A Rival to Steal Her Heart

by Annie Claydon

  ‘No, I imagine they don’t.’ Anna put her mind to the problem. ‘Well, we have another room that’s empty at the moment. If it makes Darren feel better then he can move to that one. And we can arrange for an extra bed if his mum would like to stay with him overnight.’

  Jamie nodded. ‘That would be great. His mum’s on her own and has younger children, but she has a sister who helps out. I can arrange for one of our outreach workers to go and stay with them if her sister can’t manage.’

  ‘Okay. We’ll do that, then. Anything else, apart from the custard? Does his leg hurt him?’

  Jamie smiled, pointing to the green list at the bottom of the page. ‘It hurts a bit but he says it’s okay. I took the liberty of checking...’

  Of course he had. But it felt less like a liberty and more like a helping hand. ‘That’s great, thanks.’

  Anna scanned the rest of the list. Nothing there, apart from the usual dislikes that everyone had of hospitals. ‘Perhaps you’d like to take Darren up to the roof garden this afternoon if he’d like a breath of fresh air. I think we have some binoculars somewhere, I’ll see if I can find them. He might like to do some sightseeing with them.’

  ‘I think he’d like that.’ Jamie shot her an uncertain look. It wasn’t like him to hesitate before he asked for something for one of his patients. ‘Are you...? Is someone going to be in Darren’s old room tonight?’

  ‘I doubt it, there are no new patients coming in today. We’re not going to fill it with garlic and brick up the door, though.’

  ‘Garlic’s for vampires.’ Jamie grinned suddenly. ‘They’re entirely different. If I’ve learned anything thing from Darren’s games, it’s that you need to be armed with the right weapon when you face any given opponent.’

  ‘Well, whatever the right weapon is, we’re not going to be using it. Darren’s a little boy in a strange place who thought he saw something.’

  ‘He told me exactly what he saw. More than once.’

  Anna puffed out a breath. She knew what Jamie was doing, and it was the right thing. He was listening to the most vulnerable person first, and believing what they said.

  ‘Jamie, you can go and look around the new room with him, and check it out. We need to do everything we can to put Darren’s mind at rest and help him to heal, but there’s no ghost. It’s all very well to believe what he says, but there has to be some filter of whether it’s actually credible or not.’

  Jamie gave her a reproachful look. If he could just wear contacts or dark glasses it might help. His moss-green eyes spoke to her on a level she couldn’t resist.

  ‘I filtered. I still can’t work out what he saw. You don’t believe in ghosts, then?’

  Anna shrugged. ‘I like to think I have an open mind. That doesn’t mean I won’t look for an explanation for something I don’t understand. And you’ve got too much time on your hands. If you want something useful to do, you can help us move him.’

  Darren’s mother arrived, and Jamie took her down to the coffee lounge to explain everything to her. Once she’d approved the plan, the new room was made ready for Darren. His things were gathered together, and then Jamie lifted him out of his bed, carrying him across the central nurses’ area, his mother walking alongside.

  Anna swallowed hard. The thing Darren most needed right now was love and care, and Jamie was giving him just that. He’d make a great dad. And she suspected that making babies with him would be an ultimate pleasure. One that she’d never enjoy. She turned her back, hurrying away.

  * * *

  ‘Everything okay?’ Anna had spent the evening in her office, doing a few jobs that could have waited. The ward was quiet now, and in darkness.

  ‘Yes, Darren settled down to sleep and his mum’s with him.’ The nurse gestured towards the closed door of Darren’s new room. Anna nodded, turning her gaze towards the half-open door of the room he’d occupied last night.

  ‘Is he there?’

  The nurse grinned and nodded. Anna walked towards the door, slipping inside the darkened room.

  ‘So you decided to try your hand at ghost-hunting, did you? Or do you just have nothing better to do on a Friday night?’

  Jamie’s smile was traced by light, filtering in from outside. Intimate in the shadows. Like the smile of a lover in the half-light.

  ‘I could ask you the same questions.’ He murmured.

  Anna wasn’t going to answer either of them. Particularly the one about having better things to do on a Friday night because she didn’t. She spent more evenings here than she liked to admit, and the clinic often felt more like home than her flat did.

  ‘You’re not going to stay here all night, are you?’ She wouldn’t put it past him. Jamie’s unswerving belief that Darren had seen something, and his determination to find out what, was mesmeric. Attractive in a way that moved her beyond any physical thrill.

  ‘It’s gone half eleven. I’m just curious, I’ll give it another hour and then I’ll go.’

  ‘And you’re absolutely sure that it wasn’t one of the nurses that Darren saw?’ Anna had privately made up her mind that that was the most likely explanation.

  ‘He told me twelve o’clock. The nurses make their rounds on the half hour and I checked the notes for last night. The nurse on duty wrote down when she’d checked on him.’

  ‘This is crazy, Jamie.’

  ‘Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.’

  He was calling her bluff. Jamie had slid a long bench across from under the window, and placed it as close as he could to the side of the bed, so that he’d get the same view of the room that Darren would have done last night. Anna sat down beside him, and they lapsed into companionable silence together for a few moments. The temptation to sink into the darkness with him was almost unbearable.

  ‘I heard there was an impromptu concert on the roof this afternoon. Jonny Campbell unplugged.’

  She heard Jamie chuckle quietly. ‘Yeah, I fetched a guitar from home for him, and asked if he’d like to play. It was a sell-out, we had a crowd of more than a dozen when the nurses’ shift changed.’

  ‘Not quite what Jon’s used to, then?’

  ‘It was a lot better than he’s been used to recently. Jon’s been talking about getting back to his roots, and he was enjoying it as much as Darren was. I think it meant something to him. Darren’s a brave kid, and making him smile helped Jon, too.’

  ‘It sounds like great therapy. For both of them.’ There were some things that the hospital couldn’t give to its patients, and this was one of them.

  ‘Darren’s mum was pretty thrilled as well. Jon sang “Everywhere” for her, and I took some pictures.’

  ‘You didn’t join in?’

  ‘Nah. We’re not quite there yet.’

  Making music together had been such a bond for Jamie and Jon. Maybe it was too much to expect of their fragile new relationship. ‘Next time maybe.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  She wanted so badly to touch him, to comfort him. Jamie had put all his own feelings aside and had turned his attention to helping Jon and Darren. He was making a great job of it for both of them, but at some point he was going to have to confront his own emotions. Anna moved her hand, laying it on Jamie’s arm in what she hoped would be construed as a friendly gesture of concern.

  She felt muscle flex beneath her fingertips. She should move away, but she couldn’t. Then she felt Jamie’s hand on hers as he leaned towards her. She could hardly breathe.

  ‘It’s nearly midnight. Are you frightened yet?’ He whispered the words in her ear.

  Terrified. Afraid of what might happen if she sat any longer with him in the darkness. The supernatural world had nothing that rivalled this for sheer, unthinking dread.

  Then she saw it. A pale figure that seemed to shimmer slightly on the other side of the room. Anna let out a gasp, feeling Jamie’s
arm move protectively around her shoulders. Suddenly she was clinging to him, feeling the beat of his heart quicken against her cheek. Then he let out a low chuckle.

  ‘So that’s it.’

  * * *

  Jamie didn’t have an extensive knowledge of ghost-hunting, and had always assumed that it was a ruse, intended to entice a girl closer. If that was the case, then this had unexpectedly worked like a charm. He’d assumed that his night-time vigil would be spent alone, but suddenly Anna had slid towards him and was in his arms.

  It was obvious now, what Darren had seen. But his first glimpse of the illusion had taken Jamie by surprise, and he’d automatically reached for Anna, seeking to protect her from the unknown.

  ‘It’s...um...a trick of the light.’

  ‘Yes, I can see that.’ Anna didn’t move away, though.

  It was proving extremely difficult to move away from her. The scent of her hair, and the feeling of having her close was driving him crazy. He almost wished that something fearsome and dreadful had appeared before them, so he could hold her a little closer.

  He drank in the feeling, knowing that it wasn’t going to last for long. Then she shifted in his arms and he let her go.

  ‘Had me fooled for a moment, though.’ He murmured the words and she nodded.

  ‘Yes. Me too.’

  And after that moment the shocked reaction had turned into an embrace. Jamie had wanted to hold her, and it had been very apparent that Anna had wanted it too. The thought was far more disturbing than anything that the night could throw at them.

  Jamie got to his feet, walking over to the door, and looking out. He saw it all now. ‘It’s the night nurse. She’s standing at the end of the counter at the nurses’ station in front of the work lamp so that she can read the notes before she goes on her rounds.’

  ‘And the light’s reflected in the mirror...’ Anna gestured towards the full-length mirror that was fixed to the bathroom door.

  ‘And then reflecting again on the screen of the TV...’ Jamie moved towards the large screen on the wall at the end of the bed. ‘The refraction is giving it an almost 3D quality.’

  ‘But why hasn’t anyone seen this before? This room’s generally occupied.’

  Jamie shrugged. ‘Maybe they’ve moved the work lamp. Or maybe because they left Darren’s door open last night to keep an eye on him, and usually the doors are closed.’

  The figure disappeared suddenly, and the door was pushed open. The ghost was standing in the doorway, an enquiring look on her face. Anna got to her feet.

  ‘Katya, come and sit over here. We’ve found our ghost.’

  The night nurse looked puzzled, but did as Anna bade her. Jamie decided to stay where he was. The idea of any other woman clinging to him, so soon after he’d felt Anna close, was unthinkable.

  He watched Anna walk over to the lamp, and motioned her to the side a little, so that she was standing in exactly the same place that Katya had been. Then he heard a gasp behind him.

  ‘What...! So he did see something.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Jamie’s eyes moved to the blurred figure reflected in the TV screen. This time it seemed a far more alluring ghost. ‘Did you move the lamp recently?’

  ‘Yes, we got a new one, and the lead wasn’t as long, it won’t stretch far enough so we can sit at the desk and read the notes. We were going to ask for an extension cable, but in the meantime I’ve been standing at the end of the counter...’ Katya’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Poor little Darren, no wonder he was so upset.’

  ‘Well, at least we’ve got to the bottom of it now.’ Jamie beckoned to Anna, and the form in the TV screen disappeared as she walked back to the doorway.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I thought he was just having nightmares, so I comforted him and sat with him until he went back to sleep.’ Katya’s mouth turned down. ‘I’ll move the lamp straight away.’

  ‘You couldn’t possibly have foreseen this, none of us did. And don’t move the lamp just yet...’ Anna flashed a look at Jamie, as if she already knew what he was about to say.

  ‘Yes, I’d like to show this to Darren in the morning. If that’s okay.’

  ‘Of course. I might even come and do a turn as the friendly ghost.’ Anna’s smile seemed luminous in the interplay of light and shade in the doorway, and Jamie wondered if Darren would see it too. A beautiful, friendly ghost. Who seemed intent on picking the pieces of his heart up and stitching them back together. It was complex surgery, and Jamie doubted that even Anna was equal to it. He was too broken, and there would always be a little chink missing that let in the doubts and the mistrust.

  But he could still walk Anna back down to her office. Still enjoy her scent, which, now that he’d noticed it, was more intoxicating than he’d ever imagined. And when she turned, flinging her arms around his neck and then retreating away from him almost as quickly, he felt his heart beating in his chest.

  ‘What was that for?’

  ‘Because you believed Darren.’ Anna gave a shrug. ‘I mean, we all believed that was what he thought he saw, and we took it seriously. But you believed him, and you found the answer.’

  The warmth of her praise was working its way through him. If it reached his heart he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kissing her. ‘I didn’t discount the idea that it might have been his imagination.’

  ‘But you waited up, all the same.’

  ‘Oh, and you’re not really here?’

  She wiggled her fingers and whoo-whooed at him, in a laughing impression of a ghost. ‘Maybe. Maybe not...’

  ‘So how are you getting home?’ Now that Jamie had betrayed the protective streak he felt for Anna, he may as well go the whole hog and not just fret about whether she got home safely.

  ‘I’ll call a cab. Would you like a lift?’

  ‘I’m only twenty minutes’ walk. I could do with the fresh air.’

  She made the call, and when the cab arrived, he walked her down to the main reception area and out into the street. Opening the back door of the car for her, he suppressed the impulse to warn the driver that he was carrying precious cargo and stepped back onto the pavement, watching as the cab drew away.

  A walk would do him good. The last few days had been all about trying to find something to say to Jon that would encourage him and make him feel better, and ignoring the elephant in the room. But Anna had turned everything that he’d thought he knew on its head, and made anything seem possible.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE SOUND OF raised voices came from Jon’s room. Anna supposed it was inevitable as Jamie and Jon couldn’t keep ignoring whatever it was that they’d argued about. But when she approached the door, she found that she’d been wrong. They seemed to be managing to ignore it and argue at the same time.

  ‘Hello...’ Anna pushed the door open a little further. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’

  They both looked up from the crossword they’d been discussing, and she thought she saw a flash of relief in Jamie’s eyes. ‘Hi. What are you doing here on a Saturday morning?’

  ‘I was going to help you show Darren his ghost, remember?’

  Jamie nodded. ‘The ward sister says that I can pull down the shades and try it out after lunch. She’s interested as well.’

  ‘So am I,’ Jon chimed in. ‘Poor little chap, he must have been frightened. Waking up like that and seeing things. I’m glad you managed to explain it for him.’

  There was a note of sadness in Jon’s voice. Anna wondered what the silent hours of the night had held for him. Demons, maybe, fuelled by exhaustion and depression. She smiled, sitting down opposite Jon.

  ‘How are you today?’

  Jon shook off his reverie. ‘Okay. Thirteen down’s giving us a bit of a problem.’

  Anna picked up the paper, examining the crossword. ‘Humerus.’

  ‘Of course!’ Jon took
the paper, filling in the word. ‘You should have got that one, Jamie. What’s the point of medical school if you don’t know the name for a clown’s arm?’

  ‘Upper arm, technically.’ Jamie frowned. His mood seemed to have darkened suddenly. Anna put the folder containing her notes down on the table, and decided she should get down to business.

  ‘I wanted to talk to you about your arm, Jon.’ She glanced at Jamie and he gave her a questioning look, then got the message.

  ‘Okay, I’ll leave you both to it, then.’ He got to his feet.

  ‘Stay.’ For a moment there was an imploring look in Jon’s eyes, but it was quickly masked. ‘You never know, you might learn something.’

  Jamie ignored the jibe, and sat down again. ‘If that’s okay.’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Anna settled the matter as firmly as she could. ‘So how is the burn feeling now, Jon?’

  ‘Okay. It doesn’t itch so much.’

  ‘Yes, I’m happy with the way that the cream has helped moisturise the skin and take down some of the inflammation.’

  ‘You’ll be doing the procedure soon?’ Jon’s restless anxiety was never far from the surface and he shifted in his seat.

  ‘That’s what I’d like to talk to you about. You’ve already had a couple of sessions with our counsellor, and Dr Lewis has prescribed medication for depression. In view of that, and the fact that you’re also very run down, we both think it would be best to postpone any surgery on your arm until we’ve tackled those important issues.’

  Jon frowned. ‘My arm’s a mess. Anyone would be depressed.’

  Anna had anticipated some resistance from Jon, and decided that the most straightforward answers were the best. ‘It’s normal to have feelings in reaction to an injury. But that’s not necessarily the same as depression.’

  Jon shook his head. ‘I want this done. I want rid of it.’

  ‘Anything we do to modify the scars on your arm and face will make them more painful in the short term—’