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

Women and babies. The detail was stunning. I moved closer and stared.

‘Nice, don’t you think?’ he said.

‘Beautiful.’

‘A work of art.’ He stepped closer and inspected the craftsmanship. ‘Nearly perfect.’

‘This is what the carpenter’s been doing?’ I asked.

‘Yes, it’s taken him months.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it’s a work of art, like I said.’

‘I mean why’ve you had it made?’ The women were carved to a theme. The same woman. It was the hair that caught me. The artist had captured it brilliantly. Masses of corkscrew curls, standing proud. I swore it could be me, only the images were of an older woman. There were two babies, and the artist had made it clear that one was a boy, one a girl.

‘It’s taken from an image I loved as a boy from a church in Morocco. My father took us there as kids.’

‘You and your sister?’

He perched on the side of the bed, almost lost in the sea of the creamy luscious bedding. ‘Yes, me and my sis.’ He stroked the wood. ‘To be honest, I had the bed made for my dad. A belated seventieth birthday present. I know he’ll love it. I’m trying to work out how I’m going to ship it over to Morocco.’

‘That’s a lovely idea.’ I sat down next to him. ‘You know, I always wanted a sister.’

I scrutinised him and again sensed that unhappiness. Was he lonely? Was his relationship with his sister not all it should be, or could be? I could understand that. Family relationships were tough. What was missing in Daniel’s life? Except I knew, because it was probably similar to the gaping loneliness I often felt.

He turned and cupped my face gently in the palms of both his hands. They were smooth and I smelt the cream he’d used. The ripples of the carpet caressed my feet, and as he leaned forward and kissed me, I scrunched the loose weave in between my toes, turning my body into him. We fell backwards onto the marshmallow duvet and I traced my hands down his back, feeling the bumps and curves running parallel to his spine – that was the doctor’s part of my brain always at work, working out why Daniel sometimes had problems turning his neck. Tension, maybe stress.

With my eyes closed, my hand slid away from his spine and inward. I felt the touch of his fingers on my cheek. I opened my eyes and caught his tender, illuminated expression. He reached sideways and opened the bedside drawer, pulled out an already opened condom packet.

‘No more scares.’

I smiled at him and he gently pulled off my blouse. His hand moved downwards, his fingers touching and probing deep. I bit into his shoulder.

He reached for the condom, handed it to me. ‘You put it on.’ I looked at him. ‘Like this.’ He stretched the latex over himself and placed my hand there, then buried his face in my neck.

I pushed my hips upwards, and a short but intense curl of pleasure engulfed me. His rhythm became faster and the building tension began. As the seconds flowed into minutes, I felt his release, and as he rested on my chest, I lifted my hips again and more waves of pleasure overtook my body.

He smiled down on me. ‘I—’

‘Shush,’ I said, kissing his nose.

We lay there in the fading afternoon sun. Maybe we slept for a while. I didn’t know. All I remember was the feeling of absolute contentment.

Darkness had fallen when Daniel retrieved the biochemistry book he’d put on the bed on first coming into the room. He moved himself towards the headboard and sat back, the wooden hair of the woman close to his left shoulder. He patted the space next to him and opened the book.

‘You’re kidding, right?’ I said.

‘I don’t want you to fail.’ He gave me a sideways glance and adjusted the cushion behind his head.

‘Now?’

‘Yes, now.’ He studied the table of contents. ‘Shall we start with the basics?’

I scrutinised him side on. I liked how he was doing this. I liked him so much. ‘Yeah, why not?’

We worked for two hours and I couldn’t believe how much I learned. Daniel got up and went downstairs to fetch some food, returning with a laden tray. Tinned tuna and salad, freshly baked bread. We ate sitting on the bed. He’d brought beer too. Then we carried on trawling through work. After coming to the end of the final chapter we’d agreed to look at, I lay back, and remembered nothing more until he woke me.

The sun was shining outside and I’d slept the whole night. Daniel was standing next to the bed, dressed. He caressed the carving as he looked down at me.

‘I didn’t even brush my teeth,’ I said.

‘I’ve put a new toothbrush in the bathroom. I always keep a spare one. And luckily my sister left an unopened pack of M&S knickers from her last visit.’

Leaning on my elbow, I peered at him. ‘Thanks.’

‘When you’re ready, come down, because after a superb supper of tinned tuna, this morning we shall feast on scrambled eggs.’ He left the room.

I closed my eyes.

I was a little in love, and most definitely wholly in lust.

24

10 April 1991

I was nestled in Daniel’s kitchen wearing one of his old shirts, eating scrambled eggs and drinking percolated coffee, the smell dousing the air. It felt so civilised.

‘Fancy a nice bracing walk later?’ he asked.

‘Sounds good.’

I was finishing the last of the coffee when the doorbell chimed. I looked down at the shirt and really hoped it wasn’t Ed.

Daniel made his way out of the kitchen.

A female voice in the hallway. Thank God, not Ed.

Daniel returned with a middle-aged woman, small in build and with a mop of grey hair, watery blue eyes, a small upturned nose and high cheekbones. As she moved closer, I saw that her features were furrowed in acute anxiety.

Her eyes shot to me. ‘I’m sorry, Daniel. I didn’t know you had company. I was wondering why you were home on a Wednesday.