‘Ah, I see.’ Nurse Clara smiled. ‘No matter how bad her day is, she always remembers she has a son.’
‘And a prick of an ex-husband, I bet,’ Fin spat viciously.
‘Mmm,’ the nurse replied softly.
‘Sorry, I’m not exactly being the best company, am I?’
‘It’s fine. Families are complex things and the pastcan hold more pain than we realize.’ She sipped her tea wisely.
‘True.’ He nodded. ‘Wait … didn’t you want to ask me something?’
Nurse Clara stood and dusted the crumbs off her uniform. ‘Yes, but maybe now is not a good time.’
‘Please,’ he said. ‘I need to think about something else.’
‘OK then, as you wish. I have a favour to ask you.’ She began to pace up and down the small room. ‘It’s not so much for me. It’s more for the patients.’ She paused before correcting herself. ‘One patient in particular.’
‘You wantmeto help a patient?’ he asked.
‘Well, technically I want your photography skills to help a patient.’ She stopped pacing. ‘There’s a lady who lives here called Rudi. She’s been with us for longer than I care to remember, but it’s unlikely she’ll be around much longer. She’s been asking repeatedly for the past few weeks for someone to come and take her picture. It’s been on my list of things to do, but I hadn’t managed to get round to sorting anything and now …’ Her voice faltered, revealing a tiny crack in her steely facade. ‘Now she’s worsening rapidly. And then it hit me, the other day when you told me about your work back in LA. Here’s the answer! You’re the answer. Our own fully fledged professional photographer. I was wondering if you would do the honours?’
‘But I take pictures for advertising campaigns. With professional models. And abstract backgrounds …’
‘And? Surely a person is a person whether they are a model or not?’ the nurse retorted brusquely.
‘True,’ Fin conceded. ‘I just don’t know if I’ll be able to give her what she’s looking for, that’s all.’
‘How will you know if you don’t try?’
‘Are you going to let me say anything but yes?’ He sighed.
‘No.’
‘Well then fine, I’ll do it.’
She clapped her hands together in delight. ‘Thank you, Fin!’ The joy that lit up her face was quickly replaced with a serious frown. ‘Now, what’s the plan? What do you need me to do to help you get this started?’
‘Erm.’ Fin ran his hands through his hair and willed his brain to kick back into work mode. ‘Luckily I brought my camera with me, but there might be other equipment I need to rent depending on what Rudi wants exactly. I’ll need to speak to her beforehand, if that’s possible.’
‘Certainly. I’ll let her know this afternoon and maybe we can get you back here tomorrow?’
‘Really? So soon?’
‘Time is of the essence with this one.’
‘Of course. Tomorrow should be fine.’
‘I thought so.’ She grinned. ‘No offence, but a man who willingly spends three afternoons a week having tea with an old nurse he just met doesn’t seem too snowed under with plans.’
‘Wow.’ He sat back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. ‘That one hurt!’
‘The truth often does.’ She smirked.
Eleanor
Eleanor wrapped her coat tighter around her body and rocked back and forth on her heels. Brixton station was heaving with commuters and she had to keep craning her neck for any glimpse of Fin’s bright ginger hair.
‘Hurry up, Fin, it’s freezing out here,’ she moaned quietly.
