alone for a moment.
‘Don’t you worry, now, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay, and we’ll make you better.’ Making Amy better was reasonably straightforward. Making everything okay was a lot more fraught with uncertainty. Hannah hadn’t just been distressed when she’d arrived at Chloe’s house, there had been a wild look in her eyes that had told Jon she was very close to breaking point. He’d been loath to leave her alone, but Hannah hadn’t given him much choice in the matter.
‘Mum-eee...’ Amy’s little face started to scrunch up and tears escaped her eyes. Jon held her close, soothing her.
‘All right. Mummy’s coming.’ Not straight away but soon, he hoped. ‘You want to know a secret, Amy?’
‘I love secrets...’ Jon jumped as someone spoke. He hadn’t heard the calm-faced nurse re-enter the room, and when he turned she was standing behind him.
‘This one is that I’m gasping for that cup of coffee over there.’ Jon gave her a smile and a shrug when her lip curled slightly in disbelief.
‘I’ll take her. Go and drink your coffee.’
‘Thanks.’
He’d leave the real secret until later. It was one thing to tell Amy that her Aunt Chloe was one of the most beautiful women he’d seen in a long while but, then, Amy could be relied on not to syphon that information into the hospital gossip network. Neither would she betray the part about Chloe’s special magic. Jon couldn’t quite put his finger on what kind of magic it was, but he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t recognise it was there.
He sipped his coffee, watching as the nurse busied herself, trying to tell himself that he shouldn’t be shaken by any of this. It was straightforward. A housemate for six weeks while he made his own place habitable. A child who needed his help. It was neat and clean and nothing that he couldn’t deal with.
Not like his marriage. Jon had often wondered whether the time bomb that had finally blown everything apart had been primed on his and Helen’s wedding day. Ticking away the moments of pure happiness, measuring all the times that attention to two blossoming careers had demanded they spend apart, and tallying up each moment of tired indifference. Then exploding suddenly, sending shards of vitriol that scattered themselves across every aspect of Jon’s life, embedding themselves deep into his heart.
A heart that had been hardened by time, but now felt under attack. Chloe’s house was a long way away from the perfect, magazine-cover home that he and Helen had shared, but he’d found himself suddenly at ease there, as if he’d just pulled on a favourite shirt. Maybe it was a little frayed in places but it was warm and comfortable, fitting him perfectly. And if her house made him yearn for something he didn’t have, then Chloe herself turned an obscure ache into an urgent stab of longing.
‘Chloe’s gone now?’ The nurse interrupted his reverie.
‘Yeah.’
‘So you’re left holding the baby...’ The nurse bent down, smoothing Amy’s brow in a motion of comfort. ‘Pretty little thing, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, she is.’ Jon had always assumed that Amy’s light auburn curls and the freckles across her nose must be inherited from her father. But some quirk of genetics had rendered the little girl the image of her aunt, right down to her honey-brown eyes.
The feeling that he was being sucked in by Chloe’s eyes wasn’t an entirely unpleasant one. But he was in control of his life now. He could decide to ignore whatever part of Chloe he wanted to.
‘This is the last thing Chloe needs right now. I hope she doesn’t overdo things.’ The nurse smoothed the blanket over Amy in one of those entirely unnecessary acts of caring that always made Jon proud to be part of a team.
‘I heard she’d been ill.’
‘Yes. I don’t think that any of the doctors down here could miss a case of Guillain-Barré syndrome if they tried. Chloe made sure of that.’
The thought made Jon smile. Guillain-Barré was enough to deal with on its own, without undertaking an information awareness exercise. But somehow he expected no less of Chloe.
‘She shared her experience?’
‘You bet she did. Before she could even walk, she persuaded someone to wheel her down here and told the senior houseman that if any of the juniors hadn’t seen Guillain-Barré before, she was ready to be examined. It was pretty painful for her, but she sat through it and slurred her way through all of their questions as well.’
‘That’s...’ Suddenly Jon couldn’t find the words.
‘Beyond the call of duty, I’d say.’
‘Yeah. Way beyond...’ If Chloe could do that, then backing off now was suddenly unthinkable. Jon put his cup down, ignoring the film-wrapped sandwich. ‘Why don’t you get on, now? I’ve everything I need here, and I’ll make sure that Amy’s all right.’
* * *
Chloe had expected to find that Hannah was upset, but the reality had been much worse. Hannah had been sitting in the lounge, her arms wound around her stomach, her face impassive apart from the tears that had trickled down her cheeks. She’d looked almost as if she was in shock, rocking slightly as if to comfort herself.
Chloe had made a cup of tea and they’d talked for a while. Or rather Chloe had done most of the talking, while Hannah had listened disinterestedly, as if the words had meant nothing to her. But Chloe knew she’d got through to Hannah because when she’d suggested that she come and see Amy, to make sure she was all right, Hannah had stood up and put on her jacket.
Jon had left a message with the paediatric A and E receptionist, and Chloe led Hannah up to the children’s ward. She could see him, sitting next to Amy’s cot, through the large window that divided the ward from the reception area, and when he caught sight of them, he rose.
‘How is she?’ Hannah’s first question for Jon was the one she’d asked Chloe as soon as she’d walked through the door.
‘She’s doing well. I wanted her admitted to hospital as a precaution, but the antibiotics will clear the UTI and she’ll be fine.’ His voice was gentle but very firm, as if just saying it was going to make it happen.
‘I’m sorry.’ There was nothing but dull despair in Hannah’s voice.
‘There’s nothing to be sorry for. You did exactly the right thing for Amy. I wish that some other mothers were as sensible as you.’
Hannah looked up at him. Jon seemed to be making about as much impression on Hannah as Chloe had, but he was trying. And somewhere, on some level, Hannah must be hearing all of this.
‘Why don’t you come and see her, eh?’ Jon picked up Hannah’s hand, tucking it into the crook of his arm. He flashed a smile towards Chloe and she nodded. She’d done her best to convince Hannah that she was a good mother and she’d done nothing wrong, but Hannah had just shrugged. ‘You’re my sister, you would say that.’ Maybe the words would have greater weight if they came from someone else.
She watched as Jon walked Hannah into the ward, getting her to sit down in the chair that he’d been occupying. He gestured towards the drip, obviously explaining everything that
