CAROL MARINELLI - Special Deliveries - Wanted - A Daddy - Dr. Dark and Far Too Delicious / Royal Rescue / Father by Choice

Jasmine shook her head, because if the truth were known she was scared to. Not just for what it would do to her but what the truth might mean for her sister.

‘Nothing has ever happened between Jed and I.’

Jasmine felt as if a chest drain had been inserted, or what she imagined it must feel like, because it felt as if for the first time in days, for the first time since Vanessa had inadvertently dropped the bomb, her lungs expanded fully, the shallow breaths of guilt and fear replaced by a deep breath in.

‘Nothing,’ Penny said. ‘Not a single kiss, I promise you.’ And Jasmine could now breathe out. ‘Who said that there was something going on between us?’

‘It’s common knowledge apparently, though I only heard this week. My friend couldn’t believe that I hadn’t notice the tension between you two.’

‘The only tension between us,’ Penny continued, ‘is who might get the promotion.’

‘I thought you were worried about getting it and upsetting Jed.’

Penny just laughed. ‘Worrying about upsetting or upstaging Jed Devlin is the furthest thing from my mind—believe me. Do I look like someone who would step aside from a promotion for a man?’ She actually laughed at the very thought.

‘No,’ Jasmine admitted. ‘But you did say you weren’t sure if you wanted the job …’

‘Right now I’m not even thinking about work, I just want Mum to get well, that’s as far as I can think today. You have nothing to worry about with Jed and I.’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘It clearly did.’

But Jasmine shook her head. ‘I’m just glad I haven’t hurt you—Jed and I are finished.’

‘Jasmine!’

But Jasmine was through worrying about Jed. She didn’t have the head space to even think about him right now. ‘Let’s just worry about Mum for now, huh?’

‘How is she?’ Lisa asked when an extremely weary Jasmine made her way down to Emergency the next morning.

‘She’s had a really good night,’ Jasmine said. ‘They’re going to get her out of bed for a little while this morning, can you believe?’

‘They don’t waste any time these days.’ Lisa smiled. ‘How are you?’

‘Tired,’ Jasmine admitted. ‘I’m sorry to mess you around with the roster.’

‘Well, you can hardly help what happened. Have you got time to go through it now—did you want the rest of the week off?’

Jasmine shook her head. ‘I was actually hoping to come in to work tomorrow—Penny’s going to stay with her today and I’ll come back this evening, but I’d rather start back at work as soon as possible. I might need some time off when she comes out, though.’

‘We’ll sort something out,’ Lisa said. ‘We’re very accommodating here, not like the fracture clinic.’ Lisa winked.

‘Sorry about that.’

‘Don’t worry about it for now. We’ll have a chat when you’re up to it.’

‘Actually,’ Jasmine said, ‘do you have time for a chat now?’

She sat in Lisa’s office and, because she’d got a lot of her crying out when she’d told Jed, Jasmine managed to tell Lisa what had happened with her ex-husband without too many tears, and was actually incredibly relieved when she had.

‘You didn’t need to tell me this,’ Lisa said. ‘But I’m very glad that you did. I’d rather hear it from you first and it’s a good lesson to us all about being less careless with patients’ property. I can see why you panicked now. Anyway …’ she smiled, ‘… you can stop worrying about it now.’

Finally she could, and only then did Jasmine fully realise how much it had been eating at her, how much energy she had put towards worrying about it, running from it.

‘Go home to bed,’ Lisa said.

‘I will. But I just need to have a quick word with Vanessa, if that’s okay?’

Vanessa was one burning blush when they met. ‘Simon’s been fantastic. He’s tucked up in the crèche now and I can have him again tonight if you like.’

‘I’ll be fine tonight.’

‘Well, why don’t I pick him when my shift’s finished and bring him home to you?’ Vanessa offered, and as Jasmine thanked her she suddenly cringed. ‘Jasmine, I am so embarrassed.’

‘Why?’

‘All the terrible things I said about Penny. I could just die. I keep going over and over them and then I remember another awful thing I said.’

Jasmine laughed. ‘Believe me, you weren’t the only one, and you told me nothing about Penny that I didn’t already know—Penny too, for that matter. It’s fine, I promise.’

‘Me and my mouth!’ Vanessa grimaced.

‘Forget it.’ Jasmine smiled. ‘Anyway, I’m going to go home to bed, and thank you so much for your help with Simon. I’m just going to pop in and give him a kiss.’

‘Jasmine.’ Just as he had on the first day they had met, Jed called her as she went to head out of the department. ‘Can I have a word?’

‘I’m really tired, Jed.’

‘Five minutes.’

‘Sure.’

‘Somewhere private.’

They settled for one of the interview rooms.

‘How is your mum?’

‘Getting there.’

‘How are you?’

‘A lot better than yesterday,’ Jasmine said. ‘I’m really tired, though.’

‘Of course.’ He took a breath. ‘You should have told me that you and Penny were sisters,’ Jed said.

‘You didn’t exactly give me much chance.’

‘Before that.’

‘I was working up to it. But if we weren’t serious there didn’t seem any point.’ She gave a tight shrug. ‘I told you from the start I was trying to keep work and things separate—you were the same.’ She turned to go. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter now.’

‘We need to talk.’

‘No,’ Jasmine said. ‘I don’t think we do.’

‘Nothing happened between Penny and I,’ Jed said. ‘Absolutely nothing. I can see now why you were upset, why you felt you couldn’t ask.’

And now it was, Jasmine realised, time to face things properly, not make an excuse about being tired and scuttle off. ‘It’s actually not about whether or not you slept with Penny.’ Jasmine swallowed. ‘I mean, had you, of course it would have mattered.’ He saw the hurt that burnt in her eyes as she looked up at him.

‘You gave me no chance to explain,’ Jasmine said. ‘I was struggling—really struggling to tell you something, and you just talked over me, just decided I was too much hard work. You didn’t even answer my question. You just threw everything back in my face.’

She would not cry, she would not. ‘It took guts to leave my marriage,’ Jasmine said. ‘But it just took common sense to end things with you. In any relationship there are arguments, Jed.’ She looked right at him as she said it. ‘And from the little I’ve witnessed, you don’t fight fair!’

She saw him open his mouth to argue, but got in first.

‘That’s a no in my book.’

HE RANG AND Jasmine didn’t answer.

And she stayed at her mum’s, ringing and answering the phone to various aunts and uncles so even if he went over to her place, she wouldn’t know and more to the point she wasn’t there.

‘Cold tea bags help,’ Penny said when she dropped around that evening and saw her puffy eyes. ‘You don’t want him to see that you’ve been crying.’

‘I could be crying because Mum’s in ICU.’

‘She’s been moved to Coronary Care,’ Penny said, ‘so you don’t have that excuse.’

‘They’ve moved her already?’

‘Yes. Great, isn’t it? And you’ve got the night off from visiting. She was sound asleep when I left her. Still, if you want to go in I can watch Simon.’ She must have seen Jasmine’s blink of surprise. ‘I am capable.’