Hot Single Docs: London's Calling: 200 Harley Street: The Proud Italian / 200 Harley Street: American Surgeon in London / 200 Harley Street: The Soldier Prince. Lynne Marshall

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ been able to reach you, I’m sure they would have contacted me.’

      ‘Of course.’ But Abbie turned her phone on anyway and watched the spinning circle on the screen as it booted up. She put it down as she realised that her diverted attention was only making it feel more awkward for Rafael but almost as soon as the device was out of her hands it sounded a message alert.

      Her gaze snagged on Rafael’s and held there for a heartbeat. And then he turned away with a flash of something like defeat washing over his face.

      She had given him hope, hadn’t she, saying that she wanted to go home with him? Now it seemed like Ella was about to come between them again.

      ‘It’s probably just Melanie telling me that everything’s fine.’

      But she had to look.

      And it wasn’t about Ella at all.

      Another heartbeat and all Abbie could do was close her eyes tightly as she clutched the phone against her chest with both hands.

      * * *

      Dio...

      What the hell had been in that message?

      Something devastating, by the look of her. Rafael was in front of Abbie in only a couple of steps. He gripped her arms.

      ‘Che cosa? What has happened?’

      Abbie struggled to take an inward breath. ‘It’s not about Ella,’ she whispered.

      ‘Then what? What has made you look like this? Tell me...’

      ‘It’s...it’s...Toby.’

      Rafael felt his heart stop for a split second and then thump painfully back into action. Who the hell was Toby? Had Abbie met someone else?’

      ‘Toby?’ His voice felt raw. ‘He’s someone in New York?’

      Abbie nodded mutely. Her eyes were still tightly shut and she was clearly on the verge of tears.

      Maybe it didn’t matter who this Toby was. What mattered was that he could feel Abbie shaking under his hands. She needed support. Comfort.

      Love...

      He pulled Abbie right into the circle of his arms and held her against his heart. He didn’t say anything because he had no idea what he could say. And he didn’t need to say anything anyway because moments later words began to spill out of Abbie between wrenching sobs.

      ‘He was only five...and he was such a brave little boy... He was getting the same treatment as Ella and his mum and I became good friends. Shelley was crying when we left...she said she’d miss us both so much but...but knowing that Ella had made it through was giving her strength...the suffering that poor little Toby was going through would all be worth it in the end because...because one day soon she’d be able to take him home to his daddy...the way...the way I was taking Ella home...to you...’

      The words got strangled by the heartbroken sobs for some time after that. Rafael simply held Abbie and rocked her gently until the grief subsided. Clearly this little boy hadn’t survived the treatment.

      It could so easily have been Ella.

      Rafael’s throat tightened and he could feel an odd prickling sensation at the back of his eyes.

      Tears?

      No. Not possible. He hadn’t cried since he’d been a very small boy. A man’s pride didn’t allow the showing of such weakness. He needed a distraction but there was none to be had at this moment. No work to be done. He couldn’t even pick up a journal article and lose himself in that for a while. And then Abbie made it even worse.

      ‘It could have been Ella,’ she choked out, echoing his own terrible thought. ‘I could have put her through all that suffering for nothing. Shelley must be feeling so awful.’

      ‘She’ll know that she tried everything she could to keep her little one alive. That it was the right thing to do.’

      But Abbie was shaking her head as she tried to pull away from him. Rafael loosened his hold but still kept her within the circle of his arms.

      ‘I just didn’t think. I couldn’t see your point of view at all. Ella could have died, just like Toby, and all that suffering would have been pointless and...and, worse...we would have been half a world away from you. You would never have been able to hold Ella again. It was wrong, Rafael...’ Tears were streaming down Abbie’s face. ‘I’m sorry.’

      Strangely, any threat of his own tears had evaporated. Rafael felt strong. He brushed tears from Abbie’s face.

      ‘Si, it could have been Ella but it wasn’t so I was wrong, too. We were both wrong. Isn’t it time that we forgave each other?’

      Abbie was nodding. Her sob became a hiccup and, instead of pushing out against the circle of his arms, she moved closer, lifting her own arms to wrap them around his neck.

      This embrace wasn’t about offering comfort or support. This was a new closeness. An affirmation of forgiveness.

      It was Rafael who pulled back this time. So that he could cup Abbie’s face with his hands as he kissed her forehead and then her closed eyelids. Slowly. Softly.

      He felt her eyes open as he finished the third kiss. And then they were looking at each other, the way they had when Leo and Lizzie had been kissing at the end of their wedding ceremony and it had seemed the most natural thing in the world to kiss his own wife at that point.

      Just like it did now.

      * * *

      Oh...God...

      This was what she had been aching for. The tenderness of those gentle kisses in the wake of an emotional storm that had washed away anything irrelevant.

      Was this what forgiveness felt like?

      If so, it was incredibly sweet.

      Healing.

      And then Abbie became aware of more than the calm after the storm. She could feel the softness of Rafael’s lips as they pressed so gently on her eyelids. She could feel the strength in his hands as he cradled her face. She had to open her eyes then and when she did, all she could see in his eyes was the caring.

      The love.

      She could feel herself rising to stand on tiptoe. To meet his lips with her own. They were so close right now. Closer than they’d been for a long time. Maybe closer than they’d ever been emotionally.

      But it wasn’t close enough.

      Abbie wanted more. She wanted them to be skin to skin. To have Rafael touching her in a way that would affirm life, rather than provide comfort in the face of death.

      ‘Take me to bed, Rafe,’ she whispered. ‘Please.’

      Without a word, Rafael scooped her up into his arms and strode through the apartment without pausing to turn on any more lights. Their bedroom had French doors СКАЧАТЬ