AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘All right. Consider it done.’
* * *
Lunchtime. Anna pulled on her coat, grabbed an energy bar from her desk drawer, and hurried out of the building. She’d already thought of about a thousand reasons why she shouldn’t do this...
Families were out of her sphere of expertise, she knew that. She was the only child of two only children, and the large, extended family she’d married into had sometimes baffled her but mostly delighted her. She’d lost them when she and Daniel had divorced...
The clinic was her family now. Anna always did her best for the families of the patients who passed through, and now Jamie Campbell-Clarke came under that umbrella. It meant crossing the line that she’d drawn between professional and personal with him, but she couldn’t step aside and do nothing.
He was sitting alone in the office he shared with two other doctors, the door wide open, and when he saw her he smiled. ‘You wanted to see me?’
Why did that always sound like a challenge? Anna swallowed whatever smart retort was about to reach the tip of her tongue. Not the time for it.
‘Yes, I did.’ Anna sat down on the other side of his desk, keeping her coat on and clutching her handbag in her lap. ‘Can we have a private conversation?’
Something kindled in his eyes and Anna ignored it. Jamie closed the door, sitting back down again. ‘Sure...’
‘We have a new patient at the clinic. He has some recent burn scars for revision, and...he has a demanding job, which has caused a great deal of emotional strain recently.
Jamie nodded. ‘And who is this mystery patient? One of your celebrities?’
‘Yes.’
He gave her a searching look. ‘So you’re not going to give me a name.’
Not until she’d reassured Jamie that Jon’s condition was stable and he wasn’t in any danger. ‘He booked himself in earlier this morning. He’s being well looked after, and there’s no need for any concern.’
‘That’s always nice to know.’ Jamie shot her a puzzled look, leaning back in his seat. He’d obviously decided that she’d get to the point sooner or later, and that he’d wait.
‘It’s your brother. Jon.’
Jamie’s face hardened suddenly. Whatever it was between the two brothers, it was serious. She’d never seen Jamie look so thunderously angry.
‘He asked you to come and see me?’
‘No. I... He said he had a twin brother, but that there was some bad blood between you. When I realised it was you he was talking about, I told him I knew you and said that I thought you should know he was at the clinic. He seems...alone.’
Anna lapsed into silence. Maybe she’d got this all wrong. Maybe she should have listened to Jon when he’d told her that there was only one answer that Jamie would give to any plea for reconciliation. But Jamie never turned anyone away. It was a matter of pride that his charity would at least try to help any kid that knocked on its door.
‘Okay. Thank you.’
That was it? ‘I’m sorry if this... I didn’t mean to overstep any boundaries.’
Suddenly the boundaries that she and Jamie had drawn had changed and Anna felt crushed within them. She should probably go now, and hope that Jamie would forget this had ever happened.
‘That’s okay. Jon knows you’re here?’
‘He said that I could tell you he was at the clinic, but I wasn’t to tell him your reaction. He thinks you’ll refuse to see him.’ Right now that seemed to have been a forward-looking strategy on Jon’s part.
‘Right. It’s good of you to let me know. Is that all?’
That was a clear invitation for her to leave. Anna wanted to ask what Jamie was going to do, even hint that he might tell her how he was feeling about this. But the hard mask of his face left her in no doubt that he’d just tell her to mind her own business.
‘Yes. I’d better be going. I have to be back at the clinic in forty-five minutes.’
It was surprisingly hard to get up and leave. She’d come here intending to deliver a message, but now she badly wanted Jamie to let her in and allow her to help him. But he already seemed to have forgotten that she was in the room. As Anna closed the door behind her, he was staring at his hands, which were clenched into fists in front of him on the desk.
* * *
