ASIM_issue_54 by ed. Simon Petrie Read Free Book Online Page B

As her fingertips touched his fur, the cat yawned and let out a meow as if asking where she’d been so long. “Oh, how I missed you, you lazy cat.”
    “I want to write again.” Her fingers caressed the lip of her laptop lid. “I have so much catching up to do. So much to tell the world of what was happening while I was away. My readers, my fans …”
    “They know,” he reassured her. “All your social sites have been regularly updated.”
    All his doing, she had no doubt now. Like the cat being fed and the dog being walked, and the house kept up to date. He’d seen to it all.
    “Oh, you’re a good and noble friend, HG. What would I be without you?”
    He took a small bow at her compliment, which made her smile even wider.
    “I must write!” she declared again, frail fingers fumbling with the laptop.
    He crossed the room to her and laid his strong hands lightly across hers. “There’ll be time for that later. It’s your first day back home. Come and explore the house properly first, maybe sit in the garden for a spell. Remember the doctors told you not to rush things.”
    And he was right, as she felt he had always been right whenever she’d turned to him for advice in the past. But now that she did remember him, she wondered in what context? Friend fitted him easily, but was he her lover? Husband perhaps? A friend wouldn’t carry her over the threshold, now, would he?
    Bob the dog greeted them in the garden. He didn’t seem as exuberant as she remembered, almost as if he sensed she was still frail and fragile and needed to be treated with care. The dog stayed by her side as she and HG sat and talked about the past.
    She had no doubt that prompting her memory was all part of her recuperation, but she was too shy to tell him she couldn’t remember who he was. It might be just enough of a crack in her defence to have them sending her back to hospital, and she wanted to stay at home now, comforted by all her familiar things. His name had already returned to her. She was sure, given time, she would remember the rest.
    No shy bride on her wedding night, she showed no embarrassment as he helped her bathe and dress for bed in the evening. He’d performed these tasks for her in the hospital as well while she’d been recovering, so she was quite comfortable naked in his presence now, and happy to follow his lead.
    But when he tucked the duvet over her, kissed her on the cheek, turned and headed for the door, she called after him.
    “This isn’t right, is it? I distinctly recall us sleeping together.”
    He turned back to her, smiling a little sheepishly. “I thought after your time in hospital you might prefer to sleep alone?”
    She patted the duvet beside her decisively and stared him into compliance. He dutifully removed his robe and slippers and slipped into bed beside her, enfolding her in his arms.
    “Can you hear them too?” she asked him, her head pressed against his chest. He made a noise like a question mark. “My army of nanos, I’m sure I can hear them sweeping their way through my veins, making sure I stay alive.”
    He drew her a little closer to him and she was soon asleep and dreaming of angels.
     
    * * *
     
    “Welcome home, Miss B,” said the lady with the olive complexion and the lovely smile.
    Mina … ? Nina … ? Nona! Her cook and housekeeper, who had been with her for … oh, over a decade now and who was in her middle 40’s.
    “What will you be having for breakfast? Scrambled eggs? Toast? I can fix you up some waffles if you want?”
    Nona had two grown children; three if you counted Eliza whom she doted on, tempting her with breakfast treats.
    “Oh, waffles I think,” Eliza said decisively.
    A frown shadowed HG’s face. “Perhaps the scrambled eggs would be easier for you to eat?” he suggested.
    But she made a face. They’d fed her scrambled eggs in the hospital. Horrible stuff made from powdered eggs, reconstituted with water. And she’d eaten it gladly at