Guarded heart

Chapter 8. Early wake up call.

CHRIS POV

After we enjoyed the meal layla cooked us. I helped layla wash up the plates up we used while Emma was still finishing her angel delight. Lisa was on a phone call with her brother. And layla was whisper little tips how to win round Lisa. Yet I told layla not to get any ideas as Lisa was just a friend. But secretly I was becoming a little disappointed in this fact. As we spent more time together these past few days I was seeing how amazing Lisa was. But I also knew what Lisa had been through. So if it meant just friendship I'd happily take it.

I dropped Lisa and Emma off just gone 6:30pm and they both seemed to of had a good evening. I didn't expect to help Lisa escape the security team around her today, however it really fun. It was nice to spend the afternoon together even though we didn't do anything special. I went home to check in on Nathan who was asleep. These tablets needed changing for sure. I'm glad Sarah and Ellie will be taking him to a doctor tomorrow I think to myself as I headed for the shower.

LISA'S POV

When we got back I was surpised my mum didn't ask me a million questions. All my dad asked was if we had a good time. My mum bathed Emma for me while I went and got ready myself for bed. After I was ready I hobbled my way into Emma's room and got a book ready sat on the bed. A few minutes later Emma came climbing into bed excited for tonight's story book. Tonight's book was called 'The three little piggys' one of Emma's favourite books. Once the book was finished I said goodnight and gave her a good night kiss before hobbling back out the room. Only to be faced with Ryan and Sean stood outside the door with there arms crossed looking annoyed.

"What?" I whisper.

"Don't what us! Tell us do we need to do brotherly duty ls or not?" Sean asks.

"What are you talking about?" I ask as I start to hobble to my room.

"Chris? You know the only male person you seem to like?" Ryan asks.

"What no he is just a friend" I say.

"Keep telling yourself that. But it's clear you like him more than just a friend, so if you want to run off on little adventures again then let us know we can always be with you" Sean says

"Yes, and you need to stop ditching the bodyguards!" Ryan says annoyed.

"I was with a policeman, then at a police station full of police. Then we went to the fire station, I hardly believe I was in any danger. Plus broken leg or not I can still defend myself now" I scroll just as annoyed.

"We know that but your still our baby sister and this is new to us. After what happened we are even more protective over you and Emma, so if you want to date Chris then you should but we will be keeping a close eyes" Sean says.

"Im not and don't want to date Chris. He knows that so he helped me escape mum trying to play cupid! Go ask Summer her and mum have both been at it! I've got just under six weeks left of this stupid giving daily gift pledge and I can't be dealing with people playing match maker" I say as I reach my bedroom door.

"Okay, well just remember where we are if you need anything. However using a policeman as a get away this time was pretty funny" Ryan says opening my bedroom door for me.

"Yes, Well if you want to help then get mum and Summer to back off I only like Chris as a friend. If things hadn't happened in the past then who knows I may considered dating Chris. However things did happen and I'm staying single forever now that's the end off it" I say then hobble into my room.

"I will have a word with Summer and mum. But you shouldn't let the past keep you from dating someone if you really like them" Sean says

"Sean is right. And if I discover you actually really do like Chris that way then I will join mums team" Ryan says.

"You will not your encourage mum, we should join Summers teams she knows how to act and disappear before Lisa can tackle us to the ground" Sean says making Ryan laugh who then says "That's true, good thinking".

"You both should be on my team" I say

"We are, but you deserve to find someone who can teach you what it's really like to be loved!" Ryan says

"No thanks! I don't need any blokes love. I've had enough to last me a ten life times" I say through gritted teeth.

"That wasn't love that was demented" Sean says.

"I don't care!" I say sitting in the bed.

"Well give it some thought" Ryan says.

I just look at Ryan and count to ten in my head, annoyed where this conversation is going.

"Time to run" Ryan says dragging Sean with him.

I then post the monthly unbespoken hero winner online before posting today's picture with Sean and Zola.

I captioned it 'Today I had the joy of meeting Zola, thanks for the cupcakes on behalf of everyone from the paramedics crew! I also had the joy of spending the whole afternoon With Chris. He even took me out for a few hours where I spent the time with his work friends and his fireman friends. Now there all the real hero's as well as lovely people'

5 minutes later as I'm laid in bed thinking over the events of the day my phone PINGS

From Chris

So you think I'm a real hero? Thanks for joining me this afternoon was nice to get to know you a little more.

To Chris

Stalking my f*******: by any chance? And it should be me thanking you for getting g me out the house today. It was good to get out and meet new people.

From Chris

No the second you post something with me in loads of people tag me in it. Even. Zola has been tagged in today's one a fair few times. And no worry it a nice afternoon. My dad messaged me not long ago. He said he hopes you and Emma pop by again soon as ut was nice to have a little person around the fire station again.

To Chris

Good point the notifications can go. A little crazy. So whats the next gifting thing then? Me and Emma shall pop by again at some point. Maybe when I'm better with stairs though.

From Chris

Your have to wait and see, but your a little eager to know since you don't want this daily gifting thing.

To Chris

No I'm just curious that's all

From Chris

If you say so. I'm going to get some sleep as I have work in the morning. However I shall either pop by when Ive got a quiet moment during the shift or afterwards if that's okay?

To chris

Sure, anytime. I hope you have a good night's sleep. Goodnight

From chris

Goodnight Lisa, I hope you sleep well as well.

CHRIS POV

I was woken up at 4am to my phone ringing. RING RING RING RI. It was Lenny.

"Hello" I say groggily answering the call.

"Chris, remember a few months back when we did a well fair check on a family. The little boy Lewis who called in his mother was hurting his dad?" Lenny says.

"Yes, I remember he hugged me for dear life, what's happened?" I ask.

"Well his dad is in a coma and we can't calm him down. I know your not due for shift just yet, but would you be able to come help out. He won't stop throwing things around the house and we don't want to trumaise him anymore. He actually asked for you half hour ago" Lenny says.

"Send over the address I will be there as soon as possible" I say.

"Thanks man. His nan and grandad won't arrive until later tonight, so Lewis will be in your care until then if he settles with you" Lenny says.

"Sure" I say climbing out of bed and grabbing the first clothes I see from the closet.

"Okay see you soon" Lenny says.

With that I hang up the phone and and grab a glass of water and a Mars milkshake from the fridge. I figured a milkshake would help Lewis. Then I checked my phone after it pinged to see the address was the area I remembered. It wouldn't take me long to reach the address. Twenty minutes later I arrived to hear a little Lewis who if I remember correctly was aged 7 or 8 screaming and throwing toys around.

"Hi Lewis, do you remember me? I'm Chris. I'm not wearing my uniform as PC Knight hear rang me to say you was upset" I say.

Lewis turns to face me then starts crying as he runs and hug my leg.

"It's okay, I will look after you until your nan and grandad arrive" I say leaning down to pick Lewis up.

"She hurt him again, and she even hit me hard when I tried to stop her after I rang the police" Lewis says crying.

"You did good, but you should of not got in the way, where did mummy hit you?" I ask trying to keep my own emotions in check.

"On the leg" Lewis says as I carry him out the house.

"Okay, I will have to have a look" I say while ribbing Lewis back as he continues to cry.

"How did you do that? He wouldn't let any of us near him" kirsty asks as we exit the house.

"He just trusts me from the last two times I've been here" I say.

"Poor little man" Kirsty says

"Lewis I brought you a milkshake, would you like it?" I ask.

"Yes, please" Lewis says as we reach my car. I open the door and sit him on the edge of the car.

"I will go get him some clothes he can't stay in his pj's all day" Kirsty says as Lenny approaches us and I grab the milkshake for Lewis.

"Thank you" Lewis says as I hand him the milkshake.

"Lewis remind me again how old are you?" I ask.

"7 it was my 7th birthday a few days before I last saw you" Lewis says

"That's right and didn't you have a pokermon cake?" I ask.

"Yes it's all gone now" Lewis says as he starts to stop crying.

"Lewis can I have a look at your leg?" I ask. And Lenny looks at me wide eyed.

Lewis lifts his pj bottoms up and you can see just above the knee a massive red mark that's already starting to form a bruise.

"I will grab the parademic, we kept them on stand by incase he took to one of them instead" Lenny says.

"Is it painful?" I ask Lewis.

"It's okay, it's not as bad as last time" Lenny says.

"What do you mean last time?" I ask.

"Yesterday when dad was at work mum hit me in the stomach and it still hurts. It was the first time mummy had hit me and I told dad when I was sick. That's when mummy and daddy started arguing as dad tried to take me away" Lewis says.

"Can I look at your tummy? I ask.

Lewis lifts his top up and the bruise I saw enraged me. However I kept my cool as I lifted Lewis up and carried him over to the ambulance.

"Lenny, I'm going in the ambulance with Lewis, he will need to have his ribbed checked over. Have someone take my car to the hospital. Also have someone drive my car to the station pick up a booster seat then bring it to the hospital. I shall get Lewis some ice cream before I bring him back to be interviewed" I say.

LISA'S POV

I woke up early and managed to get Emma to school again. I was glad there was only a few more days left before the school holidays. When dropping Emma off to school I had a chin wag with Summer. I ended up going to the spa so I could have my nails done. Afterwards I decided to swing by the cafe and check in on the girls. However after I had eaten lunch I decided to serve a few customers before before picking up Emma from school. While I was serving a customer I could feel by phone vibrating in my pocket. When I finished serving I checked my phone to discover Chris had rang me, so I rang him back.

RING RI

"Hi Lisa, how are you today? Are you busy right now?" Chris asks before I can even say hello.

"I'm okay and I'm just at the cafe" I say.

"Great I will be there soon, oh by the way I have a little boy in my care until his grandparents arrive later. His name is Lewis and he is upset so I'm trying to do things that will distract him. I have to go before he comes out the toilet room" Chris says.

"Okay, but" I start to say however Chris has hung up the phone. He better be quick otherwise he will miss me before I have to leave to get Emma I think to myself. Then I wondered how old Lewis was and what happened for him to be in Chris care and for him to be upset.

"Sheena, could you be a love and make up a extra fun treat box for me" I say.

"Who else are you doing one for? Isn't Emma, Skylar and Dennis enough?" Sheena asks. I'd decided to make up a treat box of there fravote cakes with a drink as well inside them.

"It's for a little bit called Lewis, he will be with Chris today apperently" I say.

"Okay, well I've nearly done these ones. Do you want me to pack me to send it to the car with your driver along with these ones?" Sheena asks.

"No, keep it out please" I say. When Sheena is done she leaves it on the side by me.

PING

From Chris

Sorry about the short call. But the little boy has been through something tramtic. He has bruised ribs he is lucky they are not broken. His dad is also in a coma in the hospital. He just finished his statement and I told him about this nice lady I need to leave a gift with. I asked if he wanted to be a mini hero for the day and help me deliver the gift. He said yes and seemed to perk up a little. So please just help me out. By the way Lewis is a 7 year old little boy.

"Oh my word" I say out loud without even realising.

"What's wrong are you in pain?" Sheena asks.

"No I'm not in pain. But I bet the little boy Chris has with him is. Can you whip up some ice cream and a few more cakes for him to take with him please" I say with tears in my eyes.

"Yes, whatever it is must be bad for you to have tears in your eyes. Don't worry I will pack up some of the colouring sheets and crayons we also have" Sheena says patting my shoulder.

"Yes, thats a good idea" I say getting up to move towards the office.

"Where are you going?" Sheena asks getting the stuff out to make a milkshake

"To my office, I'm sure Lewis won't want to be crowed by people, plus I've got a computer in there he can plays games on" I say as I start to make my way to the office.

"Okay well at least take a seat in the sofa in there and prop your leg up" Sheena says.

As I head into the office I see Nancy is sat at the desk doing some paperwork.

"Nancy, I can finish that off if you want to go help Sheena" I say.

"Okay, but don't over work yourself" Nancy says standing up as I sit on the sofa. I like my office as I made it child friendly for when Emma, Skylar and Dennis are about that way they don't get under customers feet. There's a mini table with a few of there books and colouring stuff. I even have a ipad in the safe so they can play with as well. The sofa incase they fall asleep. Then my desk in the corner with my filing cabinet. The walls are all pink except for one next to the table. That's a black board with chalk and a mini white board next to it so the children can be creative.

"Here you go" Nancy says bringing me out my thoughts handing me the paperwork she was doing with a pen.

"Thanks Nancy" I say then Nancy heads out the office. I see it's the dtafing rota Nancy was working on. I see the notes of when people can and can't work as well as the fact I'm not penciled in. Silly girls I think to myself. I penciled myself in for a few times near the end of next week the earliest. I figured I can sit and take orders to help ease the girls load. Then I penciled in the next week and half for the other girls before there's a knock on my door.

"Come in" I say putting the paperwork to the side.

"Hey you have guests" Sheena says and I see Chris is stood behind Sheena holding a little boy with brown curly hair in his arms. I'm assuming the boy is Lewis and he is holding a gift hamper that I'm surpised he can hold it. Then I see Chris has actually holding it with his free arm and just about see over the top of the gift hamper.

"Come in" I say giving a warm friendly smile hoping I don't scare Lewis.

"This is Lewis, and Lewis this is Lisa who I told you about" Chris says walking in.

"Hi Lewis would you like a milkshake?" I ask.

"Yes please" Lewis says as Chris puts him on the floor.

"Well lucky for you I already have my special milkshake already made for you" Sheena says.

"How did you know I was coming?" Lewis asks.

"I have magic powers that means when important people are about to walk into my life I an predict them coming. So I already knew you would want a chocolate milkshake" Sheena says.

"Really?" Lewis asks but doesn't look convinced.

"Yeah, she really does" I say as Sheena hurry off to get the milkshake.

"We come with today's gift of the day" Chris says.

"Yes, it's very heavy" Lewis says.

"Oh well you have been very big and strong to help Chris carry it in" I say as they both put in on the sofa next to me.

"Yes, that's because I'm a big boy" Lewis says.

"Well, would you like to help me open it?" I ask.

"No, thank you. I just helped carry it in, Chris said I had to tell you it's from everyone at the Yankee store" Lewis says.

"Oh, no wonder it's heavy then. Thankyou poppet. Would you like to go play with the kids things over there? Or would you like to play a game on the computer or you could even watch something on the ipad there's Netflix and Disney plus on there" I say.

"Can I watch something please" Lewis says as Sheena walks in with a tray of drinks and Lewis's goodie boxes she made up already.

"Great time Sheena, would you be able to grab the ipad out of the safe for our little friend here?" I ask.

"Of course I can, but first Lewis how about you come get your milkshake and treats?" Sheena ask.

CHRIS POV

"Thankyou" Lewis says going to grab the milkshake. I couldnt get over how amazing Sheena and Lisa are with Lewis, he suddenly seems happier here than he has since we reached the hospital. All he did all day was have melt downs. I looked on in shock.

"I made you your usual drink" Sheena says passing me a drink bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Oh thanks" I say taking the drink.

"Well take a seat, you look all lost and out of place stood there" Lisa says.

"Okay" I say taking a seat the other end of the 3 piece sofa to where Lisa was sat. Although I'm mindful of the girft basket and Lisas proft up leg which has a few cushions under it.

"Can I sit on your lap?" Lewis asks me as Sheena says "Here you go little fella one ipad to watch.

" Thanks, Sheena" Lisa says and with that Shenna leaves the office.

"Do you know how to use it?" Lisa asks Lewis as I lift him onto my lap.

"Yes my dad has one for his work, but he let's me play games if I can't sleep" Lewis says.

"Okay, well you go ahead and play or watch what you like" Lisa says to Lewis before looking at me and whispering "It's okay it's child friendly, it's Emma's".

"Oh, I see" I say.

"Yes, talking of Emma I have to leave soon to get her from school" Lisa says

"How old is Emma?" Lewis asks.

"Emma is 5 years old" I say.

"Can I meet Emma?" Lewis asks.

"I don't know" I say.

"Well do you have a time frame of when Lewis will be collected?" Lisa asks.

"Orginally it was ment to be between 5-7pm. But now his grandparents travel plans have been delayed so they won't arrive until between 1am-3am according to Callum. Callum however agreed with me that Lewis is in need of a good night's rest so I agreed to keep him until 9am when I shall then take him to his grand parents. His grandparents also agreed to this, espicaly since he hasn't been asleep since at least 3am but we are guessing he was awake from around 1-2am this morning Orginally" I say

"Wow, you must be tired Lewis?" I say.

"I can't sleep without my Teddy bear" Lewis says

"A Teddy bear? That's what's keeping you awake?" I asks shocked.

"Yes, daddy says it keeps me safe when I'm asleep. But it doesn't work all the time because I still hear the shouting" Lewis says.

"Well if you look over in the toy box I have some teddy's in there. They make great sleeping buddy's" Lisa says.

"I don't know they probably won't be the same" Lewis says.

"You never know, what does your Teddy look like?" I ask.

"It's a brown fluffy big bear" Lewis says yawning.

"Well I know there's a white fluffy Teddy bear in the toy box, its probably your tedys best friends. And you know what best friends are like they do the same things. So I'm sure my Mr Teddy bear will work just as well" Lisa says

"How about we give it a try?" I ask.

"Okay, but it probabky won't work" Lewis says yawning again. With that I lift Lewis off my lap placing him on the sofa but he grabs my hand while looking between me and Lisa. However he seems scared of Lisa.

"It's okay Lewis, Lisa is a good person. Im only going to get the Teddy, then I shall be straight back" I say and with that Lewis let's go of my hand as he watches my every step to the toy box.

"You know Lewis, how about you and Chris come for a play date. You can play with my daughter. But I need to get her from school first. Then you could also stay for dinner as well if you like" Lisa says.

"You don't have to do that" I say

"I know, but having Emma around may help" Lisa says as I walk back with the white Teddy bear and hand it to Lewis before I pick him back up so he can sit on my lap again.

"Well in that case thank you. I can meet you at your parents house if you like?" I say.

"Nah, let's go to my house. I can order food in. However I should buy a few bits from the shop on the way back" Lisa says.

"Well if you write down the shopping the list I can grab the bits for you while you pick up Emma" I say.

"Are you sure, Lewis will be up to that?" Lisa ask.

"I don't know" I say as I see Lewis is watching spiderman.

"Maybe we can share a car that way I can watch Lewis while you grab the food. And we can have Emma keep Lewis company? What do you think? However I need leave soon to grab Emma" Lisa says.

"Okay but let's take my car" I say.

"That's fine, just expect my bodyguards to tail your car" Lisa says.

"I can live with that" I say laughing