An Affair of the Heart (12 page)

“Where’s Mr
McCord?”

“He couldn’t
come,” Gina replied. “He’s too busy.”

“Too busy?”
Rachel repeated. The look of disappointment was plain to see on her
face.

“He is rather
busy, I’m afraid,” Brian said. “And I’ve got some work to do
tonight as well, so I had better go, too. But, never mind, Rachel.
I’m sure Robert will be able to come and see you tomorrow.”

Brian then said
goodbye, and he and Dr Jones left together. Dr Jones had hardly
said a word. He just said hello when he came in, checked Rachel’s
chart, and left.

“Dr Jones
didn’t look very happy,” Rachel said to her mother.

“Don’t worry!”
Gina said, sitting on the side of Rachel’s bed. “He’s just upset
about what was said in court today, that’s all.”

Rachel sat up
eagerly in bed. “Go on, then, Mum!” she said, suddenly forgetting
about everything else. “Tell me what I’ve missed having to sit here
all day!”

Gina began to
explain.

The MRI’s
barrister was a Mr Davidson. He and Brian Morgan had made their
opening speeches in the morning. Brian had gone first as he was
sort of prosecuting, followed by Mr Davidson. After that, Brian
Morgan had presented their case against the MRI, and the story of
what had happened the night Sarah Williams had been brought into
their Accident and Emergency department was finally examined.

Various
witnesses were called, including Dr Askwith. Brian had questioned
him the most, almost accusing him of lying about the donor card he
said that Sarah Williams carried. After him came some nurses,
followed by more doctors. The main ones were a Dr Clarkson and a
woman doctor called Anders. Both Dr Anders, who’s shift followed
that of Dr Askwith, and Dr Clarkson, who was in charge of the
Accident and Emergency department, hadn’t seen the donor card, or
even heard of it’s existence that night.

Gina hadn’t
been very impressed by the doctors, or the General Manager, Mr
Barrett, who came later. But Brian Morgan had impressed her. He
took them all apart, deliberately making some of them angry until
the judge told him off.

There was a
break for lunch, after which more witnesses were called. The last
one was a policewoman called WPC Foster. She was there when the
doctors discovered their mistake. Brian spoke to her for quite a
while, too. She told of the confusion caused by Dr Askwith when he
left for his holiday so quickly. What she said made everybody think
that it was his fault, and that somehow he hadn’t done his job
properly.

“That’s
probably what’s upset Dr Jones,” Gina said. “Dr Askwith is an old
friend of his.”

“Do you think
he’s upset with us?” Rachel asked. She liked Dr Jones, and the idea
that this court case might stop him from being her friend had
dismayed her.

“He’ll be
alright once they get their turn,” Gina said. “Anyway, we don’t
want to win this case, do we? We want to lose it! I just hope that
Brian hasn’t over done it. He was so good today he certainly
convinced me that he was trying to win.”

“So what
happened after that?”

“That was it,
basically. Brian finished with the policewoman. And tomorrow it’s
their turn. I don’t know how they are going to get out of it. Even
Robert was a bit concerned.”

“He was
there?”

“Yes, he was
waiting outside when I came out.”

“But he was too
busy to come back with you?”

Gina looked at
her daughter’s expression. “You really are upset that he didn’t
come, aren’t you?” she said, stroking Rachel’s hair.

Rachel nodded.
“Am I being silly?” she asked.

“Why do you
think you’re being silly?”

“Because I’m
getting all upset over somebody I’ve never met before, just because
he didn’t come and see me. I must be being silly.”

Gina started
fishing. “What do you know about him?” she asked.

“Not much, just
what I read in the paper.”

“Were there any
pictures?”

Rachel nodded
again. “Yes, one or two.”

Gina went for
the kill. “Have you got a crush on our solicitor?”

Rachel looked
very embarrassed. She lowered her head, quickly hiding her face
behind her long hair. But her mother had already seen her face
turning red.

“You’re
blushing!” her mother accused her. “You have got a crush on him!
It’s no use trying to hide it from me!”

“Oh, stop it,
Mum!” Rachel protested. “It’s not fair!”

“You’re
hopeless, Rachel! You really are!” Gina told her. She reached under
her daughter’s chin and tried to raise her head, but Rachel
crouched down even more. “Look at me,” Gina said. “Come on, Rachel!
Stop being childish and look at me!”

Rachel looked
up, brushing her hair out of the way. “I’m not being childish!” she
snapped. “It’s you! You always do this! Whenever I find anybody I
like you always pick on me! It’s not fair!”

“But Robert
McCord? He’s old enough to be your father!”

“No, he’s
not!”

“He is! He even
looks old! He must be in his forties!”

“No he doesn’t!
And the newspaper said he was thirty-seven!”

“There you are
then! I told you he was too old!”

“Oh, Mum!”
Rachel threw the sheet over her head.

Gina looked at
her daughter, sitting there buried under the sheet. She sighed
loudly, and said, “You might not like him, anyway.”

“I won’t know
until I meet him, will I?” came the slightly muffled reply.

Gina reached
out and slowly pulled the sheet from over Rachel’s head. All her
hair looked ruffled and untidy. Gina smiled at her daughter, who
watched her from over the top of her glasses.

“You always do
this to me, Mum,” Rachel said in a soft voice.

“I know. I
can’t help it,” Gina replied, and reached out to stroke her
daughter’s hair, brushing it back into place as she continued
talking. “I always was a bit interfering with you and your
boyfriends, wasn’t I? I suppose I was just being over protective.
But, it’s just that, well, I keep thinking and worrying, that one
day, one of those boys you meet is going to whisk you away, and
that you’ll forget all about me.”

“Oh, don’t Mum!
You’re just going to make me cry!” Rachel protested. “You know I
love you! Of course I’m not going to go off and forget about you!
Now you’re being silly!”

“But you’ve got
a new heart now,” Gina pointed out. “You’ll be able to do all the
things you always wanted to do. You won’t need you’re Mum anymore.
You’re going to be more independent. You’re not a little girl
anymore Rachel, you’re twenty-four. Soon you’ll want to get a job,
find new friends, and even get a place of your own to live. You’ll
soon forget about me.”

“I won’t! I’ll
never do anything like that!” Rachel insisted. She could see that
her mother was getting emotional, and if she didn’t do something
about it soon, they would both end up being very soppy. “Even if I
did do most of those things, I’d still want you around,” she said,
putting her arm around her mother. “After all, who would fetch me
up a cup of tea, or do the house work for me if you weren’t
there?”

“That’s it!”
Gina said and she attacked Rachel, who quickly dived under the
covers. Gina took the pillow and hit her with it. “Is that all I am
to you? A house keeper and a cook?” she demanded in mock anger, as
Rachel’s muffled screams came from somewhere under the sheets.
“Just you wait until you come home! You want new friends? I’ll
introduce you to new friends! Mr Vacuum Cleaner, Mr Sink, Mr
Kettle, and Mr Brush and Pan!”

Mock battles
between mother and daughter were a long established tradition for
Rachel and Gina. They helped to let off steam and to re-establish
that physical closeness they shared, especially after any
disagreement, or crisis. But now that Rachel was older, \ \ they
didn’t always happen as frequently or as intensely as before. But
less intense or not, they always started the same way. First Rachel
would goad her mother, and then Gina would retaliate, generally by
tickling Rachel until she gave in. Finally they would sit and talk,
mulling over what was ailing them.

Gina stayed for
another two hours, sitting on the bed and talking with Rachel.
During that time she and Rachel talked about various things. Like
what they would do when Rachel came out of hospital. Would they go
on holiday? And did Rachel want to go back to University? Or did
she want to get a job? And what did Gina want to do?

They also
talked about men, and a lot about Robert McCord. Gina knew that the
American fascinated her daughter, and when Rachel finally explained
why, Gina felt slightly un-nerved.

“You’re just
imagining it,” she said. “It’s just a crush, that’s all.”

“I’m not
imagining it, Mum. Honest,” Rachel insisted. “And it can’t be just
my own feelings either. He and Sarah must have had an affair when
he worked for her husband.”

Gina thought
for a moment before telling Rachel what Robert McCord had told
her.

“I knew it!”
Rachel said, excitedly. “I told you! I’m not making it up, Mum! I
felt it! I really did!”

Rachel was
getting more and more excited, while Gina was just getting more
worried. “Don’t get all soppy and romantic, now!” Gina told her. “I
still think you just fancy him. You saw his photo in the paper and
you liked it, that’s all. You always were a sucker for a handsome
face!”

“But, Mum–”

“But nothing!
Anyway, I’m still not too sure that he can be trusted.”

“Why not? He’s
helping us, isn’t he?”

“Yes, but I’m
not totally convinced that it’s just out of the goodness of his own
heart.”

“But he is
helping us, Mum!” Rachel insisted. “He can’t be all bad!”

“He stole
another man’s wife, didn’t he?”

That made
Rachel pause. Her excited expression faded a little. “I don’t think
Sarah loved her husband anymore,” she said slowly. “I think it was
already over before she met Robert.”

Now Gina really
was worried. “Sarah? Robert? You don’t know any of these people,
Rachel!” she said, anxiously. “You can’t possibly know what any of
them were thinking!”

“But I do,
Mum!” Rachel insisted. “I feel it! Inside me!” She held her hands
to her chest as she spoke. “I’m sure it’s not just a crush, Mum. It
has to be more than that. But I’m not stupid, either. Even I can’t
really understand what I’m feeling. So that’s why I have to meet
him. I’m sure that I’ll find out what’s going on, and what he’s
really like, as soon as we meet. Good or bad, I’ll know, one way or
the other, straight away. I’m sure, Mum! I’m sure!”

Gina looked at
her daughter’s expression. It was so filled with emotion that she
had to give in. “Alright,” she said. “I’m not promising anything,
but I’ll ask him again tomorrow. If he comes, he comes. But if he
doesn’t, or if he doesn’t have this same strange feeling that you
do, then you have to promise me you’ll drop all this silliness.
Alright?”

Rachel looked
stubborn. “He will feel the same!” she insisted. “He has to!”

Gina sighed.
“Don’t think of him as some hero, Rachel,” she said, wagging her
finger at her daughter. “If he were a cowboy, he probably wouldn’t
be wearing a black hat, but it most certainly wouldn’t be a white
one, either.”

If Rachel had
thought the first day of the trial had dragged on for hours and
hours as she waited for her mother to return, the second day must
have seemed like her whole life had gone by. It drove her crazy.
This time he would come. This time she would meet him. And she
would know. Whatever her mother thought about Robert McCord, Rachel
knew that as soon as she saw him and shook his hand, she would
know. But why did the hours have to take so long? In the end, her
mother actually returned early.

But again
Rachel was disappointed.

“He can’t be
too busy again!” Rachel almost wailed when her mother and Brian
Morgan came into her room without him.

“And hello to
you too!” Gina said, hands on hips.

Brian Morgan
laughed before he answered Rachel’s question. “Yes, he is I’m
afraid. And after what happened today, I think he’s going to be far
too busy for quite a while.”

“Why? What’s
happened? Is he alright?” Rachel asked, slightly worried.

Gina sat on the
side of Rachel’s bed. “Well, if you give us a chance, we’ll tell
you!” she said. She looked so excited; Rachel thought she was going
to burst. She hadn’t seen her mother looking as happy as this in
ages.

“It was like a
bombshell!” Gina went on. “They accused him of having an affair
with Mrs Williams!”

“What? In
court?” Rachel asked in amazement.

“Yes! They just
came straight out with it! That Mr Davidson said that this whole
thing was just a private fight between him and her husband! Can you
imagine it? The whole place went wild! More cameras went off than
at a Royal wedding!”

“Flipping
heck!”

Brian Morgan
smiled. “Yes, it was a bit of a surprise,” he said. “Robert knew
that he would be questioned at some point because he knew both Mr
and Mrs Williams. And I knew that Robert was planning to make his
affair with Sarah Williams public, anyway. But neither of us ever
suspected that it would come out so soon. Even Robert was never too
precise about how he was going to get the question asked in court.
As it was, when Davidson called him as their first witness and just
came straight out with it, it couldn’t have worked out any better
if we had planned it that way.”

“But I don’t
understand!” Rachel said in anguish. “What was so important about
their affair? And why did he want everyone to know about it?”

Gina explained.
“The affair itself wasn’t so important,” she said. “It just proved
that he knew Mrs Williams well. That was important.”