Uncaged

by Lucy Gordon

  Without asking her, Daniel headed for his own house. He wanted her with him tonight, and they would celebrate the way the future had been transformed for them both. There were still problems to be overcome, but right this minute anything seemed possible.

  They shut the front door behind them, laughing and kissing. “I want a cup of tea,” Megan said. “My throat feels rough after the treatment Grainger gave it.”

  There was a sheet of paper on the kitchen table that she glanced at idly. Then she stiffened. “Daniel, there’s a message from Gladys. It looks urgent.”

  Daniel picked up the note the cleaning woman had written.

  The hospital called at midday to say you should go there quickly. I tried calling your car phone but couldn’t get through.

  Watching Daniel, Megan saw his face go gray. “Oh, my God!” he whispered. He raised tortured eyes to her. “I didn’t have it mended...she couldn’t call me. Neil—” He sat down at the table in shock.

  “We’ll call now,” Megan said urgently. “What’s the number?”

  But he stopped her, gripping her wrist hard. “No,” he said. “Don’t call, not just yet.”

  “But Daniel, it must be about Neil.”

  “I know that,” he said hoarsely. “That’s why. Don’t you see? It’s been twelve hours since they called.”

  “Perhaps they want to tell you that he’s improved.”

  He gave her a desperate look. “Perhaps. Perhaps after three years there’s been a miracle—only I don’t believe in miracles.”

  “But I do,” she said quickly. “I know they happen, because only a miracle can explain the way you came back into my life to rescue me. Just a little time ago everything was black, but then there was a miracle. If I can have one, you can, too.”

  “I wish I could believe that, but I can’t. I should call them but...Megan...” He searched her face, seeking the courage to make the terrible admission. “I’m afraid.”

  She reached out and took him into her arms, holding him close, vainly seeking the words that could protect him from the possibility of his son’s death. But there were none. The only comfort she could offer was the warmth of her presence and the power of her love. Now that he’d brought himself to make the admission of vulnerability he’d always resisted, her love flowed more freely than ever. She wanted to surround him with love, and keep him safe forever, but there was so little she could do.

  “Don’t call yet,” he begged. “If he’s dead, I don’t want to know. Let me hope for a little while longer.” He tightened his arms suddenly, burying his face against her. “I can’t face it,” he cried in agony.

  “You can, my dearest,” she murmured, “if you have to. But it may be good news.”

  “Not after all this time. Hold me, Megan. Without you I have no courage. Don’t let me go.”

  She gave up trying to talk and did as he asked. Once she’d been the weak one, but thanks to Daniel she’d recovered her strength and part of her life. He’d given her something else, too, something whose wonder she was rediscovering every day. Now she strained every fiber of her being to return the gift.

  “Do you want me to call the hospital?” she asked softly. He shook his head, his face still buried against her. “All right, we’ll just go there.”

  For a moment he didn’t move, and she thought he might really refuse, but at last he seemed to become conscious of her urging him to his feet, and got up. She led him out of the house toward the car. When he’d produced the key and opened the door, he said bleakly, “I’m afraid you’ll have to drive.”

  Through a thousand emergencies, in life-and-death situations, his nerve had never failed. But now suddenly he felt as if he’d been turned to jelly. He could only be thankful that this strong woman was there to protect him. When he learned the worst, she, who’d endured so much, would be at his side to teach him how to endure.

  They made the journey in silence. When they reached the hospital, Daniel was slumped in his seat. “Daniel,” she said gently. When he didn’t respond, she leaned over and kissed him.

  “It’s all right,” he said. “I can cope now, as long as you’re with me.”

  Together they walked into the hospital. The receptionist looked up quickly. “Mr. Keller, thank goodness you’re here. Dr. Walker would like to talk to you before you see Neil.”

  “Is that necessary?” he asked quietly. “I mean, does it really matter why it happened? I suppose, in my heart, I always knew it was inevitable.”

  “Yes, you always had faith, didn’t you?” the receptionist said, smiling. “We’re all so happy for you.”

  For a moment Daniel simply didn’t take it in. He just stared at her while her meaningless words reverberated around his head. It was Megan who understood and began to weep with joy. “Daniel, don’t you see?” she said, shaking him slightly. “Neil isn’t dead. He’s awakened.”

  “What?” He stared at her before turning quickly back to the receptionist. “Was that what you meant? Is that it? Is that it?”

  “But of course. Good heavens, whatever were you thinking?”

  Daniel didn’t answer. Following blind instinct, he turned to Megan and they threw themselves into each other’s arms. For a long moment they stood there, seemingly motionless, but actually Megan could feel his shoulders shaking with sobs. She didn’t speak, but stroked his hair and tried to communicate her joy silently.

  A doctor appeared and started wringing his hands. “This is a great day,” he said. “Everyone here is delighted for you. Neil simply opened his eyes a few hours ago. Why don’t you go along and see him now?”

  Dazed, Daniel made his way down the corridor to his son’s room, with Megan following. A smiling nurse rose from the bedside and stepped back to let him come close. “He’s dropped off to sleep again,” she said.

  Daniel sat down beside the motionless child, looking searchingly into his face. Neil looked the same as he had done a few days ago, and Megan knew a sudden fear lest he’d slipped back into the coma. The doctor and nurse went quietly out and closed the door. Megan wondered if she, too, should go and leave father and son together, but then she saw that Daniel was so absorbed in his child that it didn’t matter if she went or stayed. He was talking to Neil, and although the words were softly spoken, she could hear every one in the quiet room.

  “You awoke, and I wasn’t here for you. After three years, I failed you. What did you think when you opened your eyes and found me not there? Did you decide to go away again? Don’t do that to me...please—”

  Megan watched the child’s face in an agony of apprehension. Inwardly she was praying, Don’t do this to him. He’s suffered so much. Don’t ask him to bear any more.

  But it seemed that the time for Daniel’s miracle hadn’t come, for the silence went on and on, and Megan saw the death of hope in his sagging shoulders and lowered head. “I guess that’s it,” he said heavily. “It was a false dawn.”

  “Daniel, please don’t... Daniel, look.”

  But he’d seen it, too, the moment when Neil’s eyelids fluttered. They both held their breaths, and gradually the child’s eyes opened slowly, leaving him looking directly at his father. “Hello, Daddy,” he murmured.

  Daniel reached out his hand. He meant to say “Put it there,” as he’d always done, but no words would come, and suddenly he couldn’t see for the tears that poured down his face. He dropped his head on his arm, and after a moment he felt his hand squeezed by a small childish one.

  Megan slipped noiselessly out the door.

  It was an hour before he joined her. His face was glowing. “He talked to me,” he said. “He’s going to be all right. You didn’t need to go.”

  “It’s best that I did,” she said. “I’ve just realized so many things. For you, Sally has been dead for three years. But for him it’s only just happened.”

  Daniel shook his head. “He knows,” he said. “He told me before I could tell him. In a strange way he’s known all the time. It’s as though she’s been
with him these three years, and they’ve said their goodbyes peacefully. He’ll be ready when I introduce him to...his new mother?” He looked at her inquiringly and she nodded, her heart too full for speech.

  * * *

  On the journey back to Daniel’s house Megan was torn between joy and sadness. With all her heart she rejoiced for Daniel, but still there was an ache when she thought of Tommy. Daniel’s happiness in his son’s recovery only underlined the separation from her own son. “Daniel,” she ventured, “now that everything else is settled, Tommy...”

  “We’re going to get him back,” he promised. “We’ll go to court and— Hello, what’s that?”

  As they turned the corner of his street they saw a large, ostentatious car parked outside Daniel’s house. It had plainly been chosen for its appearance, just as the woman standing beside it had the look of a creature to whom appearance was everything. She was peering crossly up and down the street, drumming on the car roof with long, painted nails, and occasionally patting her elaborately coiffed blond hair. She stood up straight when Daniel’s car pulled up to the curb.

  “You took your time getting here,” she said crossly, as though they should have been expecting her.

  “Who are you?” Megan asked.

  “Selena Bracewell,” Daniel said, recognizing the woman in the photograph on Brian Anderson’s desk. “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Miss Bracewell. I hope I’m not too late to congratulate you on your approaching nuptials.”

  Megan stared at him. “Daniel!” she protested. To her astonishment his eyes were sparkling with some emotion she didn’t understand.

  Daniel could hardly contain his excitement. What Megan had seen in his eyes was triumph as he sensed a winner about to cross the finish line with flags flying. But he didn’t have time to explain.

  Receiving no answer from him, Megan turned her attention back to Selena Bracewell. “Has something happened to Tommy?” she asked.

  “Nothing’s happened to Tommy—yet,” Selena said with bitter emphasis. “But something’s going to happen if he doesn’t get out of my hair, out of my car, and out of my life. Come on, you. Get moving.” She addressed the last words to someone inside her car who was already scrambling out. The next moment Megan gave a cry of joy as Tommy rushed into her arms.

  Selena began hauling bags from the backseat, and dumping them into the road. “These are his things,” she said. “Just get him out of my sight. I told his father he could choose between me and that brat from hell, and Brian said I could do whatever I liked. So I’m doing it.”

  “What, er, precipitated this?” Daniel inquired with deceptive innocence.

  “Tadpoles,” Selena Bracewell said bitterly. “Tadpoles everywhere. Even in my shoes. And some of them were more than tadpoles. A frog jumped out at me. It’s not what I’m used to, and I’m not going to start getting used to it.”

  “You won’t have to,” Daniel assured her kindly. “Please don’t worry, Miss Bracewell. We’ll take full charge of this dangerous delinquent, and you’ll never be troubled with him again.” He glanced at Megan and Tommy, still embracing, and added in an undertone, “If Anderson tries to change his mind, tell him it’s too late.”

  “If he dares to change his mind I’ll tell him a sight more than that.” Selena seethed. “Don’t you worry. Leave Brian to me.”

  “I’m sure we can,” Daniel remarked smoothly. Selena gave him a dark look, got back into her car and sped away. “Let’s get inside,” Daniel said to the other two.

  They closed the door on the outside world, shutting themselves in with their happiness. Tommy grinned at Daniel, who held out his hand. “Put it there,” he said, and Tommy did so.

  “I don’t understand,” Megan said, looking at the two of them.

  “You don’t have to,” Daniel told her. He grinned back at Tommy. “We understand, don’t we?” Tommy nodded. “You don’t think an actual frog was overdoing it a bit?”

  “Oh, no,” Tommy said instantly. “You see, I knew I wouldn’t get another chance, and I wanted to be quite sure.”

  “Quite right,” Daniel agreed.

  “Will somebody tell me what’s going on?” Megan demanded.

  As one, the other two shook their heads. “Leave it, Megan,” Daniel advised. “This is man talk. Why don’t you two go into the next room and catch up on lost time, while I get us something to eat?”

  He did more than that. With perfect tact, he made himself scarce for the next few hours, leaving mother and son together. Megan and Tommy spent only a small part of that time talking. The rest was spent just sitting together on the sofa, wrapped in each other’s arms. There would be time enough for talking in the days to come.

  When Tommy could no longer control his yawns, she led him upstairs to the bedroom that Daniel had readied for him. She stayed with him until he fell asleep, then tiptoed out to where Daniel was waiting for her.

  “You’re a saint,” she whispered, “to be so patient.”

  He lifted her up in his arms and carried her along the hallway, kicking open the door of his room. “But I’m not going to be patient any longer,” he said.

  Much later that night as they lay drowsily in each other’s arms, Megan murmured, “I’m going to be really outnumbered by men in this household. You, Neil, Tommy...”

  “Well you know the remedy for that, don’t you?” he muttered, beginning to kiss her again.

  “Tell me.”

  “We should set about having a daughter as soon as possible,” he said, drawing her into his arms. “Say, in about nine months?”

  * * *

  It was he who slept first, resting with his head on her breast. Megan held him there protectively, thinking about this man that she loved with all her heart and soul, thinking about the son who’d come back to her, and about Daniel’s son, soon to come home, who would need so much care.

  A daughter would be a great blessing, but she already had so many blessings that would once have seemed impossible. How could she possibly ask for more?

  But then she looked down at the man who lay so trustingly against her, and she realized that it was pointless to worry, and futile to make plans. Blessings were given, not earned, and whoever it was that allocated them would give this one, too, when the time was right. Meanwhile, she had only to wait, and love.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781408992043

  Uncaged

  © Lucy Gordon 1994

  First Published in Great Britain in 1994

  Harlequin (UK) Limited

  Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

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  This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l.

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  Lucy Gordon, Uncaged