Sunrise for Two (7 page)

Julia hurried through her
reluctant preparations. She couldn't stop thinking about the
delicate woman next door, and she rushed back around as soon as she
could. There was no answer when she announced her arrival and she
hurried into the bathroom and switched off the water. “Why on earth
didn't you wait for me?” she asked, helping Harry move her shower
chair back into the bathroom.

“
I can shower
by myself.” Harry told her, feeling her embarrassment
deepen.

“
Honey I'm
your best friend, and I’m a doctor.” She helped Harry into her
dressing gown and handed her a towel. “Let me get you into
bed.”

“
Can we go to
the sofa?” Harry asked unsteadily, memories of her unhappy
adolescence flooding into her mind, “I spent my whole childhood in
bed when I wasn't feeling well.” She transferred shakily onto the
sofa and stretched out on the comfortable cushions. Then she smiled
up at her friend. “Get out of here you.” she said affectionately.
“I want full details tomorrow.”

“
I can't
leave you. What if you need another drink?”

“
Then I'll
get it.” Harry told her, and jumped slightly when the door opened.
“Look who I found outside.” Olivia said triumphantly, and let Chris
into the lounge.

“
I don’t know
what comfort food you like the best, so I thought I’d hedge my bets
and bring you pizza and curry.” he said hopefully, looking only at
Harry. Her first thought was how pleased she was to see him. Then
she realised how hungry she was, and how good the food smelt. “I
noticed that you hadn’t touched that sandwich so I’m betting you
haven’t eaten since yesterday.” He stood in the middle of her
lounge, the combination of dark shirt and dark tie and badly chosen
trousers making her like him even more.

“
If you stay
then we’re watching one of my box sets.” she said,
finally.

“
Come on.”
Julia said to Olivia, tugging her friend to her feet.

“
But he's got
lots of food.” Olivia protested, thinking about the emptiness of
their own fridge.

“
And I think
they're both very hungry.” Julia said firmly.

Chris was vaguely aware
of their departure. He took a deep breath and focused on bringing
his hormones under control. She was sitting in the corner of her
large L-shaped sofa with her elegant legs stretched out. He knew it
had been far too long since his last girlfriend, but the sight of
her dainty ankles was having a powerful effect on him. He looked up
into her dark eyes and listed all the drinks he'd brought. She
listened with a polite smile on her face until he offered her a
glass of wine. “Wonderful!” she said gratefully, “I hate it when
people treat me as though I'm this delicate flower. I'd love a
glass.”

He grinned at her and
pulled out his favourite red. “Is that the kitchen?” she nodded and
watched approvingly when he tugged out the cork in a fluid
movement.

He found a little table
and placed it next to the sofa. Then he busied himself gathering
plates and cutlery and she relaxed back against the cushions and
realised with concern that she was enjoying herself. “Do you mind
if I move your wheelchair?” he asked with a sensitivity that
surprised her.

“
I trust you
doctor.” She said, as casually as she could.

“
I'd like
that,” he replied softly and sat down beside her, “A large
glass?”

“
Perhaps lots
of little ones. When I get tired my co-ordination is not so
good.”

"Can I ask
why?”

“
I think you
just did.” she said, taking an appreciative mouthful of
wine.

“
Is that
okay?”

She looked at him for a
moment then said quietly, “I was hit by a cyclist when I was seven.
He went over the base of my spine and severed lots of the nerves,
and he also bruised my spine below my shoulders.”

“
I'm sorry.”
He said unsteadily, thinking about the senselessness of the
accident, and regretting everything that had been taken from
her.

“
It's okay.
It was a long time ago, now are we going to watch a box
set?”

“
So we're not
talking about it?”

“
You're on
fire tonight doctor,” she said with a smile “now choose us
something good to watch.”

To his delight she shared
his love of crime dramas and he pulled out a programme that he
loved and sat back down beside her. Then he chose a small plate and
put out manageable portions of the different foods. Gently he
placed the food on her legs, savouring the tingle of their touch.
It felt good to communicate his growing feelings towards her
without resorting to the words he always seem to use so badly
around her, and he picked up a piece of pizza and realised that he
couldn't remember the last time he felt so happy.

Harry relaxed back
against her cushions, they were finally alone together, she wished
that she was wearing something more flattering, and thought
wistfully of her new skirt. A tiny part of her mind imagined
walking quickly into her room and effortlessly pulling on something
he would notice. She squashed the thought down and smiled at him.
He watched her as unobtrusively as he could, taking her plate when
she finished eating and filling her glass. When she rubbed the back
of her neck and tried to shift her position, he tentatively reached
out his hand to help. Harry remembered the precarious state of her
modesty and tugged at her gown. “I'd never do anything you weren't
comfortable with.” Chris said, concern and distress in his intense
eyes, “I don't want to make you feel vulnerable.”

“
It's not
that I feel vulnerable,” she paused realising that she liked this
man too much not to be honest. “It's just that I'm not wearing
anything other than this gown.”

“
Oh,” he said
softly, his eyes darkening. She felt the heat of his molten gaze
sweeping over her breasts and lingering at the junction of her
thighs. “That's a very interesting idea.” He said finally, his gaze
not moving from her hips. He ran one of his powerful hands along
her jaw and she watched his deliciously large biceps and his long
expressive fingers. She felt his hand sliding down her neck and
when Julia opened the door with tears streaming down her face, it
was an effort of will not to look exasperated.

“
Oh no am I
interrupting” Julia asked, her tears falling even
faster.

“
Honey what
happened?” Harry asked and smiled her thanks when Chris found her a
wine glass.

“
He doesn't
fancy me at all he thinks I'm fat. I mean I am fat, but I thought
he liked me.” She picked up a piece of pizza and chewed for a
moment.

“
He likes you
Harry. He invited me out to learn more about you.”

“
Who is this
guy?” Chris couldn't help asking.

“
I don't
think that's the issue.” Harry said coldly, and he shifted closer
to her, charged with possessiveness and desire. He noticed suddenly
that she painted her toenails and he took a mouthful of wine and
decided that he needed to claim her as his own as quickly as he
could.

“
It was all
going so well,” Julia continued, still eating the food he had
brought for Harry, “we spoke about films and politics then I ate
some of the chips on his plate and he made a crack about my
weight.”

“
That's out
of order.” Chris said and Harry smiled at him approvingly. He
smiled back, nobody else was going to come anywhere near her he
decided.

Julia picked up another
piece of pizza and in her agitated state, knocked a further piece
into Harry's lap. “I'm sorry.” she said, grabbing at the fabric of
the dressing gown and briefly exposing one of Harry's breasts.
Harry looked up into the hungry hungry gaze of the big surgeon and
felt her embarrassment colouring her neck. She spared herself a
moment of self-pity, she had survived the longest day of her
working life and now everyone around her that she cared about
seemed to be conspiring to make her feel awkward. Julia started
crying again, and to her relief and delight Chris offered to make
coffee.

Chris stood in the
kitchen and decided that getting her alone was now a matter of
urgency. He savoured the memory of her dark curves and her
delicious kissable nipple. Then he poured out her cup with extra
care, filling it half way and filling it again when she saw that
she had finished. Afterwards he walked home and allowed himself to
imagine carrying her into bed.

“
Shall we
finish the wine?” Harry asked, as the sound of his feet receded
into the street.

“
Please,”
said Julia and stretched out beside her friend. “Did I ruin the
moment?”

“
It doesn’t
matter honey, we always look after each other, I would have hated
it if you hadn’t have come round.”

“
Looks like I
came round just in time,” she said ruefully, “otherwise I’m
guessing you might have been out of that gown.”

“
Oh don’t
remind me.” Harry said and suppressed a smile.

“
He liked
what he saw.” Julia told her, and he does have very big
hands.

“
I think I
like him.” Harry said softly, “but I’m still not sure what he
thinks about my wheelchair. I mean he reacted so badly the first
time we met and he asked me a bit about it today. If it’s a deal
breaker then I want to know now.”

She brushed her teeth
under Julia’s protective gaze, then she transferred into bed and
closed her eyes. She remembered the feel of his hand on her mouth
and fell asleep wondering what it would be like to kiss
him.

Chapter
five

Harry woke up the next
morning with an aching head and a sore throat. She drank honey and
lemon and of course coffee, and her spirits lifted when she
remembered the night before, particularly the part where Chris had
almost kissed her. She knew without a doubt that she would have
kissed him back.

“
You look
terrible.” Julia told her thoughtfully, “Really terrible, like
you’ve got flu.”

“
Thank you
and good morning.” Harry handed her a cup of coffee and a cereal
bar and they sat at her kitchen table with the radio on. “Are you
okay?” Harry added as Julia put down the unopened bar and drank a
glass of water with a grimace on her face.

“
I need to
lose weight.” She said miserably.

“
Only if you
want to honey. And cereal is always a good idea.”

Julia smiled shakily at
her and opened her breakfast, “How are you? I'm really sorry about
messing up your night.”

“
Which time?”
Harry said with a grin, then added more gently, “I was joking.
Don’t worry, I had fun and you’re my friend.” They finished their
coffee in comfortable silence and slid into the jolting morning
traffic.

“
Have you
remembered that I'm finishing late tonight?” Julia asked anxiously,
she loved their routines and she hated the idea of Harry having to
struggle into a taxi.

“
Mike is
giving me a lift, he told me he was going to empty all the crisp
packets out of his car.”

“
Oh good.”
Julia said unconvincingly, feeling slightly disconcerted, her
exclusivity and closeness to Harry were very important to her. She
slid into a space in the car park and handed Harry a packet of
paracetamol. “Are you sure you're going to be okay
Harry?”

Harry nodded. “I'm always
okay.” She wheeled down to the IT portacabin and thanked Mike for
the first coffee of the day. There were two people off sick, and
Belinda was in a worse mood than usual. She sent Harry an email
about mandatory training and sat in her office with the door
closed.

Harry answered the phone
and tried not to cough. She thought anxiously about the blood
results. If the system went down today then the whole hospital
would grind to a halt. She answered the phone to a series of
unhappy clinicians and rescued Mike from a pharmacist in a very bad
mood. Rafiq slipped outside for a much needed break and picked up
her favourite salad. He slid it onto her desk while Belinda was
reading out the updated fire safety policy. “Just once it would be
nice if you thought about me too.” Belinda told him, and started
reading the policy from the beginning again.

The IT secretary
interrupted her, and Belinda focused her displeasure on the anxious
woman. “Lady Caroline is here, our new hospital patron.”

“
I know who
she is.” Belinda said bitingly, she read her trust newsletter from
cover to cover. She buttoned up her jacket and put her clipboard
down. Lady Caroline swept into the room with her husband and
daughter following. Belinda noticed with a degree of satisfaction
that her daughter had not inherited her good looks, and she stepped
forward with her hand out to preparing to show them round her
scruffy kingdom.

The visiting dignitary
arched an eyebrow in quiet disdain, she looked past her to Harry
and said imperiously “Aren't you going to say hello?”

“
Hello
mother.” Harry said quietly, feeling the quiet surprise from Mike
and Rafiq. Her sister smiled sympathetically at her, and she took
another mouthful of coffee and looked up into the cool blue
eyes.