Barbara Taylor Bradford - Just Rewards

There was no need for Angharad to search for help. At that precise moment Ruth came into the office carrying a glass and a bottle of water, followed by Linnet and Marietta Hughes.

‘Oh my God!’ Marietta cried out when she saw her daughter sprawled on the floor, and unceremoniously, not heeding the others, she pushed past Ruth and Linnet, hardly looking at them.

‘What’s happened? My God, what’s happened to you, Evan?’ Marietta fell to her knees next to Evan, peering at her daughter, alarm racing through her.

‘Call my doctor. I can’t lose my babies, I can’t,’ Evan whimpered, tears sliding down her cheeks.

Gideon Harte pushed open the door of the waiting room at Queen Charlotte’s in Chelsea, the hospital where Evan had been taken, and hurried into the room, his expression tense and worried.

Three pairs of female eyes instantly focused on him, and before he could say a word Linnet jumped up and rushed over to him.

‘Evan’s all right, Gid!’ Linnet exclaimed, wanting to reassure him at once. ‘She’s not hurt,’ she added, taking hold of his arm in a proprietary way.

‘Thank God,’ he answered, a surge of relief rushing through him. ‘I’ve been anxious all the way here.’

Marietta came to join them, and leaning towards Gideon she kissed his cheek. He put his arm around his future mother-in-law, a woman he genuinely liked, and asked, ‘What happened to Evan, Marietta? When Linnet rang me at the paper she said you were in Evan’s office when she had the accident.’

‘I wasn’t in the room, Gideon,’ Marietta answered swiftly, shaking her head. ‘Evan was already lying on the floor when I arrived. I’d no idea what had happened. I ran to her, of course, and when I was kneeling next to her she said she’d had a fluke accident with the chair. She then asked me to call the doctor. Linnet, who was with me, did so, and then we brought her here to the hospital.’

Gideon was frowning when he asked, ‘Did she fall out of the chair? Is that what you mean?’

‘Not exactly. Evan told me she had reached behind her with one hand, pulled the chair towards her and then sat down. Somehow the chair rolled away, and down she went on the floor. But she’s fine, Gideon, just as Linnet said. The fall scared her more than anything else, I think.’

‘I understand. The nurse at reception told me the doctor’s still with her. Why is that? Do you know, Marietta? Linnet?’ He looked from one woman to the other questioningly.

‘The doctor gave her a thorough examination when we arrived and came to tell us she was not injured, that all was well. Then he went back to her room.’ Marietta shrugged lightly, shaking her head. ‘I’m not sure why, he didn’t say.’

‘I hope he won’t be too long,’ Gideon responded, and then glanced across at the silent, blonde young woman who was sitting in a corner. She was dressed entirely in red, which he thought somewhat flamboyant. He wondered who she was. He had never seen her before.

Marietta, noticing his sudden curious glance across the room, exclaimed, ‘How rude I’m being, I must introduce you to my youngest daughter Angharad. Evan’s sister.’

On hearing her name Angharad immediately jumped to her feet. Thrusting out her hand she said, ‘Hello, Gideon. It sure is great to meet you .’

Gideon took an instant dislike to her, discovered he had no desire to go anywhere near her. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to take hold of the outstretched hand. It was unnaturally cold, icy, in fact, and he dropped it after giving it a swift shake.

‘How do you do?’ he said in a most formal voice, his manner reserved and coolly indifferent.

She stared at him, looking him up and down in a brazen way.

He stared back, rapidly taking everything in. There was no question that she was pretty, with finely-wrought features, perfect complexion, and large, dark brown eyes. And yet Gideon found her curiously repellent; he took a step backward. His guard went up and his gut instinct kicked in, warning him to be wary of this one. Danger signals went off in his head. She’s trouble, he thought.

It struck him that the platinum blonde hair did nothing to lighten the darkness he sensed lived deep within her, and suddenly, in a flash of cold clarity, he saw her in his mind’s eye as she really was … a small, dark, furtive creature, hiding in corners, peering through keyholes, spying on people, eavesdropping, forever seeking her own advantage. Momentarily, he was startled by these curious thoughts, and yet he was convinced he was accurate in his assessment of Angharad Hughes. He sensed that wickedness dwelt there.

Moving away from her, anxious to put distance between them, he strode across the floor, then turned, glanced at Linnet, his hand on the door knob. ‘I’m going to talk to the nurse at reception. I must see Evan, and right away.’ As he jerked open the door, he found himself staring into the face of Charles Addney, Evan’s obstetrician.

The doctor, who had been about to enter the room, exclaimed, ‘There you are, Mr Harte! I was just coming to fetch you. Let’s go and see Miss Hughes, shall we?’

Gideon nodded and stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind him. ‘I understand she’s all right. She is , isn’t she?’

‘Absolutely. Except for a bruised coccyx. That’s the tail bone at the end of the spine. She went down rather hard, I’m afraid. But there’s no real damage, and the babies are perfectly fine.’

Gideon heaved a sigh of relief, then asked, ‘So I can take her home, can’t I?’

The doctor paused in the corridor and turned to face Gideon. ‘There’s no reason why you can’t, but she must have bed rest for the remainder of the day. I’ve done a thorough examination, and no harm’s been done, but I do think she should start her maternity leave from her job. Immediately.’

‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Gideon responded as they began to walk along the corridor again. ‘I’ve been trying to persuade her to do that for several weeks now. We’re going up to Yorkshire on Saturday, but perhaps we ought to leave tomorrow. Her problem is that she’s a workaholic …’ His voice trailed off.

‘I know that, and I’ve just had a long talk with her about her work. I told her to put it on hold for the moment. I think you’ll find she’s now most amenable about leaving for Yorkshire tomorrow.’ Dr Addney chuckled. ‘Although she did say she was going to take her laptop with her.’

‘Naturally,’ Gideon exclaimed, and laughed with him.

‘Well, here we are,’ the doctor said, pausing at one of the doors. ‘Let’s go in, shall we?’ A moment later he was ushering Gideon into Evan’s room.

Gideon hurried over to the bed, relieved that Evan looked exactly the same as she had this morning, except that she was somewhat paler than usual. She was sitting up in the bed, surrounded by pillows, quite obviously none the worse for the fall.

‘Gideon!’ she exclaimed the moment she saw him. ‘Don’t look so upset! I’m all right.’ She beamed at him, her smile warm and welcoming, her large expressive grey-blue eyes full of love for him.

‘I’ve been so worried,’ he whispered as he bent over her, put his arms around her, kissed her cheek, then stroked her dark head. ‘Actually, I was quite beside myself. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you and the twins, Evan. I love you all so much.’

‘Nothing’s going to happen to us, Gideon darling. The three of us are perfect. Truly. And I love you, too. So will the boys, once they … pop out.’

Watching them, Charles Addney felt a flush of pleasure. How wonderful it was to see two people as much in love as they were. It did his heart good to know that they had each other, had managed to find each other in this dangerous and uncertain world in which they all lived these days. He closed the door quietly behind him as he slipped out and left them alone with their happiness in each other.