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‘Yes. You’ll be all right here?’
‘I suppose I can make do.’ Harry seemed to be able to shatter her world with just a few words. The little things that made her bungalow her own, the scent of fresh coffee and her candles, and the fabrics she’d used to brighten the place up, were nothing in his eyes.
‘Goodnight, then. Don’t forget the mosquito net when you go to bed.’
* * *
Jaye found her sitting in the corner of one of the wards, pretending to study a pile of patient notes. In reality, Megan was far too tired to read the words on the page in front of her, but she couldn’t think of where else to go.
He sat down opposite her, and when Megan looked up at him, his face was expressionless in the shadows. Maybe he didn’t see Harry quite the way she did.
‘Have you gone over to the dark side, then?’ She whispered the words so as not to disturb anyone.
Jaye smiled. ‘Meeting Harry gave me a new perspective on why you don’t mince your words. And, no, I haven’t gone over to the dark side.’
‘You seemed to be getting on pretty well with him.’
‘And that’s a problem for you? You don’t have to justify the way you feel, Megan. If I thought it would solve anything, I’d be driving him back to Colombo right now.’ His words were no more than a whisper, but they carried a hard edge of determination with them.
‘You don’t think that getting him away from here would solve everything for me?’
Jaye shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. Where are you sleeping tonight?’
Wherever she did sleep, it wasn’t going to be under the same roof as Harry. ‘I’ll find somewhere. A bed in one of the side wards, where I won’t disturb anyone...’
‘They’re all occupied. Dr Stone admitted a couple of new patients this afternoon.’ Jaye got to his feet. ‘Come on.’
‘Where?’
‘My bungalow.’ He leaned down towards her, and Megan shuddered, a tingle of excitement threading down her spine. ‘You need some sleep.’
Jaye was the only person she could really trust. And Megan couldn’t bring herself to care who saw them or what they might think. She rose quietly, stacking the patient notes back on the desk in the corner of the ward, and followed him.
* * *
Jaye had always wondered about Megan’s
father, and whether he was really as bad as she seemed to think. Now he knew that he was a great deal worse. Harry’s observations during dinner, about Megan’s childhood, and how proud he was of her, had seemed innocuous, but in the context of the truth he could see why they caused Megan so much pain.
‘He said that you couldn’t find anything wrong with him.’ They dodged through the rain onto the back porch of his bungalow, and Jaye stopped to unlock the sliding doors. His bed still lay in disarray from where he’d left it in a hurry this morning, and he bundled her through to the sitting room, trying not to think about sleepless nights.
‘That’s a slight exaggeration.’ Jaye flipped on the light and walked to the kitchenette. ‘Everyone has something wrong with them, particularly as they grow older.’
She was smiling again. That was how he wanted to keep her. ‘Okay, so you searched. What did you find?’
‘His cholesterol’s slightly high, which is a concern. I gave him some diet recommendations. And he admitted to rather more units of alcohol per week than I’d like to see.’
‘That’s not going to change.’ Megan snorted with laughter. ‘Harry likes a drink. What about his heart?’
‘As far as I can gauge, his pacemaker’s working as it should and his heart is healthy. But I’ve recommended that he gets a pacing check, sooner rather than later, and that will pick up any atrial fibrillation that’s been going on.’
‘We don’t have that equipment here.’ Megan shot him a querying look.
‘Which is why I’ve been in touch with a contact of mine in Colombo and got him an appointment for tomorrow.’
Megan grinned suddenly. ‘So you are sending him back.’
‘No, I’m doing what needs to be done. I’d recommend exactly the same thing for anyone with a pacemaker who complained of irregularities in their heart rhythm.’ He gave a shrug. ‘I might not normally insist on a check the next day. But in this case...’
