‘HARRIET?’
A million adolescents would have given their entire year’s pocket money to wake up to that face, but when Harriet opened her eyes all she wanted was to close them again. She’d been back from Theatre a few hours now, but had slept for the most part, vaguely acknowledging the absurdity that Alyssa, who she had cared for the previous night, now lay in the next bed to her. The world was way too confusing to face right now, but any chance of a longer reprieve from her problems faded as Drew’s face came into unwelcome view. Everything about him revolted her now—the blond hair he faithfully had streaked to capture the surfie look, the spray-on tan that was carefully shaded to accentuate his gym-toned muscles. Squinting to focus, Harriet stared at the man who had caused her so much pain, the previous night’s events pinging in with alarming clarity. She watched as he braced himself for her stinging words, but instead of accusations she said the first thing that sprang to her anaesthetic-riddled mind, with no offence meant, but not caring if it were taken.
‘You pluck your eyebrows.’
Irritated, he shook his head as he stood up and pulled the curtains around her, clearly not wanting the scene made public. ‘Don’t be daft.’
‘You do.’ Running a dry tongue over even drier lips, she stared at two perfectly formed arches. ‘They look nothing like they did when we were first married. Can you open the curtains, please?’
‘Let’s just keep them closed, can we? The kid in the next bed has been hounding me for my autograph.’
‘And did you give it to her?’
‘I came here to see you, Harriet, not make small talk with some kid.’
With one hand holding her tender stomach, she reached to the table over her bed, declining his outstretched hand and choosing to get the small cup of water herself.
‘The nurse said you should just have a small sip,’ Drew admonished, making to take the cup from her, but Harriet gripped it tightly.
‘And we all know the respect you have for nurses.’ Defiantly she took another long sip before placing the cup back on the table and gingerly lying back down.
‘How did you know I was here?’ she finally asked, disappointed that Ciro had broken her confidence, yet understanding why he might have thought he had to.
‘I got a call on my mobile, someone called Susan. She thought I was staying in some hotel or something…’ He tried to take her hand but she pulled it away. ‘From the way she was talking I gather that you didn’t tell them what had happened.’
‘Do you blame me?’
‘I’m sorry, Harriet.’
He even looked it, tears glistening in his eyes, running a worried hand through his tousled hair, but, she reminded herself firmly, Drew was an actor, able to cry on demand, able to play the part of guilt-ridden spouse to a T if last week’s episodes of his show were anything to go by.
‘Are you sorry that you got caught, Drew, or sorry that it’s over?’ When he didn’t speak, she did it for him, asked what she needed to know. ‘How long has it been going on, Drew? How long have you been seeing her?’
‘It meant nothing,’ he offered, clearly confused when she blinked at him in disbelief.
‘And that’s supposed to make me feel better? You don’t get it, do you? You don’t understand that the fact she meant nothing just cheapens our marriage even more.’
‘Please, Harriet, if you’ll just let me speak—’
‘I meant what I said last night, Drew. You can speak to me through my solicitor.’
‘You don’t have a solicitor,’ Drew pointed out. ‘Look, we have to work out what we’re going to say. You might not think it matters, but when this gets out it’s going to affect us both. Harriet!’ he pleaded when she shrugged her shoulders. ‘You couldn’t bring yourself to tell your colleagues, so do you really want them reading about it in the newspaper?’
‘I guess,’ Harriet sighed, ‘we’ll just say it was amicable, no hard feelings on either side. And if we’re going to lie, why not add that there was no one else involved?’
‘When will you get out?’
‘Tomorrow probably.’
‘So soon.’ He gave a small look of alarm. ‘I’ll move into the spare bedroom…’
‘There’s no point, Drew, I’m not coming home. I can’t go back there, not after what happened.’
‘Do you want me to move out?’
It was the first decent thing he’d done in the whole debacle but, staring up at the ceiling, Harriet shook her head.
‘But where will you go? Who’s going to take care of you?’
It was a good question, one she had been asking herself since she’d first come to, but even if her bravado was false, even if she was terrified of what lay ahead, she damn well wasn’t going to let him see that. Pale blue eyes were proud and defiant as she turned her head to face him.
‘That’s no longer your concern, Drew.’
‘Is there anything you want me to do?’
‘Pack me a case.’ Swallowing hard, determined not to cry in front of him, she struggled to keep her voice even. ‘Just drop it off at the nurses’ station.’
‘Anything else?’ And maybe he wasn’t acting now, because his nose was actually running and there were tears in his eyes as maybe, somewhere deep inside, the ramifications hit home, that the Harriet he had known for so long now could never, ever forgive this. ‘Is there anything else you want?’
‘Nothing.’ She turned her face away, feeling a tear slide down the side of her face and into the pillow as an unwitting nurse swished open the curtain and Drew walked away. Harriet couldn’t really believe how much her life had changed in a few short hours, that after all this time her marriage really was over.
And as superficial and selfish as he could be at times, Drew wasn’t a complete bastard. Underneath all his hype there was still a glimmer of the man she had married, the man she had once loved. As he walked out Harriet heard Alyssa’s breathless voice call his name, listened with a pensive tiny smile as, even though he must be hurting too, he did the decent thing in the end—he stopped for a short chat.
Made another girl’s day.
‘Please, don’t tell me that I’m better off without him.’ Putting her hand over her face, trying to hold it all in, she didn’t even have the emotional strength to be embarrassed when Ciro walked in to check on the patients he had admitted overnight before finally heading home. The last thing she needed was a few empty platitudes. ‘Because I know that I am. I know it’s been over for ages. It’s just…’
‘Hard?’ Ciro offered, and Harriet
