EDIT: I've just woken up to a couple of reviews letting me know that I've called Sawyer Jason, in this chapter! I started writing this at 12am UK time and posted it at 5am so I literally half asleep! Anyway I'm sorry and I've corrected it now as quickly as I could so people dont get annoyed! Thankssss
Well I literally have no words to describe how many reviews I got for that last chapter. All I can say is thankyou so so so so MUCH! I loved reading everyone of them and I'm so happy you liked it. I'm sorry it's taken me a while to update as I have been so busy but I promise I will get the next chapter up a lot faster! Once again can I just say how grateful I am for the reviews, they really make my day! I know this chapter doesn't really give a lot away but it would have been insanely long if I had carried on! I hope you like it and thankyou to all your responses!
The first thing my body registers is a slight tapping sensation on my cheek. I feel like I should open my eyes but for some reason I am consumed by darkness. Am I dead? No, I cant be. There is no way Christian would let anything happen to me. My darling overprotective fifty really does have no bounds. In my, I assume unconscious state I feel my mind start to wonder off. I'm almost certain I must have passed out and not died because Christian always protects me from bad things - Malcolm included. I muse as I remember one particular time my husband got his panties in twist over nothing. Overreacting as always. Typical Christian.
I woke up this morning in bed and husbandless. Christian has been working himself into the ground for the past couple of days trying to secure a deal and I can't help but worry about him. I wish he would give himself a break. I'm feeling a little off it today, the children haven't been sleeping through the night, especially Phoebe and I can feel it all creeping up on me. I hope I'm not getting sick, I don't want Christian worrying about me too.
I drag myself out of bed and into the kitchen and I see Gail pottering around doing some cleaning. She turns to look at me and raises an eyebrow.
"Are you okay Ana?" she asks and I nod. Great I must look a bit dodgy too then. Note to self - apply a bit of makeup before Christian gets home so he doesn't worry.
"Yeah just a little tired. I'll be fine, it's nothing a nice hot bath cant cure" I say and she nods.
After the children have woken up and been fed, it's not before Teddy is begging Gail to take him outside to play.
"Why don't you go relax for a bit Ana, I can take the children outside to play," Gail says softly.
"Are you sure?" I ask cautiously. I don't feel right dumping the children on Gail ever.
"Of course, I love spending time with them and Luke can come watch them with me," she gestures towards him as Sawyer enters the kitchen. I hesitate and Gail continues. "If you're feeling a little under the weather I'm sure you'll feel a lot better afterwards," she adds. Hmm it probably is a good idea.
"Okay," I finally agree giving my children each a big kiss, but they are both so excited to play outside they barely acknowledge me. I head upstairs and start to run a hot bath in our ensuite bathroom. I re enter our bedroom grabbing the radio from the side before entering the bathroom and locking the door.
This was a good idea I think. I turn the radio up as loud as it can possibly go and I can barely hear myself think. I want to block out all my worries just for ten minutes and sing badly to some crappy music. I sing my heart out to music I've not heard for years. I'm probably getting all the words wrong but I don't even care. Eventually I feel myself getting tired and my eyes start to flutter. I know I should probably get out because Christian would go ape shit if he thought I had fallen asleep in the bath, but I'm relaxing. Just five more minutes I think. I'm almost asleep and briefly register some banging. Jeez whatever song is playing right now has some really intense base music going on. It must be some of that screaming rock music. I'm not too sure what music is in the charts these days because I'm too busy with my beautiful babies. To be honest I don't think I knew what music was cool before I even met Christian, I was more interested in a good book and music was more Kate's thing. I start to drift off again and I suddenly hear a massive bang that is most definitely not from the music. I open my eyes quickly and before I know it I'm in strong arms as they lift me out of the bath. I wince as the cold air contrasts with my boiling skin from the hot water.
"Christian what the hell are you doing!" I ask knowing full well I'm in my husbands arms as he carries me out of the bathroom.
"Saving you," he mutters and he doesn't sound happy.
"Saving me from what exactly, the monster that is lurking in the bath?" I exclaim looking up at him and kick my feet to try and get him to put me down but his eyes keep looking forward.
"I'm not laughing Ana," he says sternly but deposits me on the bed softly. He grabs and throws a towel at me and I quickly wrap it round myself. I'm freezing thanks to my intruding husband.
"What in the world have you done to our bathroom door Christian!" I exclaim noticing it is hanging off its hinges.
"Kicked it down." he replies simply like its nothing, and paces in front of me his back to me.
"Christian I can see that, do you want to tell me why you are home and why you have had some kind of breakdown and attacked our bathroom door?" I ask incredulously.
He turns around to face me his mouth pressed into a hard line. "I banged and shouted and you didn't answer," he sighs and frowns. "I thought something had happened to you."
"I had the radio on loud," I offer as an excuse. It never crossed my mind for a second Christian would be home.
"You were asleep," he says angrily and I sigh. Controlling, overprotective fifty is well and truly out in full force. "What have I told you about falling asleep in the bath Ana!" he raises his voice running his hand through his hair. "You could have drowned and you shouldn't have the water so hot, you could faint and bang your head" he rants on.
"Christian I was fine. I just closed my eyes for a few minutes I was not going to drown," I argue but deep down I know I'm not going to win this argument and it's pointless.
"You don't know that," he exhales loudly and walks towards me and sits on the edge of the bed and reaches out to grab my hand.
"Christian you are overreacting as usual," I retort and although his actions are erratic I know he did what he did because he worries about me.
"I would die if anything happened to you," he says softly and I pull him towards me and put my arms around him.
"Eww. Mrs Grey your getting my suit all wet. Do you know how much this cost me?" Christian jokes softly kissing my neck. My husband could not be anymore mercurial if he tried.
"Well I wouldn't be, if my husband hadn't rudely extracted me from the bath" I say pulling back and pecking his lips.
"Baby I'm sorry, but I stand by what I said," he sighs.
"You need to stop worrying so much or your going to give yourself permanent frown lines Mr Grey," I smile.
"You need to stop giving me a reason to worry," he replies and pulls me into his arms again.
"I thought you didn't want to get your suit wet?" I joke lightly.
"I don't give a shit about my suit Ana," he replies and I smile.
"Look at the state of our beautiful bathroom door Christian," I whimper and pull back.
"I'll get it fixed. It was clearly badly made anyway. It only took me a few seconds to kick it down," he grins like he is proud of himself and I smile and shake my head. "No lock this time though," he adds narrowing his eyes at me.
"Christian don't be ridiculous, the children could walk in on us, there needs to be a lock" I say seriously.
"Well then my wife needs to promise me, she wont fall asleep in the bath again," he smirks and I roll my eyes. He really is ridiculous.
"I promise," I say sarcastically and he scowls playfully.
"Good," he pouts.
"Anyway why are you home so early its only eleven in the morning?" I ask. "Not that I'm complaining I hate waking up with you not there," I quickly add running my hand over his stubbly cheek.
"I called Sawyer to make sure everyone was okay in between my meetings and he said he was outside with the children and Gail because you weren't feeling well. So I called you and when you didn't answer I came home to check on you," he says softly.
I roll my eyes. Sawyer has a big mouth. I never said I wasn't feeling well, I was just a little tired. He should of known Christian would come running home and I hate worrying him. "Luke needs to learn to keep his mouth shut," I smirk. "I'm fine. I was just a little tired and if anyone needs to worry about anyone in this marriage its me. You have been working so hard these past few days," I whisper.
"I know but I'm fine. I had Andrea clear my schedule for today so my wife didn't think I was neglecting her," he smirks and I smile.
"Are you sure you can do that? I promise I'm fine Christian, I don't mind if you need to go back to the world of mergers and acquisitions for another few hours."
"No. I'm sick of dealing with those imbeciles anyway. I just want a day with my family," he smiles and I kiss him. He pushes me back against the bed and I feel my head hit the pillows. He has just climbed ontop of me when there is brief knock before our bedroom door swings open and I jump up pushing Christian off me so he falls off the side of the bed with a thud. I squeal thinking its one of the children about to see something that definitely is not PG-13 but then I see Sawyer is standing embarrassed in the doorway. He glances at the door hanging off the wall before backing out of the room.
"Ow," Christian states rubbing his elbow. "Ana get dressed," he orders getting up and I know he will be furious Sawyer has just seen me in a towel.
"I'm sorry Mr, Mrs Grey," he speaks through the door as Christian walks towards the door opening it to speak to him and pulling it closed behind him.
"Is something wrong?" I hear him ask Sawyer bitterly.
"No Sir. We were in the meadow and we could hear you shouting and then we heard a loud bang. Gail thought it was best if I came to check on you." I hear him reply.
"Oh, well we are fine. I just had a little misunderstanding with the bathroom door," I hear him say clearly embarrassed.
"I could see that Sir," Sawyer replies cautiously, while I throw on my clothes before heading to the door. I pull the door open and cant help but smirk.
"I'm sorry about that Luke," I interrupt, "but my stubborn husband here, thought I'd managed to drown myself in the bath because I fell asleep with the radio on too loud to hear him calling." I laugh and I feel Christian look down and scowl at me.
"Ohhh," he says as everything becomes clear, and I smile at Christian innocently.
"Excuse me Sawyer I have something I need to talk to my wife about," he says indicating it was time for Luke to retreat back downstairs.
I back up into the bedroom and Christian does the same, closing the door. Before I know what's happening Christian has pinned me down onto the bed and is kissing my nose, my cheeks and my forehead, deliberately avoiding my lips.
"Were you laughing at me in front of my staff Mrs Grey?" he smirks and I nod.
"Yes Christian I was mocking you. You attacked a bathroom door today, is that another first for us?" I giggle up at him.
"Yes it is," he growls kissing my neck making me laugh more.
"Your nonsensical, but somehow I love you anyway," I whisper smirking.
"I love you too baby," he whispers finally kissing me on the lips and with that we are lost in each other.
The tapping sensation on my cheek has intensified and I finally blink my eyes open. The first thing I see is the white tiles of the ceiling. I turn my head slightly in a daze and see Taylor's face in front of mine.
"Ana? Can you hear me?" he says and suddenly everything comes rushing back. Shit. "Mrs Grey?" I hear a second voice. I remember the gunshots. Have I been shot? Christian! I throw myself forward in a sitting position and Taylor puts his hand on my back as I am overcome by dizziness. A nurse is kneeling at the side of me too next to Taylor and the first thing I notice is how noisy the room is.
Taylor's here. That means we must be safe. Oh my god what happened.
"Have I been shot? How long have I been out?" I ask and I look over my body quickly and everything seems to be good. My head hurts a little and I raise my hand to touch my hairline above my forehead only to see a touch of blood when I pull it back.
"No, you're safe now, you've only been out a couple of minutes" I hear Taylor reply but my eyes are already searching for my husband. It seems weird I have only been out a couple of minutes when I practically relived a whole day inside my head. Christian is laid flat on his back with his eyes closed and is surrounded by nurses, one is checking his airway while another is looking at his leg I think. There is a so many people crammed into this room it looks small. I can see some police hovering in the background and I feel myself panic as I think about Malcolm, where is he? I'm scared. Then I focus on in on another person surrounded by people close to where Christian is laid and I assume it must be Malcolm but right now I don't give a shit about that evil man.
"Mrs Grey you really shouldn't.." I hear the nurse begin as I make to move and I feel Taylor attempt to pull me back but I bat him off me and I hurriedly scramble across the floor the short distance on my hands and knees to where my husband is laying.
"Is he breathing?" I ask panicking.
"Yes," she replies rapidly putting an oxygen mask over his face and I breath a massive sigh of relief.
"Oh my god, his leg, has he been shot?" I cry covering my mouth and I feel light headed again as I cant catch my breath.
"Mrs Grey, you need to calm down, it looks like it's just a graze to his lower leg. It's not too serious. He's been very lucky." I take a deep breath and focus. I can see now a little clearer. It's bleeding a little but doesn't look life threatening. Thank god. The other nurse is now tending quickly to the wound on his chest that is now open again thanks to that bastard Malcolm. I hate wishing bad things on people but I actually hope he is dead. All of sudden there is a flurry of activity and they move the object of my fear and hate from the room on a stretcher. Although he's obviously injured I feel much safer with Malcolm out of my sight. I have never been so scared in my entire life. I thought I was going to die.
I shuffle so I'm sat behind Christians head and not in the way of the nurses putting my hands round his face gently stroking his cheeks.
"Christian, baby? It's Ana," his skin is still sweaty and I gently tab his cheek. "Can you hear me?"
I feel his body move slightly and he lets out a groan. "Baby it's me, your okay," I coax still gently rubbing his cheek avoiding the gash from the glass that is on his face..
His eyes snap open and he gasps sitting up rapidly.
"Christian," I exclaim and the nurse attending to his chest jumps from his sudden reaction. He falls back a little and I quickly shuffle forward so his head is leaning on my chest and I am propping him up. I lean down and rest my chin on his head kissing his hair.
"Ana?" he breathes rapidly.
"I'm here. I'm here." I whisper from behind and reach around and put one of hands loosely on his collar bone and other around his waist so my hand is resting on his torso just above his hip.
"Malcolm?" he asks his eyes searching the room.
"I don't know," I whisper glancing over at the scrambling of people a few meters away from us. He turns his head and looks up at me. "They took him out of here," I say and I can see the anger appear on his face. He reaches up and pulls down the oxygen mask the nurse put over his face so it hangs around his neck.
"Are you okay?" he asks and I nod tears falling from my eyes a little. I honestly didn't think we were going to make it. I thought he was going to kill us. I still don't even know what happened.
"You sure, I can feel you shaking?" he asks and I nod again. I feel him take a deep breath and then I feel his weight again against my body.
"Yes, I'm fine." I whisper and kiss the top of his head again. I think I'm fine physically but I'm pretty sure everything is going come crashing down on me emotionally any second now. My eyes are stinging a little from all the crying I have done in the last thirty minutes or so. I don't even know how long Malcolm was tormenting us. It felt like forever. I see Taylor has gotten up and is talking to a police man in the doorway of the room and he briefly sees me looking at him and winks offering a brief smile.
"Ana, baby. I can feel your tears falling on my head. Stop crying, I hate it when you cry," he whispers and I tighten my hold on him a little. He shuffles and I feel him wince.
"How do you feel?" I ask my hand gently stroking his side ignoring his request as I know its not possible at the moment.
"I feel so god damn angry," he hisses and I feel him wince occasionally when he breathes. I imagine he must be in pain from where Malcolm shoved the gun into his wound even if he's reluctant to show it. I can still see the tears falling from his eyes and the pain etched all over his face now in my mind. It was horrendous to watch so I have no idea how it must have been for Christian.
"You know what I mean," I say softly.
"I'm okay. I'm okay," he whispers.
"Shit my leg stings" Christian hisses and the nurse looks up sympathetically. "I'm sorry Mr Grey. We'll get you something for the pain, just hold tight." she says putting a makeshift gauze over his leg.
"Ana is it bad?" he says looking up at me and wincing again. I don't think he can see it properly from his current position as its on the side of his calf.
"No baby, don't worry it's just a graze," I say holding him still so he doesn't hurt himself.
"Promise or are you just trying to make me feel better Mrs Grey?" he asks skeptically.
"Yeah they'll have you patched up in no time," I say softly and I feel my self start to cry again. I can't believe all this has happened. It feels like a horrible nightmare, I'm never going to beable to wake up from. I glance around the room and my eyes fall to the wall Malcolm had Christian trapped against. There is blood smeared up the wall where Christian had touched his wounds and then used the wall for leverage to stand up. I look at it in horror.
"Good, I just want to go home and see our children," he sighs his body relaxing against my chest. The next thing I know Grace and Carrick come rushing through the door. Grace is hysterical and I see her gasp and cover her mouth.
"Christian, Ana, Oh thank god," she runs up to us tears steaming down her face. Carrick looks equally as distraught behind her.
She kneels down next to us and runs her hand down Christians cheek beside the cut on his face.
"Darling! Taylor called and I thought I was never going to see you again! They wouldn't let us come anywhere near here until now. It was the most terrifying and frustrating thirty minutes of my life." She's inconsolable as she spies the blood on his leg from the bullet graze and that which has trickled down his chest from the old bullet wound and that's not including the gashes on his face and arm from the glass. Carrick bends down and rubs her back. Christian looks a mess and we all know it.
"Mom, it's okay," he whispers holding his hand out which she takes without hesitation.
"Christian its not and never has been okay. Look at you. My poor little boy. You've just been held hostage by some crazy person," she cries some more. "Ana darling, are you okay?" she whispers and I can only nod.
"We're going to be okay aren't we baby?" Christian says and tilts his head up and I lean down and kiss his cheek.
"Of course we are," I say tears falling down my cheeks. I'm sure he's faking optimism for his parents benefit but I know him and I'm sure we'll have a little cry together at some point in the future.
Someone wheels a trolley into the room and speaks quickly. "Mr Grey were going to get you laid down on this so we can take you to another room and treat you," the doctor says.
"No, I can walk," Christian mutters pushing himself up using his hands as leverage but he is wincing in pain. There is no way he can walk.
"Christian don't be so ridiculous your bleeding now they let them help you!" Grace chastises through her tears.
"I don't want them to strap me to one of those god damn things again, I'm okay," Christian growls.
"Mr Grey it will only be for a few minutes, we wont restrain you, its just to get you out of here quickly, we've already had to delay while we secured the area."
"I'll sit on it," Christian says sternly and finally. I think he's afraid of getting trapped in hospital again if they start treating him. I stand up and put my arms around him and Carrick moves forward and we help slowly haul him to his feet. I can feel him wince every time he moves too quickly. The nurses and doctor hover around us watching our every move as if they think he might suddenly collapse or something.
We have to practically lift him onto the trolley and he lays his legs out in front of him but puts the palms of his hands flat down on the trolley so he can keep him self sitting up right. Carrick puts his arm around his son's back as if he thinks he might fall back.
"Dad. I don't need help. I'm not a child," he mutters and I shake my head at his stubbornness.
"Christian Grey just lie down right now and stop being so difficult," Grace suddenly snaps loudly, shocking us all. "I am your mother and for once your life I want you to listen to me and do as I say. No one is going do anything you don't want them too. Please Christian. I couldn't bare to lose you," she adds quieter and desperately and it has me in tears again.
I see the shock register on Christians face and he nods gingerly lying back and for a second closes his eyes. He silently reaches his hand out to me and I take it squeezing it tightly and he smiles reassuringly at me. I see his expression darken.
"What is that," he snaps and I look at him confused.
"Your head, your bleeding," he says worriedly and I reach up to touch my hairline. I had forgotten about that.
"Christian its nothing, it's a scratch. I'm more concerned about the multiple places you are bleeding from as opposed to a tiny scratch on my head," I reply sternly.
"You need to get checked out, you obviously banged your head. The baby. I hope to god the baby is okay," he says worry etched on his brow. I notice Carrick doesn't look shocked and winks at me so I assume Grace must have told him. I love how they are so close after all this time. I hope me and Christian will be the same. "Will you look at my wife?" he asks one of the nurses.
"Christian I'm fine and I'm sure everything else is fine too," I smile. I wish he would stop fussing about me and think about himself.
"I could just quickly.." the nurse begins but I cut her off.
"I said I'm fine," I say staring Christian down and he narrows his eyes but seems to let it go for at least the moment. I know however, he wont rest until I have seen a doctor.
They wheel him out of the room of horrors and down the corridor into another room. I can see Christian is frustrated and refuses to look at anyone on the journey. My husband makes such hard work of things and I could tell he wanted to curse and moan but I think he relented because of his mothers upset. He quickly forced himself from the trolley and onto the new bed muttering that he didn't need any help but the pain etched on his face was telling us otherwise.
"Are you okay?" Grace asks fussing around him again.
"I'm fine, honestly I'm fine," he says exasperated as I watch the nurses put a clip on his finger and then attaches some little sticky nodes to his chest as the heart monitor springs to life. "Not that anyone listens to me," he snarls at the nurse and I shake my head but she seems unfazed by his unpleasantness.
"I'm just taking your blood pressure Mr Grey," she says and he rolls his eyes but holds out his arm with the angry cut running down the side of it.
"Oh Christian, its just their job. It's my job. They cant let you go home only for you collapse the second you leave the hospital," Grace mutters. "Think about Teddy and Phoebe for a second. I know how much you freak out if Teddy so much as grazes his knee, so try and see this from my point of view and imagine how it feels for me to see you like this. It doesn't matter how many times you tell me you are okay because I'm still going to worry." I know she is right, if Christian thinks for even a second Teddy or Phoebe are hurt or in danger he is frantic with worry.
My husband sighs because I know he knows deep down she is right.
"Right your vitals seem strong but your blood pressure is a little high, so we will keep monitoring it for the next few hours," the nurse speaks after she has finished.
"I cant imagine why it could be high. I've had such a relaxing day," Christian says sarcastically. He really is being a stubborn idiot. I'm pretty sure he's only acting like this to deflect any sympathy and mask his own feelings. I know he likes his work associates and employees to think he is a robot, but in reality he is anything but. The nurse moves to his chest and starts to clean up the wound once again. He winces and blows out long deep breaths to ride out the pain and I quite happily let him grip my hand so hard I doubt the blood is even flowing to it anymore.
"Mom, Dad, do you know what happened?" Christian asks suddenly and I freeze. I had tried to force the events of the last hour out of my head but I have a feeling they are about to come rushing back.
"No," Carrick says. "No one would tell us anything, and when they finally let us through we ran straight to check on you two."
"I heard gunshots and then that's it. I don't remember," he says frustrated.
"Baby do you know?" he asks gingerly and I shake my head.
"I think I fainted," I reply truthfully, but I have a funny feeling Taylor had something to do with the reason Malcolm was down. The nurse finishes applying a gauze and bandage to his chest.
"How does that feel she asks?" and he turns his attention to her only for a brief second.
"Fine," he replies. I watch her as she moves down to his leg. She takes away the temporary padding taped to it in the other room and I see Christians face screw up in pain.
"This is going to hurt Mr Grey, do you want something to ease the pain before I start?"
"No, just get it over with," he grimaces as he grits his teeth and I feel the tears forming in my eyes again.
"Can you go see if you can find Taylor?" Christian hisses, not because he's angry but because he's hurting. "Get him to come see me?" he says directly addressing his mom and dad.
Grace has started crying again and I don't think I've ever seen her so dischelved before. She's always so put together. Not that I blame her, I would be the exact same if it was my child. I suppose all they could do was sit and wait. Malcolm could have shot and killed us and there was nothing they could do to help. Thank god we are both okay.
"I think that would be a good idea darling, don't you," Carrick says soothingly to Grace putting his arm around her. "We can get you a hot drink or something," and she nods. Before they leave she breaks Carrick's hold and kisses Christian on the cheek. She walks round and elopes me into her arms and I return the hug fully before they exit the room.
For the next ten minutes I find myself holding back tears as Christian grunts, grimaces and groans sucking in harsh breaths as the nurse cleans and patches up his leg. I cant help but think how much worse this could be. A couple of centimeters to the right and the bullet would have gone straight into his leg and this could have ended a whole different way. I assume Malcolm must have managed to shoot his gun, but had been thrown off, hence how the bullet ended up just passing by Christians leg. I dread to think. The graze looks horrific enough as it is to me so I cant bare to think what could have happened.
When she has finished she gently cleans up the gash on his cheek and then up his arm. I idly wonder if they will scar. I don't want him to be reminded by this incident every time he looks in the mirror as I know he is with the burns on his chest from his mothers pimp.
"I'll be back in about thirty minutes to re check your blood pressure Mr Grey," the nurse says and Christian nods.
As she leaves the room I can feel my eyes start to well up. This is the first time we have been alone since I walked into that room to find Malcolm holding Christian at gun point.
"I love you," I cry as the emotions I have been holding back take over my body and I reach over and run my hand through his hair.
"I love you so much," he whispers and for the first time I see the vulnerability that he has desperately been hiding from everyone.
"I thought we were going to die, Christian!" I cry as my breath hitches in my throat.
"Me too," he confesses and I cant help but lean down and kiss his chastely on the lips.
"You're my world Mr Grey," I whisper against his lips.
"And you're mine Ana, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you" he says softly.
So yeah like I said this chapter does not give a whole lot of information away and I thought I would incorporate another flash back as I haven't for a while. I hope you like it. Thankyou and please review, I love them! xxxxxxxxxxx