Taxi for Mr Walsh - Chapter 8
-O-
DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV
-O-
On their last night at the hotel in Scarborough, Aaron and Jackson were snuggled up in bed together, enjoying the warmth and closeness of their partner's naked body against their own. They fitted together so naturally it would be difficult to believe that either of them belonged anywhere else; other than in each other's arms.
"We've got to go back tomorrow," sighed Aaron, "I wish we could have had longer here!"
"Me too!" answered Jackson, "But we'll have a longer honeymoon in the summer; we'll go somewhere nice and warm."
"How about Lanzarote again?"
"Yeah, why not? But what about the here and now, are you going to give your husband a kiss?" Jackson pouted.
"I'll give you more than that!" Aaron said with a lecherous grin. He kissed Jackson passionately, then kissed his ear, his neck and down his body.
"Oohhh!" gasped Jackson, "Now I remember why I married you!"
Aaron stopped and shifted up to look Jackson in the eye, "So, this was why you married me? So that you'd have someone to give you sex whenever you feel like it? Thanks!"
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Jackson defended his statement, "No-one has ever turned me on like you do, but I married you because I love you; the sex is just a bonus!"
"That's alright then!" Aaron said with a cheeky grin, he then kissed Jackson on the lips and then carried on with what he had been doing.
Sometime later, after they had made love to each other for the umpteenth time that weekend, they lay together in a contented embrace. Aaron ran his fingers through Jackson's curls, "If anyone asked me about the happiest moment in my life; I'd have to pick this moment, right here, right now, with you."
Jackson purred like a kitten, "And if I had to pick my happiest moment, well, I don't think I could single one out! Any moment that I'm with you is a happiest moment." Jackson kissed Aaron and rubbed noses with him, "You are my life! If I haven't got you; I've got nothing!"
"But you have got me!" Aaron reassured him with a look of love in his eyes.
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It was late April and Jackson arrived home from work to find Aaron asleep on the sofa. He closed the front door and Aaron stirred with the sound of it shutting.
"Sorry, babe!" Jackson apologised, "I didn't mean to wake you." He crossed the room to plant a kiss on his husband's forehead.
"It's OK," Aaron yawned, "I didn't realise I'd dozed off!"
"You must have been tired. Been busy at work?" Jackson enquired.
"You could say that. Now that Ryan's upped and left us, we're a man down. Cain's been cracking the whip as usual. Anyway, how was your day?"
"Yeah, good thanks," Jackson seemed in upbeat mood, "The lodges are coming along well; and if Declan's happy, then I'm happy!"
"A happy boss, eh? What I wouldn't do for one of those!" Aaron joked.
"Debbie's OK, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but she wasn't in today; and you know what Cain can be like! Anyway, I'll get away from him for a bit tomorrow, he wants me to go and pick up some parts in Hotten."
The next day, Aaron found himself in Hotten as planned. Cain had given him a car to drive into town; it needed to be taken in to a garage for a specialist tune-up to be carried out and he knew a short cut from there to the car parts supplier. He started on the walk, along a lonely path which ran between a railway cutting on one side and a cemetery on the other. As he neared a bend in the path, he spotted a couple of lads hanging about near a gap in the hedge which separated the path from the cemetery. As he approached the spot where the lads were standing, he recognised one of them; it was Wayne, the boy who had been on community payback with him months earlier. He planned on trying to slip past unnoticed, but Wayne had seen him.
"Well, well, if it isn't that little poof Aaron!" Wayne sneered.
"What do you want?" Aaron sneered back.
"To get even," Wayne's weasel features were contorted with hate, "You've got it coming Livesy; you sick, pervy bastard!"
Wayne and his companion came towards him, menacingly; Aaron was going to fight, but he knew the odds were stacked against him; two to one. He turned to run and shot through the gap in the hedge, but there was an embankment on the other side and he stumbled and fell. The two thugs were on him in a matter of seconds, like a pack of feral animals; and he knew that he had no option but to try and fight them off. The last thing he remembered was something heavy making contact with his head.
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Jackson's mobile rang as he was chatting to Declan at Home Farm. He saw that it was Paddy calling and excused himself to answer the phone.
"Hi Paddy, you don't usually ring me on my mobile."
Paddy sounded worried, "Jackson, thank God I've managed to get hold of you. Aaron's hurt; I'm at the hospital. I think you'd better come down here."
Declan, seeing the look of shock on Jackson's face, said, "Everything alright?"
"No," replied Jackson, "Aaron's been taken to hospital; I'll have to go."
"Of course," Declan looked concerned, "don't worry about work; I hope he's OK."
Jackson raced to the hospital in his van as fast as the speed limit would allow. His heart was in his mouth the whole time; what had happened to Aaron? How had his husband ended up in hospital?
As soon as he arrived, he asked for directions and found Paddy and Chas sitting in the waiting area.
"How is he?" Jackson's face was etched with worry.
"He's still in theatre," Paddy said.
"What happened?"
"We don't know," Chas spoke, her face still wet from crying, "a lady out walking her dog found him in a bad way and called an ambulance. It looks like he might have been beaten up."
"What!" Jackson had gone as white as a sheet, "Oh my God! Where was this?"
"That cemetery next to the railway line," Paddy answered.
"What was he doing there?" Jackson was still in shock, "I thought he was collecting some car parts."
"I spoke to Cain," Chas replied, "It seems he was probably taking a short cut to the supplier after dropping the car off."
Just then, a doctor approached them.
"How is he?" Chas asked.
"We're just moving him to the ward, he's stable but he's taken a bit of a battering. He hasn't come round yet, but you can see him in a little while."
Jackson, Chas and Paddy all gasped in shock when they saw Aaron. He was covered in bruises and had an oxygen mask on his face.
"How could anybody do this?" Chas sobbed.
"Oh, no!" Jackson's tears began to fall, "I'm sorry!" he apologised for crying in front of the others, but Paddy silently slipped his arm around his shoulders to comfort him.
They sat for a long time; just watching over Aaron. He could so easily have been just sleeping if it wasn't for the mask and the medical equipment surrounding him.
After a few hours, Paddy and Chas headed home to freshen up. Jackson refused to budge; and sat right by his husband's bedside, stroking his hand and talking to him, "Come on, baby; wake up, please!"
Hazel had been away on a trip to the coast, but had returned as soon as she heard the news about Aaron. She found Jackson sitting by Aaron's bed, "How is he, love?" she asked.
"He still hasn't woken up," Jackson said quietly, "Oh Mum, how did this happen?"
"I suppose we won't know until he comes round and can tell us," Hazel looked at her son, "Why don't you have a break."
"I can't leave him, Mum, supposing he wakes up; I want to be here when he does."
"Well, you won't be any good to him if you make yourself ill too! Why don't you have a comfort break? I'll sit with him a while and I'll call you back if anything happens."
Jackson took his mother's advice and went to answer the call of nature and grab a cup of coffee. He did not want anything to eat; food would have stuck in his throat. After a few short minutes, he rejoined Hazel at Aaron's bedside.
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost him, Mum! I love him so much; it hurts!" Jackson began to sob again and Hazel instinctively scooped him up into her arms.
"There, there pet!" she cooed, "He'll be alright. Aaron's a fighter. I'm sure he knows you're here waiting for him; he would move heaven and earth to come back to you!"
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When Paddy and Chas arrived back, Jackson was still in the bedside chair; fast asleep.
"Has he been here all night?" Paddy asked a rhetorical question.
"He's worried; and he won't leave Aaron, bless him!" Chas said.
Just then, Jackson opened his eyes and focussed on Aaron. Then he saw Chas and Paddy standing there and said, "Sorry! I must have drifted off!"
"You must be exhausted!" Paddy answered, "Why don't you go and freshen up? We'll keep an eye on him."
Jackson was about to protest, but realised he needed the bathroom; so he left Aaron's mother and surrogate father to sit with him for a while.
A smartly dressed, middle-aged lady with curly auburn hair popped her head round the door. She saw Paddy and Chas sitting there.
"Oh, sorry!" she said quietly, "I don't mean to intrude!"
"That's OK," replied Paddy, "Can we help you?"
"I just wondered how he was," the lady nodded towards Aaron, "I found him and called the ambulance."
Chas rose to her feet, crossed over to the lady and hugged her, "Thank you!" she said, sincerely, "You don't know how grateful I am to you."
They invited the lady, who they discovered was called Lydia, to stay for a while. They asked her some questions about whether she had seen anything.
"Well," Lydia began, "I didn't see what happened to him, but, just before I came across him, I saw two lads running from the spot. They brushed past me and almost knocked me over! Patch, my dog, barked at them as they passed by; I think he must have sensed that they were up to no good!"
Just then, a police officer appeared through the door of the room. He greeted the assembled group and looked at Aaron, "They told me he was still unconscious," he said, "I'll need to have a chat with him when he wakes up. Sorry to have disturbed you."
"This is the lady who found him," Chas addressed the officer and gesticulated towards Lydia.
"Did you see anything?" the constable asked Lydia.
"I didn't see him being attacked; but I might have seen who did it," Lydia answered.
"Well, madam, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a statement."
"Yes, of course," Lydia accompanied the officer outside, "I'll help in any way I can."
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Jackson continued his vigil at Aaron's bedside. Hour after hour, he sat waiting patiently; talking to his husband, willing him to come round, "Aaron, my love, please wake up! Come back to me, I need you here with me, I'm lonely!" Jackson lovingly took Aaron's hand and gently squeezed it, "I can't live without you! When you're not with me; it's as if part of me is missing. Oh, how I wish you'd just open your eyes and say something stupid! Call me a div! Stare at me with those beautiful blue eyes that I love so much! Please Aaron; just wake up, just for me, please!"
