This is the last one, I'm out of things to publish and I'm uninspired.
Icy night.
Patrick sighed looking at the ceiling, and waited for no spider web or something worse to fall on his face.
It was a cold and unpleasant night, the fifth in the Outer Hebrides. The place and the landscape were wonderful, a distant and quiet point completely different from Poplar. He liked being here but he certainly didn't like this old building where Mother Mildred had put them all to live.
In his mischievous mind he hoped to repeat the experience of South Africa, so he made a superhuman effort to hide his disappointment when he saw that in Scotland they would share "room" (if it could be called that) with Fred and Nurse Crane, and with their snoring too.
He made a small movement to bring his bed close to Shelagh's, but her stern look shouted at him not to dare such a thing. So he had been sleeping more than half a meter from her for five nights.
And besides, that afternoon they had an argument.
Patrick sighed again, it would be impossible to sleep with the cold, the creaks of the building, the snoring, and his thoughts.
He heard a slight complaint at his side.
In the darkness barely illuminated by the waning moon, he could distinguish the small bulge that was Shelagh's body, smaller than ever since she was curled up under blankets and coats.
He smiled, Shelagh was very sensitive to the cold, her hands and feet always made him jump when she touched him while they slept. She was turning her back, and he saw her little fingers squeezing and taking more of the blanket, bringing it close to her head to cover herself as much as possible.
They had not spoken since their discussion on the beach, the trips to the city and the return were silent and during dinner they were busy with the other people. When he went to sleep, she only looked sideways at him before getting into bed and turning her back.
But now she was cold, and he always took care of that.
He sharpened the ears, everyone was sleeping peacefully. He pushed the blankets away and put his feet on the frozen ground. He bit himself so as not to let go of a curse and stood, crossing the space, which seemed immense, that separated his bed from her bed.
Shelagh was startled when she felt his hand on her shoulder, and stretched an arm in search of her glasses.
"Shh, make me space." He said, raising her blankets.
"Patrick, what are you doing?!" Her angry whisper only made him smile more, while he lay beside her on the narrow bed. "Patrick Turner!"
"Shelagh you are frozen to death, you will never be cured like this, you will not even be able to sleep. Come here."
He opened his arms, and although she resisted for a second, she gave in immediately, letting herself be hugged and covered by the blankets, snuggling in his chest. Patrick rubbed her arms and kissed her icy hands and she let out a sigh of relief, and then also a sneeze.
"You see it? You are not yet recovered." He tried to accommodate himself better in the small bed, without much success.
"Patrick you are going to fall out of bed." He heard her little giggle, and knew that she was no longer angry.
Shelagh turned her back and he adjusted himself better, hugging her and pulling her body against him, and kissing her temple. They tangled their legs a little and Shelagh let out a last shiver while leaning more on him, relaxing completely.
"Let's try to sleep, love." He whispered, and she only replied with a small nod.
He woke up with the light of dawn striking in his eyes. He felt pain throughout his body from sleeping in the small bed.
Around him, the chorus of snoring was still in full swing, and Shelagh slept warmly beside him, weakly squeezing one of his hands. He tried not to move but she just woke up and smiled, turning her head to look at him.
"Good Morning." She whispered.
"Good morning, did you sleep well?"
She nodded several times, then turned carefully to kiss his lips.
"Go back to your bed Patrick, we are not alone."
"Are you not going to let me stay here?" He said stroking her messy hair.
"No, I will not allow it." She smiled, gave him a little kiss and also a little push.
Unable to suppress a protest, he slowly emerged from under the pile of blankets. Shelagh covered her mouth so that her laugh would not wake anyone, since Patrick was trying not to touch the floor and lie on his icy bed without shouting any curse.
"You are unfair and cruel, you know?" He said shivering as he covered himself with everything he found.
Shelagh just smiled, sponging her pillow and settling in her warm bed.
"Thank you." She whispered closing her eyes.
"You know where you'll sleep tonight."
"I'll be delighted to get into your bed, doctor."
Patrick smiled before closing his eyes, his last vision with a warm Shelagh smiling asleep in the morning light.