‘Yes, Doctor.’ Ted flashed her a conspiratorial smile and hurried away.
Hugo almost stumbled at the bottom of the steps at the front of the house, and when she put her arm around him to steady him, Nell found herself almost in an embrace.
‘I’m sorry.’ He made to pull away, but Nell held him tight.
‘That’s all right. We’ll just get home, shall we?’ She could see his car now, moving towards them, Ted at the wheel.
He nodded, and she felt his arm curl around her shoulders. ‘Yes. Thank you.’
CHAPTER FIVE
HUGO HADN’T QUITE been feeling fine, but he had at least been in charge of himself. And then suddenly he’d hit a wall. The one that he told his own patients about and reassured them wouldn’t be there for ever.
If Nell hadn’t been there, he wasn’t sure how he would have managed. But she had, and he’d felt her next to him, holding on tight as he’d walked what had seemed like a marathon to get to the car. Somehow, her scent had strengthened him and stopped him from just sitting down right where he was and not getting back up again.
Ted had helped him back up to his apartment and Nell had fussed around, taking off his shoes and jacket and loosening the collar of his shirt, then making him lie down on the bed. He’d protested and she’d ignored him, and then suddenly a wave of fatigue had pulled him into sleep.
When he woke, the room was in semi-darkness. He could make Nell out, sitting by the window, reading in the last rays of the sun.
‘Do you want me to say it?’ When he spoke, it felt as if his mouth was full of cotton wool.
She looked up from her book. ‘You can if it makes you feel any better.’
It did. Hugo pulled the bedspread down from his chest, sitting up slowly. ‘I overdid it today. I felt okay and I was sure I could manage it but... I couldn’t.’
She smiled and suddenly overdoing things and proving Nell right didn’t seem such a bad thing after all.
‘You know, of course, that this happens. After the shock of being taken ill and then going through a surgical procedure.’
‘Yes. Primitive instincts. We fight to survive, and then, when the danger’s passed...’
She nodded quietly. ‘And now you have to come to terms with it all.’
‘What if I don’t want to?’ The words escaped Hugo’s lips before he had a chance to stop them.
Nell shrugged. ‘That’s just too bad. You can command it to go away all you like, but it’s not going to listen.’
Maybe. But if he couldn’t rule his own feelings, then he could return the favour and not listen to them. Not let anyone know his weakness.
He swung his legs slowly from the bed. They seemed strong again. All he’d needed had been to sleep for a while.
‘You’re getting up?’ Nell was looking around the room as if she was trying to figure something out.
‘I feel much better now. What are you looking for?’
‘Your wardrobe.’
‘Through there.’ Hugo nodded towards the door to one side of the bed, and Nell got to her feet. It seemed she’d decided to lay out a change of clothes for him. The idea that she might stay and help him into them didn’t seem quite as deflating as it had when the nurses at the hospital had done it.
‘Oh...’ She’d opened the door and put her head inside the dressing room. ‘Sure you have enough to wear here?’
‘I go out a lot.’ Hugo chuckled. ‘Casual is on the left, at the end.’
She disappeared inside the dressing room, and Hugo heard her opening drawers and closing them again. Then Nell reappeared, with a dark polo shirt and a pair of pale chinos over her arm. ‘Will this do?’
‘That’s great, thanks.’
‘Bathroom?’