He broke off suddenly, seeing the tears that were filling Nell’s eyes. This time she’d made no effort to hide them from him. Why should she? Nothing
else seemed to get through to him.
‘I’m sorry, Nell. I know you must have been really frightened tonight.’
‘Yes, I was. And the bit that frightened me the most was hearing you scream and seeing you hit the ground.’ She grabbed his hand, holding on to it tight.
He twisted his mouth down in a show of embarrassment. ‘I heard that everyone cries like a baby when they’re hit with a stun gun. I know why now...’
‘Stop it, Hugo! Stop trying to make out that you weren’t afraid. And don’t pretend that your first thought wasn’t that your heart had stopped, or that you needed your father and he was there for you.’
‘Please... Don’t cry.’ His voice was suddenly husky.
‘Well, someone’s got to. Ted’s maintaining a stiff upper lip, while wrestling with the idea that he should have been there. Your father was really cut up about letting you leave without him, but he had to put on a brave face for his guests. He really cares...’
‘Yes, I know. I do too, we just... Sometimes we lose sight of that.’ Suddenly he reached for her, shifting a little in the bed.
‘Come here. Please... I need you, Nell.’
There wasn’t a great deal of room on the bed but there was enough. Nell slipped off her shoes, lowering the bed a little and then climbing carefully up beside him. What the hell, if anyone found them like this, they were supposed to be engaged, weren’t they?
He put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. ‘I couldn’t protect you, Nell. I’m sorry.’
‘I couldn’t protect you either. And I’m sorry about that.’ She nestled against him. Suddenly everything seemed all right.
They lay together for long minutes. No more words needed, just the silence and the feel of her heart beating. His, too. Finally Nell felt Hugo move, and when she looked up at him he brushed a kiss against her forehead.
‘Much as I love having you here, you should go.’
‘You’re sending me away?’ Perhaps Hugo felt he’d admitted a bit too much, and he wanted some time on his own to reconstruct his armoured exoskeleton.
‘I can’t sleep with you next to me. And you’re going to need some sleep, too...’
‘Me? I’m all right.’
Hugo chuckled. ‘Don’t you start. I’m all right enough for both of us. But I need you to do something for me.’
‘What?’ Right now, she just wanted to stay here and hold him. Or if that would keep him awake, she’d go and have a cup of tea with Ted and then creep back after Hugo fell asleep and sit in the chair next to his bed.
‘If I’m going to be here for the next twenty-four hours, I need someone to fill in for me at the meeting tomorrow afternoon. I thought you might do it.’
‘Me? But I can’t!’
‘Why not? You know all the issues, and I think that the clinic means as much to you as it does to me.’
‘Yes, it does. But it’s you they want to see. We can put it off...’
‘That’s not going to be so easy, the arrangements have already been made. And you’ll be speaking directly for me.’ He moved his left arm stiffly, catching her hand, his thumb moving across the ring on her finger. ‘That gives you the right.’
‘That’s just a pretence, Hugo.’
‘You want the same things I do. I trust you to speak for me. That’s not a pretence.’
‘Is it what you really want?’
‘Yes, it is. Isn’t it what you’d want?’
In his place, she’d do exactly the same. She’d want Hugo out there, working for the thing that was most important to her, instead of cooling his heels, drinking tea at the hospital. Even if the prospect of going to the meeting alone was terrifying, Hugo seemed to think that she could do it.