The Nurse by J. Corrigan (list of ebook readers txt) 📕

I propped myself up on an old flat pillow. ‘This is my fault. I brought you up here…’

‘It wouldn’t be the end of the world, the result of me making love to you.’

‘That is a lovely thing to say, but it would be pretty catastrophic for me. I need to take a morning-after pill.’

He nodded, his expression serious. ‘But I want you to know that for me, it wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing ever.’

I punched him playfully on the arm. ‘Is this your way of making our relationship kosher?’

‘It is kosher.’

‘Is it?’

‘I think I’m infatuated with you, Rose.’

I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t naïve, and I wasn’t a dreamer, but I believed him. He wasn’t lying. He didn’t have to, not then. It was me who’d practically seduced him. He drew me to him, cradling me until we heard the front door and Casey returning with the milk.

Later, Daniel chatted with Casey and Tom in our tiny kitchen, and I liked to think Tom had thawed a bit towards him. He was just being protective, and part of that entailed him being suitably sceptical of Daniel. I got that, and to be honest, I thought it was quite sweet.

That night Daniel stayed over, both of us wedged into my bed. We didn’t make love again, but somehow this made me feel closer to him.

The next morning we woke to the banging of a loose gutter against my bedroom window. Daniel said he was going to contact our landlord, and I was happy to let him, glad that I didn’t have to do it. Maybe the bastard would take him seriously because he was older. I was less happy at the risk we had taken, though, and with this thought I jumped out of bed.

‘I need to go and see my GP.’ The words felt clinical and stilted, but the consequences of the day before had been with me all night as I’d lain next to his warm body.

‘It’s Sunday, though. You won’t get an appointment. I’ve been thinking about this. Let me call Miles. He can write a prescription and then get it for you from the pharmacy at Bluefields. It’ll save a lot of hassle.’

‘That sort of feels wrong.’

‘Miles is a doctor. It’s a hospital. This is part of what we do. If it makes you feel better, you can register as a private patient, but I’ll make sure it’s Miles who sorts out the prescription or you. A lot of morning-afters are prescribed in the course of a month. We’re very proactive with… prevention.’ He smiled at me. ‘Make your life easy, not difficult, Rose.’ He paused. ‘Write down any conditions, medical history, anything Miles should know about, but he may well ask you to go in and see him. That’s Miles all over. Proper and by the book.’

‘I like that he’s like that. Okay.’ I wrote down my medical history and gave him the piece of paper.

‘Pristine health record,’ he said with a grin. ‘And give me your landlord’s number too. I’ll sort the house stuff out for you. Sounds as if he needs a good kick up the arse.’

‘He does.’ I threw my address book onto the bed. ‘His details are under B.’

‘B for what?’

‘Bastard.’ He laughed. I pecked him on the cheek. ‘I’m going for a shower.’

Miles was okay doing the prescription, but only on the proviso I booked an appointment to see him as soon as I was able. Daniel drove me to Bluefields to pick it up, although Miles had left before we got there.

None of this felt very romantic, but it was the sensible thing to do. And we were doing it together.

17

9 April 1991

Tom was calling me. ‘Rose! Daniel’s at the door.’

I jumped up from my desk, snapping closed Gray’s Anatomy, glad to get away from the list of nerves that supplied the muscles of the hip joint. I hadn’t seen Daniel for a few days, although I had seen Miles; I’d made an appointment at Bluefields, as Daniel had suggested, and thankfully it hadn’t been as embarrassing as I’d thought it would be. Miles had been the consummate professional.

I was halfway down the stairs as Daniel stepped into the hallway.

‘Good to see you again,’ Tom said as he passed him. He meant exactly the opposite.

I’d reached the bottom step and the front door was still open. Tom was already jogging down the road.

‘I don’t think Tom likes me,’ Daniel said.

‘He’s protective.’ I smiled at him. ‘But don’t worry, Casey loves you.’

‘That’s good. How are you feeling?’

‘Okay. No side effects. I haven’t been sick. So all’s well.’ I kissed him on the cheek.

‘Good.’ He paused. ‘I’ll be more careful. I’m sorry, Rose.’ He moved a strand of hair away from my cheek. ‘You took me by surprise.’

‘You took me by surprise.’

He delved into his jacket pocket and took out a pack of Jiffys. Held it out.

‘Strawberry flavour?’

His cheeks filled with colour. It was the first time I’d seen him embarrassed, and it was then that I realised how fast it was all going.

‘You’re in luck, I like strawberries,’ I said.

His face lit. ‘I’d love you to come over and see my house, Rose.’

‘I’d like that.’

‘C’mon, then.’

Daniel’s home was situated in the elevated north part of the Green Estate in Nottingham. A Georgian building, not enormous, but still large for one man.

‘You live here alone?’

He nodded and pulled up to the kerb. ‘I do, but a mate’s staying with me at the moment – not permanent, though.’ He turned to me. ‘I can’t wait to show you inside, the work I’ve had done.’

As he spoke, a man appeared at the driveway entrance. I guessed this was Daniel’s friend. He wore grey flannel trousers and a light purple shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Around fortyish, I thought, and although I didn’t have a dad to compare him to, he looked like a dad; a bit crumpled, and wearing an annoyed expression that