Chapter Two

Chapter Two

This time when she came to, her memories of the morning came with her. There was a toddler running on a road, the screeching of a car on said road, and being knocked out by said car on said road. Oh. Well that explained the pounding headache. And now that she thought about it, the backache, too. Was the kid okay?

She gasped, her dry mouth causing her tongue to temporarily stick to her palette. Working some moisture into her mouth, she asked, her voice wheezing, "Is he okay?"

The nurse came rushing towards her, "Miss Adkins? Doctor! She's awake! Miss Adkins? Do you know where you are?"

What kind of a question was that? Weren't they supposed to ask the date and current Prime Minister of England or something? Who trained the medical staff of this world anyway?

"Is he okay? Tell me, please."

The nurse furrowed her brow, "Who, may I ask, are you inquiring about?"

"The child? Little boy, black hair, about two or—"

"Oh yes, Michael Williams. Yes, thanks to you, all he experienced was a little shock, but he's perfectly fine. So, you remember what happened, then?"

She cleared her throat, "Yeah, I do. Okay. The babe's okay. That's good."

She closed her eyes again, just wanting to sleep.

She groaned as the doctor from earlier called her name, "Miss Adkins. Please try and stay awake for a few minutes so that we can monitor you. We wouldn't want you to slip into a coma."

Despite the pain in her head, she scoffed.

"Really, Dr Abbot. If I was going to slip into a coma, I would have done it ages ago. Besides, I need to get out of here. I cannot afford to stay here a moment longer and I need to avoid getting fired, that is if I haven't already lost my job."

The doctor chuckled, "Well we can see that you are going to be okay. But unfortunately, you will have to stay a while, at least until we are sure that you aren't going to lose consciousness on us."

She groaned. "No, you don't understand. I really can't afford to stay here. I don't have the money. You have to discharge me now."

"You don't have to worry about the money. We have public healthcare, remember?"

It was the deep voice; the sinfully deep voice of Benedict Williams, who was standing at the foot of her bed doing God knew what there.

"What?" Her gaze snapped to the man and she nearly blacked out again. She was certain that in her current situation, doing a full body scan of the actor was not ideal. Especially as she heard an annoying beeping. Oh, that was her heart monitor. How lovely.

"Calm down, Miss Adkins. Staying here is not costing you anything."

Oh, money. They thought her heart was accelerating because of the bills. Yeah, that was great. They must think her an imbecile for forgetting about her own country's law.

However, the smile on the handsome man's face said otherwise.

"Miss Adkins, might I just say, thank you for saving my son's life. I don't know how to repay you. If there is anything that you need, anything at all-

"Discharged."

"Excuse me?"

"I need to be discharged right now. My boss is going to kill me!"

The doctor gave a nervous glance at the actor, who frowned down at her.

"Miss Adkins, you've been in an accident. I'm sure that your boss will understand."

She guffawed, "Yeah, right. Listen, I'm really glad that your child is okay, but I need to go, please! I really don't mean to be insensitive but finding a job these days is difficult enough. I need to keep the one that I already have. So please," she begged, her eyes pleading at them to understand. "You need to discharge me."

She saw the actor touch a hand to the doctor and they both walked out, leaving her to close her eyes and rest her head against the pillow.

The time? What was the time?

She snapped up again, regretting it immediately as pain sliced through her head. Ignoring it for the moment, she looked at the clock hanging on the side and her heart fell out of her chest. The day was over. She had missed an entire day of work.

Seeing the nurse still standing there, apparently too enamoured with the actor being in her vicinity that she had lost all sense of modesty, she cleared her throat.

The nurse turned back to her with a smitten smile, "Yeah?"

"Can I please have my phone?"

"Certainly."

The nurse bent down and retrieved it from a small box in the cabinet next to her, handing it over quickly before peering out the door in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the heartthrob.

Ignoring her, Charlie grabbed her phone and switched it on, groaning in agony to herself when she saw the amount of missed calls that she'd received. She was definitely fired. She listened to the voicemail, the messages increasing in anger each time. The last one confirmed her suspicions with a horrific, "Don't bother coming in tomorrow!"

Charlie let out a sob of despair.

Apparently her sob was louder than she had intended because the doctor and actor popped in again, much to the nurse's delight.

"Everything okay?" the doctor inquired.

She grinned dementedly and replied, "Just peachy. Well, I guess I can stay here for a little longer seeing as I have no job to go back to."

Seeing the actor frown again, she gestured to her phone.

"She fired me. Over voicemail. I guess that's better than been told to your face, right? Because, hello. I hate confrontational scenes."

Where was all this chatter coming from? In any normal situation, she would have been unable to breathe due to the very fact that Benedict Williams was standing so close to her. And yet, here she was, sassing him off like she'd known him since kindergarten. Apparently, this was what blows to the head did.

"I'm sorry. None of this is your fault. I'm just tired and sore and I want to go home, yeah? So, Dr Abbot, despite my just telling you that I will stay, can you please discharge me?"

She saw the actor raise an eyebrow at her flip-flopping decisions and promptly ignored it. Home and bed. She needed them right now.

The doctor nodded. "I have been convinced, ever so kindly by your sponsor over here, that you should be discharged. You can start packing your things while I handle the paperwork. Please don't overdo yourself, Miss Adkins. I would hate to see you back here for concussion or severe head trauma caused injuries. After you get dressed, the nurse will bring in a wheelchair for you."

She barely paid attention to the doctor's ramblings after the word 'discharged' left his mouth, but hearing the word 'wheelchair' her face whipped up in protest.

"Now before you protest, it's hospital procedure so let it be."

Sighing, she nodded her agreement and watched the doctor leave. Turning to the side, she was about to climb off the bed when she felt a cold gust of wind hit her back. Slamming her body down in horror, she looked at the actor to see if he had noticed anything odd. He was frowning at her again, like she was some puzzle to be solved. Which meant that he hadn't seen anything.

Good. Because she had forgotten, how could she have forgotten, that the bloody gown was basically open in the back.

Smiling tightly at the actor, she asked, "Is Michael okay?"

His face lit up, making his blue-green eyes shine with joy. "Yes. Yes, thank you, he's good. He's napping in the waiting room actually. One of the nurses offered to sit with him. She was very excited," he said thoughtfully.

Then he smiled. "All the excitement exhausted him."

"I'm sure. Uhm, well, Mr Williams—"

"Benedict, please."

She flushed. "Uhm, right, well Benedict, I need to change. So, if you don't mind..."

A flush of pink infused his neck as he nodded hastily and backed out of the room, the nurse following him like a puppy.

She would have laughed in another situation but this was not another situation. The man had almost seen her backside, for crying out loud.

Slipping off her bed, she grabbed her clothing, trying to keep her groans of pain to a bare minimum as she slipped into her jeans and t-shirt. The nurse returned after a few minutes, pushing a wheelchair in front of her.

She felt horribly under dressed as she was wheeled out, looking at the shiny silvery-grey suit that the actor was wearing. Was that his normal attire?

She felt her eyes go blur as a wave of dizziness hit her and Benedict bent down in concern, touching the back of her hand. It burned where he touched her but she ignored it. Heat wave. That's what it was. Yeah right, Charlie. Here in London during January. Definite heat wave.

"You're okay?"

She smiled up at him. Six feet two inches. That was all. But when a girl barely reached five foot two, the height he had on her was momentous. Even in six inch heels, she wouldn't be his height.

"Okay? Yes, I'm fine. Got a little dizzy. Sorry."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to behave herself. Right. From this moment on, no more swooning over the gorgeous man holding her. Damn it! Okay from this moment on.

"Let me at least take you home. The driver is already waiting outside and I'll be happier knowing that you're safe. Is there anyone at home to look after you?"

She blinked, "Yeah. I've got a roommate. I'll be fine. Thanks for the ride though. I really appreciate it."

He nodded and motioned to the nurse that he would wheel her out. Charlie didn't think that she could be even more mortified.

Sitting up straight, she slung her bag over her head and massaged her neck. She was going to be so bruised tomorrow.

She sighed as she saw the doctor walking over with the discharge papers. Smiling at him, she signed her name. He handed her a packet of pills, pointing to the dosage, glancing at her to see if she understood.

She nodded and said, "Thanks, Dr Abbot. For the painkillers and stuff. Hopefully I won't be seeing you again too soon."

He chuckled in agreement and she let the actor wheel her out, watching in admiration as he stopped and bent down to scoop the sleeping child off of the couch. It was a beautiful thing to see; a father with his son. Her heart melted further when she saw him place a gentle kiss to the baby's head. Her heart sighed. And sighed again. She wanted that one day.

He thanked the nurse for watching the boy then turned towards her. Catching her looking at him, he said, "This is Michael, my son and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to hold him right now."

Were those- God they were!

There were tears in the man's eyes! God damn it. She needed to go home now so that she could be depressed about her sad life. Alone. Without a man whose eyes got wet just holding his son.

"I...uhm...there's no need to thank me. I'm...it...yeah. You're welcome?"

A laughed escaped him, reverberating in his chest and with those unshed tears shining in his turquoise eyes she thought about how she had never seen a man look more beautiful.

She internally smacked herself. Charlotte Rosalie Adkins. Get a hold of yourself. You have just received a serious blow to your head—no—your entire body, and you need rest. Your brain is clearly not functioning!

Right. That would hold for a while.

"Would you mind holding him while I..." he trailed off, waving a hand at her wheelchair.

Charlie nodded eagerly looking up at him as he offered her the perfect human being that had been resting on his shoulder. Wincing at the pain in her back, she tucked the toddler to her chest and inhaled his baby scent.

Okay. Just this one time she would allow herself this pleasure. She was never getting this again so why not enjoy it?

She sat quietly as he pushed her out of the building, her gaze stuck on the adorable sweetheart that was Michael. His hair was ebony-black just like his fathers, the curls loose and adorable against his forehead. His cupid-bow mouth made tiny movements as he murmured in his sleep.

Yep. She was in love. He was the cutest thing she'd seen since...Benedict Williams.

"Stop it!"

"I'm sorry?"

"Huh? Oh. I said that out loud. Ha ha. Uhm, nothing. Continue."

He looked down at her as if she'd just fallen from the sky, but then just nodded and carried on.

What was wrong with her? Was she trying to have the most horrific day of her life?

Ignoring her own self-destructive nature, she waited as the driver opened up a door to a shiny black BMW, the leather scent from within wafting out at her.

Benedict groaned. "Thomas, did you forget to bring the car seat?"

The driver nodded and apologised, looking guiltily down at the child in Charlie's arms.

Benedict sighed and raised his eyes heavenward, causing a smile her to break out on her face.

"I'll hold him for the drive," she offered, wanting to hold on to the precious bundle a little longer.

Benedict looked down at her again and he probably sensed the excitement rushing through her so he agreed with a soft smirk, chuckling when she refused his help to get into the car. Clipping in the seatbelt, she sighed as he went to return the wheelchair then smoothly slid in next to her, closing the door after him.

Unbuttoning his suit jacket, he leaned back and clipped his own belt in before asking, "Where to, Miss Adkins?"