Rory (Coded for Love 1)

“So good of you to come and see me. I’ll get better even quicker now.”

Sky wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “I’ll move back home, Nan. I shouldn’t have moved away.”

“Don’t be silly love.” Nan grasped her hand. “A couple of weeks ago Gladys and I decided to move in together. There’s room at her house for Rowan and the baby too.”

“Oh, okay.” They got on well, but it never occurred to her they might one day move in together. “I suppose it makes sense.”

“That’s what we thought. It’ll half the bills. Now, tell me about you. Did you get the train?”

“No, Rory brought me. You remember Rory don’t you?

“Of course I do. “ Nan smiled. “I wondered how long it would take you to track him down.”

“It wasn’t like that.” Sky blushed. “We bumped into each other in the city.”

“But you hoped you’d meet him again, didn’t you?”

Did I? She’d gone to London for a better life, for more opportunities and to maybe study part time at one of the world famous art schools in the city. Perhaps she had always been looking for him when she scoured the crowds in the city, in the transport system or when a motorbike shot by on the street.

“Don’t look so embarrassed, sweetheart. You thought of nothing else after he’d gone, didn’t you? All that rebellion you had, it was fuelled by emotions, and we knew that.”

“Yes, but it was Mum I was annoyed with, back then. She left us.” Sky frowned, confused. “She abandoned me and I hadn’t even finished school!”

“She didn’t abandon you, you had us. You liked living with me and Rowan. It was Rory you were most upset about.”

“I did like living with you.” Part of her wanted it again, the sisterhood of her Nan and Rowan.

“You followed your heart.” Nan yawned.

Sky felt as if she’d been slapped. I can’t be that hooked on him, surely? It made her want to run out into the corridor and tell him to fuck off and go back to London and leave her alone.

She was already feeling out of her depth and afraid—afraid to be with him, afraid to be without him. It wasn’t right to invest in a man. She only had to look at Rowan to know that, for a fact.

What have I done?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Rory sat in the hospital corridor, thinking about Sky.

When she took her helmet her eyes were red rimmed and puffy. It troubled him to imagine her doing the journey alone, upset and in tears. He had to be with her. There hadn’t been a moment’s doubt for him, not a decision to make. He’d done it on instinct. Because he cared about her. A lot.

He’d been surprised how familiar the journey felt, and the surroundings, once they entered Cadogan. Before they took off for London he’d spent a lot of time riding around the area—often to get out of the house because Sky was there, setting off fireworks in his mind and body. It seemed odd that they came back together. Or maybe not?

The general hospital was familiar too. He’d had to go there himself once for a busted rib—courtesy of his dad. It wasn’t dad who took him though, it was Draco and Sean. They insisted he get it checked out, when they saw he was in pain. While the three of them waited for the x-ray results, they talked about their dreams of leaving for London. It became a serious plan. The three of them made a pact.

When they’d hit the road they’d all three consciously split with the town, and their parents. Departing on their bikes with only a backpack of kit, they’d left for freedom and adventure. Draco had given the place the finger as he left, vowing he’d never come back. Rory had glibly agreed. It’d been an immature reaction and it embarrassed him to even think about it now. Of course he’d have to come back one day. His dad wasn’t going to live on a beach in Thailand forever.

Restless, he stood up and peered out the window, glancing at the hospital grounds. This was where Sky had been born. Most of all the hospital surroundings made him think of his mother. Back in Dublin, she’d died in the Oncology ward, slipping away unexpectedly, clutching his hand and whispering incoherent words.

Surreal, a different hospital and a different land, and yet undeniably familiar. The very nature of the place crowded his mind with memories.

“Rory?”

Snapping back to the moment, Rory turned toward the voice.

Rowan, Sky’s sister, was coming toward him.

“Rowan, hello. How’s the patient?”