Lisa bit her lip and gave the dress a shake. It was still beautiful. It would just never be her dress. She would never even consider wearing it now.
She glanced at the price tag, blinked and then tore it off. This dress would fit someone else. She pulled another price tag from behind the cash desk and rewrote it. One third of the original price. Someone would want it. Someone would buy it.
She hung it on the rail next to the others. It was nearly six o’clock. Time for her shift at the hospital.
Chapter Seven
‡
She was curled up next to a little girl again. Not on the bed. This time the child, dressed in pajamas and covered in a thick pink blanket was on Lisa’s knee, tucked under her chin on a recliner chair.
Lisa’s voice carried outside. It was calming and melodic even though the pitch and tone changed depending where she was in the story.
Tonight’s rendition was Sleeping Beauty.
The little girl’s fingers stroked the pages of the well-worn book. Adam tried not to flinch at the thought of an infection risk. Sometimes he just couldn’t push the doctor stuff out of his head.
He glanced at the board for the name. Alice Kearsley. Of course. The little girl with leukaemia. He frowned. It was the middle of summer and the hospital was stifling yet Alice was obviously cold. But Lisa, who was probably sweltering under that blanket, didn’t seem to mind.
He walked over to the desk. “Any problems I should know about?”
Mary lifted her head from the computer. “Anyone in particular you’re concerned about?” she said pointedly.
“Alice Kearsley. She’s bundled up and it’s hot in here. Has there been a change in her condition?”
Mary lifted a chart and handed it to him. “Take a look. I did her observations just before Lisa arrived. Nothing unusual.”
He ran his eye down the chart. Mary was right. Maybe he was over-reacting.
He walked back to the doorway. Neither Lisa or Alice seemed to notice. Both were too engrossed in the story.
“She’s so beautiful,” sighed Alice. “I would love to look like a princess, just like she does.” There was that whimsical tone in her voice. The one from a child who actually still believed in fairy tales.
Lisa’s full attention was on the little girl. She reached up and stroked her hair. “When you feel a little better you can come to my bridal salon. I’ll let you try on any dress that you want. I can make you any kind of princess,” she said quietly.
“Can I? Can I really?”
“Of course.”
Something twisted inside his guts. The words were obviously heartfelt. It was clear she meant every one. But he still couldn’t figure her out. What was she doing here? And why the reaction the other night?
No matter how hard he tried, the tiny comment about income and money had niggled him. There was no way Lisa could know about his lottery win. As far as he knew, no one in Marietta knew about it.
He liked her. There was no way around it. But there seemed to be so much about Lisa that he didn’t know.
All he knew for certain was that her kiss had stayed with him. He’d never felt a sizzle like it before. Maybe it was all the flirting beforehand? But, as a teenager, he’d dated a girl for months before kissing her, and it hadn’t felt anything like that.
Mary walked up alongside him and folded her arms. “You should talk to her, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve been hanging around here for the last few days. And no offence, Adam, but I know it’s not me you’re here to see.”
He hesitated. Lisa was still focused on Alice. They’d gone back to the Sleeping Beauty story. Alice’s eyes were slowly beginning to droop.
“Why does she come here? Why does she do this?”
He turned to face Mary who bit her lip. She glanced in the room again. “That’s her business. You’ll need to ask her.” She reached out and touched his arm. “A little tip, give her a minute or two after she comes out.”
Mary turned and walked down the corridor leaving him intrigued. He moved a bit further away and after a few minutes Lisa came out, closing the door quietly behind her.
She stood for a second, then fumbled in her pocket for a tissue, wiping her eyes.
The act was like a winter’s breeze on a summer’s day. Every hair at the back of his neck stood on end and his breath caught in his chest. Lisa wasn’t related to this child. She only knew this child through her work at the hospital but it was obvious she’d connected with her.
Alice’s leukaemia was severe. The treatment was taking its toll on her little body and she wasn’t responding quite the way they’d hoped. Right now, this little girl couldn’t be promised any happy ever afters.
He couldn’t stop his feet from moving. Everything about this was pure instinct. He couldn’t bear to watch her cry.
He crossed the corridor in a matter of moments and put his arm around her shoulders pulling her towards him. There was the briefest hint of recognition before she buried her head into his chest and quietly sobbed. He moved, walking her away from the room and across the corridor towards another room, closing the door behind them.
The tenseness of her muscles dissipated and she relaxed against him, her sobs gradually slowing.
He reached down and stroked her hair, just like she’d been doing for Alice. He put his hand under her chin and tipped her face up towards his. “Lisa? Tell me what’s wrong? Is this just about Alice?”
Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes were heavy with tears. She nodded for a second and then shook her head, resting it against his chest again. Her voice was low. “I know,” she whispered. “I know how sick she feels…and what could lie ahead for her. I know how hard this is for her, and for her family.”
Something gripped his chest like a vise. “You had leukaemia?”
She shook her head and looked up towards him as a stream of tears rolled down her cheeks. “I didn’t. My sister did. Grace, she was looked after here. For a long time this place was like my second home.”
It was just the way she said the words. The cracking of her voice. The emotion in her tone. He had to ask the question, even though he was sure of the answer. “What happened to her?”
Lisa squeezed her eyes shut. “She died.” Saying the words out loud obviously pained her. “She died when she was eight.”
He couldn’t explain the empathy that swept over him. He’d always been sympathetic towards patients and families. But this felt different. This was real put-yourself-in-her-shoes kind of stuff. No wonder Lisa volunteered here. No wonder she was so invested in this place.
Lots of people struggled with hospitals. For some families hospitals were only associated with bad or painful memories. Only a select few could turn it around like Lisa had.
And she’d been so strong for Alice – even when she was obviously falling apart inside.
He kept his arms around her, letting the warmth of her body meld with his. He didn’t care about her reactions the other night. He didn’t care about the tiny seeds of doubt that had wiggled their way into his mind.
This was what mattered. This was what was important.
“I’m so sorry about your sister,” he murmured. “Now I understand why you like to volunteer here.” He took a long slow breath. “I get it,” he said. “You were making a difference tonight with Alice – just like you were with Mrs. Goldman. Sometimes the work that volunteers do goes unnoticed – or unaccredited. Don’t think for a moment you’re not making a difference here, because you are.”
After a few minutes she lifted her head towards his. Her eyelids were heavy. “Thank you.” She whispered. Her breaths were still shuddery. The little pulse at the bottom of her throat racing underneath the skin. He lifted his hand and slid it through her hair at the side of her head.
“You should have told me. I knew Mary wasn’t saying something.”
She lifted her hand and rested it against her chest. “She wouldn’t. Mary
was the nurse that held me when my sister died – she’d just started here. I can still remember how good she was with Grace – with us all. It was her that encouraged me to be a volunteer.”
“You’ve been doing this a while?”
She gave a little smile. “Since the year after my sister died. There’s no age restrictions on volunteers. Melody and I used to come in and play with the other kids in the children’s ward on weekends.”
He smiled. “You’ve been coming here that long?”
She finished drying her eyes and nodded her head. There was something surer about it – a determination.
He slid his arm around her shoulders. “Have you time for a coffee? Let’s go to the canteen.”
As he opened the door he didn’t even take his hand from her shoulders. He didn’t really care about anyone seeing him with Lisa.