they stepped into the clinic foyer, where Abi stopped and looked around her in awe. The foyer was normally spectacular, reminding her of a modern art gallery, but Freya had outdone herself tonight. Chandeliers had been hung from the ceiling, enormous crystal vases held oversized flower arrangements, a string quartet played in the corner and young, beautiful waiters, whom Abi suspected would be models or actors, served French champagne.
The party spilled from the reception area into the internal courtyard, although the room was not yet crowded. Abi was relieved to see that she and Damien were among the first to arrive. She wasn’t brave enough to walk into a room full of people, it was far better if the room filled up around her.
Freya had timed the party to begin at sunset and the view of the city sparkling below them as the lights began to come on was spectacular. Freya was greeting guests just inside the door. Abi knew it wasn’t technically Freya’s party but that was how she thought of it. She had talked of nothing but work and the party all week and even though the party was a publicity event for The Hills and for the Bright Hope Clinic, Abi couldn’t help but associate it with Freya.
Even the guests looked as if they could all be Freya’s friends. Everyone looked rich—some looked like new money, others like old, but Abi was neither. She had grown up poor, something she doubted any of these people were familiar with. Although she looked the part tonight she still felt a great divide between her and everyone else. There wasn’t anything she could do about it but she didn’t like it and she worried that the guests would see through her smoke-and-mirrors dress to the girl who had grown up poor, raised by an alcoholic single mother.
‘Abi, let me check your wrap.’ Damien’s voice interrupted her thoughts. His hands were on her arms and she could feel the warmth of his fingers spreading through her body as he started to slip the wrap from her shoulders.
She wanted to go with him to the coat check. She didn’t want to wander unaccompanied among the other guests, and she didn’t want to introduce herself to strangers. She was about to follow him when Mila appeared by her side.
‘Good, you’re here,’ Mila greeted her. ‘Come with me, there’s someone I want you to meet.’
‘I’ll catch up with you later,’ Damien said, as Mila tucked her arm into Abi’s almost as if she was afraid Abi would run away if she didn’t keep hold of her.
As Mila led her through the crowd Abi felt as though she’d been dropped into a movie set, a glamorous, old-school Hollywood movie. It was good in a way as it didn’t feel like real life. Perhaps if she could pretend it was make-believe she would be able to relax and enjoy the evening.
Mila stopped next to a solid, muscular man with cropped dirty blond hair and brown eyes and introduced her. ‘Here she is. Abi, this is Tyler Richardson, my boyfriend.’
Abi was taken by surprise. After witnessing the exchange, and the tension, between Mila and James earlier in the week she realised she hadn’t expected Mila to have a boyfriend. Maybe Tyler was the source of the tension she had felt.
‘It’s good to meet you.’ Tyler took her hand and shook it hard. He seemed laid back and relaxed but she couldn’t figure out why he’d want to meet her. ‘I wanted to thank you,’ he continued.
‘Thank me? For what?’
‘For taking on Dylan’s care.’
Abi frowned, unsure what connection Tyler had with her patient.
‘I’m a fireman,’ he explained, as Mila excused herself to visit the bathroom. ‘I was in the crew that went to the scene of Dylan’s accident. I pulled him out of the house.’
‘Oh, I see. Is that how he ended up at the Bright Hope Clinic? Through you?’
‘I called in at the hospital to see how he was doing and spoke to his mum and mentioned that Mila’s clinic might be able to help. How did the surgery go? How is he?’
‘I’m not sure how much I can tell you without breaking confidentiality,’ Abi replied.
‘That’s okay. It’s just that when we are able to save someone it’s nice to know how they’re doing. Sometimes we never hear anything. We rescue someone and then...’ he spread his hands wide ‘...nothing. The nurses in the public hospitals will often give us a bit of an update. Hearing that someone survived and is doing well helps make our job worthwhile, it helps to make up for the ones that don’t go so well. But once he was moved out of there it was almost impossible to find out anything.’
Abi could understand that. Tyler wasn’t so different from her, trying to make a difference, trying to save lives. Hearing good news always lifted spirits. What could she tell him? She was happy with Dylan’s progress but it was early days. The bandages wouldn’t be removed for another couple of days so it was impossible to tell how successful the grafts had been. The only positives at this stage were that she’d been able to do the grafts and that Dylan’s temperature was normal, indicating the absence of infection. She compromised. ‘It’s still early but I’m happy at this point. He’ll be with us for another week. Do you want me to ask his mum if you can visit?’
Tyler nodded. ‘I’d like that, thank you.’
Abi smiled at him. She knew exactly where he stood, and she was still smiling when James approached them.
James Rothsberg was a handsome man, tall and fair-haired with blue eyes and great bone structure—Abi always noticed bone structure, she was trained to do that—but although he was good-looking and of a similar build to Damien, he wasn’t nearly as striking. Damien was sleeker and leaner but their contrasting colouring made her think of positives and negatives, and Damien was the positive. She couldn’t ignore Damien and even now her eyes searched the crowd, looking for his familiar figure. There was something about Damien that captured her attention, something that went beyond the fact that he was tall, dark and handsome. She’d have to be careful and keep her guard up around him if she didn’t want to make a fool of herself.
‘Abi, one week gone. How are you settling in?’ her new boss asked.
‘More smoothly than I expected,’ she said. She’d been busy. The film industry awards were a week away, which had bolstered her patient list, and Dylan’s case had kept her on her toes, but she’d enjoyed her first week.
But James barely listened to her reply before offering his hand to Tyler. It seemed she wasn’t the only one whose mind was wandering.
‘Did you come with Abi?’ he asked Tyler.
‘No, Tyler is with me.’ Mila had reappeared and answered before Tyler had a chance.
Abi could tell from James’s expression that Mila’s answer wasn’t the one he’d been hoping for. Although the air around them was chilly at the moment, it was obvious that at some point these two had been more than acquaintances.
James made polite small talk for a few minutes but Abi noticed that when Mila headed to the opposite end of the room to prepare for the speeches, James’s eyes followed her.
The string quartet finished their set and lapsed into silence as Mila and Freya stepped up onto a raised platform that had been positioned in front of the reception desk. As the speeches began Abi felt Damien’s presence at her side. The air stirred whenever he was near; it seemed to move differently around him. She turned to her right.
‘Are
