Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 91

Josie's Point of View.

My feet feel like lead as I stand staring in horror at Liv's battered and swollen face, Anders halts and looks at me, a furrow on his brow.

"It's Davey's sister," I whisper to him.

"Go to her, I will come get you when it is time to leave," he tells me, placing a soft kiss on the top of my head before walking down the sterile corridor and into a room at the far end.

I hesitate to step into the room, but then with a deep breath I walk towards the bed.

"Liv," I softly say, as she tries to open her eyes, one of them fused shut completely.

"Liv it is Josie," I tell her, hoping she at least recognises the name.

A single tear falls onto her cheek, as she attempts to look away from me.

"Liv, what has happened?" I gently ask her, taking a seat beside her bed, then reaching out and holding onto her hand.

Liv continues to look away from me as more tears streaming down her face.

"Does Davey know?" I softly ask her, trying to get her to speak.

She slowly turns her head around towards me, shaking it slightly.

"No, he does not speak with me anymore, and has blocked me on his phone," Liv choaks out.

"Do you want me to call him?" I ask, I know they are not speaking at the moment, because Liv chose to stay with the wanker, but Davey would want to know about this. Hell, he will go nuts when he sees the state of her.

"No, I cannot hear him say I told you so, or that I am on my own again," she whispers, as another tear falls from her black and blue swollen eyes.

"Liv, he will not do that, not when you are in this state. Please, tell me what happened," I ask.

Liv shakes her head slightly then winces, clearly in pain.

"Keith and I got into a fight. I found out he was gambling again. Davey called because he found him in Sunderland coming out of a casino. When I challenged Keith, he lost his s**t, and told me I didn't trust him, that Davey was trying to cause trouble. Then he left, I haven't seen him since, but a few hours ago, some loan sharks appeared at the door, they had your accent. Said they were in the area on other business, but that Keith had borrowed from them when he was in Sunderland, he had skipped out without paying them back. They did this because they wanted to send him a message, that they always find their man, or his family," Liv sobbed out.

My body began to shake, what the hell was happening? A surge of fear washed over me, as the thought that Anders' family had something to do with this would not leave my mind. It was too much of a coincidence. If that was the case, then we needed to get Billy out of here, now.

"I need to call Davey," I told Liv.

If those guys were from Sunderland, and IF they were Anders' father and brother, then Davey needed to know, he had Kathline and Andy to think about.

"Please don't, he will not care," Liv protested.

"Liv, if these guys are from Sunderland, then he is in danger as well because of your f*****g boyfriend. I am sorry this has happened to you, but I must ring Davey," I tried not to shout at her, but failed miserably.

I pulled out my mobile and quickly called Davey.

"f*****g hell Josie, do you know what time it is? We are in bed," Davey answered in his own unique typical way.

I glanced at the clock on the wall, it was nearly quarter to midnight, still there was not time to waste and I needed to speak with Anders and help him get Billy out of here.

"Davey, shut up and listen. I am in Harrogate, with Anders, we are at the hospital regarding something else. Liv is here, she has been beaten up, almost unrecognisable," I begin to tell him.

"What the f**k?!" Davey shouts.

"Yes, that wanker borrowed money from loan sharks in Sunderland, they came to Harrogate to collect. He has disappeared again, and so they took it out on Liv. You need to keep Kathline and Andy safe, if they work out you are related to Liv, they make come after you three," I continue to tell him. "How bad is she?" Davey sobs out, never before have I heard him so broken.

"Bad. Really bad, she is conscious, but her face is a mess, and I don't know what the rest of her looks like. Davey, I cannot stay here with her. I have to get going, you can call Ben and ask why. I also think it may, in some sick and twisted way, be connected to this," I whisper to him.

"Let me talk to her," Davey's pained voice demands.

I place the phone beside her ear, I try not to listen, but I cannot help but overhear.

"Olivia. f**k Liv, I will be with you in a couple of hours. I should never have blocked your number, I am sorry. Hang in there, sis, I will be with you as soon as I can," Davey's harrowed voice sounded through the phone.

"Davey, I am sorry, I should have listened to you," Liv began to sob.

"I love you sis, just hang on in there, I will be as quick as I can," Davey said, then hung up the phone.

"Liv, I have to go, I am sorry," I whisper to her.

"Thank you, Josie," Liv whispered, another tear falling onto her cheeks.

I feel terrible for leaving her, but I have to see Anders, and I have to ask his brother if this is the work of his family. Anger and rage are pulsing through me at a rate of knots, as I try to give Liv one last smile of reassurance then pull back the curtains and head down the corridor to the door where Anders went.

I walk through glaring at the man in the bed, not really giving a s**t about his condition at the moment. It is unlike me, but after seeing the state of Liv I want answers before I care about this man.

"Mr. Maxwell, might I have a word sir," I say to Anders, not sure what the story is about me to Billy.

"Yes, of course Kris," Anders nods, turning on his heal and walking out of the door, shutting it behind him.

"What's up?" he asks.

"Liv was beaten up by some loan sharks," I tell him, hardly able to control my rage from overflowing in his direction. I know it is not his fault, but I need someone to shout at.

"They were from f*****g Sunderland. It happened a few hours ago. Her wanker boyfriend borrowed money from them and didn't pay." Anders drew in a sharp intake of breath, his eyes held a whirlwind of emotion, as he looked at me, his face growing paler by the minute.

"Oh, it gets better!" I growl out.

"Apparently, they found themselves in the area on other business and paid her a visit, then did that to her because her wanker boyfriend has disappeared again," I hiss at him.

"f**k," Anders growls.

"It cannot be a coincidence," I state hands on my hips.

"No, it cannot, we need to get Billy out of here, what is happening with Davey's sister?" Anders asks, concern etched on his handsome face.

"I called Davey. He is on his way, but seriously, we cannot let this slide, I have to tell Davey. We need to inform the police." I sigh out.

"Agreed. I will do it myself, I promise to put in the call, once we get Billy to that rehab centre. Josie, I know now is not the time, but please, until those bastards are behind bars, move into my house. It is safer, if they find out about you, God only knows what they will do," Anders begs me, then wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me to him, his body shaking all over.

"We will discuss that later, for now, we need to find a doctor, and get Billy released. We have to go; they could be hanging around here for all we know," I replied not wanting to get into living arrangements right now.

Anders storms off down the corridor to the nurse's station, I can here him speaking to them in hushed whispers, but his body language tells me it is not a polite conversation. He storms back towards me, then leans over and whispers.

"Go wait in your car, I will be out in a few moments with him. I should leave the fucker to rot, but if he doesn't get help, he will be forever under their control," Anders growls out.

I nod my head and make my way out of the hospital. Going to the carpark, I open the door to my car and climb in the back. I will give Anders the keys to drive, as I have the first aid qualifications, I'll stay back and watch over his brother.

As I sit watching the exit to the hospital, my heart is pounding in my chest, it has not even been ten-minutes, but it feels like days, yet at the same time, the minutes pass quickly, as strange as that sounds. Another fifteen-minutes later, I see Anders wheeling out Billy, bringing him to the car, and bundling him into the back seat.

"They have given him more meds. Said he should sleep for most of the journey now. You just need to make sure he doesn't vomit and begin to choak on it. They also put incontinence pads on him, for when he starts shitting himself." Anders groans. "Joy." I sigh.

"Okay, I got this Mr. Maxwell, you just get to where you want to go sir," I tell him.

"Thank you, Kris, I will give you a bonus in this month's pay check," Anders plays along.

The Journey is long, but finally without stopping we make it into Cornwall as the sun lights up the Cornish sky. The beautiful scenery is peaceful, a million miles away from the built-up city we come from. The sat nav takes us straight to the rehab centre, where a man is waiting for us to arrive. I unbuckle Billy from his seat, he has, as the doctors said he would, slept most of the way. Although he begun to twitch a little around half-an-hour ago, groaning out in his sleep.

"Mr. Maxwell, we'll take care of him now. We don't allow family visits or for him to be in contact with anyone until week 6 at the earliest," the man tells Anders.

"Good. As I mentioned before, his dealers are his family, if anyone other than myself asks about him, he is not here," Anders growls out.

"Don't worry, we have a strict security policy. He isn't the first patient we've had that's running from his dealers." The man smiles, attempting to reassure Anders.

"Anything at all happens, or you get any sort of call, you contact me straight away," Anders orders, as if the guy is working for him, and he is not just a paying client.

"We will; try not to worry, we have got this," he states, then placing Billy into a wheelchair, he rolls him down the path, and into the large house, as I climb out of the back seat and walk round into the passenger side of the car. "We need sleep." Anders sighs out as he gets in the car.

"Yes, is there a bed and breakfast nearby? I have brought you some clothes." I smile at him.

"It's Cornwall, there are loads." Anders chuckles slightly, clearly less stressed now that we have Billy in rehab.

"We should book it in your name, just to be safe." Anders sighs out.

"f**k Josie, I hate this s**t. I hate even more that you're involved, and that Davey is now tangled up. I hate my f*****g family," Anders growls as he spins the car around.

"Yes, well, it is what it is Anders, we both need some sleep, and we can plan what to do next after that," I tell him.

"Josie, I understand if you want to leave me, but I really don't want you to go," Anders suddenly announces, as we follow the sat nav to the nearest B&B.

"You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family. You're not them, and I still hate you lots and lots, so let's just get some rest then plan." I smile at him. "Yeah, yeah, you told me you loved me." Anders chuckles as we turn up a small country lane.

"You said it first." I laughed back at him.

"Meant every word of it." Anders grins at me, and despite everything going on around us, my heart settles, no matter what, I know Anders 'The-Arsehole' Maxwell is it for me, he is my everything