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‘It’s...um...a trick of the light.’
‘Yes, I can see that.’ Anna didn’t move away, though.
It was proving extremely difficult to move away from her. The scent of her hair, and the feeling of having her close was driving him crazy. He almost wished that something fearsome and dreadful had appeared before them, so he could hold her a little closer.
He drank in the feeling, knowing that it wasn’t going to last for long. Then she shifted in his arms and he let her go.
‘Had me fooled for a moment, though.’ He murmured the words and she nodded.
‘Yes. Me too.’
And after that moment the shocked reaction had turned into an embrace. Jamie had wanted to hold her, and it had been very apparent that Anna had wanted it too. The thought was far more disturbing than anything that the night could throw at them.
Jamie got to his feet, walking over to the door, and looking out. He saw it all now. ‘It’s the night nurse. She’s standing at the end of the counter at the nurses’ station in front of the work lamp so that she can read the notes before she goes on her rounds.’
‘And the light’s reflected in the mirror...’ Anna gestured towards the full-length mirror that was fixed to the bathroom door.
‘And then reflecting again on the screen of the TV...’ Jamie moved towards the large screen on the wall at the end of the bed. ‘The refraction is giving it an almost 3D quality.’
‘But why hasn’t anyone seen this before? This room’s generally occupied.’
Jamie shrugged. ‘Maybe they’ve moved the work lamp. Or maybe because they left Darren’s door open last night to keep an eye on him, and usually the doors are closed.’
The figure disappeared suddenly, and the door was pushed open. The ghost was standing in the doorway, an enquiring look on her face. Anna got to her feet.
‘Katya, come and sit over here. We’ve found our ghost.’
The night nurse looked puzzled, but did as Anna bade her. Jamie decided to stay where he was. The idea of any other woman clinging to him, so soon after he’d felt Anna close, was unthinkable.
He watched Anna walk over to the lamp, and motioned her to the side a little, so that she was standing in exactly the same place that Katya had been. Then he heard a gasp behind him.
‘What...! So he did see something.’
‘Yeah.’ Jamie’s eyes moved to the blurred figure reflected in the TV screen. This time it seemed a far more alluring ghost. ‘Did you move the lamp recently?’
‘Yes, we got a new one, and the lead wasn’t as long, it won’t stretch far enough so we can sit at the desk and read the notes. We were going to ask for an extension cable, but in the meantime I’ve been standing at the end of the counter...’ Katya’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Poor little Darren, no wonder he was so upset.’
‘Well, at least we’ve got to the bottom of it now.’ Jamie beckoned to Anna, and the form in the TV screen disappeared as she walked back to the doorway.
‘I’m so sorry. I thought he was just having nightmares, so I comforted him and sat with him until he went back to sleep.’ Katya’s mouth turned down. ‘I’ll move the lamp straight away.’
‘You couldn’t possibly have foreseen this, none of us did. And don’t move the lamp just yet...’ Anna flashed a look at Jamie, as if she already knew what he was about to say.
‘Yes, I’d like to show this to Darren in the morning. If that’s okay.’
‘Of course. I might even come and do a turn as the friendly ghost.’ Anna’s smile seemed luminous in the interplay of light and shade in the doorway, and Jamie wondered if Darren would see it too. A beautiful, friendly ghost. Who seemed intent on picking the pieces of his heart up and stitching them back together. It was complex surgery, and Jamie doubted that even Anna was equal to it. He was too broken, and there would always be a little chink missing that let in the doubts and the mistrust.
But he could still walk Anna back down to her office. Still enjoy her scent, which, now that he’d noticed it, was more intoxicating than he’d ever imagined. And when she turned, flinging her arms around his neck and then retreating away from him almost as quickly, he felt his heart beating in his chest.
‘What was that for?’
‘Because you believed Darren.’ Anna gave a shrug. ‘I mean, we all believed that was what he thought he saw, and we took it seriously. But you believed him, and you found the answer.’
The warmth of her praise was working its way through him. If it reached his heart he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kissing her. ‘I didn’t discount the idea that it might have been his imagination.’
‘But you waited up, all the same.’
‘Oh, and you’re not really here?’
