Page 26 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)

‘I can see that.’ She returned his smile, still trying to figure out why he looked so different. ‘So why are you here?’

‘I was hoping to see you.’ Ali was still smiling.

‘For medical reasons?’ Eden suddenly felt wary.

Her desire to want to fix people’s problems for them had cost her so much in the past, and she’d actively fought against slipping back into that pattern since finally breaking away from Jesse.

Despite that, it was only ever just below the surface, and she knew others could see it in her too.

She liked Ali, she really did, but she couldn’t allow herself to be sucked into anything outside of her role.

‘I wanted to say sorry. For wasting so much of your time. I wasn’t looking after myself and because of that I was taking up time and resources that could have been used on other people. But you were always so kind, so I wanted to say thank you too.’

Eden was taken aback; apologies and a thank you were the last things she’d been expecting. ‘I was just doing my job, Ali.’

‘No, you weren’t.’ He shook his head. ‘You went above and beyond every time, and I’m not saying I won’t ever be back here, asking you to do that again, but right now I’m doing better than I have been in a long time.

I’m trying to make a permanent change and part of that is accepting that I’ve behaved badly in the past and making amends.

It’s early days, but you’re one of the first people I want to thank and say sorry to. ’

‘Oh Ali, you don’t need to thank me, or apologise, I’m just so happy you’re trying to get better.’ She wanted to reach out and take hold of his hand, but she knew she had to maintain the boundary between them. ‘Can I ask you what’s changed?’

‘I got a place at Domusamare, the charity you told me about.’ Ali pressed his hands together, as if in prayer.

‘I can’t thank you enough. They gave me a bed in one of their hostels, and I’m being mentored by a member of the volunteer team.

He goes with me to some of my support group meetings.

He virtually had to carry me to the first couple, and I can call him if I need someone in between times.

Because of you, my mentor, and the rest of the team at the charity, I feel like I might actually have a chance this time. ’

Eden’s eye’s pricked with tears. There were so many days in her job where it felt like she was just trying to hold back the tide and that she couldn’t really change anything for her patients, especially those with social and emotional problems. It made her so happy to hear him sounding optimistic and actually looking forward to the future, and he deserved credit for his own role in making that possible.

‘It’s because of you too, Ali, you’re doing far more for yourself than I could ever have done.

I’m so pleased you’ve got a mentor to call on and to be there for you, no one can get by without someone they can rely on.

’ Ali had never had that before, she knew that from some of the things he’d told her and it was exactly what he needed.

This was such incredible news and Eden had to curl her fist into a ball to stop herself from reaching out to him.

‘Yeah, I’m really lucky and Drew’s amazing.

Actually you might know him, he works here as a pathologist, I think.

’ Ali laughed, as Eden’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

‘Sorry, that’s probably a really stupid thing to say in a place as big as this, but you should try and get to know him if you don’t already.

I wasn’t sure about him at first, he’s quiet and he seemed really serious, but he’s calm and incredibly kind, like you, and he has a great sense of humour once you get to know him a bit. ’

‘He does sound amazing.’ Eden nodded. She already knew just how true that was, and the chances of Ali describing anyone but her Drew were almost non-existent.

Her Drew . They were just two little words, but they said a lot and they scared the hell out of Eden, because he wasn’t hers and she didn’t want to find herself wishing he was, but that’s exactly what was starting to happen.

She’d had no idea he was a mentor, but it didn’t really surprise her.

Despite an admission that he sometimes found it hard to read people, Drew had a way of understanding how to help them.

He’d done it with her and Teddie, and she could easily imagine how much of a difference he’d made to Ali’s life too.

‘I’m meeting him now, actually. He’s taking a couple of hours off work to drive me to an appointment with a dentist to see whether there’s anything they can do about these awful gnashers.

’ Ali grinned, showing off a smile that had more gaps than teeth.

‘Who knows, if I end up with a set of Turkey teeth, someone might even give me a job eventually.’

‘I won’t recognise you next time I see you.’

‘That’s the plan.’ He dropped her a wink and then got up to leave, hugging her tightly but so briefly that she didn’t have the chance to feel uncomfortable. ‘Thank you so much, Eden. You’re one of the best. Don’t ever forget that.’

With a raise of his hand, he was gone, disappearing out of the doors and off to meet Drew no doubt.

She wanted to run after Ali and throw her arms around him, telling him how incredible he was for finding the strength to take these first steps.

She wanted to tell him that Drew had helped her too, and that his assessment of the man who’d supported them both had been spot on.

She could have confessed to Ali that she was developing feelings of more than friendship for Drew, it would have been a relief to tell someone, but she didn’t do any of those things.

Instead, she decided to be brave too. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she tapped out a text.

Hi Drew. I just wondered if you were free on Saturday afternoon/evening? There’s a going-away party for one of the nurses in A&E, and I really don’t want to go on my own.

Looking at the text before she pressed send, she deleted the part about not wanting to go on her own and retyped it.

I know I’d enjoy it a lot more if you came with me.

Before she had a chance to overthink it, or edit the message again, she pressed send.

She probably wouldn’t hear from him for a while, and she needed to brace herself to expect a polite ‘thanks, but no thanks’ when he did respond.

She’d hardly had time to put her phone back in her pocket when it pinged with a text from Drew.

It would be really nice to spend some time with you and, yes, I’m free on Saturday.

Eden smiled to herself, a frisson of what felt a lot like excitement bubbling up inside her. As she shoved the phone back into her pocket and headed through to the department, she was already looking forward to Saturday evening far more than she had been just a few minutes earlier.