Page 5 of Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital

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The last people Danni had expected to see walk into the A&E department were Esther and Lucas. They should have been in the midst of unpacking their new home. She’d even pictured them there, laughing at shared memories as they took photo frames out of boxes and exchanging kisses as they arranged their furniture in the place where they’d be starting their married life. Danni had needed to focus really hard on other things to try and get that last image out of her head the night before. Not even Brenda’s snoring, from her basket near the end of Danni’s bed, had been able to drown out the internal voice reminding her what a loser she was for still being fixated on Lucas after all these years. So seeing him walk into the hospital, with his hand in Esther’s, made her gasp. For the last few months this had been her safe place. Somewhere she didn’t need to worry about being confronted on a daily basis with everything she didn’t have. And yet here they were again, right in front of her.

‘What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be up to your necks in boxes?’ Danni was trying and failing to keep her tone light. She wasn’t ready for this. She’d counted on every one of those remaining twenty-four hours before she needed to adjust to seeing Lucas again.

‘We heard about the accident and thought we might be able to do something to help. Are you okay? You look really pale.’ Esther’s eyes were round with concern and this was just like her, worrying about everyone else even in the midst of the stress of moving house. She deserved a much better best friend than the one she’d got.

‘I’m fine. It’s just been…’ She looked at Esther, who knew her well enough to understand what she was about to say. ‘They think the bus driver had a cardiac arrest and when he was lying there, I just—’

‘Oh, Dan.’ Esther flung her arms around Danni. They’d always been the odd couple in many ways and for a moment she couldn’t help smiling. She could probably have lifted Esther over her head, like Patrick Swayze inDirty Dancingif she wanted to. Danni was five feet ten, with long, dark, wavy hair, and Esther was a good nine inches shorter, with a blonde pixie cut, earning her the nickname of Tinkerbell from the other staff back in their old hospital. They couldn’t have been more different, their backgrounds included, and yet they’d somehow been soulmates from the first day they’d met. Every time Danni had discovered she’d be on shift with Esther, it had lifted her spirits and, when they’d got a flat together, they’d become each other’s confidantes. She might not have the shared experience of losing a parent that Lucas did, but Esther knew how hard it had hit Danni when she’d lost her father and the feelings that seeing the bus driver would have raked up for her. ‘Do you think you should go home? You don’t look well.’

‘I need to be here.’ She looked at Esther again, as her best friend finally let go of her, knowing she’d understand that too. But it was Lucas who responded.

‘Seeing the driver must have been so tough. Those situations always are. We had a whole family involved in an RTC on my last day in London. The two kids were in the back and got out completely unscathed. But it was too late for the surgical team to help their father. Thank God I managed to save their mother.’ He exchanged a look with Danni that made it feel for a moment as if no one else existed. Esther might understand her pain, but Lucas couldfeelit, just like Danni could feel his pain, when something triggered a memory for him of losing his parents, the way this conversation was clearly doing. It took everything she had not to reach out and comfort him.

‘I’m fine.’ She deliberately glanced away, breaking the intensity of the look he’d given her. ‘And I’d better get back to it.’

‘There must be something we can do to help?’ Lucas ran a hand through his hair as he spoke and Danni cursed the fact that he always managed to look so good. He had thick-rimmed black glasses, ever-so-slightly messy dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a hint of stubble, making him look like a poster boy for the thinking-woman’s fantasy. She just wished to God she could stop thinking it.

‘Can you do anything when you don’t officially start until tomorrow?’

‘I don’t care even if it’s making tea, or taking down details for the walking wounded in reception. Anything is better than just sitting around, worrying about how much you and the rest of the team are having to cope with.’ Esther looked from Lucas to Danni. ‘Is Dr Moorhouse on duty?’

‘Yes, he’s in resus. Do you want me to go and speak to him?’ Danni was already walking in that direction, before her best friend could answer. She’d seen Lucas’s hand curl around Esther’s again and she was done being the third wheel. Coming to Cornwall had been the start of a new life, even if they’d made that more complicated by following her, and she was determined not to slip straight back into how things had been.

Less than three minutes later she was back, with instructions from Dr Moorhouse, the consultant in charge of A&E. It sometimes confused patients that their consultant was a doctor, rather than a Mr, but it was only surgeons who got to change their title when they were promoted. Dr Moorhouse had said that because their DBS and reference checks were in, Lucas and Esther could help out with anything non-clinical, like the other volunteers at the hospital. St Piran’s had an unseen army of volunteers, who’d already become its backbone, from the team who ran the hospital radio to the staff who ran the shop, as well as mealtime volunteers, patient transport and befrienders. Until they were contracted, Esther and Lucas couldn’t provide any medical support, but right now their help could still be invaluable in other ways.

‘Where do you think we should start?’ As an A&E nurse, Esther was well used to doing anything asked of her and she was clearly ready to get stuck into whatever would help. What was perhaps more surprising was that Lucas was too. In Danni’s experience, not all surgeons were as willing to roll up their sleeves to do more routine jobs. But he wasn’t like everyone else. That was the trouble. Lucas needed to be needed, exactly like Danni. It was the one thing Joe had been right about.

‘There are quite a few people in the relatives’ room, waiting to get updates on how their family members are doing. So maybe you could start there? See if they need drinks or if you can make any calls for them? After that, there might be patients who are okay to have a drink or a sandwich. The porters would probably appreciate the offer of some help too, if you can speak to one of them.’

‘It’s good to have the old team back together.’ Lucas smiled and reached out to touch her arm, sending a jolt of electricity up her spine. Her stupid, treacherous body just wouldn’t listen when she told it to stop reacting to Lucas.

‘I’ve got to go and see a patient, but I’ll catch up with you guys later.’ Danni forced a smile and turned towards the cubicle where she’d be checking on a patient whose dislocated shoulder had just been put back in place, to see if he might be able to be discharged. Work had always been the best medicine for whatever ailed her, and she just had to hope that having Lucas and Esther around wouldn’t change that too.

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Connie didn’t return to A&E after her CT scan and, when Danni went to get an update, she found herself holding her breath, wondering if she was going to need to deliver on her promise after all and tell Richard and Darcy about the letters.

‘She’s been taken straight up to surgery.’ Aidan’s gentle lilt made the prospect of undergoing an operation seem almost appealing. ‘They’re going to remove the metal shard, but she’s got an unstable fracture in her pelvis too. The surgeon said she’ll perform an external fixation of Connie’s pelvic fracture during the op, until the team can decide on any plan for further surgery. At the moment she isn’t well enough to tolerate a longer surgical procedure, but she’ll almost certainly need one further down the line. It looks like she’s in for a long stay. I meant to come and tell you, but it’s still like herding cats in here.’

‘Oh, that’s good news, then.’ Danni breathed out, relief at knowing that Connie would almost certainly be okay, allowing her shoulders to relax at last. Richard and Darcy would be able to speak to Connie themselves and she just hoped that the second chance would bring her patient everything she was hoping for. The weird thing was she hadn’t once been tempted to open the envelope and find out what the big secret was. Maybe it would have been different if she wasn’t carrying a secret of her own, one she felt would kill her if another living soul ever found out. So, she’d keep the letter safe until she had a chance to go up and see Connie on the ward.

‘Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on!’ The voice of a woman, who was clearly distressed, carried through from reception. ‘I just want to know he’s okay, please.’

Danni didn’t hear the response, but a moment later the double doors separating A&E from reception flew open and a woman came running in. ‘Someone needs to tell me where the hell my husband is. I just want to see him!’

‘It’s okay, let me see what I can find out.’ Danni put herself in the woman’s path, waving away one of the reception staff who’d followed her.

‘It’s my husband.’ The woman didn’t seem able to lower her voice, despite the fact she was standing less than a foot away from Danni. ‘I heard about the accident on the car radio, when I was on my way back from meeting my friends for lunch and I can’t call him to check he’s okay because I’m waiting for a new mobile phone. The old one doesn’t charge properly any more.’ The woman was gabbling now, but some of the adrenaline finally seemed to go out of her as she looked up at Danni.

‘How do you know your husband was on the bus?’

‘Because he was driving it.’

It felt as if iced water was dripping down Danni’s spine as she faced the woman. Maybe she was wrong, maybe her husband had swapped routes with another driver, but even as the thoughts ran through Danni’s head, she somehow knew there was no mistake. There was one way to check for certain, though.

‘What’s your name?’

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