Chapter One
Amy
Nothing quite said Fall like rain blowing into my face and soaking me before I even got to work.
Not that it really made any difference. I wasn’t going to win any beauty pageants anyway. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a haircut that wasn’t done with scissors in my own kitchen. Plus, I sighed, I wasn’t employed to look pretty but to do a job, and I was good at the job. No one could deny that.
Pushing open the retirement home’s door, I shook the raindrops from my shoulders, and an icy droplet made its way under my hood and down my back. I cried out, shrugging my heavy coat off and grimacing.
“You look like a drowned rat, Amy,” the receptionist, Clara, said with a laugh. I scowled at her but only for a second before I joined her laugh.
She was right, of course. I did look like I’d walked through a typhoon. Hanging my soaking wet coat up in the closet, I made short work of taming my slightly curly dark hair into a bun and turned back to her.
“How is everything today?” I asked.
“Quiet.” From behind her, a shout went up. Someone demanded their breakfast and more coffee. “Well, apart from him,” she said pointedly. “He’s a serious piece of work.”
My smile faded. I knew who she meant, but I didn’t like the way she said it. It wasn’t any of our residents’ fault that they got overwhelmed.
“I heard, “her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, “that he was some kind of Russian gangster. Like really dangerous.” Her eyes widened.
Shaking my head, I eyed her. “He’s just an old Russian man, dragged away from his home and dumped here. It’s overwhelming for him. I don’t think we have to make him into some sort of monster just because he’s a little difficult.”
Clara’s smile faded to nothing. “You’re probably right, and I’m glad you think so because—” she passed over a sheet of neatly printed paper. On it were my tasks for the day, the residents I would be in charge of, and, like always, it was the most awkward, challenging ones.
They always did that since I was a nursing student before coming here. I didn’t mind, really, but today I was tired and—
Another shout went up, and I lost my train of thought. “I’d best get on with everything.” Giving her a cheery wave, I headed back to where the residents were, saying hello to staff as I headed towards the kitchen.
Usually, I just worked my way down the list, but today, because of all the shouting, I was going to start with him.
Pushing open the door, I found someone had already sat him up in his bed and changed him into fresh clothes, so at least I wouldn’t have to do that.
“Where have you been?” He demanded the second I walked through the door with the tray. “I’ve been waiting for hours.”
“It’s not quite been hours. I pulled over a chair. “Well, in that case, Nikolai, let’s get you fed. What would you like to start with?”
He eyed the tray with blatant disgust. “It looks like slop.”
“It’s porridge, fruit and a yogurt. If you would prefer toast, I canmake that happen.” I winked at him playfully and was rewarded with a slight smile.
“You know I was a powerful man, right?” he asked, pointing to the yogurt like it was the lesser of two evils.
“I did hear something like that.”
“You don’t believe them?” He opened his mouth for me to slip the spoon inside.
“It’s not my place to judge your past, Nikolai. I’m just here to look after you.”
He fell silent. Swallowing when he needed to and opening his mouth when I needed him to.
“People here think I am trouble. They don’t like looking after me.” He blinked. “But you don’t mind it. You come in here and you,” he swallowed, “talk to me. It doesn’t feel like a job to you, does it?”
He was looking at me strangely. And I fidgeted uncomfortably. He wasn’t overly threatening. Today, he seemed like he was in a good mood now that he had food in his stomach, but sometimes when he looked at me, it was like he could read my mind.
“I like taking care of people,” I said slowly. “I was going to train as a nurse. Well, I started anyway.”
From down the hall, something crashed, and a loud shout went out.
