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Five minutes past midnight. He still had work to do but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to be bothered tonight. How long had he been asleep? It seemed like hours, but the music CD he’d put on a while ago was still playing quietly in the background. Greg stood up and stretched. Maybe an early night would do him good. He was still half-asleep anyway, caught in the world of that crystal-clear dream. Tomorrow things would seem different.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
‘HAPPY CHRISTMA-A-A-S!’
‘Happy Christmas.’ Jess smiled down at the little girl in the reindeer costume, trying to catch some of the child’s excitement for herself.
‘Ah, Jess. I’ve been looking for you.’ Gerry caught his daughter’s hand.
‘Hi, Gerry. Are you all right?’
‘I’m supposed to be a ghost, right?’ He lowered his voice. ‘I’m assuming that means deathly pale.’
‘Well, the make-up’s great. Just be careful you don’t get carted off to A and E.’
‘You think I overdid it, then?’
‘Just a little. Do you think that people like to see their doctors looking worse than they feel?’
‘In my experience most people don’t notice. But perhaps I’d better go and wash some of it off. Will you keep an eye on Emma for me?’
‘Yes, of course.’ There wasn’t much else to do. All of the volunteers had turned up and were getting on with their allotted tasks. Which was a shame, really. Something approaching a crisis might have taken Jess’s mind off what seemed like a vast, empty void of today and tomorrow.
It was her own fault. She’d turned down every invitation for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on the basis that she’d be somewhere else. Just as long as her friends and family didn’t get together and realise that she hadn’t been with any of them, she’d be okay.
‘Unca Greg’s going to be Father Christmas.’
‘What’s that, sweetie?’
‘Father Christmas. With presents.’ Emma was clearly shocked that Jess didn’t know about Father Christmas.
‘Ah, that Father Christmas. You mean the one who squeezes down your chimney every year to bring you presents?’
Emma nodded. ‘Look, there he is.’ She pointed over Jess’s right shoulder
‘But he’s not here yet. He won’t come until you put your stocking out tonight.’
‘No.’ Emma rolled her eyes. ‘He’s here.’
‘Well, perhaps he’s just taken the reindeer out for a bit of a run before their big night.’
Jess turned, her gaze following the line of Emma’s pointing arm. Just as expected, Father Christmas wasn’t standing behind her. But Greg was.
She let go of Emma’s hood and the little girl flew into his arms. Greg hoisted her high and Emma squealed with laughter.
The only man she wanted. A laughing child in his arms. Here at the hospital, one of the ‘Christmas Volunteer’ badges pinned to his red sweater. Having to look at everything she’d lost, right there in front of her, was making Jess feel sick.
‘Jess.’
Her name on his lips was all she wanted to hear, and everything she couldn’t bear to. Jess scanned the corridor, praying that Gerry would return soon.
‘Jess.’ He tried again. This time his voice was quieter. More tender.
‘Greg. Hello.’ She focussed wildly on the volunteer’s badge. ‘You’ve come to help. Thanks.’
He grinned. ‘It’s an excuse.’
She imagined it was. This wasn’t Greg’s world any more and the only way that he would be here was if he had an ulterior motive. ‘Even if it is, we’ll put you to work. I’ll take help wherever I can get it.’ She felt herself redden. It had probably been the wrong thing to say to Greg on almost every level that she could think of.
