‘I’ve given James a call. He’s on holiday in Cornwall, but he’s driving back up tonight and he’ll stay with Hannah at my place. I’ll stay here with Amy, and we can talk in the morning.’
‘Sounds like a plan. If there’s anything I can do...’ He shrugged, as if he couldn’t think of what that anything might be. A moment in his arms perhaps. Having him tell her that everything was going to be fine. But that was something that could only be given, not asked for.
‘You’ve done a great deal already. I’m very grateful.’ If that sounded a lot like a thank you and goodbye, then maybe it was. Relying on other people to help her was only going to lead to disappointment.
‘It’s nothing. Just paying it forward.’ Chloe shot him a querying look. ‘James was very good to me when my marr
iage broke up, he put me up until I found a place of my own. That was when I got to know Hannah.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise—’
‘It’s water under the bridge now.’ The downward quirk of his lips told Chloe that even if it was, it was something that still pained him. ‘From what James tells me, you were dealing with your own problems at that time. I’ve only ever come across one case of Guillain-Barré syndrome but I know it’s a tough journey to take.’
It had been tough, suddenly losing any sensation other than pain in both legs and one arm, contending with the real fear that the accompanying paralysis might keep spreading until it reached her chest and the other side of her face.
‘That’s water under the bridge, too.’
Suddenly he was looking at her again, his face suffused with all the warmth that he’d offered to Amy and Hannah. ‘You’re sure about that. Because if you can’t cope...’
‘I can cope.’ The words were defensive on her lips.
‘Sorry.’
‘No...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.’ It wasn’t Jon’s fault that few of the promises that had been made around her hospital bed had come to fruition. That both Jake and her best friend had sworn they’d stand by her through this, and they’d ended up standing by each other.
Chloe took a deep breath, trying to puff out the echoes of the lonely despair she’d felt when she’d realised that her partner and her friend were now an item and that neither of them had the guts to come and tell her. This wasn’t the time to be raking over old memories because she had to think about the challenges of the present.
‘Look, I...I couldn’t give Hannah the support she needed when I was ill. I can now.’
He nodded. ‘And that’s important to you.’
‘Yes, it is. Hannah’s not had an easy time, she was so young when our parents died. James and I tried to help her through it, but we were both at university and neither of us were in a position to give her a stable home. My mother’s sister fostered her, and... Aunt Sylvie’s very kind, very loving, but Hannah always wanted to live with me. When she was fifteen I took her.’
‘But you fell ill?’
‘Yes, and Hannah went to live with James. I don’t think she really understood why I wouldn’t keep her. She told me that she’d help look after me, but I didn’t want to make her into my carer. She deserved more than that.’
The frank approval in his eyes meant a lot more than it should. Chloe had wanted his understanding, craved his warmth, and now that she had it, it was too much to bear. She looked away, staring at Hannah and Amy.
‘Hannah was almost sixteen when she ran away. I couldn’t help look for her, I could hardly manage to get out of the house. It was James who found her and brought her back, and he was the one who looked after her when she realised that she was pregnant.’
‘And you think you let Hannah down?’ His tone suggested that Jon thought quite the opposite, but Chloe begged to differ.
‘I think that Hannah and Amy need me right now. And that I’m going to be there for both of them.’ It was too late to save Hannah from the turbulence of her teenage years, but she would find a way to put things right now. Because this time it wasn’t only a matter of saving Hannah, it was a matter of saving Amy, too.
CHAPTER THREE
IT HAD BEEN a restless night, sleeping in the folding bed next to Amy’s cot, and so far the morning hadn’t been much easier. Chloe hadn’t seen Jon when she’d returned home to talk to Hannah and James, and she’d assumed that he’d escaped over to his place when his shift had ended this morning.
But when she got back to the hospital he was there, sitting in the chair next to Amy’s cot with Amy on his lap, talking to her and gently stopping her from grabbing at the bandage on her arm that covered the cannula.
‘She’s a lot better this morning.’ One of the nurses had stopped at Chloe’s side, and Chloe dragged her gaze away from Jon. Each time she saw him with Amy it was impossible not to notice that someone so strong could be so gentle.
‘Does he usually check up on his patients like this?’
The nurse grinned. ‘He’s no stranger up here, he often pops in to see how the children he’s had admitted are doing. He seems to have taken a bit of a shine to Amy, though.’
It seemed that he had. And Amy had clearly taken a bit of a shine to Jon, looking up at him, her hand reaching to touch his face.