“See? She’s fine!” Richard said.
James didn’t acknowledge him. He just stared at me as if he was seeing a ghost. My heart broke. All I wanted was to be in his arms, but I couldn’t. Richard was already getting suspicious of James’s behavior.
“Are you alright?” James asked me in a low voice.
I wished he hadn’t asked me anything. It was killing me just seeing him like this. I had brought nothing but pain to this man, and this made me feel that I would somehow be the death of him.
“I am so sorry for worrying you. I’m fine, honestly. Just clumsy.” I started limping back to the lounge to sit down. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see anger across James’s face as he watched me limp. I sat down on the end of the lounge closer to him. There was an awkward silence for a while.
“James, you can go back if you like. Catherine is fine. I am in no hurry, I can stay with her until the rain stops and walk her to my car, which isn’t far, and drive her back to the college.”
James stood tall and looked directly at Richard. “I am not going anywhere. You will find that my car is next to yours and Dr Simons is in it, so if you need to leave, feel free.”
“A car and a doctor. I guess you win!” Richard said as he looked out the window. “Oh well, it looks like you also seem to control the weather. The rain’s stopped! Well, if I am not needed anymore, then I guess I will be off. Catherine, I hope you have a speedy recovery and please feel free to use this cottage whenever you need to,” Richard said as he made his way toward me. He crouched down in front of me.
“Be careful! I would hate for something to happen to you if I wasn’t there to help you.”
“Thank you,” I said hesitantly.
I knew Richard was trying to get under James’s skin. I couldn’t see James’s reaction, because he was purposely turned away.
“James, always a pleasure,” Richard taunted, before promptly leaving.
Neither one of us spoke for a while.
“Are you in pain?” James’s angelic voice finally broke the silence.
“No… No… I am fine,” I answered, quickly.
“Richard said that you thought someone was chasing you… is that true?”
“Um… yes James, I can’t go back to Australia — I won’t!”
“I don’t understand.”
“Mr Kemp said that if I don’t figure out what’s happening on my own, it wouldn’t matter because I have to leave at the end of the year anyway,” I confessed.
“So, you’re now in a hurry to figure this out? If this is the result of you trying to understand what’s going on, then I don’t want this!”
James started to walk away from me. I got up quickly and grabbed his hand.
“James, stop! What do you mean you don’t want this, this as in me?”
“Catherine, I love you. I would rather not have your love if you have to go through this,” he said, pointing to my leg.
“I hate what’s going on, it’s like… ah… it’s like I’m being hurt for loving you. I feel as if you have always been mine, always. We just need to be given a chance, that’s all, just a chance,” I cried.
James looked baffled, but somewhat pleased. He pulled me close.
“Let’s leave before the rain starts up again.”
James grabbed my wet clothes off the lounge, took my hand and led the way. I felt uneasy.
“The car is only a few minutes away, I will help you.”
I nodded as I held onto his arm for support, going down the few steps. We went down a little track behind the cottage. It was paved and well kept, we walked for about three or four minutes until we were at the beginning of the village. Sitting in James’s car was Dr Simons.
I wish he wasn’t here. Dr Simons being here meant I would have to let go of James’s hand. When we got closer, I loosened my hand, but he held on tighter. I looked up at him. “James, what are you doing? Dr Simons will see us!”
James didn’t seem to mind. He even had a defiant grin on his face. He must have lost his mind. I started to get nervous and agitated. Dr Simons was now just a few metres away.
“Catherine, what happened to your leg, are you alright?”
I looked at James. I didn’t know what to say or do anymore. James had thrown me right off. I looked at Dr Simons. He wasn’t even taken aback by James holding my hand.
“Um… I fell… But I’m OK, really.”
Dr Simons ignored my reassurance, instead looking to James for his opinion.
“I haven’t seen the wound; you will need to attend to it when we arrive at the college.”
“Of course, of course.”
James continued to hold my hand as we made our way into the car. I tried to get his attention to indicate my shock. He wasn’t worried about being caught. I still couldn’t get his attention, but Dr Simons’ smiled at me.
“Catherine, I am thrilled about you and Mr Barclay, just thrilled.”
My mouth dropped open. I was in complete shock.
“Catherine, I had no choice. Dr Simons seems to see you almost as much I do these days.”
Dr Simons started to laugh. I could see James trying to restrain himself from laughing too.
“What!” I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore them.
“Does Jules know?”
“No, no one else.”
“What does Dr Simons… actually know?”
“Just that I love you,” he said and kissed me on the lips, before closing the door.
Back at the college, I felt tired and just wanted to sleep. I couldn’t believe that it was only a little past 11 o’clock. I yawned as Dr Simons attended to my leg in his medical room.
“Where is Jules? Does she know about today at all?” I asked.
“No, fortunately for you. But, unfortunately for her, she is in her bed, unwell.”
“Oh, that’s right. I might go by and see her and then I might lie down myself.”
“That sounds like a marvelous idea. I know she would love to see you.”
I looked at James, who wasn’t saying much. I am sure that after seeing my leg in all its glory, there would be another lecture on the way. When Dr Simons finished, James and I made our way to our rooms. It was easier to walk but I did need some support from James to make the stairs. When we got to his door, he looked at me and smiled.
“Catherine, I will be waiting for you in my room.” He gently touched my cheek with his hand. I smiled back, and immediately went to my room, changed out of my jacket and went to Jules’s room.
The visit with Jules was nice. She is so gentle and honest, unlike me. I felt so bad about having to lie to her about what was going on. Now that Dr Simons knows, I fear she may be hurt when she finds out she has been kept in the dark. My visit was short and sweet, so she didn’t have an opportunity to ask too many questions about the fall and what happened afterwards. When I left I walked down the hall and knocked on James’s door. He didn’t open it immediately.
“Back so soon, how is Jules?” he asked.
“Still unwell. I feel awful. She’s blaming herself for everything.”
“She’s not the only one,” James said as he locked the door behind me.
I went and lay in the middle of James’s bed. I grabbed his pillow and held onto it, a habit of mine that always made James smile and shake his head. It smelt amazing. James followed me onto the bed and I laid my head on his chest.
“Never let me go…”
“I’m trying, but you are very hard to keep hold of,” James whispered. He started to gently pull back strands of hair from my face and shoulders.
I spent most the day lying down, napping like a cat. I left the room twice that day, once for lunch and the other for dinner. At dinnertime, I took food up to Jules’s room and sat with her to talk. I guess the guilt of the secret that was being kept from her was starting to weigh on my mind. Luckily for me, I had had lunch with Dr Simons and we were able to get our story straight about the morning’s events, which had come in handy because Jules had so many questions as to what, how and when the injury came about.