Page 89 of A Change of Heart

As she gave his leg a shake, she registered the Harry Potter book face down on his lap.

“You have no respect for books,” she remarked when his eyes flickered open. “It ruins the spine when you leave them open like that.”

Her teasing didn’t go down well and he just looked confused as he set the book aside and stretched his neck. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d read a few pages.”

“You got through quite a lot. You must be a fast reader.”

“Yeah.” He swung his legs off the bed and slowly rolled his head from shoulder to shoulder.

“Are you all right?” she asked, sitting up and reaching out to touch his arm.

“Yeah. Fine.” He smiled through a yawn. “How are you feeling today?”

“My throat’s killing me, and I feel as though I could sleep for the entire day. But otherwise I’m fine. Much better than last night.”

“Good.” He checked his watch and swore. “I need to get to work.”

“I think I’ll ask Charlie if he can get someone to cover for me today.”

“Do you know if Noah’s working?”

“Yeah, I was supposed to be on the day shift with him.” She reached for her phone to message her uncle.

“Shame,” Kit said. “I’d have asked him to drive the train this morning so I could go back to bed.”

“Sorry,” she said, registering how pale he was. “Can you ask Keira?”

“She’s doing a first aid course all day. I organised it. Thought it would be good, with her working on the train.”

“Is there someone else you can ask?”

“Not really, but I’ll manage. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” She shifted the pillow behind her to get comfy. “Thank you for looking after me last night.”

“You’re welcome.” He put a hand in front of his mouth as he yawned again. “I really have to go.”

She thought of their conversation the previous evening and the relief she’d felt at hearing that Holly wasn’t his girlfriend after all. It would be better if he didn’t have to rush off so they could talk properly, but that obviously wasn’t an option.

“Can we get together later? I think we need to chat everything through properly.”

He met her gaze and smiled. “Yeah. I’ll pick up some dinner after work and bring it here.”

“Have a good day,” she called as he left.

Not bothering to get dressed, other than pulling on a pair of pyjama bottoms, she relocated to the couch, taking the bedding with her. From there she sent a message to her dad, knowing he’d be furious if he found out about her allergic reaction from somebody else. He called her immediately, asking how she was and if she needed anything. Naomi was in the background, asking if there was anything she could do.

Once Seren had convinced them she was fine and didn’t need anything, she reached for the TV remote and began searching for something mindless to watch. Half an hour into a cooking show, a message came through from Noah, checking she was okay. They exchanged a few messages before she put the phone aside and settled down again.

The next interruption came from someone at the door.

“How are you feeling?” Mirren asked as she bustled inside. “I heard you had a rough night. I’ve brought soup and a tub of ice cream to soothe your throat.”

“Thank you.” They trudged up the stairs. “Did Noah call you?”

“No, Kit did. He was worried about you and asked if I had time to call in.”

“Did he tell you how he looked after me yesterday?” Seren asked, taking the soup and ice cream from Mirren.