the way he was behaving. ‘I have to go. I hope you’ll think about what we’ve said, though, and not rush into a decision. You need to consider everything and make sure it’s not just last-minute nerves that’s causing you to have these doubts.’
‘I shall. Thank you. You’ve been very kind, letting me pour out my troubles like that.’
‘I was glad to help.’
‘Why?’ She gave a little shrug. ‘We’re complete strangers so why should you want to help me? Most people wouldn’t want to get involved, so what makes you any different?’
‘Let’s just say that I know how it feels to be forced into doing something you don’t want to do.’
‘Because it’s happened to you?’ she said softly, and he nodded.
‘Yes. And if there’s any advice I can give you, it’s to follow your heart. If it doesn’t feel right in here…’ he placed his hand on his heart ‘…don’t do it.’
‘That’s what I’m going to do.’ She stood up and there seemed to be a new resolve in her eyes when she looked at him now. ‘I’m going to follow my heart and see where it leads me instead of doing what I think is right all the time.’
‘Good.’
Archie couldn’t explain why he felt so choked up. Maybe it was relief because she seemed to have reached a decision, or maybe it was more complicated than that, but all of a sudden he was overwhelmed with emotion. He swung round, very much afraid that he would make a fool of himself if he lingered.
‘Thank you again…for everything.’
Archie felt his heart ache as he glanced back. She looked so vulnerable as she stood there that he was tempted to stay, but it would be wrong to influence her in any way. She had to decide for herself what she intended to do and all he could do was hope that she wouldn’t regret it in the future.
‘You’re welcome,’ he said huskily. ‘Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.’
He took a deep breath as he crossed the road, feeling the cold air biting deep into his lungs. For the past eighteen months he had been merely marking time, but now that period was over. Even though he might not be able to follow his heart, at least he could make amends for what he had done.
The thought made him feel better than he’d done for a long time, and he realised that it was all thanks to that woman, too. If she could find the courage to reassess her life, he could find the courage to make these changes.
London: March
‘We’ve been really short-staffed since Christmas. At one point we were working double shifts and it was no joke, I can tell you. If our departmental head hadn’t put his foot down, we’d have had to keep on doing them, too. He raised a real stink about it and that’s why we were given permission to hire agency staff.’ The ward sister laughed as she opened the staffroom door. ‘It’s not a good idea to get on the wrong side of him!’
‘Thanks for the warning.’
Heather Thompson smiled as she looked around the room. As hospital staffrooms went, this one wasn’t too bad. At least the chairs looked as though the springs weren’t all broken and there was actually a rug on the regulation blue composite floor. Compared to some of the hospitals where she’d worked in the last few months, this was quite luxurious, in fact.
‘It’s not too bad, is it?’ The sister must have noticed her taking stock. ‘It’s not exactly the Ritz, but it’s not the absolute pits either. We have our consultant to thank for that too. He insisted on them refurbishing the place when he took over last year, said it wasn’t right that staff had to put up with such appalling conditions when they were expected to work twenty-four seven.’
‘Really? I am impressed.’ Heather hung her coat in an empty locker. ‘Most consultants couldn’t care less about the staff, in my experience.’
‘Oh, he’s a real treasure, believe me.’ The other woman sighed. ‘It’s just a shame that he’s leaving—’
She broke off when an alarm sounded. Heather recognised the sound immediately and was already on her way to the door before the ward sister could tell her to follow her. Staff were appearing from all over the place, responding to the call. There were half a dozen people gathered by the time they entered the ward, and each and every one seemed to know what was expected of them.
Heather followed the convoy to the child’s bed, her heart aching when she saw how young he was. He couldn’t have been more than eight years old and he was desperately ill. One of the nurses had already started CPR, another had fetched the crash trolley, while a third was frantically working the controls on the bed to lower it into a horizontal position. It was obvious they had the situation covered so she turned to the boy’s parents.
‘Let’s leave the team to do their job,’ she said, urging the couple towards the door.
‘But I want to stay!’ the mother shrieked. ‘Charlie needs me—I can’t leave him!’
Heather grasped hold of the woman’s arm when she tried to force her way back through the group to get to her son. The last thing the staff needed at the moment was a hysterical parent hampering their efforts to resuscitate the child.
‘Charlie needs their help more than anything else,’ she said firmly, trying to lead her away.
‘Let me go!’
Heather gasped when the woman swung round and struck her across the face. She staggered back, but quickly recovered. Taking a firmer grip on the woman’s arm, she ushered her out of the ward, thanking her stars that the boy’s father followed them without a murmur. She wouldn’t have rated her chances if he’d clobbered her as well!
There was a family room next to the office and she took the parents in there. She managed to persuade them to sit down then got them both a cup of tea from the machine in the corner and sat down opposite them.
‘I know how worried you are but the staff are doing everything they can to help Charlie.’ She pressed a cup of tea into the woman’s hand. ‘Try a sip of this. It will help.’
The woman obediently drank a little of the tea. All the fight seemed to have drained out of her now as she sat huddled on the edge of the sofa. ‘I thought he was getting better. The doctor said he was, didn’t he, Darren?’
‘Yes.’ The father ran a trembling hand over his face. Heather’s heart went out to him when she saw that he was crying.
‘I only started working here tonight so I don’t know what’s wrong with your son,’ she explained quietly. ‘But I do know that everything possible is being done to help him.’
‘One of the nurses said that he’d had a heart attack,’ the father told her. He shook his head. ‘I know he’s been having pains in his chest but I didn’t think kids could have heart attacks. I mean, it’s something old people have, not eight-year-olds like our Charlie.’
‘It’s unusual, but it does happen,’ Heather said gently. ‘The main thing is that Charlie was already in hospital when it happened. That will certainly go in his favour.’
‘So you think he’ll be all right,
