Chapter Eleven
"Women," Mr. Hill murmured, shaking his head, "Doesn't matter if it's 2012 or 1940. You're all the same."
"I'm sure Doris will come to visit you sometime soon," Anna said patiently, switching Mr. Hill's IV bag for a new one.
"Visit! Well, I don't blame her. She's on a cruise somewhere in the Mediterranean with her family. I'd choose a cruise over anyone without as much as a blink!" Mr. Hill said, turning to look at her with a smile, "Except for you, Anna, of course."
Anna laughed at his playful tone, but her smile didn't reach her eyes; she had a long hour ahead of her, with multiple surgeries and new patients coming, and three nurses came down with the flu and had to go home, leaving the others overloaded with work.
"You've been quiet this week. Is that man of yours still away?" Mr. Hill asked her interestedly as she connected the IV properly to the lines.
"Yeah," Anna said simply, "he'll have to stay in Hampshire at least one more week. But I'm alright, just thinking about work."
"Right," Mr. Hill told her, obviously unconvinced, "Will he be here for that ball? I know it's two weeks from now."
Anna smirked at him, "Yes, he'll be here."
"Because, you know, if he isn't, I can always be your date," Mr. Hill offered, arching his eyebrows.
"Well, we need to know if you'll be recovered until then! You do know you're having surgery in three days, right, Arthur?" Anna teased him; Mr. Hill huffed.
"I do know that! What I don't know is why I must stay here for so long, it's been weeks!" he exclaimed, dropping his voice a little, "Might as well change my address."
"It's been only four weeks, and you've had three minimal and very successful operations in this time. This is the last one. Dr. Molesley's been very satisfied with your recent improvement," Anna commented.
"Yeah, right. Pompous lad. He's a good doctor, I like him. Just a bit too pompous, that's all," Mr. Hill muttered, and Anna shook her head playfully.
"Alright, Arthur, I need to get going now," Anna told him, "Is there anything else you need?"
"I need to get that man of yours over here so I can give him a piece of my mind and put a smile on your face, that's what I need," Mr. Hill murmured, and Anna chose to ignore him. "Well, you could get me some new batteries for the remote too. Ask the little one, can't remember her name, y'know, the one who looks like a little mouse?"
Anna smirked, "Daisy?"
"Yes, tell Daisy to get new batteries for the remote. I don't want to bother you anymore," Mr. Hill said with an impatient wave of his hand, and Anna left his room.
She walked across the hallways in a bit of a hurry, mentally listing everyone she needed to see before shift ended. It was, after all, better to focus on work than on anything else. Like John and his extended time away.
When he told her he might have to go away, she didn't like it, but understood. He explained that he'd be doing it because it'd be better for them – for his case against his wife, and for his job, of course. And as the first week passed and Anna adjusted to not having him around, she started to think that maybe, just maybe, this might be good for them as a couple. Perhaps a little more space would do them some good.
And it did – it was good to be alone sometimes.
Still, after that first week with a few phone calls and texts and several emails, Anna was starting to dread going back to her empty flat, and she dreaded even more when she needed to go to his flat – she went there a couple of times a week, occasionally to grab something she had forgotten, to water his plants and to borrow a book.
After the third week and she was missing him even more, she started to spend a few nights alone at his place; it reminded her of him, it all had a memory of him. After the fourth week, she even brought Boris to stay there for a couple of days.
He didn't mind, of course – he called whenever he could, since he was very busy and Anna didn't like to disturb him. Each time he called, he made sure to tell her he missed her, and that he wanted to be home soon.
They made a point of not talking about his divorce while he was away, and Anna was glad for that. They spent their time talking about everything and nothing, and she always missed him even more after the call was ended.
As she was counting the days until he came home, he called her in the middle of the day to tell her he might have to stay one more week – something about problems with a house in Dorset – and Anna didn't like it. She didn't like it, but she understood.
She went out with Gwen and Ethel, and she visited her sister and spent time with her niece and nephew; after John's mother called his landline and Anna answered it in his second week away, they even began calling each other regularly. It was nice to talk to her and Anna liked to think that they were becoming friends – plus, it made her feel even closer to John.
But after more than five weeks away, Anna was definitely tired of this.
"Is it bad that I want Alicia away from here as soon as possible?" she heard Gwen's voice behind her, and Anna stopped for a moment so that her friend would reach her.
"Probably not, since that means you want her to get better," Anna said.
"I like kids, I really do," Gwen told her in a serious tone, "but that girl is a brat."
Anna smiled sympathetically at her, "Cheer up. There's only an hour left until we're finished for today."
"I know," Gwen said, "You don't seem so happy, though."
"I like to be busy," Anna stated simply.
"No, you like to be busy with John," Gwen teased her, "Don't worry. At least you'll have someone to bring to the ball."
"I'm sure you can find millions of blokes who'll want to go with you."
"Right," she said unconvincingly, "Tell me, is your cat busy that day? He sounds like a good company."
Anna laughed softly, saying that Boris was indeed a very nice company.
Not nicer than John's, though.
"You're not coming?"
Anna stood in the middle of her living room, waiting for an answer on the other line of the phone. After what seemed like months – when in fact it was only a second –, he answered.
"I can't," his voice was quiet, "I don't think I can get in Scarborough on Friday."
"You said you would be here," her tone was just as quiet.
"I know, and I'm sorry," he said patiently, "Just... work's been more consuming than I thought, and I have a meeting on Friday afternoon that I can't..."
"Okay, I get it," Anna interrupted, "It's just that I... I always go alone to this ball. Every single year. And I was so excited that you'd come too, and now you're not here."
"I'm sorry, Anna, I really am," John said, "You do understand, don't you?"
Anna frowned as the tears threatened to slip.
"Of course I understand," she said weakly, her voice betraying her emotions, "Of course. I always understand, don't I?"
"Anna..."
"It's been six weeks, John!" Anna said, sitting harshly on the couch and running a hand through her hair, "You said you'd be back in four weeks, and I've waited six weeks! Christmas is just around the corner – will you be here to spend Christmas with me or will you just work?"
"Of course I'll spend Christmas with you!"
"Well then, do you promise?" Anna asked, her voice small, "John?"
Her question was met with silence, and Anna blinked, the tears now sliding through her cheeks.
"Alright. It's... I thought I was imagining it," she said weakly, "You barely called these last few weeks. We're always too busy to talk to each other. Maybe I've been suffocating you, after all."
"Anna, that's not..."
"I understand, I really do. I know I can demand too much sometimes. I know I'm bossy sometimes," she told him, "I really understand. And this... this is not something we should discuss on the phone. I'm just... I'm tired, John."
He was quiet for a moment, and Anna stopped, already regretting what she said; she wasn't normally so impulsive and she didn't say things without thinking. The truth was that those thoughts had been in her mind for a while, perhaps because of Ethel's bad influence. But really, could she blame him? He spent years married to someone he didn't love, and now that he could be free he had her to nag him about things. Perhaps he needed space indeed – and time away. She couldn't blame him.
"I miss you, Anna," he said, his voice sounding tired, "I miss everything about you. Please don't think I'm doing this on purpose. I just can't promise something that's not within my reach."
"I know," she said, "I'm sorry, I overreacted. I'll be waiting, whenever you can come."
She smiled in a way that did not reach her eyes, but it was the least she could do for him.
Anna walked down the street in a bit of a hurry, the cold December air making her warm clothes not quite enough to keep her warm. She was glad to be on her way home; it was quite late, the pavements were wet with the snow from earlier, but at least it wasn't snowing now. Miles from where she was, however, her friends were having fun at the hospital's annual Christmas charity ball.
Anna had decided against it, in the end; she wasn't in the mood and, well, someone would have to work anyway. She truly didn't mind; sure, she had wanted to go at first, but with John away it didn't really excite her. She'd gone quite a few times too, and it was always the same thing, if not a bit boring. She usually had a good time, but she wasn't really in the mood.
She shivered slightly when she saw her building, and started to rummage her bad in search for her keys. She finally found them, and looked up to see a lone figure sitting on one of the steps that led to the front door. She frowned; it was dark and she couldn't see who it was.
When she got closer and her steps got clearer, the man looked up and she instantly stopped when their eyes locked.
John.
He stood up immediately, seemingly nervous, but his face broke into a smile when she presented him with one of her own.
He was here, again, back to her, in front of her, and she could barely believe it.
"What are you doing here?" Anna asked, a smile playing on her lips as she started to walk again.
He walked down the steps, his hands in his pocket; he was wearing a simple suit, and Anna wasn't sure how he was able to stand in the cold with no real coat. He looked different from the last time she saw him – only six weeks ago, but it seemed like a lifetime now. His hair was a bit messy, probably from the trip, and he was sporting a beard that Anna hadn't seen yet, but gave him a rather charming look.
"I thought I'd surprise you by arriving in time for the ball," he said quietly, "Obviously I overestimated the roads. I only got here forty minutes ago."
"And you've been waiting for me ever since?" Anna asked as they finally came to stand close together, face to face. Her heart leaped a little when his hands reached her cheeks. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his skin against hers.
"What are forty minutes compared to six weeks?"
He asked softly, finally leaning in and kissing her lips; his kiss was soft and kiss at the same time, savoured with longing and love, and Anna wished not for the first that he'd never go away, because she knew in that moment that she couldn't live without his kiss anymore.
Anna lay on her back, her eyes closed, and tried to catch her breath; she felt John shift on the bed and bring the sheets to rest over them. His hand came to her waist below the sheets and he brought her even closer to him, prompting her to sigh contently and open her eyes. He chuckled then, bringing his mouth to hers and kissing her deeply one more time.
He leaned on his elbow, looking at her with an adorable look on his face while his hand drew invisible patterns on her hip.
"This was..." Anna started, taking another breath and John chuckled again, "This was definitely worth waiting for."
"You cut your hair," he said with a smile.
She smirked at him, a bit surprised that he noticed, "Only a bit. What do you think?"
"I think I would love you however, whatever, whenever," he told her and they shared a smile.
She brought her hand to rest on his now-bearded cheek and caressed it.
"I like your beard."
"I'll shave later, sorry," he said quickly, but Anna shook her head.
"No, I like it," she told him. Her smile suddenly turned somewhat sad, and her words were quiet, "Are you staying for the weekend?"
"No," he said, his hand moving back to her waist, "I'm staying for the year. I might have to go back to Hampshire sometimes, but no long stays there. Nothing more than three days. I don't want to do this again."
"Really?" she asked him in an amused tone.
"If these past weeks have taught me something is that I don't want to be away from you anymore," he told her quietly, "You have no idea how much I've missed you."
"Good," Anna said in a defiant tone, a small playing on her lips, "because I've missed you too."
He leaned in and kissed her again, his hand strengthening the hold on her waist and Anna was sure she could stay like this forever. Soon enough for her, they parted, their faces inches from each other. He looked at her a bit nervously before speaking.
"Let's move in together, Anna."
Anna let out a soft laugh, "What?"
"I've been thinking about this for weeks – months even," John said, "We were virtually living together, anyway, only in two flats. We could find a place for us and move in together."
"I... I don't know," Anna said in disbelief, "Are you really asking me this?"
He chuckled, "Lord knows I'd be asking you to marry me if I could, but this is the best I can do at the moment."
He leaned in to kiss her again, but Anna stopped him mid-way.
"Wait, what?"
"I know it's overwhelming and unexpected, but I've put great thought into this," he told her, "Just... think about it, okay? And tell me when you're ready."
Anna watched him, his kind eyes and the tiny nervous smile on his face; how could she say no to him?
She laced her hands together at the back of his neck and smiled.
"Alright. I'll think about it."
He smiled broadly at that and proceeded to properly kiss her now; soon his body was covering hers and Anna decided she would think about it alright – but only tomorrow.
A/N: The holiday gave me some time off and I managed to finish this chapter before the weekend - hope you liked it! Happy Easter!
