Keep Me (Beggar's Choice #3) by Lily Morton Read Free Book Online Page A

that’s happened. If she’s like him to you then she can’t go wrong.”
    Silence falls as we acknowledge what the word ‘ everything’ encompasses and then I smile and shrug. “She’s a good girl Matty and she’s been
through some shit. Fuck, she’s dealing with something regularly that would
derail most of us, and she does it with a smile on her face and doesn’t feel
sorry for herself. I like that in a person and so I want to help her.”
    “Is that it?”
    The word no comes into my head immediately because it
isn’t. She’s so beautiful I have a hard time keeping my hands off her, and
earlier I’d not liked Matt looking at her which is totally ridiculous because
she lacks the vital equipment to interest him. I shake the feelings off like
water on my skin. “Yeah that’s it.” Despite shooting me a keen glance he lets
it go and we plunge back into the diary.
    Alys
    Henry proves to be an older, grey haired man but after I’ve
plonked myself in the front seat with him and he’s had to talk to me in the
endless traffic jams that London is famous for, he shows a softer side and a
sweet smile. He has three daughters and five grandchildren and an
understandably paternal air so I relax with him and by the time that we pull up
a few yards away from the university we are firm friends. Thanking him and
promising to ring him when I finish, I walk briskly towards the red brick building
that will be the centre for my studies for the next three years.
    I’ve wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember.
Years spent in and out of hospital have given me an immense respect for the
profession, and I’d known fairly early on that I wanted to be a children’s
nurse. This was the reason for my coming to England, and the South Bank
University in particular. Nurses spend time both at university and out on
placements in teaching hospitals, and LSBU is the only university that sends
its nurses on placements to the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children.
    I stop in front of the building and breathe in deeply trying
to quell the sudden butterflies in my stomach. There’s a palpable air of
excitement about and I notice uneasily that all the people going into the
building seem a lot younger than me. They’re fresh faced and look almost shiny,
like life hasn’t tarnished them in the same way that it has me, and I wonder if
I’ll stand out like a telephone box in the desert.
    Dismissing my thoughts I make my way up the steps and into
the building. My first stop is to see the student liaison officer who is going
to oversee the arrangements that have been made for me with my course so that
my deafness won’t impact too much on me.
    An hour later I leave the room of the liaison officer who’d
turned out to be a bubbly redhead called Julie. I follow her, clutching a
fistful of leaflets with my head full of information about hearing loops and
the extra help that’s available if needed in lectures and on placements. Julie
turns to me. “The introductory lecture for all new students is in Lecture
Theatre One. I’ll take you over there and introduce you to Professor Anderson
who runs the course. She’ll point you out to the lecturers that you’ll have and
introduce you to your mentor who is aware of your deafness and what help you
might need. Then you can hop on the tour with everyone else. Are you sure that
you don’t want me to tag along with you?”
    I nod determinedly. I don’t need help. I’ve been on my own for
a long while and really don’t like being separated out by my differences from
everyone else. I smile to mitigate any abruptness. “Yes I’m sure. Thank you
Julie. You must remember that I’m only partially deaf anyway so I don’t have as
many obstacles as a fully deaf student might have. Besides you’ve given me
loads of reading materials.” I shake my papers at her like maracas and she
laughs and drops the subject.
    Ten minutes later she’s introduced me to the course tutor
who is