So, you guys are all gonna hate me after this chapter but I hope you will all keep reading regardless as I do promise to make sure that Shay and Cherry are ok in the end...it just may be a little while off. But there is one thing I can promise you...these next few chapters are gonna be pretty explosive and quite possibly upsetting for many people (including for me to write). :( But on the plus side, they should be pretty interesting to read and hopefully (if I write them well) pretty enjoyable. So it's definitely something to look forward to. The reaction I'm going for is tears...however, I've never been able to reduce people to tears through my writing so I won't hold my breath. :P Anyway, you know what I want you to do right now: READ, ENJOY, and REVIEW.

Chapter 38: Birthday Bane

In the end, Paddy and Charlotte organised a surprise for both me and Shay and I waited eagerly until the day to find out. I was down in Shay's room all day, and everyone, even the nurses, just left us to it. I'd been to some more speech therapy sessions and I was now able to string a few words together, albeit with difficulty. I hadn't let Shay know this though, I really wanted to surprise him on his birthday and I thought that to him, this would be the best birthday present of all.

"Happy birthday Shay," I managed to stutter and I watched in delight as his eyes opened in surprise and he started to beam at me.

"You can speak!" he exclaimed and I nodded. "For how long?" he asked and he grabbed my hand.

"About four days but I'm not c-c-con," I looked at the floor, embarrassed that I was struggling over the word confident but he chipped in helpfully with the right word and I nodded as he hooked a finger under my chin and pulled my face up so I was looking him in the eyes.

"I understand," he said gently and then continued, "but this is the best birthday present ever." He then pulled me over on top of him and we spent the rest of the morning kissing. I wished I was more confident with talking but my speech therapist had said that awful cliche 'practice makes perfect' before bundling me back into my room and insisting I'd done enough work for today. I was all for easing myself back into things slowly but I was afraid that if I did any less work on my speech, I would never be able to talk properly again. I still had no idea what surprise Paddy and Charlotte had planned for us and I was eagerly waiting in anticipation, possibly even more excited than Shay.

At around half twelve, there was a knock on our door and we both sat up and made ourselves presentable.

"Do you want to do the honours?" Shay asked me winking and I nodded.

"C-come in," I called out as loud as I could manage. My jaw dropped when Jamie walked in, all dressed up in a waiter's suit and carrying a picnic hamper.

"What are you doing here?" Shay spat out, looking suspiciously at me, my jaw still half way to the ground.

"I'm your waiter for today, I hope you enjoy your meal," he replied completely professionally, whilst throwing wistful glances in my direction. Shay noticed the glances and threw a look in my direction but thankfully not before I had managed to compose a more acceptable (in my eyes) expression on my face. I shrugged at him, letting him know silently that I had had no idea that Jamie would be here. As soon as he looked back around, I glared at Jamie, asking him with my eyes why he was our waiter.

"Can you two please stop glaring at me?" he complained. "I'm only doing my job here." But both Shay and I knew very well that he was not here 'just doing his job'. I had thought he'd seemed a little funny when I'd told him I wouldn't be seeing him today...I guess now I knew why. He'd had this planned out for ages but I was determined not to let him ruin Shay's birthday so I opened the hamper, which he had placed in from of us by this point, and began looking through the food. I had already made up my mind that I would ignore Jamie. It was not fair that he had turned up here today when he had known it would make things uncomfortable but ultimately, it was my fault and I chastised myself for ever allowing the fling with Jamie to commence.

So, this is just the start of Shay's birthday and it will be continued in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. What do you think of Cherry learning to speak again? Was it too soon? And what do you think of Jamie being their waiter? I thought that was an interesting twist to put in and also one that is wholly necessary for the next few chapters. I would like to thank Llamalover99 for reviewing again - and don't worry you will find out how they are found out pretty soon. I hope I do the next few chapters justice for you and all my other readers. Anyway, enough said for now and anyhows, I need to get on with the next chapter so: READ, ENJOY, and REVIEW. :D