Heller's Regret (25 page)

“What kinds of things do you do there?” asked
Daniel.

“Basic consultations and checkups,
vaccinations, pre- and ante-natal care, eye tests, blood tests. You
get the idea.”

“That’s very decent of you, Dr Kincaid,” I
said, feeling awful about being the one responsible for ruining his
day off. “I’m sorry, and please apologise to your partner for
me.”

He sighed so heavily, I felt his minty breath
waft over me. “No point in being sorry, Miss. You’re sick at the
moment. You need care, so both of you listen up.”

As he machine-gunned instructions at us,
Daniel hastily scribbled them down in a notepad. The doctor gave me
a shot of strong antibiotics and wrote a prescription for more
antibiotics. He handed it to Daniel.

“This has to be filled today. I’ve given her
three repeats and I want her to take every last one of them.”

Daniel nodded. “What about that wound on her
forehead?”

The doc peeled off the dressing and felt the
huge lump. “You weren’t satisfied with just getting a serious
infection, were you? You had to do this too.” He cleaned the wound,
which had stopped bleeding, but still hurt like hell. “I’ll give
you another script for some forte paracetamol which will help with
the pain, and the fever. Here’s a couple to take now.” I swallowed
them down. “Change into something more comfortable while I take
Daniel out to the lounge room to discuss the details of your
care.”

I slipped into my pyjamas and slowly and
shakily made my way to the bathroom to use it and brush my teeth,
holding on to any solid surface to support me as I walked. I’d love
to have a shower, but I didn’t have the energy. I flopped back into
bed and crawled under the covers.

Daniel joined me when the doctor left. “The
doc said I had to stay close to you tonight because you’re so
fevered.” He kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed. He held my
hand and kissed my forehead. “Tilly, you’re burning up. Do you want
a wet cloth?”

“Yes, please,” I mumbled.

He wet the washcloth and laid it across my
forehead. He’d also brought back a fresh bottle of water. “You need
to keep your fluids up. I’m going to sleep here on your bed on top
of the covers, if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course.”

“It’s a little early for me so I’ll watch
some TV for a while before I come in. Sleep well.” He kissed me
again, turned out the light, leaving the door open. I fell asleep
quickly, listening to the soft murmuring of the TV. At one point I
thought I heard the front door open and Niq’s quiet voice, but I
fell asleep then. I didn’t hear when Daniel came into my room for
the night.

During the night he had to wake me up to take
my temperature. “It’s still high,” he noted, writing it down on a
chart the doctor had given him. “I’ll give you some more
painkillers and you’re also due an antibiotic. Clive filled the
scripts for me, so I didn’t have to leave you.”

“You’re so lovely, Danny,” I said drowsily,
and while he went to get the tablets, I visited the bathroom,
splashing water on my face. I was far too pale and bruising from
the bump on my head had begun to spread out past the wound
dressing. All in all, I’d sure looked better in my life.

I giggled when Daniel came back into the
bedroom, carrying the tablets in a small, plastic medicine
measuring cup. He wore a t-shirt and loose cotton boxers as
pyjamas.

“What are you laughing at?” he smiled.

“You look cute in your pyjamas. I rarely get
to see your legs. You don’t show them very often.”

“There’s a reason for that,” he kept smiling.
“Look at them. They’re scary pale chicken legs.”

“You need some sun. You should get up to the
rooftop more.”

“If you’re up to it, why don’t we both do
some sunbaking tomorrow? Clive’s given me time off work until
you’re better. We can have a mini-holiday up there, watching the
clouds drift by.” He fed me the tablets and watched like a hawk
until I swallowed them.

“Sounds like a date,” I smiled, snuggling
down under my blankets again.

He climbed into to bed and turned to face me,
taking hold of my hands. “Okay, then. Let’s make it happen.” He
turned off the lamp next to him.

“Night, Danny. I love you.”

“I love you too, Tilly. Sleep well for the
rest of the night.” A minute later, he said, “I think I better get
a blanket. It’s a bit cool tonight.”

“Just get under the covers. I don’t want you
to be cold.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m going straight back to sleep.”

The next thing I knew a dressed and showered
Daniel woke me gently. “Time for more temperature taking and
tablets. You should have something to eat.”

“I don’t want to. I just want to sleep for
now.” I staggered to the bathroom and back to bed, falling asleep
immediately, not waking until midday.

Niq and Daniel were playing chess when I came
out.

“Chess?”

“Niq thinks he’s a potential world
champion.”

“He’s too scared to put down some money on
it.”

“Niq, I don’t think you should bet on chess,”
I said. “It doesn’t seem in the spirit of the game.”

Daniel stood up. “Niq, you make Tilly some
breakfast while I prepare her medications.”

“What about the game?” Niq protested.

“It’s not going anywhere. We’ll pick it up
later. This game’s as slow as watching grass grow, especially as
you take a whole ten minutes to make each move. I’m bored out of my
brain.”

“I’m being strategic, just like any master
player.” He went into the kitchen. “The doctor’s left a list of
food we have to feed you from.” He read out all the breakfast
choices. “So what do you feel like?”

None of them excited me. “Scrambled eggs,
made with two eggs. And a piece of toast.”

He bustled about and then stopped forlornly.
“I don’t know how to make scrambled eggs.”

“Oh, brother,” said Daniel. “You give Tilly
her tablets instead.”

He brought them over with a glass of orange
juice brimming to the top so that he spilled a bit with each step.
“Sorry.”

“That’s okay, because you’re going to clean
it up,” I smiled, swallowing the tablets.

Grumbling, he grabbed a clean dishcloth and
scrubbed at the orange stains on my carpet. “I hate doing
housework.”

“Everybody does,” I said. “That’s why it’s
called house
work
, not house
fun
.”

He stopped mopping and considered. “I never
thought of that before. It makes a lot of sense.”

After breakfast we lounged on the rooftop.
The painkillers had really kicked in and I even managed a smile.
“Niq, we don’t get to see your legs much either.”

He looked down at them admiringly. “Don’t
know why. They’re awesome.”

“That’s what you’re doing wrong, Danny.
You’re not loving your legs enough.”

He laughed and examined his legs. “Too many
scars for them to be loveable.”

“I love them,” I declared loyally.

“You love everything about Daniel,” Niq
huffed.

“I love everything about you too,
pipsqueak.”

“Don’t call me pipsqueak. I’m a
man
,
not a six-year-old.”

I didn’t let his teenage sensitivity bother
me. “I bet you were a really cute six-year-old.”

“I was, even though I was half-starved and
dirty,” he said modestly. “But not as cute as I am now.”

“You sure don’t lack self-confidence,
kid.”

“I grew up without any confidence, but
Heller’s taught me to be proud of myself.”

“He’s good like that,” I agreed.

“Tilly,” he started, almost if hesitant to
continue. “Do you think one of these days Heller won’t come back
from his new jobs?”

“Niq, no, I don’t. Why would you ask that,
sweetie?”

“Because I was so disobedient lately. I’m
afraid that he’ll just decide he’s tired of caring for me and will
just walk away from here all because of me.”

“Niq,” I reached over to grab his hand.
“Heller isn’t ever going to abandon you or the Warehouse.”

“Niq,” Daniel said quietly. “I was a million
times worse than you when I was fifteen. I put the hell in to
Heller’s life. I stole from him, I swore at him, I tried to argue
with him, I spat at him, I ran away again and again and I
frequently came home drunk and off my head on drugs, ready to fight
and throw a few weakling punches at him. But he never gave up on me
once, even though he lost his cool a couple of times. And he’ll
never give up on you either. His patience, when it comes to us, is
endless. That’s one of the things I really love about him.”

Niq seemed consoled by his words.

The doctor poked his head around the doorway.
“There you are. You don’t make my life any easier when you hide
from me,” he grumbled. “I don’t have the time to chase you around
the building.”

“I wasn’t hiding. We just decided to get some
sun.”

“I suppose that’s a good idea,” he conceded
unwillingly. “Now, Daniel, how has her temperature been? And is she
taking the tablets as I instructed?”

“The temperature has gone down a little, but
only a little. And all tablets taken as instructed.”

“Good. Let’s look at that arm.” He unwrapped
the bandage. “Not much has changed here, but that’s to be
expected.”

He commenced cleaning the wounds, wiping away
the fresh pus. Daniel had to look away, but Niq pulled his chair
closer to watch in fascination.

“That’s so gross,” he exalted.

Clive stepped through the doorway and looked
on impassively as the doctor worked. When he noticed how avidly Niq
was watching, he sent him downstairs again.

“I don’t recall giving you the day off. In
fact, I remember that you have two assignments due next week. Get
moving back to the office now.”

Grumbling about the unfairness of life, Niq
slouched off, his hands jammed in his pockets.

Clive asked gruffly, “How’s she doing?”

“I’m still trying to decide whether or not to
send her to hospital.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“I’m getting a bit tired of you people.”
Clive just stared at him, not budging in his opinion. “Sometimes I
wonder if some of you really care about her health at all.”

“That’s insulting,” Clive replied flatly.

“I’m not coming back for a few days because
I’m busy, but I trust Daniel to let me know if there are any
drastic changes. I’ll ring him a couple of times to check when I
get a chance.” He scribbled off another prescription, before
decisively clipping up his ancient bag. “This is for some
antibacterial cream to rub directly on the wounds. Don’t use your
fingers. Use a cotton bud. We have to keep these wounds as sterile
as possible.”

“Make sure you do everything he says,” Clive
warned, following behind as the doctor flounced away down the
stairs.

“He’s such a barrel of laughs,” I said to
Daniel when he was safely out of hearing range.

Daniel laughed. “He has absolutely no sense
of humour at all.”

“Does he have any social life? Any
friends?”

“Not as far as I know. Heller and Sid are his
only friends.”

“No girlfriends?”

“Nope.”

“Do you think he’s gay?”

“Nope. I honestly think he’s asexual. And if
he’s had any kind of bromance in his life, it’s with Heller. He
worships Heller. In that respect, he’s completely different to Sid,
no matter how much they look alike.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sid’s a randy bugger.”

“Really?” I asked, gobsmacked. “I never would
have guessed it.”

“He’s very discreet and obviously he doesn’t
bring women back here. I doubt many people around this place would
know what he’s up to at nights.”

“You can count me in that crowd of people who
didn’t know. Anyway, how do
you
know?”

He smiled mysteriously, something he must
have learned from Heller. “I know everything around here.”

“How?”

“I keep my ears open, my mouth closed, and I
visit a lot of areas in the building every day, talking to people.
People trust me because I’m not a gossip.”

“I trust you.”

“I trust you too. You’re no gossip
either.”

“Thanks for looking after me, Danny. I really
do appreciate it. I don’t want to go back to hospital.”

“Nobody wants you in hospital.”

We lay back, enjoying the sun.

“I wonder where Heller is. I miss him so
much. I wish he’d at least ring me. It’s growing harder for me to
believe he cares at all when he disappears all the time, and
sometimes when I really need him.”

“I’d never say this to anybody else, and I
probably shouldn’t even say this to you because it will upset you,
but sometimes I’m with Niq. I wonder if Heller feels as though he
achieved what he set out to do with this business and he’s ready to
move on to a new challenge. And that’s why he’s doing these
jobs.”

“You’re right. That upset me.” I stood,
preparing to leave.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I just feel like I’m getting a
little burnt in the sun. You should come inside too.”

“Yes.” He touched my arm. “Tilly, I really am
sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s okay, Danny. You didn’t say anything I
haven’t been thinking anyway.”

We went inside, more subdued than we’d been
before.

Chapter 19

My recovery seemed very slow to me, even
though I followed the doctor’s orders precisely and rested a lot. I
missed Heller enormously, feeling lonely without him.

I started feeling much better after about two
and a half weeks, Dr Kincaid very pleased that the antibiotics had
worked so well. My fever had gone and my wounds were no longer
swollen and inflamed, though still red and apt to bleed if
accidently bumped. I had lots more energy and was able to do most
things by myself.

One day Clive drove me to the police station
to finish providing my statement about the necklace heist. The
detectives were close-mouthed, not giving me any clues about what
had happened to Jaegar or Francine. I cornered Farrell, hoping he’d
heard something more about the case.