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‘Looks as if it hurt. Probably still does.’
‘Yeah. The doc says she can sort it for me.’
Jamie nodded, turning to Anna with the hint of a smile. ‘You don’t mind if I step on your toes?’
He’d never asked before, but then they’d never been in this situation before. She stood, flashing a smile at Jon. ‘I’ll leave you to it, if that’s okay.’
Jon nodded, and Jamie turned his attention again to his brother. When Anna reached the door that led to the staircase, she turned and saw him examining the scar on Jon’s arm carefully. Then he gestured towards his brother’s face, and Jon turned his head so that Jamie could see the scars on his brow and neck.
She shouldn’t stay. But her heart was beating like a drum in her chest. One spark and the fragile reconciliation could all go up in smoke. Jamie and Jon were talking, and Jamie gestured to the book on Jon’s lap. Jon picked it up and began to read aloud, and Jamie leaned back in his chair.
That was an odd thing to do. But it seemed to be part of an old bond that she knew nothing about, and the taut lines of Jamie’s body began to relax a little. As they did so, Jon began to smile. Anna shook her head. Whatever worked for them. She turned, opening the door. One last look told her that neither of the brothers was even aware that she was leaving.
CHAPTER THREE
HARD? THIS HAD been much more than hard. More than any of the adjectives that Jamie could apply to any given situation. But he’d known he had to come, and when he’d shrugged on his jacket and left the hospital it hadn’t even occurred to him to call ahead. He just wanted to see Jon, and make sure that he was all right.
The receptionist in the ward knew him, but she gave him a second look when he asked for Jon, as if she’d only just noticed the resemblance and put the two names together. It had been a long time since anyone had asked whether he and Jon were related, and Jamie guessed it was because their lives were so very different.
He’d reached the top of the stairs and stopped short, shock gluing him to the spot. Anna was leaning towards Jon and they were both listening to the same piece of music. He always noticed everything about Anna, and now he saw that her blonde hair, usually tied back when she was working, was loose and falling forward across her shoulders. Just inches from Jon’s hand.
The intimacy was obvious, and he wanted to grab Anna and pull her away. But Anna wasn’t his to protect, and she had every right to spend time with Jon if she wanted to. Then Jon saw him, and the two started almost guiltily.
Rage flowed through him like a tide of molten lava. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t see Anna with Jon. But he somehow managed to get himself under control and walked towards them.
* * *
An hour later, he’d brought Jon back down to his room, and bade him goodnight. His head was spinning, and he didn’t want to see Anna. But his legs didn’t obey the command of his head, and he walked towards her office, knowing he’d find her there.
‘You’re still here?’ He stood at the open door, trying to feign surprise.
‘Yes. I’ve been trying to make up my mind about whether I did the right thing or not. And wondering if there was going to be an explosion...’ She gave him a nervous smile.
‘No explosions. You did the right thing.’
She nodded. ‘Come in. I’ll get you some coffee.’
Jamie walked into the office, sitting down in the chair on the other side of her desk. ‘No coffee. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping much tonight as it is.’
‘I’m glad you’ve patched things up. Whatever this argument was about...’ She waved her hand, as if that didn’t matter.
She didn’t know. Jamie told himself that it made the intimacy he’d seen between Anna and his brother a little less shattering, but he still couldn’t put it out of his mind. He reminded himself that he’d seen Anna many times with patients, and that her manner was always caring and kind. He should look at it in that context.
‘We haven’t so much patched it up as... We’re not talking about it.’
Anna shrugged. ‘Whatever works...’
Who knew whether it was going to work or not? Right now it was about the only option as Jamie still couldn’t talk about what had happened without betraying his anger, and right now Jon needed his care.
‘Do the rest of the family know Jon’s here?’ There were a lot of questions he hadn’t asked Jon, and Jamie realised that he’d been saving them for Anna.
‘Not as far as I’m aware. Jon said that if you weren’t
coming then he didn’t want the rest of the family to have to take sides.’
‘That was decent of him. Unnecessary, though. I’ll call my sister tonight. My parents are in Australia for three months, but I’ll email them and let them know.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Anna’s obvious approval began to cut through the haze of uncertainty that Jamie felt. ‘You’ll be back?’
