Another Chance (17 page)

“It’s no problem, and if you’ll excuse me I’ll get going and let you get on with your evening. Thanks for dinner, Cassie.”

“You’re welcome,” she murmured.

Patrick drove home torn. If he was any type of real friend, he would cut ties and not go back. He couldn’t act on his feelings, not now. Mark was dying, and Cassie needed a friend not someone who lusted after her. He had to be there for her, and he had to ignore the feelings that seeing her again had stirred up. It was going to be difficult.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Soon Patrick was travelling to see them every weekend, often staying the night. The more time he spent with Sophie, the more he thought she could be his daughter. There were a lot of similarities, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he was looking for them.

Cassie was warming to him; at least that’s how it seemed. She was grateful for any information that he shared with them, but Mark was slowing down and in a significant amount of pain at times, so what was happening was obvious.

Mark as usual was defiant, refusing to give in to the pain, and though he was no longer working he refused to allow it to incapacitate him.

He would see Cassie franticly writing in the journal she had brought and he wondered what she was writing though it was private.

Mark’s business was for sale, he had regular clients to work for, and it would be worth some money for Cassie. She was all that mattered to him now, and he was trying his best to ensure her and Sophie’s future. It was heartbreaking watching them.

Cassie was strangely calm about the whole thing now, but Patrick recognised that was how she was coping. She was almost on autopilot with the only time she showed emotion when she was in Mark’s arms, or when Sophie was around. The love she had for both of them was so intense that Patrick envied both Mark and Sophie for it. He remembered a time when he had that love.

Patrick tried to help Mark with his pain management. He hid it well, but Patrick saw his discomfort better than Cassie, which was a blessing. While he wasn’t acting in any capacity as a doctor for Mark, he kept Mark’s doctor up to date with what he was observing. Mark was going downhill, and things were speeding up. He refused to spend any time in hospital.

“It’s time we talked,” Mark said. He was confined to the house now and getting weaker all the time.

Cassie had left Patrick to take care of him while she got a break and went to get groceries. “I agree. It’s time you got more help to manage your illness.”

“That’s not what I want to talk about.”

“I know you won’t talk about it in front of Cassie and things are much worse than you are letting on.”

Mark shook his head. “There’s nothing to talk about. Things will happen as they’re supposed to.”

“For heavens sake, Mark, your illness will continue to progress, but you need to take better care of yourself. I know you don’t want to admit how bad it is for Cassie but do it for yourself.”

“Patrick, I appreciate you being here. It’s been reassuring to have a doctor around. I don’t have much longer but I need to know you’ll take care of her when I’m gone.”

“What are you asking me?”

“I’m not stupid. You look at her the same way I do. As if she’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your life. Because she is. That gorgeous young woman is the love of my life, and it rips me apart to be leaving her, but I’ll be leaving her in good hands. If you stick around for her.”

“Mark, Cassie and I have history. I can’t even think about her in that way with you around. Besides, when this is all over who knows what she’ll want. She could throw me out on my ear.”

“She’s far too good for that, Patrick and you know it. Whatever happened between you two is in the past, but you’re a good man. I can see that. And from where I’m sitting you love her as much as I do, I can see that too.”

“I can’t deny that seeing her again has stirred up emotions. There was a time I thought we were in love.”

“Then be there for her when I’m gone. Be what she needs you to be, whether a friend…” Mark swallowed hard as if the words about to come out of his mouth were a struggle to get out. “Or a lover.”

“Mark, that’s not even on the radar. What I want to do is be here to support all of you, help you get through this as much as Cassie and Sophie.”

“Sophie. She’s a good girl. Take care of her too.”

“If that’s what Cassie wants I promise I will do everything in my power to take care of them.”

“I said it before, and I’ll say it again. You’re a good man, Patrick Cross.”

“Let’s hope you have much more time to come, Mark.”

“There’s one more thing you could do for me.”

“What’s that?”

“Get me a beer, I’m parched.”

Patrick laughed. There was still life in Mark yet.

On arriving home, Cassie found them drunk and roaring with laughter over anything and everything. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Love, come and have a drink with us.”

“You’ve had enough and Patrick should have known better than to let you get like this.”

“It’s not going to kill me love, too late for that.”

She chewed her lower lip as tears welled up in her eyes. Patrick stopped laughing and put his drink down. “Cassie, I’m sorry. Mark wanted a drink, and it led to another one. Then we found some rugby on TV and got to chatting, and it got a little out of hand.” He felt guilty now, she was visibly upset, and that was the last thing he wanted.

“Are you going to stand there all day, Cassandra? Come and sit with me.” The look on Cassie’s face was hard to judge now. It was as if she wanted to be angry, but struggled with the urge to yell at her terminally ill partner. She sighed and sat on the couch beside him. Mark leaned towards her and kissed her, laughing as she pulled a face at the smell of the beer. “Sorry love.”

“This isn’t going to help.”

“Probably not.” He agreed and grinned again.

She rolled her eyes, shifting her gaze to Patrick. “You’re not going anywhere tonight are you?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

Cassie stood up. “I’ll start dinner. At the very least, I need to get some food into you two.”

“She takes such good care of me, does my Cassie,” said Mark.

“I can see that.” Patrick met Cassie’s eye.

For the first time, she cracked a smile, not a small one but a grin that had them both laughing. “That’s my girl,” Mark said. Cassie shook her head at both of them before turning towards the kitchen.

This was weird. Patrick being back her life was one thing, now Mark was bonding with him. She was glad he found some companionship. Many of Mark’s friends had deserted them since Mark had been diagnosed, not wanting to deal with his illness.

It was difficult to leave the following day. Patrick and Mark were getting along great, and it had felt good for him to be there to support Cassie. She was struggling with what was happening, and although she tried to keep her feelings to herself, Mark encouraged her to let it out.

Patrick watched her several times sitting in the corner, writing in her journal. He hurt for her. To see Cassie go through this was harder than he ever thought it would be. All the feeling he had ever had for her came welling to the surface, and although his head told him to keep his distance, his heart fought for him to be there for her. Patrick let his heart win.

His house seemed empty after spending the weekend with them, and he went to sleep early rather than deal with the silence. At least work would keep him occupied tomorrow.

It was late, and Patrick was closing up the clinic. Travelling back and forwards to support Mark and Cassie was taking its toll and he had been catching up on the paperwork he was behind on. Thankfully his workload hadn’t been too crazy lately and even though he was working his mind kept wandering to Cassie.

Finally finished, he wandered out into the reception area of the clinic and was surprised to see Melody behind the desk. “I thought it was just me working late,” he said.

She seemed so shy he was sure she would melt at the words, but she beamed a dazzling smile at him which for some reason made him uncomfortable. “Doctor Cross, I stayed behind to see you.”

His mouth went dry, remembering his previous thought that the last thing he needed was another obsessed teenager. “Really? It’s time to go home, Melody. No point in hanging around here.”

“It was the only way I could get you alone.”

He didn’t get it, this was not the girl that was usually behind the desk, she had grown much more confident. “Now I’m going home alone so you’ll need to get out of here too.”

She moved around the desk, and he realised the lower half of her body was already naked, and she was unbuttoning her shirt to reveal the top half.

“Melody, this isn’t appropriate,” he said as she approached. She was gorgeous, long dark hair and those big brown doe eyes that looked straight into his right now. Her shirt was off and she was right in front of him, pressing her body to his.

“I’m not looking for anything serious. You’re hot, and I bet you could fuck me really good.” The way she talked reminded him of Bethany Stone. She was after sex, nothing else. His body reacted to hers, it was so hard not to when he could smell her arousal.

All he had to do was tilt his fingers, and they would be inside her, inside that wetness he knew was there. The thought of sliding into her made him hard. He closed his eyes while his head screamed to walk away, and he thought of Cassie, his beautiful Cassie and what she was going through. It was her that he wanted, not this girl and not this way.

“No,” he said softly.

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure. Melody, get dressed and go home. I won’t say anything to Angela about this, it’s not worth losing your job over.”

She pouted. “Angela said it’s been a long time since you had a girlfriend. I thought you might like to fuck.”

“I would. Not like this and not you. It’s not personal, Melody. I’m in love with someone else, and while I’m in for a long wait for her, I’m not going to risk screwing it up by sleeping with someone else.”

She looked embarrassed now. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, go and get dressed, and I’ll drive you home if you want.”

“Thanks,” she said, sounding disappointed.

Going home, he got straight into the shower and took care of the hard on he’d ended up with. The combination of her young body pressed against him, and thoughts of Cassie had given him yet another erection that he had no option but to sort out himself. It was Cassie who filled his thoughts in the shower though, and he swallowed his guilt at wanting Mark’s girlfriend as he called her name with every stroke.

The phone was ringing, somewhere in the distance and he grabbed a towel on the way out to the bedroom.

“Patrick?” Cassie’s voice wavered, and he knew instantly that there was something wrong.

“Hey, Cassie. What’s going on?”

“Mark’s bad, really bad. The doctor wants him to go to hospital, but he’s refusing. I’m really sorry to bother you, but I was hoping that you could talk some sense into him.” The words were almost whispered, the desperation in her voice evident.

“Sure thing, I’ll throw some things in a bag and drive down. See you in a couple of hours.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” The relief in her voice was music to his ears. She thought he might have some influence where she wouldn’t.

“Anything you need, remember?”

She was pacing when he got there, and he imagined that her nails were shredded the way she chewed them. “Where’s Mark?”

“In bed. The doctor is in with him now organising some better pain relief, but is still trying to talk him into going to the hospital.”

Patrick put his hands on her shoulders. “Cassie, he’ll do what he wants to do. I don’t know if I can change his mind about this.”

“I know. I wanted you here. It makes me feel better having a doctor in the house. Especially when we’re so close to the end.”

“Oh sweetheart.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “I’ll clear my schedule for the next few days, stay here if you want me to.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“I’ll do it. I would prefer be here to support you and Mark, than you be alone.”

“Sophie’s here too.”

“Cassie. Do you want me here or not?”

“I guess. I’m sorry, it must seem I’m a total flake. You’ve been so good to Mark, Sophie and me. If this is the end, I want you to be here with us.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Then I’ll stay. If nothing happens after a few days then I’ll go home again, and you call me when you need me.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

The doctor walked into the living room. “He’s still refusing to go to the hospital. I’ll give you a prescription for something to help his pain to fill in the morning.”

“Doctor Robinson, this is my friend Doctor Patrick Cross. He’ll be staying with us for the next few days.”

“Good to meet you in person.” Doctor Robinson shook Patrick’s hand. “I’m glad for that at least. He’s sinking fast.”