‘Everything’s okay, Mimi. Go back to sleep.’
Her lips twitched into a smile. ‘Again? That’s all you ever say to me...’
She’d heard him. Those long nights when he’d wondered if she knew he was there. Rafe blinked back the tears.
‘I’m thirsty...’
‘Okay.’ He operated the controls to raise the head of the bed. Then he poured some water into a glass, letting her take some water through a straw. ‘Better?’
‘Thanks. That’s good.’ Her fingers found the elastic bandage around her wrist, plucking at it. ‘I’ll take good care of this.’
He’d wondered whether she would try to give it back to him. The fact that she didn’t, that she wanted to keep it, made his heart swell with happiness.
‘It’s supposed to be taking care of you. When it comes to good luck, you can’t beat a sixpence.’
‘No. You can’t.’ Her eyelids fluttered and Rafe thought they were closing, but then she shifted in the bed, turning her head to look at him. ‘You should go home. Get some sleep.’
‘I will. In a minute.’ When she was asleep. It hurt to even think about getting up and walking away and although there were many things he wished he could share with Mimi, the pain of parting wasn’t one of them.
‘Thank you for staying, Rafe. I would have been...so lonely...’
He brushed the tear from her cheek, forcing a smile. ‘I was at a loose end...’
‘Yeah. Me too.’ She became suddenly agitated. ‘You should go now. I want you to go home...’
This was the one thing that Rafe had hoped to avoid. He took her hand, soothing her. ‘It’s okay, I know. We made a decision and I’m honouring that.’
‘Thank you.’ She yawned, clapping her hand over her mouth. ‘Didn’t mean to do that...’
Rafe chuckled despite himself. ‘I know you didn’t. One thing before you go back to sleep. I want you to call me if you need me. Any time. Will you promise?’
‘I can’t...’ She furrowed her brow, as if she was trying to remember why. ‘My phone...’
Rafe turned, sliding open the drawer which held her personal bits and pieces. Her phone was inside, but smashed so badly that it was practically broken in half.
‘Your phone’s broken. So you’ll have to get Charlie to call if you need me. Will you do that?’
She nodded. ‘Promise.’
‘Good. Go to sleep now, Mimi.’
‘Yes. I’m...tired.’
She yawned again, and then seemed to settle. Rafe waited. He’d seen enough people pretending to be asleep or unconscious in A and E to know the difference, and Mimi wasn’t making a very good job of it. Soon enough, though, the tension seemed to leave her body and she was really asleep.
Time to go. Rafe tried to come up with some parting words that he might whisper, something to sum up how he felt, but he couldn’t. Leaning over, his lips formed the shape of a kiss, which didn’t even touch her forehead for fear of waking her. Then, swiftly, he turned away.
* * *
Mimi heard the door close. Despite her jumbled thoughts and the almost irresistible desire to sleep, she knew that Rafe had left now.
He’d looked so tired. Despite that, she knew he would have stayed if she’d asked him, watching over her.
But it was time now, and she’d wanted him to get some rest.
Her fingers felt for the watch on her wrist. Still there. The most precious thing he owned...
A great tide of fatigue overwhelmed her. She’d feel better in the morning. The lucky sixpence would see to that.