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At least, a part of her did.
Alex was back within moments, carrying a fine bone porcelain cup of tea. From where he’d procured it, she couldn’t have guessed. Presumably one of the nurses had decided the standard chipped mugs in the kitchen weren’t good enough for a man such as him.
“Thank you,” she murmured as he passed it over. Sophie held it in both hands, taking comfort from the warmth.
She sipped and he watched, his expression indecipherable.
Another doctor arrived shortly after she had finished drinking. He was tall and skinny, wiry like a rake, with fine hair that wisped over his brow. His eyes were intelligent and his face lined. Sophie warmed to him immediately.
“Good morning, Mrs Petrides. How are you today?”
“Fine, thanks.” It was an answer given by rote. The doctor disregarded it.
“Any pain? Discomfort?”
“Yes. Yes.” Her eyes lifted to Alex and he understood. She didn’t want him there. She was closing him out. But he needed to be with her. Didn’t she understand that? Didn’t she care?
“That’s to be expected.” He pulled back the bed sheet to reveal Sophie’s hospital gown clad body. “May I?”
She nodded, and the doctor began to move his hands over Sophie’s abdomen. She lay there, staring at the ceiling, ignoring Alex and wishing she was anywhere else.
“Excellent.” He returned the sheet and smiled, first at Sophie and then at Alex. “You’ll be discharged this morning. I’m writing you a script for pain relief. Don’t be a hero. It’s perfectly fine to take when recovering from something like this.” He handed the script to her and she held it folded in her fingertips. “You’ll need to take a few days to recover. I mean complete recovery. Lying on the sofa, watching those terrible Real Housewife programs my wife is obsessed with.”
She smiled despite her sense of oddness and grief.
“Mr Petrides, there’s paperwork at the front you can complete when you’re ready. If you need any nursing assistance, mention it to the clerk.”
“None will be necessary,” he said, his eyes not leaving Sophie’s face.
“Excellent. Good luck to you, Mrs Petrides.” He nodded at Alex and then disappeared.
Because Sophie knew Alex, she knew what he was planning, and she decided to be proactive from the get go. “You can help me get a cab. That would be great.”
“You will be coming home with me.”
“No, I won’t.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going to stay with you.”
His mouth was a grim line as he settled on the edge of the bed. “Aren’t you?” He reached forward and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I can’t.” She unfolded her arms and fidgeted with her fingers. “Please just go, Alex. You don’t need to be here.”
“This is exactly where I need to be.”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t go back to your house. I can’t ever step foot in it again. Surely you can see that it would be more harmful to me than anything else.”
“Fine,” he didn’t see any sense in arguing the point. “I’ll hire a hotel room. But I am going to take care of you. I feel responsible, Sophie. Please don’t deny me the opportunity to help you now.”
She thought about telling him that he could help by leaving her alone for good. That he could help by never going near her again. But a part of her, even then, was afraid he might do it if she asked often enough.
“Why?” She said instead. “Why can’t you just go?”
He lifted her hand and rubbed her empty ring finger. There was a very feint indent from where she’d worn the jewellery for a brief time.
“Because you are my wife.”
Her eyes swept shut at his words and her heart iced over. “A stupid joke,” she muttered angrily.
“No. A clever twist of fate.”
