Chapter Ten
Anna woke up feeling cold; they were half-way through the autumn, and it was getting colder and colder as they days passed. However, when she moved, her eyes still closed, she found out that the bed was empty. Opening her eyes and adjusting them to the dark, she stuffed a yawn and got up, her vision still a bit hazy.
She shivered slightly as her bare feet met the cold floor, and tip-toed her way around the flat. When she reached the living room, she saw a figure standing in front of the large windows, his arms crossed in front of him, apparently deep in thought.
It wasn't the first time this occurred, and Anna was familiar with the sight. John sometimes had trouble sleeping, and lately it had worsened. Walking slowly across the living room, she watched as he turned his head only slightly, seeing her, and she slipped her arms around his middle, hugging him from behind.
She rested her head against his bare shoulder, feeling very sleepy, and wondering how on earth he managed to be warm while she was freezing. He caught one of her hands and caressed it.
"Your hands are cold," he said after a moment.
Anna smiled, her eyes closed. "That's because you weren't there to warm me up."
Her voice sounded a bit hoarse and she was sure he was smiling now.
"Did I wake you up?"
"Oh, yes. I could hear your thoughts from the bedroom," Anna told him. "What's worrying you now? Is it the hearing tomorrow?"
"Partly, yes," John answered her.
He didn't elaborate, and Anna was too sleepy to push the subject; she knew he worried about the hearing, and this one could mean everything or nothing at all. The process was still slow, and it was wearing him out. And even Anna had to admit this was tiring her as well. It didn't matter that he had a wife, no – some would see the problem as a big one, but Anna didn't care much for it. She cared, however, for John – and she knew he was getting more and more impatient and stressed.
"Come on," Anna said after a moment, kissing his shoulder, "let's go back to bed. Standing here will help nothing."
He kissed her knuckles and turned around, and they walked hand in hand back to the bedroom. There, safe and warm in his arms, Anna succumbed back to sleep, but he was still wide awake then.
"He's just been so cryptic lately, y'know?" Anna said to Gwen in the locker room as they got ready to leave the hospital. "He's always been quiet, but I feel like there's something he's not telling me."
"Oh, that happened to me once," Ethel said out of sudden, and Gwen threw her an annoyed look. "Found out the bastard had another woman. You should keep your eyes open, Anna."
"He doesn't have another woman, Ethel," Anna rolled her eyes. "He already has a wife he's trying to divorce and me for a girlfriend. Besides, I trust him. I just think there's more to his thoughts than he's telling me."
"Maybe he was just worried about the audience today," Gwen suggested. "Will he stay in York this weekend?"
"No, he's planning on visiting his mother and come back in the morning," Anna told them as they left the locker room.
"Nights away in another town," Ethel said, shaking her head. "I'm telling you, Anna, keep your eyes open."
Anna chose to ignore Ethel. Gwen rolled her eyes.
"But you two are okay? Y'know, as a couple?"
"We're perfect. I'd say we've never been better in some aspects," Anna said with a tiny smile, but sighed as she remembered the main issue. "He's just been quiet. I know that he trusts me, but I feel like he's protecting me sometimes, and I don't need that."
"Well, if you trust each other so much, then you should tell him about how you're feeling," Ethel said as they approached the exit.
Anna opened her mouth to say something, but she ended up bumping into another person as the doors slid open. Gwen grinned slightly and Ethel laughed; Anna just looked up to see Dr. Molesley and hurried to apologise.
"Don't worry, Anna, it's nothing," he said, smoothing his shirt. "How was Emma's post-op?"
"Everything was just fine. I just saw her, and she's feeling alright," Anna told him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dr. Molesley."
"Until then, Anna," Dr. Molesley said, and Anna walked away to join Gwen and Ethel, who were waiting for her.
Ethel grinned, "He totally fancies you."
Anna shook her head slightly, and was about to talk again when she spotted someone watching them from a nearby bench.
She met John's eyes and smiled in surprise; seeing who she was smiling at, Gwen and Ethel shared smirks and bid goodbye to Anna as she walked over to her boyfriend.
He stood up when she approached, kissing her fully in the mouth, as if they had been apart a long deal. She smiled when he pulled away.
"I thought you were staying in York tonight!" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I just arrived, and I knew you'd be ending your shift soon, so I thought I'd surprise you," he said. "I want to talk to you."
"Well, we could go have dinner somewhere," Anna said, "but I'm not exactly dressed to go somewhere fancy."
"You look lovely, as always," he said, looking at her comfortable clothes and her flat shoes. "But I think I'd prefer if we went home."
After deciding to go back to Anna's flat, they left the hospital. He seemed a bit anxious, and Anna was curious to learn about the day's events; somewhere inside her, she believed that everything had gone well. But his frown while driving didn't get her hopes up; she was sure that if everything had gone so well he'd have talked about it as soon as possible.
Anna started to make them some dinner, offering some wine to John, which he refused. He leaned against the counter as she cooked, asking her if there was anything he could do, but Anna declined and promptly asked him about the hearing. He sighed tiredly before speaking.
"It couldn't have been worse," he told her quietly, "Vera kept saying that I cheated on her and her lawyer had a rather long list of things she wants. She's out of her mind."
"Well, we knew that already," Anna said.
"Yes, we did. But now she has pictures," he said, his voice fierce. "Pictures of us."
"What?"
"She's put someone to watch us," he told her, "There are pictures of you going to the hospital, of us having dinner... Anything and everything. She's trying to make them believe I want to divorce her only because of you."
"That's ridiculous," Anna said, shaking her head, "not to mention creepy. Now I get why you didn't want to go out tonight."
He nodded, deep in thought. Anna stared at him, wondering not for the first time about what he was thinking. She went back to the sauce, a thought occurring to her.
"I know that look. You're not... worried about this, are you?" she asked him tentatively. "You don't think this can go forward, do you? You've said before, you're doing nothing wrong. You're free – well, almost, anyway – and you have every right to be with me. So please, don't think you're guilty on this, because you're not."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he smiled; stepping closer to her, he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her hairline.
"You know me too much."
"Well, to me it'll never be enough," she told him in a teasing tone, but she knew she was serious. "Just... don't worry. I'm sure it'll turn out okay. What did your lawyer say?"
"He says this can upset our case. Even if we're doing nothing wrong, all people can see is that I have a girlfriend and I'm asking for a divorce, whilst she apparently has nobody else," he told her with a sigh. "He suggested a few things, but I'm not up to thinking about this anymore. You have no idea how happy I am to be here with you right now."
Anna smiled, glad that he was talking to her; it wasn't enough yet, but she wouldn't push. It sounded like he had a bad day – or as he always says, any day he sees Vera becomes a bad day – and she didn't want him to feel upset.
"So, who was that chap at the hospital?"
Anna frowned, "What chap?"
"The one you nearly knocked over to the ground," he answered, his voice a bit strained.
"Oh, that's Dr. Molesley," Anna told him, "He's been transferred to our department. He seems nice."
"He kept looking at you after you walked away," he said a bit accusingly.
Anna stopped suddenly and smiled, "You're not jealous, are you?"
"No," he said quickly, and Anna laughed softly. "Alright, maybe a little. I know that you're beautiful and probably have lots of men staring at you all the time, so I should be used to it by now."
"Well, you have nothing to worry about," Anna said, turning her head to the side and kissing the corner of his mouth. "Now, let me finish this or we won't eat anything tonight."
He kissed her hairline one more time and went back to lean against the counter, making the occasional comment and asking about her day.
Anna smiled to herself. They'd be fine.
"I was wondering if you had forgotten all about me already!" Anna said when she looked at the open door, where John stood. She walked over to him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips as a greeting.
"I'd never forget about you, you know that," John said cheekily, and Anna smiled.
"John Bates, you're such a sweet talker, aren't you?" she asked him, "I'll just get my bag and then we're ready to go."
Some minutes later, when they were already at the restaurant and ordering some drinks, Anna noticed how John seemed a bit nervous; they hadn't been going out much lately, not after they found out someone must have been following them for quite a few months. Still, Anna felt completely alright at the moment – the restaurant was pretty quiet, since it was a weekday and with summer gone, the tourists weren't around.
After they ordered what they wanted, Anna smiled at him as he took her hand across the table.
"So, how was your day?"
"Well," Anna started, "Mr. Hill is back again. Heart condition. Apparently it isn't very serious, so no need to get worried. He's already asked me to go to the hospital's annual charity ball with him."
John laughed softly, stroking her hand.
"You seem a bit tired. How was your day?" Anna asked him interestedly.
He sighed, "Could have been worse, I suppose. We've been having some troubles with a house in Whitby. I might have to go there tomorrow."
His voice sounded distant, and Anna knew he wasn't done yet; she waited for him to speak, curious to know what was bothering him.
"Robert's asked me to go to Hampshire, to supervise some works there," he told her, "I'm not obliged to go, of course."
Anna knew his tone, and she knew his loyalty to Robert Crawley; of course he felt he was obliged to go. He wasn't, of course, and he knew that, but Anna knew it was difficult for him to refuse such a thing. She offered him a sad smile, and laced her fingers with his.
"But you want to go."
"Yes. I think it might do us some good," Anna frowned at his choice of words, and he quickly explained himself. "After the hearing last week, Murray suggested that I went away for a while, at least until we can prove Vera's wrong about everything. I wasn't going to do it, of course, but I'm starting to see this as an opportunity."
"How long would you be away?"
"Four weeks at the most, I think," he answered her.
"Well, if you want to go, you should," Anna told him, "It might be a good opportunity – professionally speaking. And if this might help your case against Vera... But of course I'm not happy."
"Neither am I," he hurried to tell her, "I'm going to think all this through. I just thought you should know."
Anna smiled at him, "Whatever you decide, I hope you'll be back for the charity ball. Otherwise I might have to accept Mr. Hill's invitation."
He laughed then, and brought her hand to his lips. "I'll be here then. Don't worry."
They shared a smile and the subject was dropped as the waiter came back with their orders; the meal was pleasant but they didn't stay long. Soon they were back in the car, both eager to get home.
That night, between kisses and moans and her name on his lips, Anna tried to memorise everything – his voice, his hands, his body, even though she knew him almost the palm of her hand or like a book she's read a thousand times. It wasn't their last time – and even if he did go, four weeks passed by so fast, right?
Five days later, he was gone.
A/N: A smaller chapter today, full of Anna and Bates, but I hope you liked it! Reviews are much appreciated, as always, and I'd like to know what you think! :)