Chapter Thirteen
Freddie
When Monday rolled around again, Freddie felt more exhausted than he had at the start of the weekend. Taine had certainly been a bright spot for him. The additional run-in with the vandals had been more of a dark cloud over his head, dripping rain over him, even if the wall of rugby players had run them off.
Taine had insisted on hanging around for the rest of the weekend. He even came to the hospital, much to the delight of the nurses and patients. Freddie hadn’t minded much since the man managed to charm Katie into smiling through her treatments.
For a silent mountain, Taine was surprisingly good with the kids. Not everyone managed to deal with terminally ill children. It could be an understandably difficult thing to have to face—the mortality of the young. Yet, his new crush managed to be kind and lift their spirits.
Most impressive.
He’d been sad to see Taine leave on Sunday evening. In the short period of time, they’d become accustomed to one another’s company. He hoped they’d have dinner again soon.
Mondays could usually be counted on to be as difficult as working at a hospital on the night of a full moon. Today had been more of the same, only worse. Genevieve had refused to stop teasing him about “older rugby players.”
Older?
He’s not that old, is he?
What a nightmarish day.
The culmination of his Monday had been losing one of his patients. As the coordinator for their care, Freddie generally didn’t get physically involved with implementing the treatment. He rarely assisted in operations, and it left him feeling helpless.
Losing a patient when his hands never actively offered healing always tugged at his conscience. Genevieve lectured him on not getting too personally attached. The haunted shadows in her eyes told him she’d been struggling with the same pain.
They all cared. Focusing on oncology wouldn’t have been a top choice for any of them if they didn’t. Loss came with the territory, yet it hit him hard in the heart each time.
Poor little Katie.
Her family had been utterly devastated. They might’ve expected it—a terminal diagnosis came with certain expectations—but knowing wasn’t the same as being prepared.
“Freddie?” Genevieve climbed up next to him on the empty bed in the children’s ward. She slid her hand into his. “Why don’t you take a few days off? Go to London. Or hop on a train to France. My mother would love to see you. Or go somewhere you can eat a ton of cheese.”
“My patients—”
“They’re well taken care of by the rest of us. You keep your schedules mapped out months in advance.” She leaned against him. “One of us needs a holiday, and I’ve got six operations in the next fortnight, so you’re it. Bring me back some rich dark chocolate.”
“Of the food or human variety?” Freddie teased. He coughed when she punched him in the side. “What?”
“What happened the last time you tried to help me find a date?” Genevieve asked sardonically.
“Right. Never mind.” Freddie cringed at the reminder. The blind date he’d set up for her had ended terribly with food poisoning, crass jokes, and a screaming ex-girlfriend. He’d promised to never do it again. “So, bonbons instead?”
Genevieve eyed him suspiciously. “Are you actually going to take a holiday? One that doesn’t involve going to your family farm?”
“You’ll nag me to death if I don’t.” Freddie grunted when her pointy, tawny elbow found his stomach once again. He smiled down at the contrast between their skin tones in their joined hands. “Isn’t physical violence breaking the Hippocratic oath? Not sure I want to stay with your parents, though. France is lovely, but not what I need.”
“You want cheese.”
“Maybe. I might hop on a train to backpack across a few places for the week.” Freddie had done something similar before university. His dads had panicked the entire time. “I’ll send postcards.”
“You could call the rugby man.”
“Gen.” He glared at her, which had no effect whatsoever. “I’m not calling Taine.”
“Fine.”
It was his turn to eye her suspiciously. Genevieve had never been known to capitulate quite so easily. He hoped she wouldn’t call Taine herself.
“Keep your nose out of my romantic failures, and I’ll keep mine out of yours.” Freddie tried to nip the issue in the bud.
Won’t work, but I might as well try.
Responding like the mature doctor she was, Genevieve shoved him off the bed. They shared a laugh until one of the other nurses poked their head into the room. They quietened down at her glare, but didn’t manage to completely muffle their snickers.
“I’ll handle the administration stuff for your time off. Wrap up your files and drop them off on my desk.” Genevieve hopped off the bed. “We have to take care of each other.”
The rest of his evening was spent doing as Genevieve had asked. Freddie left a massive stack of files on her desk. She cursed him all the way out the building.
His awful day continued to improve dramatically when Freddie came home to Bitsy and no new graffiti. His troublesome neighbours must’ve feared retribution for their actions. He couldn’t imagine why.
Bullies are always cowards in the end.
Thinking about them brought his mind to his upcoming trip and Taine. Should he reach out to the man? They hadn’t known each other that long.
It would be weird. Maybe. How else would they get better acquainted? It wouldn’t happen by each pretending the other didn’t exist.
Freddie could admit to himself he wanted to get to know Taine. The man intrigued him. His rugged looks, deep voice, and incredibly fit body didn’t hurt either.
Would Taine want to join him?
More importantly, will he want to get involved with a virgin?
Sitting at the small desk in his flat, Freddie plotted out his plans for a trip to the Netherlands. He’d always wanted to visit some of the famous cheese markets there. He could easily hop on a train—it would be about eight hours, but he’d always been able to sleep while travelling.
He booked his numerous tickets. The train from Cardiff would take him to Paddington. He would go from London to Lille before finally reaching Amsterdam.
The cheese market in Alkmaar would be easily reached from Amsterdam. Freddie had never been to either city. He planned on enjoying his impromptu holiday.
No parents. No patients. No one to stress me out.
I hope.
In his heart, Freddie could admit this was all a distraction. He ached for the loss of his young patient, the youngest that he’d lost thus far in his career.
Despite her diagnosis, they had all wanted Katie to pull through. She’d been such a bright child. He told himself to remember her light and not sink into depression.
I will help the next one.
I’ll do my best to get them through it.
Freddie was reminded of something Graham had repeatedly said during his chemotherapy. He shouted it through tears until he felt a little better. “Fuck cancer.”