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“Oh. Pink, obviously,” Alice said.

Ash grinned. “Obviously.”

A loaded silence filled the air as Ash worked methodically, applying the cast to Alice’s arm. When it was dry, Ash plucked a black marker pen from the breast pocket of her scrubs and flashed Alice a mischievous grin.

“May I?”

Alice laughed. “You want to sign your handiwork?”

Ash nodded and pulled off the pen lid between her teeth. Alice held out her arm and Ash cradled it in her lap as she set to work, neatly printing small letters across Alice’s palm. Alice’s body tingled with the proximity of Ash’s warmth and her scent; coconut shampoo and cedarwood.

She swallowed. “Do you deface all your patients like this?”

“No, just you.” Ash lifted Alice’s hand towards her lips and blew on the ink. Alice’s heart raced with the sensation of Ash’s breath on her fingers.

“There, all done.” Ash grinned.

Alice glanced down at the inscription.

Handle with care x

* * *

Despite her brokenbone and painful, bruised knee, Alice left Ash with a spring in her step and made her way to see George. In the corridor outside George’s room, she smiled at the familiar face.

With big eyes popping over her glasses, Marjorie glared at Alice’s bright pink plaster cast. “Tsk. What scrapes have you been getting yourself into now?”

“Oh, this...” Alice suddenly felt a bit foolish. Why had she opted for a pink cast? It announced her injury like it was some sort of achievement. “I, er… fell out of the bath,” she mumbled.

The nurse chuckled.

“Is George awake?”

“Mmm-hmm, but he’s a bit quiet today. Perhaps you and your Barbie Girl arm can cheer him up?” Marjorie’s laugh punched through the air again and her hips swayed as she bumbled away.

Holding a plastic mug in his hand, George stared into the void, his face as blank and pale as the surrounding walls.

“Hey,” Alice said softly, not wanting to scare him into spilling his drink. George blinked hard and squinted to focus in her direction.

“Hey there, klutz.” He conjured a half-smile that seemed to take a lot of effort. “You look awfully happy with yourself, all things considered.”

The warmth in Alice’s chest must have been radiating into her smile. “Yeah, well, karma took a bit of revenge on me for bashing your head. How areyoufeeling?”

George blinked and turned his gaze back to the spot he was staring at before. “I’ve been better.”

Alice considered him for a moment and reached into her vast bag, rummaging as she stepped towards the visitors’ chair. “Now, I didn’t know what you’d like. I was trying to figure out whether you’d be more of a custard cream or a Hobnob type guy. It was a tough call.”

“What did you go with?”

“Jammie Dodgers.”

George puffed a laugh through his nose.

Alice placed the packet on the over-bed table and pulled out a box from her bag.

“And chocolate fingers because you can’t beat a chocolate finger, can you?”

George’s lip ticked up with the hint of a smile.