Page 4 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)

‘I’m so glad it’s you.’ When Ali smiled, it took about twenty years off him.

Most of the time he looked as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but his whole face transformed when he smiled, and the ravages of his lifestyle almost disappeared.

He was thirty-two, but looked two decades older.

He’d had a problem with drugs and alcohol since his early teens and had told Eden about his experiences of bouncing from foster family to foster family, before ending up in a residential home.

Both of his parents had been addicts and it broke Eden’s heart that his future seemed to have been pre-determined almost from day one.

Not least because that could have been her fate too, if her father hadn’t made sure he met the basic needs of his children, when Eden had been almost certain they were going to lose her mother to alcohol.

Her father might have buried his head in the sand about his wife’s addiction, hoping it would somehow magically go away, but at least he’d been there, solid and reliable, even if he was in denial about just how troubled Eden’s mother was.

Ali hadn’t had the same privilege. He’d had no one but himself to rely on, and it was no surprise he’d repeated the behaviour he’d witnessed every day growing up.

His life felt like a reflection of the one Eden could have had and, whenever she was confronted by something like that, it brought out a desperate desire in her to save the person whose life could so easily have been hers.

‘It’s always lovely to see you too.’ She smiled at Ali and he gave her a quizzical look in return.

‘I think you might be the only person who ever says that to me. Especially in this place.’

‘I’m sorry, Ali.’ Eden laid a hand on his arm. His clothes were clearly in need of a wash and he smelled of damp, like an empty room in a long-abandoned house and she had a horrible feeling he was every bit as lonely. ‘Where are you staying now?’

‘I’m sofa-surfing.’ She’d have known he was lying, even without the shifty look in his eyes.

‘Are you sleeping rough?’ Eden’s chest ached at the thought. Ali didn’t deserve this, no one did.

‘There’s an old caravan on one of the farms out towards Port Tremellien.

It must have been for seasonal farm workers, but there’s a row of mobile homes for them now and the caravan seems to have been left to rot away.

It’s mostly dry, and it’s warmer than it would be if I was sleeping outside.

I just have to be really careful not to be seen, so I can’t come and go unless it’s dark.

’ Ali made it sound like a minor inconvenience, and Eden’s heart broke a little bit more, because he probably saw it that way, too.

He was grateful to have the use of a grotty caravan that sounded as though it was falling apart, but even then he couldn’t call it home.

He wasn’t doing anybody any harm, or using a resource anyone else wanted, but he’d be thrown out if he was discovered, she knew that as well as he did.

‘I wish you’d let me put you in touch with someone who might be able to find you a more permanent solution.’ Eden knew of a local homelessness charity, called Domusamare, which her mother, Karen, had recently started fund raising for, but Ali was already shaking his head.

‘I can’t be hemmed in like that, in a hostel. It reminds me too much of the residential home.’ He shuddered at the memory. ‘I’d rather take my chances and have my freedom. I’m doing okay.’

‘But you’re not, are you?’ Eden’s tone was gentle. ‘Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.’

‘It’s just my foot.’ Ali shrugged, but the shifty expression was back. ‘The wound seems to have flared up again.’

‘Have you been looking after it?’ It was a pointless question, because she already knew the answer.

‘I’ve been doing my best.’ It was a lie.

Despite how difficult it was for Ali to take care of himself properly, he wouldn’t even have tried.

He’d had problems with his feet for years, according to his notes.

Just before Eden had started at the hospital, he’d sustained an injury that had led to an infection, and the view of her colleagues was that he was deliberately neglecting the injury in order to access pain-killing medication.

It was something to top up the methadone he was already prescribed, alongside whatever other drugs he could get his hands on, no doubt.

She didn’t blame him, like others might, she understood the impact of having a parent with an addiction only too well.

‘You don’t have to lie to me.’ There was still no edge to Eden’s voice; she wanted to help him and he needed some tough love, but experience had taught her that there was a fine line between that and completely alienating someone who felt as though no one was on their side.

She hadn’t always trodden that line effectively, but she wanted to get it right with Ali.

‘I know you’re struggling, and that you feel like it’s worth suffering physical pain in order to try and numb the emotional kind, but any medication we can offer you isn’t going to alleviate those feelings for long and you could end up losing your foot altogether if this carries on. We need to find another solution, Ali.’

‘I don’t think there is one and even temporary relief from what’s in here makes it worth the risk.’ Ali pointed towards his head, and Eden’s heart broke for him all over again, as she touched his arm for a second time.

‘Let’s see what we’re dealing with then.

’ She blinked several times in quick succession to stop herself from crying.

Tears were pointless; they wouldn’t help Ali.

She had to find some other way of doing that, but right now he had a physical injury that was far easier to find a solution to.

She just had to try and persuade him to take it.

The trouble was, she knew from personal experience just how difficult that might be.