The Goodbye Gift by Amanda Brooke

Author:Amanda Brooke
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008116538
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-04-18T04:00:00+00:00

17

The Accident

When Anya returned to the ward to collect her things, she saw a man loitering behind a laundry cage and recognized him immediately. She had already told Paul Richardson on numerous occasions that his wife was refusing to see him. ‘You’re not supposed to be here,’ she said. ‘If Sister catches you, you’ll be in so much trouble, and now that I’ve found you, so will I.’

‘I need to see my wife,’ Paul said, his voice shaking almost as much as the rest of his body.

Anya had seen a lot of people in her time emerging from shock only to be consumed by varying degrees of pain, grief, or guilt, but this man appeared to be carrying more than his fair share. Helen Butler’s ex-husband had described him perfectly. He was a mess.

‘She’s resting now,’ Anya said. She took his arm and guided him gently towards a nearby chair. ‘Please, just give her body time to recover from the traumas of the day and her mind will catch up. Tomorrow.’

‘I phoned her mum,’ he said. ‘She lives in Spain and was ready to camp out at the airport until she could get a flight home. I told her to wait until tomorrow too. I did the right thing, didn’t I?

Anya’s answer wasn’t as quick as it could have been. Her experience of working in A & E in particular had taught her that there were no guarantees. ‘She’s still on IV meds because we can’t get her to tolerate food or liquids but we’ll try again tomorrow,’ she explained in spite of his wife’s instructions not to give him any information on the state of her health. ‘There’s nothing more to be done tonight, but we’ll let you know if anything changes.’

Paul pressed his fingers hard against his lips to stifle a sob. His hand trembled and it took a couple of painful gulps before he could speak. ‘It’s all my fault!’ he cried, his voice so weak it was a whisper. ‘And I don’t blame her for not wanting to see me. But I do need to explain. I have to tell her how sorry I am.’

Anya had no idea what could have happened between the couple that would make Julia reject him so completely, but she could hazard a guess. Anya had been married for eight years and had had her fair share of marital challenges. She still hadn’t completely forgiven her husband for what he had done to her, and although Julia was barely conscious, Anya thought she recognized that same depth of pain that only came from betrayal. She knew she shouldn’t jump to conclusions and it wasn’t her place to judge the man sitting next to her based on so little evidence, but as she opened her mouth to speak, the words wouldn’t come. There was nothing she could say to ease Paul Richardson’s conscience and she doubted anyone could, except his wife. The only comfort she could offer was to place a hand on his back and begin to rub.

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