“Thank you,” I said, and she left with a wave.
I should have left it, and I knew it. There’s no way I should have ever considered interfering with a situation at the hospital just because I was all a dither about a girl missing a train journey, but yet again that flame of panic was being a prick of a fool and chewing me up inside.
I checked my schedule and had a short while before my next appointment. I was cursing myself from the very moment I was up on my feet, but I kept on moving, letting Gina know I was heading out for a few minutes.
It’d been a while since I’d been to Kingsley Ward. It took less time than I was expecting before I arrived at the double doors and pushed my way inside.
The girl on reception greeted me with a smile and a “welcome, Dr Hall” and I stepped on up to the counter.
“I’m here to see Chloe Sutton, please,” I told her. “Is she around?”
She pointed behind me with a nod, and I spun in a flash. And there she was. Chloe. Standing there with her fingers twisting together in front of her, staring at me with those big, wide eyes.
Jesus Christ, the girl was beautiful.
“Chloe,” I said, and took a few steps forward. “Can I please have a minute?”
She nodded, and that beautiful blush was rising high on her cheeks. She gestured somewhere off to the corridor to the side, and I followed her nervous little steps with my heart racing.
She didn’t know what I was going to say, and that was obvious. The white rabbit was in the headlights, gazing up with such beautiful innocence, and I knew in that moment, beyond any doubt, just why Wendy Briars had chosen her for Franklin.
She was a genuine little sparkle of life, so warm and so real.
I cleared my throat. “I’m here to offer my apologies,” I told her. “I was a little preoccupied yesterday and didn’t offer you enough of a welcome to the ward. Please give me another opportunity. Wendy says fantastic things about you, and I’d love to offer you a place on our team.”
She was nodding along with my words. A delightful little bob of her head that had me transfixed.
“Thank you, Dr Hall,” she said. “It’s ok that you were… busy… that’s no problem.”
I wasn’t busy and we both knew it. It was hovering between us in the air, a bigger elephant in the room than Wellington at Pilsner, but we both smiled and glazed over it, and I gestured behind me.
“Please, let me know if and when you want to make another visit. I’ll be sure to welcome you.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“Excellent,” I said.
With that I turned, and took a few steps away, but her voice sounded out, a delicious trill that stopped me dead in my tracks.
“What were you, um…” she took a breath. “What were you, um, reading this morning, Dr Hall? On the train, I mean.”
I spun on the spot, and took a breath of my own. That white rabbit was in even greater headlights, those nervous fingers twisting even harder.
“Brave New World,” I said, then paused. “How about you?”
“White Fang,” she said, then blushed some more, a beautiful beetroot over freckles. “I really love wolves. Like really love them. They’ve been my favourites since I was a kid.”
“Wolves,” I repeated. “My mother really loves elephants. I took her to Pilsner a few days ago.”
Her face lit up. “I love Pilsner,” she said. “They have wolves, you know. One of them is called Winston and he’s amazing.”
I had this ridiculous shiver down deep as I flashed her a smile of my own.
“We met an elephant,” I told her. “His name is Wellington. A huge beast.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I saw him last time I was there. He’s their biggest, right?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Cool,” she said.
“Great,” I said.
And it was awkwardly ridiculous, a bluster of small talk that meant an insane amount more than it should.
“I’d best get back,” I told her.
“Yeah,” she said, and pointed off behind somewhere. “I’d better get back to it, too.”
She started retreating, those nervous fingers still twisting, and I said something I shouldn’t, far beyond any kind of professionalism.
“You weren’t on the train this morning.”
Such a stupid comment.
“No,” she said, and her eyes dropped to the floor, darting around a little before climbing back up to meet with mine. Fingers twisting. Twisting. “It’s, um…”
I should have held up a hand and blustered my way out of there, but I didn’t. I kept my eyes tight on hers, waiting for her to speak again.
“It’s, um…” Another little dither and pause, then she took a breath. “I, um… split up with my boyfriend. I’m in Halsey now… back with my parents.”
You could have knocked me down with the tiniest of feathers, right there and then, but I held it steady. Held it firm.