Shared Too (19 page)

We sat for an hour and a half. Eve chatted about her childhood, filling in the time and the silence by telling me about growing up as a military child, traveling the world and switching from school to school, then joining the army herself to do her general nurse training as soon as she was old enough. She told me about several long-term boyfriends, all of whom had been in the army, and how their relationships had fizzled out as work commitments separated them. It seemed for her distance didn’t make the heart grow fonder, she just became frustrated and forgetful and moved on. Eventually she’d left the armed forces to work for the NHS, wanting the stability of life as a civilian, but after climbing the ladder quickly because of her experience and military mind for organization, she now found herself traveling around at short notice again.

She shrugged and said it was obviously how her life was meant to be and she’d go with it until something else came along.

I told her about my childhood, which had been spent in its entirety in the Welsh Valleys, a safe, outdoors existence where everyone knew everyone’s name and kids were free to roam the woods and the fields from dawn ‘til dusk. She asked about how I’d met Liam and Quinn and I explained about the advertisement in the paper I’d seen after whistle-blowing on my cheating boss, Jed, and finding myself homeless in Cardiff.

“Wanted, girl to share” it had said. She giggled, a tinkling sound that made me smile, until I went on to describe how Jed had broken into the apartment and threatened us all with a knife several days later. The ensuing fight had been one of the most terrifying moments of my life, comparable only to how I was feeling right now.

A wheelchair appeared at the doorway and I jumped up. “Liam.” 148

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Eve stood from the bed as Liam got to his feet. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes tired and he had Band-Aids on the inside folds of his elbows. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Hey, baby,” he said with a half-smile. “Yeah, just fed up of being prodded and poked.”

“Come and lie down,” I said, pulling back the cover on the bed.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

“Seriously, Liam, you worked all night and half the day. It’s okay to be tired.” I knew why he didn’t want to get into a hospital bed, it would be like admitting he was ill again. “Come on,” I said more gently, “Lie down here, with me.” He nodded, yanked the hospital gown off, dropped it on the cabinet and climbed on the bed in his boxers.

Eve touched my arm. “Anything you need just let me know,” she said. “The nurses have my pager number.”

“Thanks.” I swallowed tightly. “And thanks for staying with me.”

“You’re welcome.” She turned and slipped from the room, shutting the door quietly.

Liam settled back onto the pillows. The skin on his broad chest looked even more golden against the stark white of the sheets. Quickly I toed off my shoes and slipped onto the bed next to him. It was probably against the rules but I didn’t care. He lifted his arm and I settled into the crook of his shoulder and spread my hand on his sternum.

His heartbeat was steady, his breaths slow and deep.

“I hate that damn scanner,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to my head. “It’s so claustrophobic.”

“Did they tell you anything?”

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“No, they just stabbed me, scanned me, tested my eyes. Quinn came into the MRI room and went over my reflexes with his little hammer then I didn’t see him again.” Liam paused. “He’s real mad that I didn’t tell him about the headache.”

“He’s just worried.” I circled the tip of my fingers through his chest hair. “And he doesn’t understand why you didn’t say anything.” Liam was silent.

“So, why didn’t you?”

“I told you, you both already had a lot to deal with, you with getting the girls and ponies ready for going back to school, Quinn had all this grant stuff going on and I knew he’d drop it all to see to me, then Eve burst onto the scene and caused chaos in our home.”

“But that’s all unimportant stuff compared to you, Liam.” I twisted my neck to look at his face. “Promise you’ll never keep something like this from me again. I love you, care about you. If something’s not right you have to tell me. I tell you all sorts of stuff.” He squeezed me closer. “Okay, I promise,” he said. “Although I did find a pretty good cure for the headaches since the girls went back.”

“Which was?”

“Making love to my wife.” His mouth stretched into a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes.

I sighed, kissed him just above his nipple then absorbed the heat and texture of his skin as I dropped my cheek onto his chest. “Close your eyes for a bit,” I said. “Catch up on the sleep you missed last night.”

He smoothed his hand up my arm and pulled me a little closer. “Yeah,” he said.

“I’ll try.”

I lay there for what felt like hours, listening to his heartbeat, feeling the gentle breeze of his breaths and looking at the feathery, golden hair that spread down from his sternum to his navel. His arm relaxed around me and I knew he was sleeping. I wanted 150

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to stay like this forever. If it was bad news I didn’t want to know. I wanted to hold on to this moment where it could all just go away. Where maybe Liam wasn’t sick and didn’t need surgery and drugs that made hell seem like a holiday on the beach.

The door quietly opened and I saw Quinn’s unshaven face peering in. Being careful not to disturb Liam, I pushed upright. Quinn softly closed the door and walked across the room. Over his casual sweater and jeans he wore a stark white doctor’s coat with a shiny brass badge that read
Dr. Q. Gilbert, Senior Consultant, Neurosurgery
. He walked over to the bed and sat on the opposite side of Liam to me. I studied his face, searching for signs of what he knew, what he’d discovered. But I couldn’t make out anything.

There was nothing to be gleaned from his low brows, tight mouth and tense jaw.

Stretching over Liam’s legs, he touched his lips to my cheek. “You coping?” he whispered.

“Yes, no, I mean…” I whispered as I shook my head and pleaded with my eyes.

“Quinn, it’s got to be okay. Say it will all be okay. He said he won’t have treatment. You have to persuade him, please. He’s got to have treatment.” He frowned and turned to Liam. “He’ll have treatment.” I caught a sob in my throat and pressed my fingers to my lips as my eyes instantly glazed.

Quinn placed his hand over Liam’s and shook it gently. “Liam, mate, wake up.” Liam twitched slightly then his eyes opened. He looked disoriented as he blinked his gaze between Quinn and me. Then he breathed deep and reached for my hand, his forehead creasing into a frown.

“Hey,” I said with a strained smile, blinking rapidly. “You slept for a while.” He turned to Quinn and cleared his throat. “Well, hit me with it.” His voice was rough with sleep and he swallowed tightly as his fingers tensed.

Quinn nodded and reached into the top pocket of his white coat. He pulled out a pair of spectacles, black rectangle rims—a little bit nerdy. He held them up and slowly 151

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unfolded the arms. He raised them to Liam’s face and slid them onto the bridge of his nose.

Liam’s dark-blue eyes blinked from behind the lenses as he stared at Quinn. “What?

What are you doing?” he asked.

Quinn’s mouth tipped into a smile. “Cured,” he said.

Liam’s mouth opened but no words came out. He let go of my hand and touched the arms of the spectacles resting by his temples.

“That’s you cured,” Quinn said again. “You’ve spent too many damn hours in front of those computer screens without a break and now you need glasses.” My heart beat faster and my mind spun. Had I understood correctly? “So there’s no tumor?” I asked. “No cancer, his scan is okay?” I could barely say the words. Thinking they might be true was so wonderful that I couldn’t bear my sudden, stratospheric elation to be dashed.

“No tumor,” Quinn said, grinning. “The scan was perfectly clear, just showed he’s a dodo for not getting his eyes tested on a regular basis.” Liam blew out a breath. I looked at him as a tsunami of relief and joy washed through me. “Liam,” I said, suddenly bobbing up and down. “You’re okay, you’re going to be fine, your headaches were because you needed glasses.” I threw myself at him and he caught me in a tight embrace. “It’s all right,” I said as tears of happiness spilled. “Everything is all right.”

I pulled back and pressed my lips to his, turned and flung myself over Liam’s lap to grabble for Quinn. “Thank you.” I kissed him hard and fast and excitedly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

He chuckled and I could see the relief in his eyes too as he turned to Liam. “They were the only pair they had down in optometry with your prescription lens already fitted. Not the most fashionable but along with these…” He delved into his pocket and withdrew a small tub of pills. “Along with a couple of mild painkillers, you’re good to go.”

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“He can come home?” I asked. My mind wasn’t quite keeping up as tears streaked down my cheeks.

“Of course he can, we can all head home.” Quinn grinned, a beautiful, genuine smile that lit his face. He so often carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, which made his big open smiles all the more precious when he gave them.

I kissed him again and turned back to Liam. Liam stretched forward but he didn’t embrace me. Instead he grabbed Quinn ‘round the shoulders, drew him close and slapped him on the back with a flattened palm.

“Thanks, mate, for everything,” he said by Quinn’s ear. I spotted moisture in his eyes. “Really, thanks for caring.”

“You know I do.” Quinn said, returning the hug. “You know I care.” I slid my hands over both their wide shoulders and nestled into them. They parted enough so our three faces were close together. Liam kissed the tears from my cheeks, his spectacles bumping my nose.

“That was such a fright,” I said. “Please, Liam, don’t do that to us again. Anything slightly not right with your health, you have to tell us.”

“I know,” Liam said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me farther into the huddle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to give everyone such a scare.”

“You’ve probably been pretty scared yourself over the last few weeks, keeping this a secret,” Quinn said, studying Liam.

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You don’t have to go through stuff on your own, not when you have us,” Quinn said.

“I know, I know.” Liam rolled his eyes and grinned broadly. “So let’s forget it and go home. I hate bloody hospitals.”

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Chapter Eleven

Someone opening the door forced us to part slightly. Quinn twisted to look over his shoulder. “Eve,” he said.

I followed his gaze.

Eve wrung her hands and shifted her feet. “Sorry,” she said, taking in our embrace and stepping back. “I didn’t mean to intrude, I, er, just wondered how you all were?”

“Please, come in,” I said with a smile. Nothing and no one could dampen the joy in my soul. “You’re not intruding at all. We’ve just had wonderful news. Liam is fine.” She walked up to the bed, a broad smile spreading on her face. “That’s so great,” she gushed. “Like really, really great. What a relief.” She gestured to the spectacles. “I take it the headaches had something to do with these then.”

“Yep,” Liam said, touching the frames again. “Buggered up my eyesight with all those late nights and screens.”

“They suit you,” she said. “Now you’re all cool Armani model turned computer geek.”

Liam huffed and I giggled.

“Really,” she said, catching my eye. “I’m thrilled for you. It’s great to hear happy news for a change.”

“Well, I appreciated your support earlier,” I said. “It certainly helped pass the time.” Quinn looked questioningly at me. “Eve kept me company,” I explained, “when you were doing the tests.”

“Thanks.” Quinn looked at Eve. “I was worried about Ariane on her own all that time, but I needed to make sure radiography got the shots I needed. I knew exactly where the hotspots were I wanted to check.”

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“Don’t mention it,” she said, stepping backward. “I’ll leave you to it. I’m going off duty now and hopefully they’ll leave me in peace tonight.”

“Wait,” I said. I didn’t want her to disappear. I liked Eve and she deserved better from me after the tension and barely hidden hostility at last night’s meal. “Why don’t you come back with us and eat?” I offered then immediately groaned as I thought of the joint of beef in the Aga. “Although it will have to be takeout, I’m afraid. The roast will be like a piece of old leather.”

“You don’t have to do that, Ariane,” she said, though her face had lifted at the suggestion.

“We’d love to have you,” I said. “Come back to the farm for dinner.”

“Well, okay, if you’re all sure.”

“Of course, we’ll crack open a bottle of champagne to toast Liam’s new geek-chic look.” I pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

He took them off and studied them. “I don’t think they’re geeky,” he muttered.

“No,” I said with an indulgent smile. “They’re very cool.” I looked at Eve and we both laughed.

* * * * *

An hour and a half later we sat around the littered kitchen table. Empty pizza boxes, two drained bottles of champagne and several side-order containers lay discarded. I sat next to Liam and couldn’t stop touching him, resting my hand on his leg, his arm, stroking his hair from around his spectacles. As the bubbles of champagne went to my head, I giggled and leaned into him all the more. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and hugged me close. Those few hours of thinking he might be taken away had been the most draining, most excruciating hours of my life. I didn’t ever want to go through it again and now it was over and it was all okay, I was brimming, bursting with happiness.

“That was great pizza,” Eve said, wiping the corners of her mouth on a napkin.

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“Yeah, I like that place, I get the girls pizzas on my way home sometimes,” Quinn said, slugging down a can of cola. “I always go there.”