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Takir looked at his face doubtfully. ‘You’re thinking of Zig, aren’t you? She doesn’t drink or take drugs, does she?’

  ‘No. Not after seeing what they did to her father,’ Angus replied, ‘And I’m sure I could persuade her …’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ‘Are you still working, Zig? I thought you went home an hour ago. It’s nearly dark!’

  Zig looked up at Bailey. ‘Oh, hi, I didn’t realize the time. I just thought I’d try to map out which plants seem to be performing better than others, the GM ones and the control group. I got some books out of the library about soil conditions and different chemicals plants need. I remember my granddad would say things like “it’s too acid” or “it needs potassium”.’ ‘Greg has some soil tester kits. Have a word with him. It’ll have to be tomorrow. He’s gone home now,’ Bailey replied. ‘Some of us are going to try out that new Italian restaurant in town this evening. Would you like to join us?’

  ‘That would be great, Bailey. Give me half an hour to clean up and get changed.’

  Zig smiled as she listened to Bailey in the restaurant later that evening.

  ‘No, really, Zig, you should think about signing up for a course in horticulture at the college. You’re certainly talented. We couldn’t do without you now!’ Bailey insisted.

  ‘He’s right, Zig,’ Rachel, her roommate added. ‘We’ve all been programmed with different talents, but none of us has much of an idea about practical planting and caring for crops.’

  ‘I’m not really a reading and writing person,’ she began.

  ‘No excuses! You were doing very well with those books you had out today. Think about it seriously, Zig,’ Bailey countered.

  ‘You should go for it!’ Ruby told Zig the next morning, when she came to look after Zac for a few hours. ‘You might even inspire me to do something, too! I keep putting it off and making excuses.’

  ‘Having two young children is quite a reasonable excuse, Ruby.’ Zig smiled.

  ‘I have lots of offers of help,’ Ruby said. ‘Tell you what – we’ll both go and make enquiries. We’ll inspire each other!’

  ‘OK, it’s a deal!’ Zig agreed.

  ‘I’ll arrange for someone to look after the children one afternoon later in the week.’ Ruby added.

  Zig was humming to herself as she worked that afternoon. Bailey had been delighted that she was taking his advice seriously. Hearing a noise close to her she looked up, expecting to see him again. Her heart missed a beat and she stood up slowly.

  ‘Angus …’

  ‘Yes. It’s me, Zig. How are you?’ he smiled.

  ‘Fine. Fine. What about you?’

  ‘OK. I miss you, though,’ he said quietly.

  ‘Well, you’re busy now. You and Adam, with your new research.’ Zig stooped down and started to pour a soil sample into a container. Her hands shook and most of the soil ended up back on the ground.

  Angus knelt next to her. ‘Let me help you with that.’

  He watched as she pulled a new sample from the soil and held out the container. He felt her tremble as he brushed her hand.

  ‘It’s so good to see you again, Zig!’ He pushed her hair from her face.

  ‘I’m not going to get involved again,’ Zig told Rachel as she put on some clean clothes an hour later. ‘We’re just going for a drink and a chat. He’s still going to be involved in this new research he’s doing with Adam. He won’t always be popping by to see me.’

  ‘You never know! You certainly still seem keen on him.’ Rachel laughed.

  ‘I’ve really enjoyed this evening. I was afraid you’d tell me to get lost when I turned up today,’ Angus sighed as he played with his glass. ‘I treated you badly, Zig, just leaving like that.’

  ‘Oh, well, you had … have real important research with Adam and the other Labs,’ she said.

  ‘And I still can make time for us, if you want,’ he continued. ‘Look, I really want to make things up to you. How about we go away; just you and me; for a few days? We both could do with a holiday. What do you say, Zig?’

  ‘Well, I don’t know. When?’ she asked.

  ‘Tomorrow!’

  ‘Tomorrow?’ she repeated.

  ‘I want to show you I’m serious. Please say yes! I can pick you up tomorrow afternoon, about five, OK? You don’t know how much it would mean to me,’ he leaned over and took her hand. ‘Please say yes, Zig!’

  ‘I’ll only be gone for a few days,’ Zig explained to Ruby and Abel the next morning. ‘And I’ll definitely sign up for a college course when I get back.’

  ‘Are you sure he’s such a reformed character?’ Ruby looked uneasy.

  ‘Yes! We had such a lovely evening together yesterday. It was like old times – no, better than old times!’ Zig laughed. ‘Bailey said he can manage the garden himself for a few days and Greg can help him out if he needs it.’

  She looked up to see Ginny running towards her. She held out her arms and the young girl jumped into them.

  ‘Bailey said you were going away!’

  ‘Yes, just for a short holiday. I’ll bring you back a present.’ Zig smiled.

  ‘I’ll miss you, Zig!’

  Ginny clung to her neck. Zig hugged her back. ‘I’ll miss you too, but I’ll be back soon!’

  Ruby watched the car drive away and turned to her partner. ‘I don’t trust that man at all, Abel. I wish she hadn’t gone with him.’

  ‘She’s old enough to do as she wants,’ he replied.

  Ruby sighed. ‘Well, if it all ends in tears, she has us!’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  It was dark when they pulled up in front of the sprawling country hotel.

  ‘We’ll stay here tonight and head off early tomorrow,’ Angus said. He glanced at his watch. ‘Good timing. I’ve booked dinner in an hour.’

  ‘Wow! I’ve never stayed in such a lovely place,’ Zig said as she climbed out of the car.

  ‘Wow!’ she repeated as the bell boy led them to their room.

  ‘Nothing but the best for my Zig!’ Angus put his arms around her and pulled her to him. ‘And don’t forget I’ve a new heart now! I never tire!’

  Zig was up before Angus the next morning. As she washed her face in the bathroom she ran a finger over her scarred eye. Then she caught a glimpse of Angus in the mirror. She saw him try to hide the look of disgust as he turned away. Quickly she pulled her eye patch into place.

  ‘This holiday is a really good idea, Angus.’ Zig leaned over and stroked his arm later at breakfast.

  He smiled and looked up from the map in his hand.

  ‘You know, I was thinking; there’s a friend I’d like you to meet, quite near here … no, it’s not the right time. Forget I said anything.’

  ‘You’ve got to explain now you’ve started!’ she laughed.

  He sighed. ‘No, I may offend you, ruin the holiday. And I really, really don’t want to do that.’

  ‘You’ll have to tell me now, Angus!’

  ‘Forget it. We’ll talk about it another time. It was stupid of me to think about it at this moment, stupid!’ He smiled and stood up. ‘Come on, let’s get our bags and get moving. We’re heading for Scotland, but to the hills this time, not a grimy city.’

  As she put the last things in her bag Zig turned to Angus.

  ‘Please tell me what you were thinking of earlier. Why would I be offended?’

  He gave a deep sigh, ‘You might think I don’t appreciate you as you are. To me you’ll always be beautiful. It’s not about appearances.’

  Zig touched her eye patch. ‘It’s about this, isn’t it?’ Angus groaned. ‘Look, since I got my new heart, and that was all thanks to you, I’ve been a new person. I’ve got confidence I never possessed before. I just want the same for you, Zig.’

  She looked at him.

  ‘There’s a friend of mine, on our route, we could just go and talk to him. He could tell you what he could do for you. He’s brilliant, Zig. I’ve seen the work he has done. If – and only if �
�� you want, we could call by and see him just for a chat.’

  Zig moved uneasily, ‘I don’t know, Angus …’

  He pulled her to him and hugged her. ‘It’s OK, we’ll forget about it. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I just feel so good myself now, I want the same for you! You’re not offended, are you, Zig?’

  He pulled her closer as she shook her head.

  They had started their journey and were driving along in silence when Zig turned to him.

  ‘OK, let’s go and just talk to your friend. Just talk, no decisions today! It will probably be very expensive anyway. I don’t think I’d be able to afford it, Angus.’

  ‘Oh, money isn’t a problem. I can take care of all that. My “father” was worth a lot more than anyone ever imagined. And it’s all mine! After all you’ve done for me I want to do this for you.’ He smiled. ‘But don’t worry: no decisions today, Zig!’

  He squeezed her hand as they turned into the driveway of Bramways Abbey.

  A smartly dressed woman appeared as they reached the front of the building.

  ‘Angus, Dr Neilson was so pleased to hear from you. This must be the young lady.’

  She shook hands with them both and led them inside along a high corridor hung with portraits of people from a bygone age. She stopped at a polished wooden door and knocked. On hearing a voice she pushed open the door and they stepped into a richly furnished room.

  Behind a large mahogany desk a man was rising, smiling as he came towards them.

  ‘Angus! And you must be Zig. How lovely to see you!’ he said, his eyes twinkling behind rimless glasses as he clasped her hand warmly. He looked like someone’s grandfather, she thought.

  He sat them down in two large leather armchairs.

  ‘Angus has told me that you’d like more details about the medical procedures we carry out here and the help we can give people like yourself,’ he began.

  ‘I … I … I only want to know a bit about it, I’m not thinking of doing anything at the moment!’ Zig said hurriedly.

  ‘Of course, my dear!’ the doctor smiled. ‘Just let me take a look, would you?’ His hands felt soft and warm as he pushed the patch up and ran a hand over her damaged eye. ‘Ah, yes, it’s a quite straight-forward case. We can give you back full vision and reconstruct the eye socket completely. Restore you to your former beauty! It’s a procedure we’ve carried out on several patients, usually reconstruction after an injury caused by an accident.’

  He walked to a filing cabinet and pulled out a folder which he pushed across the desk to them.

  ‘Here’s our brochure. You can see we cover a wide range of corrective and cosmetic surgery. And you’ll see we come highly recommended.’

  Angus picked up the brochure and flicked through the first two pages with Zig nervously peeping over his shoulder. He cleared his throat and glanced at Zig. ‘Well, the first thing we’d have to feel confident about is, are there any dangers that the operation might not be successful?’

  ‘Mmm, in any operation there is always the chance that something could go wrong. But here at Bramways we have a one hundred per cent history of success. That’s because we have a team of highly qualified and dedicated surgeons. And excellent after-care treatment.’

  ‘And how long has the hospital been running for?’ Angus continued.

  ‘We had our ten-year celebrations last June, for the opening of Bramways and for my decade of service here.’ Dr Neilson replied. A phone on his desk rang. ‘Excuse me while I take this, would you?’

  He turned and spoke into the receiver. ‘Thank you; I’ll be right down, Jones.’

  Angus and Zig looked up as he stood up.

  ‘I’ve a little matter to attend to. How about I leave you to take a good look through our brochure for a few minutes; then you may have some other questions for me?’

  Zig grabbed Angus’s arm as the door closed behind him. ‘Angus, I’m not really ready for this just yet.’

  ‘Relax; we’re just getting some information.’ Angus leaned forward and kissed her lips. ‘They seem to know what they’re doing here. Look at the list of credentials. Hey, I didn’t know the drummer from The Divas had been here! Take a look!’

  Zig glanced nervously through the brochure he had put in her hands. ‘Some famous names all right.’

  They continued their conversation until the door opened again.

  ‘Sorry to leave you for so long. Any more questions?’ the doctor asked as he sat down again. Zig shook her head. ‘Well, just take the brochure and think about it at your leisure. Then if you think it is the right course for you, let us know and we can put your name on our waiting list.’

  ‘Could I just ask how long the waiting list is?’ Angus asked.

  ‘For this particular transplant, about two years.’

  Once again the phone rang. The doctor apologised again as he picked it up.

  ‘What? The next three applicants? This can’t be right!’ He listened for a few minutes. ‘Yes, do! And please ring me straight back.’

  He shook his head and frowned. ‘This has never happened before in ten years. We had scheduled a transplant, similar to your own, for tomorrow; but the applicant, an elderly patient, unfortunately died this morning. So my colleague rang the next patient on our waiting list, and unfortunately he wasn’t available. He tried the next two on the list and, unbelievably, cannot get in touch with either of those two women either!

  ‘If we don’t have a patient by tomorrow the organs will be useless!’ He smiled at Zig, ‘If you wanted, we could put you right at the top of that two-year waiting list.’

  Angus looked at Zig and raised his eyebrows. She got to her feet and held out her hand. ‘Oh, no! Thank you but I … I need some time to think things through. Goodbye, Dr Neilson. Thanks for all your advice. I’ll go through the brochure very carefully. Thank you so much!’

  Angus smiled at the doctor and followed her out. Five minutes later they were seated in the car.

  ‘I’m sorry, Angus!’ Zig said.

  ‘Don’t apologise, Zig. It’s your decision.’ Angus gave her a quick smile and reached for the ignition.

  An image of the look of disgust on his face that morning came into her mind. She reached forward and stopped his hand. ‘If the doctor still can do this tomorrow … I will, Angus!’

  Angus looked at her. ‘Are you sure?’

  She nodded.

  They both got out of the car and headed back to the main door.

  ‘Perhaps they managed to get in touch with someone on the waiting list by now,’ Zig ventured.

  ‘No harm in asking!’ Angus smiled.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Zig looked small and pale as she lay on the hospital bed the next morning. ‘We’ve changed places!’ she whispered.

  Angus smiled. He touched her face. ‘Don’t worry, you’re in excellent hands. And I’ll be here waiting for you, OK?’

  She nodded, unable to say anything else. Her hand slipped from his grasp as the anaesthetic took over.

  It seemed only moments later when she felt herself being moved and strong arms lift her onto a different bed. A nurse reorganised her drip and placed her hand on the bedside table.

  ‘There’s a bottle of water within reach. And here’s the bell if you need anything,’ she said.

  Zig gingerly touched the bandages over her eyes. ‘Why are both my eyes bandaged?’

  ‘They will be for a few days. The doctor will be along in a short time to answer any questions you have, dear,’ she continued. ‘Get as much rest as you can now.’

  Zig smiled as she felt someone slip into a seat beside the bed. ‘Angus?’

  He squeezed her hand, ‘I’m here.’

  ‘Can’t I take the bandage off my good eye?’ Zig started to pull at the bandage.

  ‘No! You must leave it.’ Angus grabbed her hand. ‘Ah, Dr Neilson’s here. He can explain.’

  Zig heard the swish of his coat and the scratch of a pen on paper.

  �
�The operation went extremely well. You are well on the road to recovery, young lady!’ he said.

  ‘Why are both my eyes bandaged?’ Zig asked.

  ‘There’s no need for alarm. We have replaced both eyes. You would have trouble with your vision if we had not done this. It’s normal procedure, nothing to cause alarm.’

  ‘No! I wasn’t told …’ Zig tried to sit up.

  The doctor patted her arm. ‘Now calm down. I’m going to give you a sedative to help you to rest; that will make your recovery that much quicker.’

  Again she felt herself drift away.

  ‘What if I never get out of this blackness, Angus?’

  ‘Tonight’s the night!’ Zig could hear the smile in Angus’s voice. She held out a trembling hand.

  ‘Don’t be scared, everything will be fine!’

  Zig shivered as she heard the swish of Dr Neilson’s coat and the soft pad of the nurse’s feet close behind him. She had learnt to identify different people by their own particular sounds.

  ‘Well, let’s see how we’re doing, shall we? Time to take a look around again, my dear.’ The doctor chatted easily as he cut and gently peeled the bandages away.

  Zig put her hands to her eyes, feeling her eyelashes fluttering under her fingers. She peeped through them and gave a sob of relief as she could make out the fabric of the bedclothes.

  ‘It’s dark!’ she whispered.

  The doctor chuckled. ‘Yes, it’s ten o’clock at night, so it is dark. We always remove the bandages in dim light. You can gradually build up to bright light. You need to let your new eyes get used to it.’

  He moved her face to the left and right, shining a torch into each eye.

  ‘Perfect. Absolutely perfect!’ he beamed.

  Zig slowly peered around her. Angus was holding out his hand and smiling.

  ‘Come on, time for a walk around, if the doctor says it’s OK?’

  ‘An excellent idea! The poor girl has been bedridden for long enough. Why don’t you take a stroll in the garden?’

  Zig stood up as Angus placed a dressing gown around her shoulders. With her arm tucked into his they made their way to the French windows. She laughed excitedly as they stepped outside.