Page 29 of Prognosis Do Over

Saved by the bell.

‘That was the ward. The new admission with the metabolic disorder has arrived,’ he said, replacing the phone, his back to her.

Lou nodded, staring at his back, noting the slump of his shoulders and the slight gravelly remnant still husking his voice. She waited for him to leave, the silence between them growing.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, finally turning to face her. ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’

Lou shrugged. ‘You weren’t exactly in it alone,’ she said.

‘Still...it was wrong. It’s just that...’ He sat down on the desk and raked his hand through his hair. ‘I’ve been going mad these last few weeks...it’s harder than I thought it was going to be...’

‘Working together again?’

He nodded and looked at her, frustration mirrored in his brown gaze, and she almost forgave him his recent grouchiness.

‘Look, of course it’s hard, working with someone you were once involved with. There’s a lot of baggage that makes being professional difficult sometimes. I understand that,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry about the kiss. I’ve only got another week, and it’s not likely to happen again...’ What was the point in Will beating himself up over one little slip-up?

‘No, Lou...It’s not just the kiss. It’s...it’s everything.’

‘Everything?’ she asked. What on earth was he talking about?

‘Everything about you. Your perfume...and your lip gloss...and your damn plait...’ She was staring at him as if he was speaking another language or had just grown another head, and he wanted to shake her.

He couldn’t stand it anymore.

Walking around pretending he wasn’t in love with her was giving him hypertension. So, too bad if she couldn’t handle it. At least if he got it off his chest and could talk about it a bit it wouldn’t be bottled up inside him, making him crazy.

He stared at her, exasperated by her blank look but not quite ready to blurt his secret out despite the potential for catharsis.

‘What?’ she demanded. ‘I swear to God, Will, just say what you have to say. I’m not spending my last week on Ward Two with you carrying on like you have been.’

She couldn’t see it?‘God, Lou,’ he said. ‘I’m still in love with you.’

Lou blinked, the words impacting her body as if he had reached over and pushed her backwards. Her mind went blank for a moment, before it rebooted and his words sank in.

Well, they were a right pair of fools, weren’t they?

‘I really thought I was over you, but I’m not.’ She opened her mouth to talk, but he shushed her. ‘I know it’s impossible. We’re impossible...But there it is.’

And he did feel better. As if a weight had been lifted.

‘There it is,’ she said. The words she’d never thought she’d ever hear coming from his mouth again.

‘Nothing to add?’ he asked a few moments later, when she was still staring and blinking at him.

‘Only that I’m in love with you too,’ she said, depressed beyond words.

What?!It was his turn to blink now, quashing the shot of triumph that streaked through him. ‘Really?’ he asked, despite knowing that the answer mattered little to the outcome.

She nodded, and they stared at each other miserably for a few moments.

‘We can’t do it,’ Will said, in an effort to convince himself as much as her. ‘I have Candy to think about. I finally have a chance to be a full-time dad to her. I need to concentrate on that.’

‘And I have Jan’s baby to bring up, and I’m terrified I’m going to stuff it up, and I know I will if I allow us to happen again. This baby has to come first. There’s too much water under the bridge for us.’

He nodded. ‘I can’t have another failed relationship, Lou. I can’t risk it.’

Lou felt tears prick her eyes and nodded. Delvine’s legacy lived on. For a while in the beginning she had thought he would risk it, but he had retreated from the brink when Delvine had arrived back on the scene.

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