…Candy stretched herself with delight. The sun tenderly warmed her cheeks, its beams trying to reach into the eyes. Miss White yawned and turned over.
After sleeping she felt much better. She recovered her strength,sat up in the bed and moved her arm a little. Almost doesn't hurt!
There was a knock at the door, and a nurse entered the room, carrying a trolley with breakfast.
"Morning! Are you feeling well?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you! You shouldn't have bothered…" Candy took her food. It was unusual to be in the role of a patient being nursed.
The nurse – her name was Martha – examined Candy's leg and smiled warmly.
"There you go, it's almost fine, you just needed some rest. And your boyfriend kicked up such a dust when he brought you here, that we even thought someone was dying!" she giggled.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Candy jerked up her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Martha blushed. "I only thought so because he was so concerned about you… I thought an ordinary friend can't be so distressed…"
"He's not my boyfriend!" miss White repeated and frowned. No way! He's always becoming her "boyfriend" through other people, without her consent! Scoundrel!
"Okay, I got it, I'm sorry, miss," Martha babbled and hasted to retreat.
"A boyfriend! You wish!" Candy attacked the food. She must go home today.
Why should she be in a relationship at all, or even get married? She has already been quite fed up with all this fuss around her. Why can't she just be friends with him as before? Everyone around her seems to have lost their minds… Okay, she is twenty-one now, and so what? Does it mean she can no longer be the nurse that she was at the age of 17? Does it mean she can't be a friend? Or Annie… If she marries Archie, does it mean Candy won't be able to visit them? Like she's got horns or a tail, or what?
There was another knock at the door, it opened, and there was… Neil, of course, and… Annie! Annie came to visit her!
"Annie!" screamed Candy, Annie rushed to her, and they hugged. Neil came up to the girls.
"I'll leave you alone," he smiled. "No news about Albert yet," he added in response to the question in Candy's eyes. "How's your leg?"
"Better, much better!" Candy said hastily. She wanted him to leave quicker.
"Excuse me," Neil uttered a set phrase and closed the door.
The girls waited for a while, and then Annie made a grimace.
"Finally we've got rid of him. Creepy guy!" she frowned.
"I'll say!" Candy affirmed readily, but at this point she felt some sort of twinge in her chest. She scorned Neil with her whole heart for his actions, but for some reason, when Annie called him creepy, something inside her started to revolt.
"I agreed to go with him to visit you," Annie continued. "But he always gave me the creeps. He's so unpleasant."
"Yep," miss White nodded. The feeling inside her kept on resisting even more, but she waved it aside.
"And what he did to Archie…" miss Brighton went on, as if there was nothing else to discuss. "What a mean wretch! I'll never forgive him that!"
The girls kept silence for a while.
"You know, he asked about your favourite flowers," said Annie.
"Why would he do that?" Candy became alert. But the feeling inside suddenly scratched nervously. Flowers! Her FAVOURITE flowers! He asked…
"How do I know what's on his mind," miss Brighton replied. "But nothing good, that's for sure."
She fell into a brown study.
"You know, Candy, I've always wondered how can one possibly love fellows like Terry or Neil… The scary ones. Ill-bred, impudent, self-assured… They've always scared me. They're no match for lovely Archie… And you've always been able to deal with them."
"How can you compare Terry and… Neil!" Candy got offended. "I don't want to talk about Terry, I…"
"Sorry! I shouldn't have said that…" Annie hugged her friend.
Miss White closed here yes. For some reason, she felt dirty. She shouldn't have said such things about a person, even if it's Neil, even if with her friend. She shouldn't have.
If she could take her words back, she would have done it. Neil loves her, and it's the only reason why she hates him now. It's something personal, not to be discussed with anybody.
"What if he has decided to propose to you again, can you imagine that?" Annie giggled.
Candy laughed, too, but it was fake.
"That's madness, he won't do it again! He knows that I will deny it!"
They laughed, but miss White felt heavy at heart. Why is she doing it? Why? She wouldn't have done it earlier…
…"Get well soon, my dear!" miss Brighton hugged her friend goodbye.
"I hope I'll be back home today!" smiled Candy.
"Great! Then we can meet altogether in a café, the three of us. Archie is already well now!"
Annie hid behind the door.
Everything was perfect until Neil entered the room. His face was grim.
Startled, Candy watched him looking out of the window, drumming his fingers on the window-sill, rearranging his neck handkerchief. What had happened to him?
"Tell me, is that true… that I… give you the creeps, when I'm around?" he asked all of a sudden.
Miss White raised her hand to her mouth.
"Neil, were you… were you eavesdropping?"
"Yes, I heard everything," his voice was strangely calm, and his glance seemed to stop.