Rescued by Dr. Rafe (13 page)

‘Force of habit. Never let a meal break pass you by. They called you?'

‘Yep. Said they were waking her up. The doctor said she might not be fully conscious until lunchtime.'

‘Probably not. Everyone takes their own time.'

‘I remember when I woke up in the ICU...' He saw Charlie's hand fist around the wheel of his chair.

‘I know that was a very rough time for you, but you were badly injured, Charlie. It'll be a lot easier for Mimi. Remember that.'

Charlie took a breath. ‘I will. Thanks.'

‘She'll be drowsy, and she might well be uncomfortable. But this is a real step forward.' Charlie had been looking to him for advice and Rafe had been careful to keep his expectations realistic, but at the same time stay positive. He knew that Charlie's worst fears were grounded in his own experience.

‘When should we go up, then?'

‘I reckon an hour or so. They'll let you in early if they're waking her.'

Charlie narrowed his eyes. ‘What's with the
you
? You're not coming?'

‘She's...' Rafe shrugged. ‘It's you she wants to see, mate.'

‘Right. You two were arguing, weren't you?'

‘Yeah.' Every time Rafe thought about it, it was as if a knife had been slid into his heart.

‘More than you were when you first turned up?' Charlie grinned.

‘A lot less than that, actually. In fact we were in complete agreement...' In the last three days the dogged determination that she was going to get better had overwhelmed everything else. But now... The sadness that Rafe had felt on their last morning together, when they'd both known it was over but hadn't been able to say the words, washed back over him.

She was waking up. And he had to go.

‘You and Mimi broke up again, didn't you?' Charlie's voice was heavy with resignation.

‘Well...we were never together, so it follows that we couldn't have...'

‘Oh, for crying out loud. So you were never together, which is none of my business anyway, but you still managed to break up. Only you and Mimi could do that.'

‘It's complicated.'

‘Yeah, I don't doubt that for a minute.' Charlie was squeezing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger. ‘But I'd really appreciate it if you'd wait with me. I need some company...'

Charlie seemed suddenly on edge. As close to panic as Rafe had seen him since the difficult days when he'd had to come to terms with the fact that he wouldn't walk again. This was the one thing that Rafe had feared, and the only thing that could persuade him to stay.

‘I'll stay for as long as you want. She'll be okay, you'll see.'

‘Yeah.' Charlie took a deep breath. ‘I know. Thanks.'

‘Let's have some coffee. There's plenty of time, and I could do with a cup.' Rafe's limbs were aching with fatigue, but the thought of a few more precious moments with Mimi made sleeping out of the question. Just as long as he left before she woke.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
HEY
SAT
AT
Mimi's bedside as she slept. Charlie had moved from his wheelchair to the perching stool which he had brought from home, the extra height allowing him to lean over and see Mimi's face, but after half an hour Rafe persuaded him to sit back down again and save his strength for when she was awake.

They talked, one on each side of the bed. Speaking quietly about the weather, how it had stopped raining. The wheelchair basketball league, the best beer gardens. Anything and everything, so that she might hear their voices.

‘So some of us were thinking we'd have the basketball club crest tattooed on our arms. Only we don't actually have a club crest, so we'd have to get one first. And no one can agree on what to have...'

‘Don't do that.'

Charlie suddenly fell silent. Mimi's voice had been quiet but clear, and when Rafe glanced at her she seemed to be sleeping still. Charlie rapidly hoisted himself to his feet, twisting urgently towards the perching stool, but he slipped and ended up on the floor.

Now was no time to stand back and let Charlie deal with it. Rafe rounded the bed, keeping his gaze on Mimi's face, and offered his hand. Charlie gripped hold of him, swinging himself up and finding the stool.

‘Mimi. No tattoos, I promise. Just wake up... Please...' Charlie leaned over her, his knuckles white on the bed's safety rails.

She lay unresponsive. This was agony.

‘She might be like this for a while, Charlie. It's quite...' Rafe stopped short as Mimi's eyelids fluttered. They'd done this before and she'd drifted back to sleep. But this time...

She opened her eyes.

Tears spilled suddenly from Charlie's eyes and he lifted Mimi's hand to his lips. Mimi blinked a couple of times and licked her lips.

‘Dry... Rafe...'

Rafe had told himself that he would leave as soon as Mimi showed any signs of waking, and let Charlie have this moment, but when he heard her say his name he couldn't help it. He leaned over the bed, careful not to obscure her view of her brother.

‘Mimi...? Welcome back, honey. You want some water?'

‘Yes... Tell Charlie...'

‘You can tell him yourself. He's right here.' Rafe turned, brushing away his own tears as he reached for the beaker of water.

‘No tattoos. I promise...' Charlie was babbling almost incoherently on the other side of the bed, and Mimi batted her hand as if to shut him up. Rafe dipped a swab into the water, holding it against the side of her mouth.

‘Good... More...'

Rafe handed the water to Charlie. ‘Careful. Don't let her drink just yet. A drop of water on the swab, just to moisten her lips.'

‘Yes. Thanks, mate.' Rafe watched as Charlie carefully brushed the swab against Mimi's lips.

‘My legs... Can't move...' She moaned, shifting restlessly in the bed, and Rafe stroked the side of her face to quiet her, the way he'd done so many times in the last three nights.

‘You have a fractured ankle and it's in plaster. But it'll mend.'

‘Snake...'

Rafe exchanged a glance with Charlie. He hadn't realised that Mimi had known about the snake. An image of her, underwater and alone, struggling for air and feeling the snake coil around her leg and bite her...

‘I know. That's all been dealt with. You're in the hospital and you're safe, Mimi. No snakes here.' He wondered whether he should make the point by checking under the bed, but Mimi's eyes were closed now and she wouldn't see him. The thought that she'd faced terrors in her sleep made him want to wade into her dreams and protect her from whatever her unconscious mind could throw at her.

She seemed to calm, drifting somewhere between awake and asleep. Then she moaned again, her eyelids fluttering.

‘Got to go to work...'

Charlie looked helplessly at Rafe. ‘What's the matter with her?' He mouthed the words silently.

‘She's okay, just a bit confused. You were just the same when you woke up.' Rafe smiled reassuringly.

‘Was I?' Charlie shook his head. ‘I don't remember that...'

‘What's the time? Got to go...' Mimi's eyes were still closed but she was trying to raise her head from the pillow.

‘It's your day off. No work today. Just rest.' Rafe took hold of her reaching hand and she quietened again.

‘Good. Tired...'

Charlie leaned over the bed, his shaking fingers brushing her cheek the way Rafe's had earlier. He seemed to be getting the idea of what he needed to do now. ‘You can go back to sleep for a while, Mimi. Just rest. We'll be here when you wake up again.'

She heaved a sigh and then lay still again, drifting away from them, back to sleep. They watched her for almost an hour as she slept peacefully. Rafe knew she'd be waking again soon, and that this time she'd be more lucid. And he knew what he had to do.

Slipping his watch off his wrist, he looked at it one last time and smiled. Then he held it out to Charlie. ‘Give her this.'

Charlie stared at him. ‘You're going, aren't you?'

‘I'll be downstairs.'

‘But... Don't you want...?'

More than anything. He wanted to see Mimi wake up, hold her hand and talk to her. ‘I think...it's time for me to take a back seat, Charlie. Mimi and I made our decision, and it's best if I don't hang around now.'

Charlie seemed to be turning it over in his mind. Then he took the watch, his thumb grazing the glass over the lucky sixpence. ‘I'll make sure this gets back to you...'

‘No, I...' Giving something that Mimi knew was precious to him was the only way that Rafe knew of showing that he did care. That he hadn't just walked away, the way he'd done the last time.

‘She should keep it; it'll bring her luck.' Rafe forced a grin. ‘And she'll be able to check the time when she wakes up and thinks she needs to go to work.'

‘Okay. I'll give it to her. You'll be in the canteen?'

‘Yeah. Come down and let me know how she's doing? I'll wait.'

‘Sure. I'll be down later.'

* * *

Charlie had found him in the canteen and Rafe had listened, greedily absorbing every detail of how Mimi had woken again and what she'd said. Rafe had extracted a promise from him, to call if there was anything he could do, and walked to Charlie's car with him, dangling his own car keys in a vain attempt to convince himself that he too was going to get into his car and drive away.

He'd told himself that he would just go up and check with the doctor on her progress. That she'd be sleeping now, and that if he looked in on her one last time she'd never know.

The doctor had told him that they'd tried to take the watch from her, but that Mimi had protested so fiercely that he had relented. The watch had been carefully folded inside an elastic bandage, and she had been allowed to keep it on her wrist. Drawn in, he sat beside her bed, watching her sleep.

‘Rafe...?' He'd been staring at her wrist, wondering if the watch was too heavy for her to wear it like that, and he hadn't seen her eyelids open. But in the half-light he could see her gaze now, fixed on him.

‘Everything's okay, Mimi. Go back to sleep.'

Her lips twitched into a smile. ‘Again? That's all you ever say to me...'

She'd heard him. Those long nights when he'd wondered if she knew he was there. Rafe blinked back the tears.

‘I'm thirsty...'

‘Okay.' He operated the controls to raise the head of the bed. Then he poured some water into a glass, letting her take some water through a straw. ‘Better?'

‘Thanks. That's good.' Her fingers found the elastic bandage around her wrist, plucking at it. ‘I'll take good care of this.'

He'd wondered whether she would try to give it back to him. The fact that she didn't, that she wanted to keep it, made his heart swell with happiness.

‘It's supposed to be taking care of you. When it comes to good luck, you can't beat a sixpence.'

‘No. You can't.' Her eyelids fluttered and Rafe thought they were closing, but then she shifted in the bed, turning her head to look at him. ‘You should go home. Get some sleep.'

‘I will. In a minute.' When she was asleep. It hurt to even think about getting up and walking away and although there were many things he wished he could share with Mimi, the pain of parting wasn't one of them.

‘Thank you for staying, Rafe. I would have been...so lonely...'

He brushed the tear from her cheek, forcing a smile. ‘I was at a loose end...'

‘Yeah. Me too.' She became suddenly agitated. ‘You should go now. I want you to go home...'

This was the one thing that Rafe had hoped to avoid. He took her hand, soothing her. ‘It's okay, I know. We made a decision and I'm honouring that.'

‘Thank you.' She yawned, clapping her hand over her mouth. ‘Didn't mean to do that...'

Rafe chuckled despite himself. ‘I know you didn't. One thing before you go back to sleep. I want you to call me if you need me. Any time. Will you promise?'

‘I can't...' She furrowed her brow, as if she was trying to remember why. ‘My phone...'

Rafe turned, sliding open the drawer which held her personal bits and pieces. Her phone was inside, but smashed so badly that it was practically broken in half.

‘Your phone's broken. So you'll have to get Charlie to call if you need me. Will you do that?'

She nodded. ‘Promise.'

‘Good. Go to sleep now, Mimi.'

‘Yes. I'm...tired.'

She yawned again, and then seemed to settle. Rafe waited. He'd seen enough people pretending to be asleep or unconscious in A and E to know the difference, and Mimi wasn't making a very good job of it. Soon enough, though, the tension seemed to leave her body and she was really asleep.

Time to go. Rafe tried to come up with some parting words that he might whisper, something to sum up how he felt, but he couldn't. Leaning over, his lips formed the shape of a kiss, which didn't even touch her forehead for fear of waking her. Then, swiftly, he turned away.

* * *

Mimi heard the door close. Despite her jumbled thoughts and the almost irresistible desire to sleep, she knew that Rafe had left now.

He'd looked so tired. Despite that, she knew he would have stayed if she'd asked him, watching over her. But it was time now, and she'd wanted him to get some rest.

Her fingers felt for the watch on her wrist. Still there. The most precious thing he owned...

A great tide of fatigue overwhelmed her. She'd feel better in the morning. The lucky sixpence would see to that.

* * *

The watch had stayed on her wrist for the last eight days. It had gone with her from the ICU down to a general ward, and now it was going home with her. Mimi was dressed and sitting by her bed, waiting for Charlie to come and fetch her.

‘All set?' He was all smiles when he appeared at the door of the ward.

‘Definitely.' She'd been looking at Rafe's watch every five minutes. In addition to the clear message that it carried, it was also useful for telling the time.

‘Let's get out of here, then.' Charlie picked up her bag and laid it across his knees. ‘Matthew's outside with the car, and Jan's just rustling up a wheelchair for you.'

Mimi winced with embarrassment. ‘Sorry. It's all such a business...' Jan and Matthew's house was still drying out and they had given up Charlie's spare bedroom for Mimi. They'd be sleeping at her cottage now, and coming back to Charlie's during the day.

‘Oh, be quiet. It's a well-oiled machine, Mimi, so just sit back and watch the cogs go round.'

‘I'm beginning to regret giving you such a hard time when you got out of hospital. I can't wait to be able to get around by myself.' Mimi screwed her face up and Charlie laughed.

‘You were right.' He leaned forward, doing the mad scientist impression which had always made her laugh when they were kids. ‘Now, my pretty, I get my revenge.'

* * *

The cool breeze on her face was wonderful. It was as if the world had been waiting for her for the past two weeks and had spruced itself up for her return. The sun shone and the late summer sky was cloudless.

Mimi was installed on the sofa in Charlie's sitting room and Jan bustled off into the kitchen, reappearing with a bouquet in one hand and a parcel in the other. ‘These came for you this morning.'

Pink and white roses, with purple freesias for scent. Rafe. He knew she loved freesias.

‘I'll get a vase and some water so you can arrange them.' Jan put the flowers down on Mimi's lap and handed her a small white envelope.

She opened it with trembling fingers.

With love from everyone...

No. That wasn't right. Mimi realised her mistake with a stab of regret.

‘Who are they from?' Jan was watching her.

‘Oh... Everyone I used to work with.' A salt tear reached the stitches on her face and she snatched a tissue from the box on the table and dabbed it gingerly. ‘That's so nice of them.'

‘They're lovely.' Jan put the package down on the other end of the sofa and turned towards the kitchen.

Mimi reached for the parcel, trying to work up a bit of enthusiasm for it. Everyone had been so nice over the last couple of weeks, visiting her and sending cards. She'd known that Rafe wouldn't come. It would have only drawn out the sadness of knowing they were inevitably going to part.

But every step she'd made, coming out of the ICU, coming home, had been bittersweet because it was another step towards regaining a life that didn't include Rafe. Mimi shook her head and grabbed the package, taking her frustration out on the tape that secured it.

She almost gave up and left it for Charlie to undo when he came back with the tea. Everything seemed like an effort at the moment. But someone had taken the trouble to wrap it up and send it for her, and the least she could do was to show some interest.