‘Our nanny offered to adopt us, but there were all sorts of legal ramifications surrounding our inheritance and the control of Mum’s company. They separated us into different foster homes. Five horrendous years where we didn’t see each other, and Ollie was getting into strife. Then Nick got a judge to agree to let him be our guardian. He was nineteen and responsible for us and the company.’
‘That’s a lot.’
‘I’ll never forget him coming to get me. Of course, my older brother, who was fun and funny and awkward, had been replaced by this man, tall and so fucking serious. He hugged me so tightly and I sobbed. Ollie was there, and we just stood on the road outside my foster parents’ home, clinging to each other. We lost so much.’
My heart broke for the young versions of the Northby siblings, especially Nick. I couldn’t imagine being nineteen and having so much weight to bear. Jesus, when I was nineteen I was drunk most weekends and working at a retail store, where I would turn up so hungover I’d spend the whole day thinking I was going to die.
‘Not that Nick was ever particularly emotional,’ Evelyn continued. ‘I saw glimpses of the old Nick when he met Rebecca, but then her illness … It was absolutely horrendous; it almost broke him.’
I was so keen to hear details, but somehow Sydney traffic, notoriously terrible, had decided to clear for our benefit and we were at the hospital already. The whole of Sydney had apparently decided to sleep in, depriving me of the revelation of why the man I was in love with had his heart tightly locked up in a vault.
Evelyn kissed my cheek and hopped out while I went to park. Kate came off shift in forty-five minutes and I’d offered to pick her up, seeing as though I was there. She texted me to come up to the third floor, giving me a room number, and I reluctantly complied. I didn’t want to intrude on Northby family time, and I was also conscious that, since I had split up with Peter, Kate had been trying to set me up with some doctor she knew.
I knocked on the door and entered. Tears stung my eyes as soon as I stepped inside. Ollie lay propped up on a few pillows, his shaved head wrapped in a bandage. Bruised and battered, he was Frankenstein’s exceedingly handsome monster, but at least he was awake.
‘Oh, my God, Ollie,’ I whispered, my hand on my chest.
‘Hey, Abs.’ His voice sounded like his throat was sore.
There was no one else in the room and I walked over to him and put my head down on his chest, hugging him. ‘Oh, my God, Ollie. I am so relieved you’re okay.’
‘Bloody massive headache. Abs, I need water.’
I grabbed a cup with a straw off the pale wooden bedside drawers next to him. I popped the straw into his mouth. Years of practice with a toddler making me an expert.
He sipped for a few seconds. ‘Ta … Abbey, thanks for looking after Nick for me. I’m sure he was a fucking nightmare over this.’
‘He was just worried about you.’ Neither of his siblings seemed to understand that I wanted nothing more than to look after Nick forever.
A throat cleared behind me and the man himself was in the room. My heart beat hard. It was like getting off a roller coaster that your over-enthusiastic child insisted you ride, but then got to the top and changed her mind – relief tinged with joy. The stress and exhaustion clung to him. He was only ever so slightly less fastidious than usual, but it was the most relaxed I had seen him in the last few days, and it was so lovely to see. He practically beamed me a smile and gave me a look that communicated his relief, gratitude and warmth. There was a touch of adoration in it too, and my heart seemed to swell in my chest.
Evelyn came through the door and embraced me again. Kate was behind her, followed by Ollie’s doctor.
‘Abbey, this is Dr Sebastian Marks, Oliver’s neurologist,’ Kate said. Her eyebrows were dancing up and down, and I realised belatedly that she was trying to communicate something to me.
The doctor was extremely good-looking, taller than either of the Northbys by several inches, fit and dark. His dark-brown eyes looked like melted milk chocolate and his face broke into deep dimples when he smiled. His arms and chest looked like they were solid muscle.
‘Hey,’ I said quietly, offering a small polite wave.
‘You’re Kate’s sister. I can see a resemblance. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.’ Dimples appeared with his closed-mouthed smile as he met my eyes and held them. He seemed to turn back to Kate for reassurance, giving me the impression my sister had arm-wrestled him into this introduction in much the same way she had me.
Across the room, Nick cleared his throat and put on his CEO voice. ‘How long do you expect Ollie’s recovery to take, Dr Marks?’
Sebastian dragged his eyes back to his patient’s brother. ‘Nick, it may take a couple of months for Oliver to recover. The headaches should eventually subside. He may have trouble concentrating for extended periods of time initially, but I would expect a full recovery in six weeks or so. We intend on releasing Oliver home at the end of the week if there are no complications. I’ve spoken with your orthopaedic surgeon, Oliver. You’ll be non-weight-bearing for approximately six weeks. Then you’ll need rehab. I think twelve weeks all up.’
‘Thank you so much, Dr Marks,’ Evelyn said.
Sebastian nodded. I could feel Oliver’s emotion and instinctively reached over and grabbed his hand. A tear ran down his cheek and his sister wiped it away.
‘Come on, Ollie,’ she said. ‘Not so bad.’
‘Abbey.’
I looked up, surprised to see the doctor still in the room.
‘Uh, I realise this might not be the best time, but do you think … perhaps you would like to have dinner with me next week?’
Oh, fuck.I looked down at Ollie’s hand, which had squeezed mine, and then my eyes locked with Nick’s. I caught a flash of jealousy, a swift clench of his jaw, a flare of his nostrils, but it vanished almost straight away. Now he was staring at me impassively, as if he was considering what I would say.
