On Dublin Street(97)

His smile quickly turned into a glare. “Joc-”


“Rhian,” I answered with affected cheer, giving Isla a little wave goodbye, one she returned obliviously.


Rhian snorted. “You sound wired.”


I hurried past the pubs heading for Candlemaker Row, a shortcut up to the bridge and Forrest Road. “I didn’t give you a good enough Christmas present, do you know that.”


“Uh, why?”


“Because you just saved my ass. I’m sending you a little something as a thank you.”


“Ooh, chocolate please.”


“Done.”


I let her talk to me about everything and nothing for ten minutes in a desperate attempt to dull the excruciating ache in my chest at seeing Braden. It didn’t last long. I went home, curled up with the unwashed bedsheet that smelled like him and cried for three hours, before I finally got up the courage to put it in the wash.


~25~


Perhaps I was still feeling guilty about flaking out on Ellie that first night, so I went a little overboard on getting the apartment ready for her return. It was clean from top to bottom, but I’d held back my own inclination to ‘tidy’ and left her clutter out since I knew it made her feel at home. I ordered this gorgeous pale green luxury bed set online because she loved green, I bought a few decorative cushions, and made her bed up into a princess bed. I bought a breakfast-in-bed table that rolled up to the side of the bed and swung over so she could eat in bed. I bought flowers. Chocolate. I packed the fridge with her favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. There was a pile of every latest issue of every magazine I’d ever seen her reading on her bedside cabinet. A couple of Sudoku and crossword books. And the most extravagant… a small flatscreen television with a built in DVD player. It was probably a little much for a patient who was only supposed to be on bed rest for two weeks but I didn’t want her to get bored.


“Oh my God.” Ellie’s eyes widened as she walked into her room. She was standing with her arm wrapped around Adam’s waist, and Elodie, Clark and Braden were already in the room, smiling at everything. The kids were back at school so they’d missed out on ‘Joss goes overboard’. Ellie’s eyes swung to me. “You did all this?”


I shrugged, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “It’s not much.”


Ellie laughed and came over to me slowly. “You’re a little bit awesome.”


I huffed. “If you say so.”


“Come here.” She wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her, like always feeling like a little girl hugging her mother because she was so tall. “I love it, thank you.”


“I’m glad.” I gently eased her back and frowned. “Lie down.”


Ellie groaned. “This is going to be fun.”


As Adam helped Ellie off with her shoes and into the bed, Elodie came over to me. “The doctor says you need to make sure her bandages don’t get wet when she’s showering.”


“She can take baths for now.”


“Good. And, she’s to rest. She’s allowed to walk about, but not constantly.”


“Got it.”


“She’s to go back in two weeks to get the bandage off.”


“Okay.”


“And then she has a check-up three months after that. If everything’s fine, it’ll be a year after that.”


I frowned. “Wait.” I shot a hopeful smile Ellie’s way. “You got your biopsy results?”


“No one told her?” Ellie’s brow puckered as she stared accusingly around the room.


Braden sighed. “Maybe if she would stop avoiding everyone someone might have.”


“Hello!” I waved my hand. “Results please?”


Ellie grinned. “Benign.”


I sagged in relief to hear confirmation of what Dr. Dunham had predicted. “That really should have been the opener.”


“Sorry.”


“Uh huh.” I quirked an eyebrow at Elodie. “P.S. I’m going to take good care of her.” My eyes flickered to Adam who had climbed on top of the covers on Ellie’s other side. “That’s if Lover Boy let’s me.”


Adam grimaced. “I’m too old to be called a Lover Boy.”


“I quite like it.” Ellie smiled mischievously.


“Then Lover Boy it is.”


“Well, I think I’ll go make us all some coffee before I throw up on Ellie’s new bedspread,” I cracked and made to move towards the door.


Braden stepped in front of it, his face expressionless. “We need to talk.” With that he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving me no choice but to follow.


I found him in my room and as soon as I walked in he strode past me to shut the door.


“We could talk in the sitting room,” I told him irritably, hating him in here where there were so many memories. Plus, his presence in my room had always been overwhelming.


In response, he prowled towards me, only coming to a stop when there was an inch of space between us. I wanted to back up but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. I stared up at him defiantly and he bent his head a little so he could look me directly in the eyes.