James had been ‘too busy’ during the week to touch base, but given the publicity surrounding Paulo, James slotted in a brief catch-up.
Freya didn’t want to be there either. It had been a very busy week with work, and Zack aside, the only place Freya now wanted to be was on the back of a horse and letting go some of the tension that she was carrying.
‘Donations for the Bright Hope Clinic have started to take off,’ Freya said. ‘And the general feedback regarding The Hills is positive.’
‘General feedback?’ James checked.
‘As to whether or not the charitable side will be maintained.’ Freya pulled no punches. ‘The Hills is high-end luxury and people are waiting to see if it’s a gimmick.’
‘We’d play with a five-year-old’s life as a gimmick?’
‘I’ve pretty much responded with that,’ Freya said. ‘Still, given that it was such a risky procedure, had it not paid off some people are asking if that would have been it for your foray into charitable work.’
‘Well, they don’t know me,’ James said. ‘Still, hopefully not every case will be as complicated. Maria has given her consent to Paulo being photographed, if you could get onto that now.’
‘Sure. Will you be in one of the photos?’
‘He’s not my patient.’
‘No, but I’m not going to get Zack to agree. I am working on another angle for him, though. I’m trying to get in touch with an older patient of his—perhaps he’ll agree to that—but for now we’ll just make it about what’s so far been achieved and that’s thanks to The Hills partnering with Bright Hope.’
Yes, Freya was tense.
In the absence of Zack, the best photo would be both Mila and James with Paulo, but Freya wasn’t game to suggest that!
Things weren’t great between them and she guessed now wasn’t the time to be asking James about her starting to see her own clients, so instead they finished things up.
‘Freya?’ James said as she folded up her laptop.
‘Yes?’
‘I’m still angry.’
‘I get that,’ Freya snapped, ‘but surely you can see that both sides benefit and I happen to care about both sides.’
‘I’m not discussing that now,’ James said. ‘I’m just saying that, even though I’m angry, I’m still your brother and if there’s a problem...’
‘Problem?’ Freya frowned.
‘Stephanie said the other that day that you went dizzy.’
‘And?’ Freya rolled her eyes. ‘I knew that she’d make a deal out of it. James, I’d been out all night for New Years Eve. I don’t need your concern.’
‘Well, like it or not, you’ve got it.’
‘It’s not necessary, James. I was ill a long time ago.’ She had been seventeen! James still looked out for her, was still way too overprotective. ‘Don’t worry, if I need to see someone I’ll be sure to ask for a referral.’
So much for leaving it! But that was Freya—once her mind was made up she could not just sit by.
He stared back at her and Freya wondered if he’d got the point she was making so she spelt it out.
‘Why don’t you have an eating disorder unit here?’ Freya asked.
‘We can’t have everything.’
‘Please!’ Freya said. ‘That’s the whole point of The Hills, the patients have everything! Given that the majority of your clientele are in the public eye I’d say an eating disorder unit might be a necessity rather than a luxury. Yet you refer them elsewhere.’
‘I’m trying to...’ James started, but then he halted and it incensed Freya.
‘Trying to watch out for me, trying to avoid hurts, trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.’
‘You’re better now,’ James said. ‘Do you really need constant reminders?’
They were getting nowhere.
‘I need to get on,’ Freya said. ‘I’ll see you up there.’ She walked out, collected her camera from her office and headed up to the cardiac unit, where Paulo was now being cared for.
He looked amazing.
The dusky colour of his skin on admission was now a gorgeous coffee colour and his lips were pink and he was sucking on an ice stick.
And then Zack came in with a colleague he was handing Paulo over to, to check on the boy before he headed off on a well-deserved weekend break.
‘I thought you were off for the weekend!’ Maria exclaimed.
‘In an hour I shall be,’ Zack said, and then looked at Paulo. ‘I don’t have to ask how you are, do I?’ He glanced over and nodded to James and saw Freya and her damned camera. ‘Is Maria okay with this?’
‘Maria is,’ Freya said.
‘I’m delighted to have our picture taken if it will do some good.’ Maria nodded. ‘Will you be in it?’
‘No, thanks.’ Zack shook his head. ‘I keep it up here, Maria.’
‘Come on, Zack.’ Maria was the one who pushed for him to join in the happy shot.
‘Seriously.’ Zack shook his head. ‘Maria, I’ve got to go and see another patient now.’ He was honest. ‘They don’t need my smiling thumbs up if it doesn’t go well for them.’
It was who he was, Freya thought.
Private.
And she wanted in, though she was doing her best to hold back.
Zack went and wrote up his notes and his instructions for Paulo and his other patients while he was away.
He had a small baby on NICU that had already had more tests and procedures done than most people had in a lifetime but he had to go back up there now and order some more before he made a decision next week as to whether or not to operate.
‘Hey,’ Zack said, when Freya came out from the photo shoot. ‘Are we still on for riding?’
‘We’re at work!’ she reminded him.
‘Sorry.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve got cabin fever. I’ve been here since Tuesday.’
‘I’ve booked us for midday,’ Freya said. ‘We can meet there.’ She gave him the address and Zack nodded.
She had meant what she’d said, Zack thought, about today having no strings attached.
Their paths had only crossed briefly since the other night.
For Zack it still felt like it had been a bit of a dream. Even when she had come in to wake him up when PICU had paged him a couple of hours later, Freya had made no reference to what had taken place.
He had brought them to work and the trouble for Zack was that he wasn’t adequately troubled by it.
Even now he had asked her about riding, and there were people around.
He needed to reel things back, but it was very hard to do so when you were walking through stables and another person had come up with the very thing you needed.
It felt so good to get away and be doing something he probably wouldn’t have made the time for today.
‘I didn’t know how experienced you were,’ Freya said when he arrived. ‘I said intermediate...’
Oh, no, he wasn’t.
It didn’t take long to establish