Sunrise for Two (8 page)

“
Harriet the
heads of the hospital are holding a fundraising event. You are
required to attend.”

“
Mother the
IT department needs me more.” Harry replied, feeling her vowel
sounds crystallising back into the accent of her childhood. Lady
Caroline turned to look down at Belinda.

“
Can you
manage without her?”

“
Yes of
course.” the plump woman in the badly fitting suit told her, unable
to ignore the disappointment in her most loyal employee's
eyes.

“
Excellent.”
Lady Caroline said without a trace of warmth, “Now Harriet I
brought your crutches and something decent for you to
wear.”

Her sister stepped
forward and Harry led the way into the disabled toilets. “I can't
do it Libby.” she said unsteadily, “I haven't used the crutches for
ages, and I've got a cold.” She took a deep breath and wished more
than ever that she was miles away from her mother’s unsympathetic
influence watching a box set.

“
Do you want
me to tell mother, you don’t feel up to it?” Libby asked
gently.

“
No thanks
honey, you know she won’t accept that. But thank you it's good of
you to offer.”

“
I asked her
not to bring them.” Libby said softly. She helped Harry into her
braces and into the expensive dress Lady Caroline had chosen. At
five foot eight with a fondness for fried food, she towered over
her lovely older sister. “If it's any consolation you look
beautiful,” Libby told her, “and I'll be by your side all
day.”

“
Thank you.”
Harry said unsteadily, remembering the way her loyal little sister
had started looking after her from almost the moment she could
walk. “You’re the best sister a girl could want.” Harry pulled open
the emergency make-up supply she kept beside the department first
aid kit, and liberally applied a waterproof mascara, she decided
she needed all the support she could get.

“
As are you
Harry.” Libby told her gently, helping her sister adjust to the
uncomfortable crutches.

“
Onward into
battle,” Harry said finally, then she took a deep breath and swung
herself out into the IT department. Belinda noted enviously that
she looked lovelier than ever. she wondered how she had missed the
strong mother and daughter resemblance; the classical features
reflected through a dark delicate and diminutive lens. All same,
the unhappiness in her dark eyes was hard to miss. “I’ve left my
notes about the bloods next to my computer.” She said to Mike, and
he nodded mutely at her, she had turned into one of the women that
terrified him, and he didn’t return her tentative smile.

The elegant party moved
slowly to the front of the hospital where Lady Caroline's car was
obscuring the no parking signs. The chauffeur, a man who had taken
Harry to a lot of hospital appointments during her lonely
childhood, touched her shoulder and she smiled up at him, glad of
the support. Then she slid onto the slippery leather seats and
smoothed her skirt over her legs, she had grown up at events like
this, she knew what she had to do.

Chris read the memo again
and cursed softly in a way that made the secretaries offer him
coffee and food. “I have to represent the department at a wine and
cheese event today.” He explained, running his hand frustratedly
through his dark wavy hair. His personal secretary contemplated
mentioning that she had emailed him reminders repeatedly for the
whole of the past month. But instead she filled up his coffee mug
and returned to his dictation. Chris dug his emergency tie out of
his desk drawer, and found his crumpled jacket under a layer of
coats and handbags. He had been planning to spend his afternoon off
researching accessible places to take Harry, and he stalked out the
car park cutting a swathe through the late lunchtime
corridors.

The marquee was hard to
miss, and he wondered irritably why fundraisers always had to cost
so much. Then he parked on the grass and followed the smartly
dressed dignitaries into the stuffy confines where the smell of hot
canvas warred with expensive aftershave and pastry. After an
awkward 10 minutes he secured a glass of orange juice and a warm
sausage roll, and he wandered through centre of the tent, deciding
to find Mr Patel and then make his escape. The tall figure of his
mentor was finally discernible, he was talking to a small
delicately built woman whose profile he had spent last night
admiring. She was standing on her feet and he cut rather quickly
through the crowd to talk to her.

As he drew closer he
spotted the braces and the crutches she was holding so tightly and
also the discomfort in her dark eyes. A woman in an enormous hat
stepped into his path and said firmly, “Allow me to introduce you
to Lady Harriet and her sister Elizabeth.”

Chris greeted them,
nodding absently at her sister and stepping closer to Harry. “Lady
Harriet?” he asked softly, and noticed tenderly that the top of
head barely reached his chest.

“
Are you
going to be weird about this too?” she asked lightly, ignoring her
own adrenaline rush.

“
Of course
not,” he said with a grin, and offered her a drink. She shook her
head and smiled at him unconvincingly. He noticed the lines of
tiredness under her eyes and saw the untouched drink on the table
behind her.

“
Are you
okay?” he asked softly.

“
I’m fine.”
She said, with another smile that didn’t touch her eyes, and he saw
his concern mirrored in her sister’s eyes.

“
Mother can
we get a chair for Harry?” Libby asked, and the chilly woman in the
expensive brown suit, shook her head.

“
Not just
yet, I think there’s somebody here that Lady Harriet would very
much like to meet.” She introduced a tall fleshy man with a red
face and hair with too much product. “Lord Darley” said her mother
triumphantly, and the man stepped forward and reached out to touch
Harry’s arm.

Chris watched the colour
drain from her face and moved forward quickly to catch her. He
lifted her up effortlessly and stepped out through a flap in the
canvas back to the makeshift car park. “Where is your car?” Libby
asked him, and he gestured to the scruffy old sedan he had bought
at university and never updated.

“
The keys are
in my jacket pocket.” He told her, and she unlocked the door and
stepped back so that he could place Harry in the passenger
seat.

“
Shall I take
off your braces?” Chris asked her.

“
No I’ll do
it.” Her sister said protectively, “can you get her a
drink?”

Chris stepped back into
the tent, where an anxious man found him and introduced himself as
Harry’s father.

“
Is that the
surgeon?” Libby asked with a grin. Harry nodded, breathing a sigh
of relief as her head stopped spinning.

“
That’s
doctor gorgeous, he almost kissed me last night.”

“
Well make
sure he kisses you tonight.” Libby told her firmly, and smiled at
Chris as he came back into view and handed her the
glass.

“
Harry I’m so
very sorry, I should have stepped in sooner.” said her father, his
distress obvious.

“
It’s okay
dad.” Harry said, smiling with a conviction that faded when her
mother stalked into view.

“
Hurry up
Harriet there are more people for you to meet.” Her mother said
firmly.

“
Mother she’s
got a bad cold and she can’t stand for long periods of time.” Libby
protested.

“
And yet she
does,” her mother replied, “Harriet you are a beautiful woman and
you have an important title, but you’re never going to meet a
husband sitting around in that wheelchair.”

“
I think she
might.” Libby said with a grin, then added more forcefully. “I’m
going to ask Chris to take her home.”

“
Is that
really what you want Harriet.”

“
Yes.” Harry
said softly, and looked up at her mother. “I can’t go back in
there,” she added unsteadily, and just for a second her mother’s
expression softened.

“
Okay then
Harriet.” Lady Caroline looked at her for a moment longer, then she
turned on her elegant heel and walked back to the marquee with her
husband and Libby walking behind her. Harry watched them go, she
shifted uncomfortably in the unfamiliar car and thought longingly
of her sofa.

Chris climbed into the
car beside her and touched her face again. She felt the tingle even
through her tiredness and distress. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
She said, her eyes curving into the smile that he loved.

“
Anytime.”
His blue eyes held hers and his voice was low and intense. “I’d
rescue you whenever needed.”

She finished her drink
and cleared her throat. “That’s good to know.” She told
him.

“
Now shall I
take you home?”

“
Actually can
you take me back to the hospital? My chair is still
there.”

“
Of course.”
he cut comfortably into the traffic and navigated the roads back
into town. Harry leant her head back against the seat and Chris
looked across at her, savouring her presence in his car.

“
Thanks
again.” she said with a smile.

“
It's a
pleasure. You know I was wondering, there are some really good
places for a drink round here, do you want to stop?”

Harry shifted
uncomfortably on her seat, “Do you mind if we just go back to the
hospital?”

“
Of course
not.” He cut past the park where they had spent the evening and
couldn't help adding. “Lord Darley looked extremely pleased to see
you.”

“
I know. His
mother was a couple of years above my mother at the same school. He
joined the army but that didn't work out, and he stayed at our
house over the summer after my first year at university.” Harry
took a deep breath and added very quietly, “He came to my room one
night. My wheelchair was in my student hall because mother doesn't
like it and he climbed into my bed.” she paused then added shakily,
“It hurt so much.”

“
Harry that's
awful.” Chris felt a white hot rage descending, and the
possessiveness that had shaken him when Julia had spoken of the
paramedic intensified. “He had no right to do that you. It’s a
crime and he should face the consequences.”

Harry closed her eyes. “I
don't know why I told you, I’m sorry, Julia and Libby know about
it, but nobody else.”

“
Don't let
him come near you.” he said with a searing intensity, “Not now, not
ever and if you want help with that then I'll talk to
him.”

“
Thank you
but no, I can handle it myself.” She closed her eyes, trying to
find her equilibrium, trying suppress the painful memories that his
face had forced into her consciousness.

Chris spent the last five
minutes of the journey rehearsing the best way of asking her out
for dinner. He wanted to tell her that there were men that
respected women, men that were gentle and offered things without
taking, but every line that he thought of sounded melodramatic,
even in his own head. Reluctantly he opened her door, sorry his
time with her was ending, and said tenderly, “Let's get you back
inside so you can put on something that suits you
better.”

“
Don't you
like the way I look?” she asked, her dark eyes holding his. He
lifted her into his arms then, savouring the way she smelt,
intoxicated by her proximity and the revealing way her dress
emphasised her curves. He felt her breath on his face and gently he
lifted her higher and kissed her. He could think of no better way
to communicate how much he already cared for her, and when she
opened her lovely mouth and kissed him back, he felt the jolt all
the way down to his toes. He looked at her low cut top and fought
the urge to place her proprietally back in his car and drive her
home to his house. Instead he held her tighter, wanting to savour
the moment as much as he could, until he felt her small hand on his
arm.

“
Can we get
my chair?” she asked awkwardly, and feeling that she needed to
explain, she added softly “It’s a bit unsettling not have my
independence.”

“
Of course.”
He said gently, wishing he had realised how she would be feeling,
particularly after seeing the man who had hurt her. He carried her
to the IT suite where Mike and Rafiq and two men in the same
uniform of black jeans and trainers clustered round
them.

“
What
happened?” Mike asked, wanting to tear her out of the taller man’s
comfortable grasp.

“
She
collapsed.” Chris explained, wanting to give her space to breathe
as he helped her find her balance in her chair.

“
No I didn't.
I just felt a bit faint and you leapt in.” Harry said, with an acid
in her voice that Chris didn’t recognise. She pulled her hand free
from his grasp and disappeared into the toilet, slamming the door
loudly.

“
Word of
advice mate,” Mike told him coolly, “Women who use wheelchairs
really don't like it when you announce loudly that they've fallen
over in public.”

Chris looked down at him,
breathing heavily, and fighting the urge for physical retaliation.
He was angry and upset and not in the mood to take advice. He
didn't understand why she was reacting so badly when they had been
so close and so very intimate. He pushed his hands into his rumpled
pockets and started to wonder about the practical challenges of
falling for Harry. His main concern was how easy it would be to
have a relationship with someone who seemed to have such a dramatic
effect on almost all of the men around her. Belinda stopped to
trying to get their attention and instead pushed between them to
pour herself a cup of coffee. She wondered bitterly if Harry even
knew where the coffee machine was.