Chapter 10
Three weeks, and another three delicious, decadent Friday nights later, Mia leaned against her banister while Aiden pulled on his boots.
‘I’m sorry I can’t stay longer.’
‘It’s OK.’ Mia grinned. ‘I’m sure you’ll make it up to me.’
‘I haven’t already? Damn, I’ll have to try a lot harder in future. Assuming you’ll let me?’
‘Maybe. If you’re good.’
‘And what if I’m bad?’ He met her eyes, and the heat in them sent another, very agreeable, shiver through her.
‘Definitely maybe.’ She sighed.
‘Are you OK, Princess?’
‘Yeah, just thinking.’
He stopped tying up his boots and looked at her more closely. ‘Tell me?’
‘I was just thinking how glad I am to have this… with you. A good friend who I trust and adore, who makes me laugh and…’
‘…beg and scream?’
‘I seem to remember you did quite a lot of pleading last Friday…’
‘Didn’t say it was a bad thing, Princess.’ He kissed her hand.
‘I just meant, I’m really enjoying this arrangement.’
‘Oh, I know. You were quite vocal about it. Ouch!’
‘What? I wanted to see if Katie’s suggestion worked.’
‘You want to be careful with things like that. I might decide to try it back.’ She laughed. ‘What’s so funny, Princess?’
‘That I don’t think you’d ever smack a woman.’
‘You’re right.’ He pulled on his coat, then leaned in.
‘But spanking… that’s a different matter.
’ Mia shivered and swallowed hard. ‘Interesting. Not a no. Noted for further discussion next week. Have I ever told you how adorable you are when you blush like that? You’re a nurse, and a midwife, and all the things we’ve done…
and you still blush.’ He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Amazing.’
‘About next Friday…?’
‘Yeah?’
‘How would you feel about it being at yours? I mean, it’s not that I don’t really enjoy you coming here, and I don’t mean it to sound like I’m complaining, or being pushy and demanding…’
‘You being demanding can be sexy as hell. Especially in certain positions.’
She shook her head, smiling. ‘I’d just like to see your place.’
‘It’s not mine in the same way that this place is yours.’
‘Right, your standing Friday night dinner date.’
‘Not a date. If it means that much to you, we can arrange a visit.’ He’d figure out how to make it work.
He’d just have to try and make sure his ma was having a good day – and didn’t get any ideas that might make things awkward for Mia.
‘We just wouldn’t have much privacy. And I definitely enjoy having privacy with you.
’ He squeezed her hand. ‘I promise you it’s nothing you need to worry about.
I wouldn’t put you in a compromising position. You can trust me.’
‘I do.’
‘Thank you.’ He kissed her hand before letting go. ‘Am I seeing you in the week?’
‘Quite probably. I’ve got a new antenatal class starting on Wednesday and wanted to talk to you about some samples.’
‘Sounds like a good idea. I’ll get some made up. I’m working Tuesday, so can have them ready and fresh.’
‘See, this is what I mean.’ Mia smiled as she opened the door for him. ‘Great sex and then chatting about work a few minutes later.’
‘Works really well for me too, Princess. See you in the week.’
Mia groaned and fumbled for her phone, yawning as she dragged herself out of dreams.
She was surprised to see Aiden’s picture flashing on the screen.
‘Hey, you OK?’
‘Not really, no. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need your help.’ His voice – tight and stressed – snapped her fully awake.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I can’t stop the bleeding.’
‘OK.’ Mia rolled out of bed and into professional mode. ‘Is the patient conscious?’
‘Yes. And arguing.’
‘That’s good. How long have they been bleeding?’
‘Maybe half an hour.’
‘Any blood thinners or known clotting disorders?’
‘No, she doesn’t have anything like that.’
‘If you’ve tried compression and elevation and still haven’t resolved the bleeding after this long, she really needs a hospital.’ Whoever ‘she’ was.
‘She won’t go.’ His frustration and worry echoed through the phone.
‘I called emergency services before you. They said she’s not a high category call, so it could take five or six hours.
I followed their instructions, but the blood is still seeping through.
Mia, she won’t let me take her in. I know I shouldn’t ask—’
‘You don’t have to,’ she interrupted as she wriggled into her jeans. ‘Send me the address. I’m on my way.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Not needed.’ She dragged a sweater over her head. ‘I’ll have my hands-free on. Call me if anything changes.’
‘OK.’
‘I’ll be as quick as possible, Aiden.’
As quick as possible turned out to be half an hour before she parked outside a house on a small street she’d driven past but didn’t really know. She grabbed her bag and knocked on the door. It swung open less than thirty seconds later to reveal Aiden – dishevelled and worried.
‘Thank you so much, Mia. She’s through here.’
She followed him into the small kitchen, where an older woman was sitting at the table, eyes closed and slumped slightly. Her right elbow was resting on the table, her hand propped against the wall, shaking and wrapped in a towel stained pinky-red.
‘Hello, I’m Mia.’
The woman opened her eyes and glared at Aiden. ‘I told you I didn’t want you to call anyone.’
‘You gave me no choice.’ He turned to Mia, apologetic. ‘Mia, this is my ma, Sylvie. Ma, this is Mia. She’s a nurse, and for the record, she also thinks you should have gone to hospital.’
‘Hi, Sylvie. Is it OK if I sit?’ Mia waited for the woman’s tired nod. ‘Like Aiden said, I’m a nurse. And it’s your lucky day, because as well as being a friend of your son, I also happen to be accredited in advanced wound care. Can I have a look and see what’s going on here?’
‘He shouldn’t have bothered you, calling you out in the middle of the night like this.’
‘I don’t live that far away, and I’m here now, so why don’t I take a quick look and see if I can’t get you patched up.’
‘OK.’
Mia unwrapped the towel, and bandages, as gently as she could. ‘Can you tell me what happened?’
‘Just a silly accident.’
Mia’s eyes flicked to Aiden.
‘She was trying to change a lightbulb – an old-fashioned one – instead of waiting for me to finish showering. Which we’ve already had words about. It shattered in her hand.’
Mia winced. Lightbulbs were thin, and when they broke they often left difficult-to-remove shards. This was probably a job much better suited for the hospital. But she was already there, and she’d promised Aiden she’d help.
‘OK then, Sylvie. Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.’ Sylvie rested her hand on the hygiene pad Mia had spread over the table, but kept her fingers closed. ‘Is it OK if we open your hand to take a look?’
Slowly, painfully, Sylvie did as she was asked, and Mia could see a deep gash across the base of her fingers that still bled sluggishly. As gently as she could, she started her exam, only for Sylvie to squirm and pull away.
‘I know it hurts, but I need you to try and stay still, OK?’
Sylvie nodded and Mia took her hand again, but again she twitched and squirmed away.
‘I’m not going to be able to help you if you don’t let me, Sylvie.’ Mia kept her voice soft.
‘Sorry, love, I am trying.’
‘Third time lucky?’
‘Hopefully.’ Sylvie nodded and held out her hand.
She moved again, and this time Mia watched the twisting, twitching movements more closely, suspicion forming.
‘You know what, Sylvie? I’m just going to go grab something from my car.
’ She tucked a clean pad into the woman’s palm and bound it loosely, trying to avoid catching the dark bruises on her arm.
‘Keep pressure on that as best you can, OK? I won’t be long. Aiden, come hold the torch for me.’
He followed her back through the hall and to her car. ‘Mia…?’
‘Get in.’ She unlocked the car and sat down. ‘Shut the door.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘Funny you should ask, because that’s exactly what I want to know. What’s going on here, Aiden?’
He didn’t answer, or look at her. Just stared at his hands.
‘Aiden, I need you to talk to me.’
‘I don’t want to talk about this.’
‘That’s tough shit, because you need to.’
His silence aggravated her far more than it should have – than it probably would have if he’d been anyone else.
‘For fuck’s sake, Aiden, what the hell’s going on?
You call me out here in the middle of the bloody night for a patient who isn’t mine, who I know nothing about, and clearly there’s a history I need to know.
You’ve been cagey about your living situation for months, and it’s just your mum? What the hell are you hiding?’
‘Mia… it’s nothing…’
‘You think I didn’t see the bruises up her arm? The old scars on her hands. I’m not blind, Aiden.’
‘I didn’t hurt her, if that’s what you’re worrying about.’
The words slammed into Mia’s chest, knocking the air from her lungs. ‘I didn’t think you had for a second.’
‘You wouldn’t have been the first who’d made the accusation.’
She wanted so much to reach out to him, to comfort him, but it felt wrong.
This wasn’t the Aiden who was sweetly attentive in her bed.
This was someone colder – angry. Secretive.
Who she barely knew. ‘Aiden, I need to know what’s going on.
It’s a clinical question. I can see something’s not right, and I need you to explain it so I can try to help her. Is this Parkinson’s?’
‘No.’
‘Is she detoxing from something? Are you trying to help her get clean from drugs or alcohol?’
He snorted angrily. ‘I wish. It’s chorea.’
Mia had to rack her brains. She knew the word and what it linked to, but she was tired and it wasn’t something she’d dealt with since she was a student.
When the answer reared its ugly head, her blood ran cold.
Oh, please no. Let me be wrong. She didn’t want to be right about this, because if it was what she thought, it was a lot worse than the first two options.
She licked lips that had suddenly gone dry.
‘Aiden, do you mean chorea as in Huntington’s? ’
He didn’t speak, just nodded.
‘You should have told me.’