Page 97 of A Secret Escape

“Think about this.” Milly caught her arm. “Eventually someone is going to recognize you. Call the press.”

“And if they do, we’ll figure it out. I’ll stay in the room, which will make it less likely.” Nicole pushed open the door that led to the ward, and they were directed to a side room.

“Connie doesn’t need a room full of visitors. I’ll go and find you both some coffee,” Joel said and strode away down the corridor leaving the two of them to go into the room together.

Connie lay in the bed, the bruise on her face darker than it had been when Milly had seen her earlier.

“Mum!” She flew across the room and then stopped next to the bed. “I want to hug you, but you have broken ribs. Are you feeling terrible?”

“I feel foolish.” Connie tried to sit up. “Brian wanted to take me to the hospital yesterday right after it happened, and I refused. And instead I gave you a scare. You poor thing.”

Scaredidn’t cover it. It had been the single most terrifying moment of her life.

“Don’t worry about that.” The only thing she cared about now was that her mother was going to be okay. The relief was indescribable.

It was funny to think that only yesterday she’d been so wrapped up in the drama and distress of learning the truth about Nicole. It had dominated her world, and then her mother had collapsed, and suddenly all her other worries had shrunk to nothing. The horror she’d felt in that moment had put everything into perspective.

As long as my family are well, she thought, that’s all that really matters.

Richard, Avery—all of that was stressful, but compared to the really important things in life it was nothing. How had she lost sight of that?

Her mother reached out and touched her face. “You look exhausted, honey. Have you been here all night on your own?” Her gaze shifted, and she saw Nicole hovering in the doorway. “Nicole!” She looked at Milly with a question in her eyes, and Milly nodded.

“I left her a message, and she came here to be with me.”

“Hi, Connie. You look like an extra in a fight movie.” Nicole stepped forward and kissed Milly’s mother gently on the forehead.

Connie leaned back against the pillows, the smile on her face showing that she knew what such a gesture would have meant to Milly. “Thank you for coming. It’s good that you’re here.”

Milly squeezed her hand. “Get some rest. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Nicole sat down on the other side of the bed. “And when you wake up I want to hear all about this man Brian. Is he hot?”

Connie laughed and then winced. “Don’t make me laugh. Oh, it’s good to see the two of you here together. Like the old days.”

Not really like the old days, Milly thought, because back then no one would have cared who Nicole was.

But now they did care, and this gesture of support was probably going to cost Nicole privacy and piece of mind, but she’d done it anyway because that was what friends did. And Milly felt bad that Nicole had put herself at risk like that, but also good because she’d done it for Milly, and with that one gesture she’d fixed what Milly had thought could never be fixed.

Chapter25Nicole

Connie slept, and Nicole and Milly quietly lifted chairs to the far side of the room so that they could sit together and talk without waking her.

Nicole put her hand over Milly’s and was relieved when she wasn’t rejected. “I didn’t know she’d collapsed in front of you. That must have been terrifying.”

She knew how that would have affected Milly. She knew how close her friend was to her mother and grandmother.

Even now Milly couldn’t look away from Connie. “I kept saying her name, and she didn’t seem to hear me—and then she crashed to the ground. I thought she was going to die.”

They talked in hushed voices, but that didn’t diminish the emotional impact of the conversation.

Nicole was engulfed in a wave of her own emotion. Connie had been more of a mother to her than her own ever had. “I love her too.”

“I know you do. Thank you for coming.”

The tensions of the previous night seemed almost forgotten, but Nicole knew it had to be addressed. And maybe this wasn’t the right place,but it felt like the right time. It had to be the right time because the urge to fix this, to make everything right, was so powerful it was beyond her control.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you after Richard left.”

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