The Shy Nurse's Christmas Wish. Abigail Gordon

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СКАЧАТЬ was rising as she repeated that she was fine. Partly reassured, he left her and went to find his assistant and with his departure Darcey wondered what Daniel Osbourne would have said if she’d told him the reason for the melancholy in her that he had picked up on. He would probably have thought she was crazy to be so upset at the freedom that Alexander’s departure had given her.

      When a couple of the nurses said they were going to go for a meal at a nearby restaurant on the promenade when they’d finished for the day and did she want to join them, she said yes, and thought that if Daniel saw her out and about he would have no cause to question her lowness of spirit.

      Inevitably his name came up in the conversation during the meal as the three nurses chatted about their working day, and Darcey commented that it was to be hoped that the sailing club he was connected with didn’t meet every night or he wouldn’t have much time to spend with his family if both his days and nights were spoken for all the time.

      The comment caused her two companions to observe her in surprise and they wasted no time in informing her that Dr Osbourne wasn’t married, that he was a free agent, and if he ever decided to change that situation there would be no shortage of would-be brides.

      ‘It would have been his sister and her children that you saw him with,’ they told her, and Darcey listened in amazement. ‘The dishy doctor was married way back, but it didn’t work out, from all accounts, and it seems that since then he has steered clear of matrimony with all its joys and sorrows, and gives all his attention to his sister’s children. You’ll know from seeing him on the wards how good he is with young ones.’

      ‘Er...yes,’ she agreed weakly, and thanked the unseen fates that had prevented her from saying anything out of turn to him. She’d been crazy to take it for granted that he was a family man that day, that the woman and children were his, and wondered what it was that had been the cause of his marriage break-up.

      It was still early evening when Darcey arrived back at the apartment after the meal with the two nurses, and now, thinking back, it seemed a long time since her brief conversation with Daniel Osbourne after they’d done the ward rounds, but short as it had been there had been a oneness about it that had never been present before with any man she’d met.

      * * *

      The man on her mind had gone straight to the harbour after leaving Oceans House Hospital at the end of the day to enquire what progress the repairers were making with the damaged boat, and had been told by them that it would be at least a week before it was seaworthy again. With a grim nod Daniel had proceeded to the hospital where Ely was and had been relieved to find him much better.

      The old man’s face lit up when he saw him and the first thing he said was, ‘I know about the boat, Daniel. Those young scallywags will get the length of my tongue when I get out of here. A couple of them came to visit me this morning and let the cat out of the bag because Bridget has been keeping quiet about it.’

      ‘Did they tell you that two of their friends are in Oceans House with injuries from the accident?’ Daniel questioned.

      ‘Aye, they did,’ he was told. ‘They’ll have to do better than that if they want to be in the lifeboat crew when they’re older. Has it been called out at all while I’ve been in here?’

      ‘No,’ his visitor said, ‘for which I’m thankful, as we both know the need for sea rescue can be sudden and dangerous to undertake, but at the moment all is calm.’ Daniel got to his feet. ‘I’m going to leave you now, Ely, and go for a bite at one of the places on the promenade to save me bothering when I get home. I’ll call to see you again soon and in the meantime take care.’

      ‘Aye,’ he agreed, ‘and you take care too. I’m expecting to be discharged in a week or so.’

      As he drove along the promenade Daniel was half expecting to see Darcey Howard, as on other occasions, somewhere along the way, but not this time, and as he ordered a meal in his chosen restaurant the memory surfaced of how his second-in-command Brendan Stokes had been trying to chat her up when they’d arrived at the children’s ward that morning and how her lack of response had made him hide a smile.

      But he was far from relaxed about the new ward sister’s seeming lack of family and friends. Was the romance she’d mentioned still off? Was that why she sometimes seemed remote? he wondered, and had to remind himself that it was absolutely nothing to do with him. He had his own life sorted and wasn’t looking for any side turnings.

      * * *

      The grip of winter was taking hold as October made way for November and Darcey was not looking forward to Christmas. Alexander had been in touch briefly to say that they were having a great time so far with no mention of being home for Christmas or the New Year.

      When he asked what plans she had made for the festive season she was vague, not wanting to tell him that she hadn’t got any and that being so had volunteered along with others to work over Christmas and the New Year to give staff with families time with their loved ones.

      * * *

      She was surprised when one Friday morning in early November, Daniel took her to one side when he had finished his rounds and said with a smile, ‘The boat is now seaworthy again. Some of the club members with me in charge are taking it for a sail down the coast some time over Christmas, and remembering your comment about your brother’s interest in that sort of thing I wondered if you would like to come with us instead as he isn’t around to join us.

      ‘Some of the young ones seem to be at a loose end on Boxing Day so I thought maybe to go sailing then if the weather is suitable. That is if you’re free, of course, as I’m aware that Christmas is a busy time for most people.’

      Darcey could feel her colour rising. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain to him that she was so lonely that she’d volunteered to work all over Christmas. So instead she told him truthfully that she would be otherwise engaged elsewhere.

      ‘Thank you for asking me,’ she said weakly. ‘It was a very kind thought, but I won’t be free any time over Christmas. I’m fully booked, I’m afraid.’

      She saw surprise in his expression and thought that she could at least have explained why she wouldn’t be available, but there was no way she wanted anyone to know how alone she was, least of all him.

      Daniel Osbourne had probably never had anyone of her sex not want to be with him, though it hadn’t exactly been for a date, she reminded herself. The other two nurses she’d been with that night had described him as a loner. There would have been a boat full of teenagers to keep them apart if she’d accepted the offer.

      ‘That’s fine, then, if you aren’t going to be alone,’ he said levelly, and went on his way.

      When he’d gone Darcey could have wept with shame at the way she’d thrown his concern back in his face, but the fact remained that she just couldn’t have admitted what a miserable thing her life was at the present time, and if Daniel Osbourne was the loner that she’d been told he was, maybe he was also going to be on his own during the festivities, which would make her refusal of his suggestion even more bizarre.

      Though having seen his sister and her children briefly, and in spite of the haste with which she herself had made her exit, she had noted the affection between them that day when they’d called to see him, so it seemed hardly likely.

      * * *

      The day, like any other when she was on duty, was demanding her time, energy and СКАЧАТЬ