‘There was a baby. Richard’s baby. I gave his child away without even letting him know he was a father.’

7

Danni had two hours of her shift left. As soon as she was finished, she was planning on going up to see Connie. Helen, one of the nurses, had sent her a message saying that Connie had asked to see her and that she was worrying about the letter she’d given her.

‘I’ve got no idea what it’s all about, but hopefully you have.’ Helen had left the voicemail message, sounding every bit as confused as her words suggested. ‘She seemed agitated, and she definitely didn’t want to talk about it, but you can fill me in later if you like!’

St Piran’s was a small hospital, and everyone more or less knew everyone else. Danni had got to know Helen a bit better than most of the other nurses outside of A&E, because she was one of Aidan’s best friends and they’d both been to a BBQ at his place. But there was still zero chance of her sharing any of the details that Connie had given her. As tempting as it had been, once she’d looked Richard up on Google, Danni had resisted the urge to open the letter. She knew what it was like to have a secret and what Connie was concealing was none of her business. She’d promised to deliver one letter and one message, if the need had arisen, that was all, but thankfully Connie could now do that herself.

‘That’s a new one for me, someone calling an ambulance for period pains.’ Esther’s voice brought Danni back to the present, as a young patient and her friend, who’d been brought into A&E by the paramedics an hour and a half before, disappeared back out through the double doors. ‘I’ve seen patients with burst cysts and endometriosis before, when the pain relief we offered could barely touch the pain. But as soon as Mia was given some paracetamol, she was fine.’

‘I thought the chap in bay six, who I’ve just sent home after removing his splinter, was taking the proverbial, but at least he didn’t call an ambulance.’ Aidan rolled his eyes as he walked towards them.

‘It wasn’t Mia’s fault; she’s only eleven and the poor kid had no idea what to do.’ Esther shook her head again. ‘If someone had told her that paracetamol and a hot water bottle might be enough to ease the pain a bit, they’d never have called an ambulance.’

‘You’re right and what worries me most is that her mother seemed to think it was all a big joke.’ Danni was with Esther on this. The two young girls, who’d evidently been left home alone overnight, weren’t to blame for wasting the paramedics’ time. From what they’d told Danni, Mia hadn’t been having periods for long and the pain that had accompanied the start of her latest period had terrified her. When her mother hadn’t answered her frantic calls, her best friend, Bella, had called an ambulance.

When the paramedics had also been unable to reach Mia’s mother, they’d brought her in. Mia’s mum had eventually responded five hours after her daughter’s first panicked phone call and when she’d arrived in A&E to pick the girls up, she’d found it hilarious, but she might not be laughing soon. Esther and Danni had agreed that the incident needed to be reported to social services. There might not be a set age for children to stay home alone, but not staying in contact definitely pushed it into the realms of danger, as far as Danni and Esther were concerned.

‘My mum wouldn’t even let me go to the corner shop for a pint of milk on my own until I left for university!’ Esther laughed, but Danni knew her family well enough to know it was probably true as they were incredibly protective of Esther. After Danni’s father had died, nobody had ever really cared that way about her. Except Esther, who had stepped into the role of family when she’d realised it was a vacancy that needed filling in Danni’s life. And Danni wasn’t sure what she’d have done without her.

‘Can you imagine doing that? Just going away and leaving your kids for the night? I can’t even leave Babs and Ange for a night without making sure someone is going to check on them.’ Aidan pursed his lips. ‘Jase says I’ve made a rod for our backs with the way they’re treated, but they are dames after all.’

‘Okay, you’ve got me. I’m thoroughly confused now.’ Esther looked from Aidan to Danni and back again. ‘I thought you were talking about your kids for a moment.’

‘Babs and Ange as kids’ names – how old do you think I am?’ Aidan laughed and Esther tried to dig herself out of the hole she’d just climbed into.

‘No, no, it’s not that. All those old-school names are coming back, aren’t they? My friend is expecting twin girls and she’s going to call them Hazel and Irene.’

‘Babs and Ange are cats.’ Danni knew what Aidan was going to say next before he opened his mouth.

‘Not just any sort of cats – they’re Scottish Folds. They’re the Aston Martins of the feline world.’ Aidan put his hands on his hips, as if daring anyone to challenge him.

‘Okay, but why Babs and Ange? Wouldn’t Scottish names have made more sense?’ Esther screwed up her face.

‘We named them after our favourite actresses. Barbara Windsor for Jase, and Angela Lansbury for me. God rest their souls.’ Aidan made the sign of the cross as he spoke. ‘What more fitting tribute could you have to two powerful women, who were both way ahead of their time, than naming the two most beautiful cats in the world after them?’

‘Well, when you put it like that, it makes perfect sense.’ Esther laughed. ‘It reminds me of when we got those goldfish and named them Idris, Styles, Efron, Jackman and Ryan.’

‘Good choices.’ Aidan grinned. ‘But the question remains, which Ryan? Reynolds or Gosling?’

‘That was the joy of choosing Ryan – he could be either and we’d happily have taken both.’ Danni shrugged.

‘Me too.’ Aidan winked. ‘But having pets together means there was a serious commitment between you two. I knew you lived together, but I had no idea you were that settled. Who got custody of the fish when you split?’

‘Essie didn’t want to leave me all alone in the world. So I got the goldfish and she got Lucas.’ Danni hadn’t meant it to come out the way it did, but Aidan clearly wasn’t going to let it pass.

‘Ooh, have I touched a nerve? What was it? You committed to getting pets together and then Esther ups and leaves you for somebody new, leaving you holding the goldfish bowl.’ He was laughing and, thankfully, so was Esther. If she’d picked up on the hurt behind Danni’s comment, she wasn’t showing it.

‘In my defence, it wasn’t a conscious decision to commit to pets, was it, Dan? We got left the goldfish in a will.’

‘Okay, now I feel as if naming my cats after a couple of theatrical dames is very basic. You’re going to have to tell me the rest.’

‘We had this patient who used to come into A&E on a regular basis, Christine.’ Danni turned towards Aidan. ‘She had COPD and she couldn’t get out and about as much as she wanted, so she filled her house with pets. When she died, she left a note in her will setting out exactly who she wanted the animals left to. Me and Essie got the fish, her favourite paramedics were given joint custody of the bearded dragon, but it was her carers who hit the jackpot.’

‘Did she leave them her house?’ Aidan looked really animated, but Danni was going to have to disappoint him. There was no financial payoff for Christine’s hard-working carers.

‘Not quite – Christine lived in a flat owned by the housing association. Her carers got a tank of stick insects, two tarantulas and a royal python called Nigel.’ Danni laughed again. ‘It was testament to how much we all thought of Christine that everyone accepted the legacies left in her will.’