He made sure now he was never in a position to reveal that part of himself again. He kept things light; he kept things intimate sexually rather than emotionally.
Then he moved on.
Candy walked past just then, carrying a feeding cup, and she went over and helped Macey to sit up.
Candy didn’t say anything; she just gave Macey a smile as the elderly lady took sips of the milky drink. That was all Macey wanted for now: no conversation, just a warm drink and the comfort of companionable silence.
Candy was fine with that—she was used to it, in fact.
When she’d been ten, her nonna had come to live with them. Candy’s job in the morning had been to make sure Nonna got her biscotti and milky coffee and then to see her to the bathroom and make up her bed. Candy had loved the mornings—the chatty ones when Nonna had told her all about the village that she had grown up in. The reminiscent ones when Nonna had spoken about falling in love and the parties and dancing. The sad ones—leaving Italy and the death of her husband, Candy’s nonno. Candy had been comfortable too with the silent mornings, when Nonna had just eaten quietly, lost in a world of her own, as Macey was now.
‘Do you want a bedpan?’ Candy offered Macey when the milk was gone.
‘I’ll go...’ Macey sighed and pulled back the bed covers.
Glad to see that she was making the effort to get out of bed, Candy helped her with her slippers and got Macey her walking frame and they walked over to the bathroom.
Candy waited outside and when Macey came to wash her hands Candy sorted the taps and squeezed the soap for her. Macey washed her hands very thoroughly. Her nail varnish was chipped and Candy watched her examine her nails for a moment, clearly less than impressed with the state of her hands.
‘I’ll sort your nails out for you on Sunday,’ Candy offered, and then took Macey back to her bedside, where she asked her to sit for a moment. ‘Sit there and let me make it up all nice and fresh for you to get into.’
Candy made the bed so nicely that she wanted to climb in it herself. ‘You’d better get in quickly or I will.’
‘You look tired,’ Macey said, and Candy smiled at the first invitation to conversation.
‘I am, though I shouldn’t be,’ Candy said. ‘I slept all afternoon.’
She got the older woman into bed, put up the bed rails and tied the call bell to the side. ‘Press it if you need anything,’ Candy said. ‘I hope you have a lovely sleep.’
Candy sorted out her other patients and, by one a.m., when Abigail asked if she’d mind taking the first break, Candy was more than ready for an hour to rest. It would seem she wasn’t the only one who needed a doze, because when she walked into the break room there was Steele, asleep on a sofa with the television on in the background.
‘Aloha,’ he said sleepily, when Candy disturbed him as she took a seat.
‘Aloha.’ Candy smiled. ‘How come you’re still here?’
‘I’m waiting for some relatives to come in for Mrs Douglas.’
Candy remembered from handover that Mrs Douglas wasn’t expected to make it through the night.
‘How long is it now till your holiday?’ Steele asked.
‘Three weeks,’ Candy said, and set her phone alarm for an hour’s time. She saw the date and that it was now Saturday morning. ‘Actually, just under three weeks. I fly on a Friday night.’
‘Are you working right up till then?’
Candy nodded and then yawned at the very thought. ‘I almost go from here to the airport.’
‘Is it just you going?’
‘Yep.’
‘I thought Hawaii was more a couples’ destination,’ Steele said, fishing shamelessly.
‘I think you may be right but I saw an advert and I couldn’t resist,’ Candy admitted and nodded to the television, where an infomercial for knives was showing. ‘It was a limited offer, with a huge discount for the first ten to call...I fall for it every time’
‘Yep.’ Steele nodded. ‘And me. I bought the juicer, the chopper and some blender thing until I finally worked out that nothing is going to make me like vegetables.’
‘It’s one of the perils of working nights,’ Candy agreed. ‘What looks appealing at two a.m. seems stupid when the parcel arrives. Anyway, I saw the advert for the holiday when I was feeling particularly miserable. It looked absolutely beautiful and I really needed to get away...’