Olivia smiled a little and then closed her eyes.“And they bring their cats too.”
“They have cats?”
“Two.One is pregnant but they don’t know it yet.”
“Ah.”Cat pressed a light kiss to the top of the little girl’s head.“Go to sleep.I’ll be here thinking about the cats while you rest.”
*
The next fewdays passed quietly, but not quickly.As Olivia became better, she also became far more restless.Rhys was determined to keep the girls apart as much as he could until Livy’s fever was gone, and Cat understood.But midafternoon on Monday, Rhys received a phone call that changed things.
He was in the kitchen when his phone rang, Olivia was napping, and Cat was in the sitting room playing cards with Jillian.Cat only heard bits and pieces of the call, but it sounded like a call from the hospital, and they were discussing a case with him, and from the gravity in Rhys’s voice it sounded serious.
The next time Cat saw Rhys his expression had completely changed, his jaw hard, his features taut.Cat wanted to ask him if there was something she could do but didn’t want to intrude on his thoughts or mood.
Clearly, he was upset, and clearly his thoughts were no longer here with them but in London with whatever was happening, or had happened, at the hospital.
Rhys returned to Olivia’s room and stayed with her for an hour, before emerging to get her some juice.
Cat cornered Rhys in the kitchen.“I know things are weird between us,” she said under her breath, not wanting Jillian to hear, “but I know something has happened in London—”
“There’s nothing I can do,” he said flatly, shutting her down.
But Cat could feel the tension radiating off of him, never mind the shadows in his eyes.“Maybe not from here,” she said.“But could you in London?”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“The girls—”
“I’ve got them.”
“I’m on break.”
“You will always be a doctor, and you will always be needed.If you are needed, you should go.”
He looked away, his jaw working, his mouth pressed hard.
She put a hand on his arm.He said nothing but she left her hand there, trying to comfort as best as she could.
“It might be too late.”
“And it might not,” she replied.
“There are other doctors—”
“But they aren’t you.And if you could make a difference, you should go.”She took a breath, and her eyes burned and her throat threatened to seal closed.“If there is any chance at all, go right now.”
He looked down at her hand on his arm and briefly covered it with his hand.“You will be fine without me?”
“Absolutely.The girls will understand too.”
*
Car lights outsideshone through the kitchen window and Cat, having just put both girls to bed, went to the kitchen and looked out on the driveway where Rhys’s black Range Rover was parked, with him stepping out of the vehicle.
She looked at the kitchen clock, half past nine.What was he doing back?
