Tom walked in.
“What the hell, Helen.” Tom looked fraught with worry. The poor guy must’ve had a hell of a long, stressful drive. Seb got out of the way so he could get closer to his sister. “I leave you for two days and you end up here.” But Tom’s words were at odds with his gentle voice. He fussed with Helen’s blankets, like Seb imagined he’d do with Harry when it was time for a bedtime story. “And that’s the second fat lip you’ve had this year. For effing hell’s sake, why does everything have to be such a bloody drama with you?”
Tom puffed up her pillows, topped up her glass of water. Even tucked her hair behind her ears, away from her face.
