Another pause.Then he suddenly grasped his wrist.
‘My watch…’
She decided not to mention that it was with the rest of his stuff in the bag in the corner.
‘You took it off right before you got in the shower.You know, before we…’ The words stuck in her throat, where they were incinerated by the red-hot heat of regret that she suspected they were both feeling now.If only she had a rewind button.
He obviously felt the same because he changed the subject.‘This is ridiculous.I’m bloody fine.I’m a doctor, for fuck’s sake.I’m perfectly capable of making my own diagnosis.Can you go and find Bernadette and ask her to hurry the fuck up?’
Wow, who was this man?The Ray she’d been romancing for the last two months had been sweet, and kind, and attentive and oh so debonair.This guy was a complete dick.And no, she wasn’t going to go track down that lovely nurse and tell her anything.She decided to distract him with banal conversation.
‘You and the nurse… Bernadette… know each other then?Did you work together?’She knew he worked in an Edinburgh hospital now, but maybe he’d worked in Glasgow too at some point.Again, note to self.Do a tad more research before getting to bendy naked stage.
‘What?No,’ he brushed her off.‘She used to be married to Kenneth Manson.’
Amber felt like she’d been slapped.‘Kenneth… the funeral…’
‘Yes.’He was now looking at her like she was stupid, as if there was something completely obvious here that she was missing.And he was right.It all suddenly clicked.That’s why she recognised Bernadette.Years ago, she’d done the flowers for Kenneth Manson’s funeral and then, thanks to a weird twist of fate, had ended up accompanying Marge to the service because Estelle had rolled her ankle that morning.
That seemed like a lifetime ago and just the very thought of Marge and Estelle made her stomach tumble.She had so many feelings about her former friend, but none of them could even come close to taking priority right now, because other pieces of the jigsaw were sliding into place and she was hating the picture they were making.
‘Why do you look surprised by that?I assumed you knew her, given you were at his funeral,’ he snapped.
That wasn’t a new piece of the jigsaw.In fact, it had been the reason that they’d connected and the spark for their relationship.She should have known nothing good would come from a relationship with someone she’d first met at a funeral.
He’d been a customer of Amber Bouquets many times over the years, but always placed his orders on the phone or online, until just a couple of months ago, when he’d come in to pick up the exceptionally expensive bouquet for his mother’s birthday.She’d recognised him almost immediately as the man who’d given the eulogy at the Manson funeral and she’d told him so, kicking off a conversation that led to his double back somersault in the confines of her shower this morning.
Murray ‘call me Ray’ Atkins hadn’t recognised her, of course.She hadn’t even spoken to him at the service, as her focus had been on making sure Marge was okay.
Marge.Amber missed her almost as much as she missed Estelle.For the second time today, she thought how there was a time that she’d be straight on the phone to Estelle right now, telling her all about the batshit crazy day she was having.
But that was before they’d fallen out, after her best friend had betrayed her.Not now.
‘Iwasat the funeral,’ she agreed, dipping back into the conversation, ‘but I didn’t know anyone except Kenneth’s secretary, Marge, and I was only there with her because her daughter couldn’t make it.I was a funeral stunt double.’She tried to rack her brain for any further information.Marge had given her a brief rundown of the chief mourners at the time.‘And am I wrong in thinking that Kenneth and…’ she paused, as she pulled the name back up, before repeating, ‘Kenneth and Bernadette… they were already divorced back then, weren’t they?Didn’t he have an affair?I’m sure my friend, Estelle, told me that.’
‘I thought you said you were no longer friends with her?’he asked, the muscle on the side of his jaw visibly throbbing.
Another piece of the jigsaw.When they’d reconnected in her flower shop, he’d asked her lots of questions about whether she was still in touch with Marge.Of course she’d said no, explaining that she hadn’t seen her in years, which was technically true.He’d taken that in, continued chatting, then, after that, eventually asked her out.
‘I’m not.’Why was he biting her head off?True, they were in a slightly stressful situation and he clearly didn’t want to be here, but this was such a disproportionate response and, quite frankly, it was pissing her off.
She was saved from her rising irritation by Bernadette, who had just reappeared around the curtain.‘Okay, good news for you, Murray.I’ve spoken to radiology and they’re sending someone round to get you now.They’ll just be a couple of minutes.’
At first, Amber thought he was going to reject the suggestion, but he kept his mouth snapped shut.This woman clearly had magical powers.
Bernadette picked up his chart from the table beside his bed.‘While we’re waiting, I just need to take some more details because the admitting nurse didn’t have a chance to get everything we need.’
There was a hint of a reprimand in there, but he ignored it, because everyone here knew that the poor junior nurse who’d first attempted to take his details had been run out of the room before she could finish her job.
‘Okay, I’ve got full name.Date of birth?’
He rhymed that off and Amber realised that he’d shaved a couple of years off when he’d told her his age.Yet more evidence for the dickhead prosecution.
‘Address?’
He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, a flinch of something Amber didn’t recognise crossing his face.Then he switched to a swarthy smile and tone of voice that she definitely did recognise, because it was the one he’d been wooing her with for the last two months.And did anyone still say ‘wooing’?That was another question she’d have asked Estelle if they were still friends.
‘Amber, would you mind getting me that water after all?’he asked her.‘There’s a vending machine just outside the doors, if I remember correctly?’He directed the second part of that question to Bernadette, who was now nodding.
