From Doctor to Princess?

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Don’t the nurses know?’

  ‘They should. But the nurse who usually looks after her is on holiday at the moment. I was supposed to be here.’ Nell heard Hugo’s voice crack suddenly.

  There was no answer to that, other than to remind Hugo that he’d been under orders to stay away. Nell smiled at Nadine. ‘Uncle Hugo’s going to find someone to make Claude better.’

  ‘Thank you, Dr Nell.’ Nadine spoke slowly, her eyelids drooping. Nell arranged the sheet carefully back over her and stripped off her gloves. When she turned to follow Hugo, she found that he was already gone.

  She caught up with him, deep in conversation with another doctor, an older man. This must be Dr Bertrand. Nell wondered whether Hugo was admitting that they’d carried out a brief examination of Nadine, and guessed he probably wasn’t. Dr Bertrand was nodding, and he turned to walk quickly back to the ward with Hugo.

  It was all worked out in the space of a couple of minutes. Dr Bertrand examined Nadine, listened to what she had to say about how Claude was feeling and spoke to one of the nurses, who hurried away.

  Dr Bertrand gestured to Hugo, motioning him out of the ward. He clearly had more to discuss, but Hugo seemed reluctant to leave Nadine.

  ‘I’ll sit with her.’ Nell plumped herself down on the chair next to Nadine’s bed, holding her hand over the guard rail and feeling the little girl squeeze her fingers. Hugo shot her a smile, and followed Dr Bertrand out of the ward.

  By the time Dr Bertrand returned, a nurse had given Nadine the extra medication, and she seemed a little happier, declaring that Claude felt better now. He spoke briefly to Nadine and then pulled up a chair next to Nell.

  ‘I gather that you too are a doctor.’ Dr Bertrand spoke in studied, careful English.

  ‘Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry, I know that this is highly irregular...’

  Dr Bertrand smiled. ‘I have known Hugo for some years. His talent for being highly irregular, when circumstances require, is what helps make him one of my best doctors. This little one is feeling better now, and I have made sure that this will not happen again. Her nurse says that she was not in pain twenty minutes ago, on her last half-hourly check.’

  ‘We just came at the wrong time, then.’

  ‘No, it was quite the right time. If we can spare Nadine ten minutes of discomfort, then we are grateful. I have told Hugo that I cannot have him working while he is certified as sick.’

  ‘How did he take that?’

  ‘He has apologised and the matter is closed.’ Dr Bertrand regarded Nell thoughtfully. ‘He has many responsibilities, and is under a great deal of pressure. More than most men would be able to deal with.’

  ‘Do you have any advice for me, Dr Bertrand?’ Nell wanted to hear what this kindly, perceptive man had to say.

  He leaned forward, as if he was about to impart some gem of wisdom. ‘No. I do not.’

  Nell had to think for a moment before she got the point. ‘We all have to find our own way?’

  ‘If anyone can, Hugo will.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Nell got to her feet, shaking his hand. ‘May Hugo come to say goodbye to Nadine? He’ll be no more than five minutes, I promise.’

  ‘You will give him five, and he will take ten. And that is quite all right.’ Dr Bertrand smiled at her.

  * * *

  One of the nurses directed Nell to Hugo’s office and she found him sitting behind the desk, staring out of the window. She sat down and waited for him to say something.

  ‘You don’t need to tell me. I know I was wrong.’ He didn’t look at her.

  ‘Yes, you were. For all the right reasons, though.’

  ‘I know that Nadine’s well cared for...’ He swung his chair around to face her, and Nell saw that his face was full of anguish.

  ‘But you can’t help feeling that this is all your fault. For not being here.’

  ‘I know it doesn’t make much sense.’

  ‘What happened, Hugo? When you were taken ill?’

  ‘You know what happened. It’s all in my notes.’

  ‘I want to hear it from you.’

  He frowned. ‘You’re psychoanalysing me?’

  ‘No, I’m off duty, on account of an impending engagement.’

  ‘Same as me, then. On account of not following my own advice.’

  ‘So what happened?’

  Hugo sighed. ‘I knew my heart rate was lower than it should have been. And when I was in bed at night, I could...feel an irregular beat. I thought it might just be stress or overwork.’

  ‘But it wasn’t.’

  ‘No. Surprisingly enough, despite being not only a doctor but also a prince, I couldn’t just snap my fingers and tell myself to get better.’ His voice was laden with heavy irony.

  ‘And then you collapsed,’ Nell prompted him for the next part of the story.

  ‘Yes. Pretty much as detailed in my notes.’ He shot her an exasperated look. ‘Apparently my heart started beating again of its own accord, but when I was monitored overnight in the hospital, they found that it was beating too slowly and actually stopped every now and then.’

  ‘How long for?’

  ‘You know that, Nell. Up to three minutes. Which was almost enough to kill me if it wasn’t corrected.’

  ‘So they inserted a pacemaker. Which will help you live a completely normal life.’

  ‘I don’t feel normal, Nell.’ He shook his head. ‘It seems I’m not that good at coming to terms with my own flaws.’

  ‘A pacemaker isn’t a flaw, it’s what makes you well.’ So many pacemaker patients connected their device with the illness that had made it necessary. It was an obvious piece of logic, but it didn’t help much when it came to accepting that their heart now needed a little help in order to function properly.

  ‘I don’t feel well. My shoulder aches still, I run into a brick wall whenever I try to do more than take life at a snail’s pace... I can’t even be at work, Nell. You see my desk? They’ve cleared it and given my cases to other doctors.’

  ‘So you got sick. And you need a bit of time to get better. You’re not superhuman and you’re not perfect. Welcome to the world, Hugo. It’s a place where pink marshmallow hospitals get built for little girls because only an imperfect world has the imagination to create that.’

  Nell stopped, a little breathless. She wondered whether she might be accused of bullying a sick man, in a hospital of all places. You could probably get struck off for that kind of thing.

  ‘You’re sure about that?’ He was looking at her solemnly.

  ‘Yes, I’m sure. We’re going to get the money you need.’ Somehow, somewhere Nell had found a commitment to that.

  He felt in his pocket, bringing out the ring. With everything else that had been going on, Nell had forgotten about it, and she was glad he hadn’t lost it. She held her right hand out and he slipped it onto her finger.

  ‘I feel... Sometimes I can’t help listening to my heart, just to see if it’s still beating. I’m not sure it’s even possible, but I’d swear I feel the pacemaker kick in at times. It’s as if my body isn’t quite my own any more.’

  He’d found a place where he could voice how he felt. There was still a journey ahead, but he’d found the starting point. ‘That must be really hard for you. But in time, I promise you’ll forget you even have it.’

  Hugo nodded, slowly. ‘I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?’

  ‘Yes, since you mention it.’ Nell looked at her watch. ‘You have five minutes to say goodbye to Nadine. Then you’re coming with me.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  HUGO LAY ON his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had slept a little after their return from the hospital and then lain awake, thinking mostly about how Nell was both magnificent and unstoppable when she was angry.

  He could hear her clattering around i
n the kitchen downstairs. Hugo got up, walking slowly into the en suite bathroom to splash his face with water. The scar on his chest was still there, but the stitches would be out soon. It seemed somehow to be fading already.

  ‘I think I might cook this evening.’ He made sure that he spoke while he was still a good twenty feet away from her so as not to make her jump. All the same, she did jump, turning around and flushing a little when she saw him.

  ‘You can cook?’ She smiled suddenly.

  ‘Of course I can cook. I know how to deal with all the appliances in this house. Even the vacuum cleaner.’

  ‘Well you’re not dealing with that for a while, vacuuming requires too much reaching. Although it’s something I’d really like to see as soon as you’re well enough.’

  Hugo chuckled. Everything was going to be just fine. ‘I can cook, though. You can help if you like, and get things out of the cupboards.’

  ‘What were you thinking of cooking?’

  ‘I do a mean lasagne. I asked Ted to get the ingredients when he went shopping this morning.’

  ‘Okay. I do a pretty mean lasagne myself, so let’s see what yours is like.’ She grinned as she threw down the challenge. ‘Perhaps Ted can give us his opinion.’

  ‘I’ll give him a call when dinner’s ready.’ Hugo opened a drawer and took out an apron. A number of people had said he was a good cook, but no one had ever accused him of being a tidy one.

  Nell walked across the kitchen, taking the apron from his hand and unfolding it. Then she reached up, putting it over his head.

  ‘Thanks.’ Hugo wasn’t sure he could reach behind him to tie the apron, and he wondered whether Nell would do that for him as well. And whether she’d do it the way a fiancée would, reaching around from the front, or whether she’d prefer to do it from the back, the way a doctor might.

  She reached around from the front. Somehow she managed to do it while hardly touching him, but she was so close that Hugo caught his breath.

  ‘I was thinking...’ She’d tied the bow in the apron strings but she didn’t step back.

  ‘What were you thinking?’ he encouraged as she tailed off.

  ‘That... Well, if I were called upon to kiss you, in light of our announcement...’

  If she felt able to do that Hugo wouldn’t object in the slightest. ‘You’re not going to be called upon to do anything you don’t want to, just for the sake of appearances. We’ll just do the same as we’ve been doing up till now.’ He wasn’t in the habit of pawing women in public anyway, and the thought that Nell might not welcome it made it a complete no-no.

  ‘So no kissing?’ It was extremely gratifying that Nell looked almost disappointed. Hugo supposed that a woman might close her eyes and kiss someone while overlooking their other physical flaws.

  ‘I’d be extremely happy if you kissed me. And extremely unhappy if you felt in any way pressured to do so.’

  ‘I don’t.’ There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, which made Hugo’s heart beat faster. ‘I just wouldn’t like to do it for the first time in front of a crowd of people.’

  Before Hugo could think of a suitable reply, she’d raised herself up on her toes, planting a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. For a moment, she stared up at him and then lowered her gaze shyly.

  He wanted so badly for her to do that again. It had been just a moment and it hadn’t felt real, but it still felt special. ‘May I...put my arm around you?’ Hugo decided that asking first would be the best course of action.

  ‘Yes. I’d like that.’

  He put his right arm gently around her waist, resisting the temptation to pull her hard against his aching body. Then Nell reached up suddenly, putting her left arm around his right shoulder, her fingertips touching the back of his neck.

  It was delicious. If she’d thrown all her clothes off it could hardly be any more arousing than this. He felt himself trembling at her touch, all the more powerful because she was touching so little of him.

  He saw her pupils dilate suddenly, and that small reaction almost made him choke with desire. Nell kissed him again, this time on the centre of his mouth, lingering just long enough for him to return the kiss.

  Neither of them needed to say anything. Nell had to know how much he liked this. And it was very clear that she was enjoying it, too. Too far gone to even worry about whether she might feel his arousal if she got any closer, he tightened his arm around her waist.

  She melted against him, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Chemistry wasn’t going to be a problem. Not kissing her again was...

  It happened again, almost of its own accord. One moment their lips were tantalisingly close and the next Hugo was kissing her, and Nell was kissing him back. Soft and slow, as if to imply that perhaps there was control over it.

  He thought he felt her lose control, her fingers tightening suddenly into a fist against his chest. Her heart beat against his and... That sudden feeling, as if the pacemaker had just kicked in to accommodate the screaming urge to take this as far as it would go, and then further. It reminded him that he couldn’t. Not yet, and very probably not ever.

  Hugo drew back slowly, planting a last kiss on her waiting lips. ‘This is a role I’m not going to have any trouble with at all.’ This was special, even if it did promise nothing.

  ‘Me neither. I think we’re good with that part of it.’ She gave him a luminous smile as Hugo released her from their embrace, and turned back to the kitchen counter. ‘Now. How about something a little more practical? Let’s see if you really can cook.’

  * * *

  It was as if Hugo had swept her up and they’d danced together through the last ten days. Nell had reorganised his diary, and although Hugo had put up a few token objections, they’d always come to an agreement. Even the round of golf was made easier for him by giving up his own opportunity to play in favour of teaching his new fiancée.

  She’d stayed close to him in public, the obvious implication that they were in love disguising the fact that she kept to his left, always protecting his arm and shoulder. When she leaned across to whisper in his ear, the words she breathed were questions about how he felt, and his smiling answer was often accompanied by the brush of a kiss.

  Hugo’s manners were impeccable, always making sure she was seated before he was, his hand guiding her when she was faced with a crush of people and didn’t quite know which way to turn. And they managed to waltz through seemingly difficult obstacles. When a particularly heavy door blocked their path, and Nell stepped forward to heave it open, a smile flickered on Hugo’s face. He bowed to her, catching her hand up to kiss it, and Nell made a mock curtsey. It seemed like the relaxed playfulness of new lovers, and not a concerned doctor making sure that Hugo came to no harm.

  The ring on her finger still felt odd, but Nell was getting used to it. She was getting used to always being watched. And she was beginning to understand how Hugo felt. Living his life, all the highs and lows of it, at the centre of everyone’s attention must be hard.

  And now there would be another test. A private dinner at the palace, attended by the royal family of Montarino and visiting French and German ambassadors. It was an important occasion, and Hugo was expected to be there, which meant that Nell was expected to be with him.

  * * *

  The morning dawned fresh and clear, and they were on the road as soon as Nell had gulped down a cup of coffee.

  ‘I’m a bit worried about this dress...’ Nell frowned as she drove out of the gates of the house.

  ‘It’s no big deal. My mother’s got it in hand.’

  ‘That’s what I’m worried about.’ The thought of being closeted with the Queen and a personal stylist from the largest store in Montarino, who would be bringing a selection of suitable gowns for the evening, was frankly terrifying.

  ‘They’ll help you pick something nice. And m
y mother will have the jewellery to go with it, she’s got something to go with everything.’

  ‘I’m going to feel foolish, Hugo. I’m not used to wearing a lot of jewellery.’

  ‘Fine. No big jewellery. Just tell them.’ He grinned. ‘Anything else you don’t want?’

  ‘No sequins. And no frills. Definitely no bows.’

  ‘Sounds good to me. I doubt my mother will have frills or bows in mind either, she generally goes for a more classic look. You might have to mention your aversion to sequins, though. What about colour?’

  Nell sighed. Hugo didn’t sound as if he was taking this as seriously as she was. ‘No pink. And definitely no yellow.’

  ‘Right, then. You’ve practically picked your dress already.’ He stretched his long legs into the footwell, obviously ready to move on and enjoy the drive.

  Driving did calm Nell a little, but as soon as she reached the palace car park, her fears returned. Hugo seemed intent on hustling her through the corridors to his parents’ apartment as quickly as possible.

  The apartment was larger than his, and more lavish. His mother greeted them both with a kiss, and Hugo followed them through to her dressing room, sprawling onto one of the cream silk upholstered chairs.

  ‘Hugo, darling. You have something to do...’ Queen Margaux fixed him with a determined glare.

  ‘Nothing that I can think of.’

  ‘I’m sure you might think a little harder, then.’ The Queen took the words out of Nell’s mouth, and Hugo ignored her.

  A rail-thin, elegant woman appeared, a couple of assistants behind her wheeling a rack full of dresses. In any normal circumstances, she looked as if she might have chased Nell away from the confection of silks and satins that were far beyond her purse, but she greeted Nell obsequiously.

  An analysis followed of Nell’s colouring and figure, both of which were apparently perfect. Nell shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, and out of the corner of her eye she caught Hugo’s grin.

  ‘I think it all goes without saying, Madame, that my fiancée is perfect in every way.’ He got to his feet, advancing towards the rail, and Queen Margaux shrugged, dropping into a seat to watch. Clearly the preferred course of action when Hugo was in one of these moods was to wait a while, to let it all blow over.