Page 13 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)

‘She’s just so tired, and Bea’s normally a proper little live wire, isn’t she, Tom?

’ Sara had looked at her husband who’d nodded, his eyes never leaving his daughter’s face.

‘She doesn’t want any food, only water. She’s had abdominal pains, and an upset stomach and vomiting, even though she’s barely eating.

She’s lost so much weight just in the last week, it feels like she’s fading away.

She seems completely out of it today too, like she barely knows we’re here. It’s terrifying.’

Bea still hadn’t responded, despite the obvious fear in her mother’s voice and Eden had been grateful for that in a way.

The last thing she’d wanted was for the little girl to be frightened, too.

Early in her career, Eden had decided to specialise in emergency medicine, and she’d worked across both the adult and children’s areas of A she may be small, but she’s a tough cookie.’ Eden had looked at the little girl, who was still resting, but who she could already picture beaming when she heard the news that she’d be getting a puppy.

‘She is.’ Sara was stroking her daughter’s hair as she spoke.

‘But please don’t underplay what you did, it was amazing.

You saved her life by knowing what questions to ask and getting her the help she needed.

Losing her would have killed me and Tom too, and it would have ruined the lives of everyone who loves her.

That’s huge and I know not everyone appreciates the work you do, but I promise you we’ll never forget it. ’

‘Thank you.’ Eden had accepted the hugs that both Sara and Tom had offered her in turn. It felt good to have made so much of a difference, but despite what they said it really was a team effort.

It had been a long shift and Eden was completely exhausted by the end of it, but when Eve had suggested they go for a coffee afterwards, with Meg and Isla, one of the other A she hadn’t said ‘nurses she’d worked with’, she’d said ‘involved with’.

But Eden was probably just reading too much into something that meant nothing at all.

‘Either way, it’s my round. You sit down with Meg and Isla, and I’ll grab the drinks.’ Eden grinned at the expression on Eve’s face. ‘It’s okay, I’ll let you pay when we go somewhere really expensive, like that new wine bar by the harbour in Port Agnes.’

‘I’ll hold you to that.’ Eve was smiling now, and Eden felt a surge of hope that this new life of hers might really be everything she’d desperately hoped it would.

There was nothing and no one stopping her from building new friendships any more, not now that Jesse was out of her life, and moments like this felt as if they could be the start of something.

Eden walked into the hospital shop, but she couldn’t see anyone at the counter.

There was a stockroom behind it and, although there was a bell to ring for service, she waited there for a moment, not wanting to feel as though she was hassling any of the volunteers for service.

Whoever was on duty, was probably trying to get a stock take done too, so she stood there and waited, hoping someone might suddenly emerge.

Less than a minute later Gwen appeared, muttering something about having found some more wine gums out the back.

It wasn’t until she looked up that she spotted Eden and suddenly stopped dead, putting a hand to her chest, as if seeing her was a total shock.

‘Sorry, Gwen, did I make you jump?’

‘No, well, yes, I suppose you did a bit, but luckily not enough to make me wet myself.’ Gwen laughed. ‘At least I hope not, although at my age it’s a close-run thing.’

Eden laughed along with her. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that Gwen was more than capable of living up to her reputation of not only being the font of all knowledge about St Piran’s, but someone who wasn’t afraid to tell it how it was.

Gwen might also use humour that was pretty close to the edge of what some would deem acceptable, but Eden loved her, everybody did.

‘I didn’t want to ring the bell and disturb you if you were busy out the back, but it sounds like you were expecting someone else to be here?’

‘When I went in to check whether we had more wine gums in stock, Drew Redford was standing where you are now, but it looks as if he’s disappeared in a puff of smoke.

’ Gwen craned her neck forward towards the half-windowed wall of the shop that looked out on to the bistro tables, and the hospital entrance beyond them on one side, and the corridor that led off to all departments on the other.

‘He’s definitely done a vanishing act. I’ll have to rope him in to help me and my husband out with our magic act. ’