Seaside Hospital by Pauline Ash Read Free Book Online Page B

that it would be a fatal move if Jacky—as he now slipped into calling her—ever found out. She was possessive while she was interested in someone, jealous to the last degree, and she had a very bad temper. You could not reason with her, either, for she did not listen to anything she did not want to hear.
    He did not relish the idea of contacting Lisa either. It shocked him to think that Lisa and Jacky were sisters. There was a slight facial resemblance, but otherwise no likeness at all. Lisa looked people straight in the face with those steady blue eyes of hers, while Jacky’s green eyes glinted and darted about—not, he told himself ruefully, eyes that you could completely trust. Her mouth, too, was provocative, mutinous, sometimes hard—if she was caught unawares—while Lisa’s mouth was tender and kind.
    He threw his cigarette away impatiently. Why couldn’t he have fallen in love with Lisa? He had been happy enough with her, until he had met Jacky. Jacky, when she set out to attract, could blot everything from one’s thoughts. She had been like fire in his veins. It seemed at the time the most natural thing on earth to terminate his friendship with Lisa and to give his whole attention to becoming the only man in the scintillating Jacky’s life.
    Honesty compelled him to admit that he was tiring of Jacky just a little. He knew in his heart that she wanted marriage with any rich man. She did not really care for him, and already he was sadly missing Lisa’s warm interest in everything he said and did. Jacky had no interest in anyone but herself.
    Beaten, he telephoned Lisa at the hospital.
    “Sorry, sir,” the porter said. “Nurse Bryant is unavailable for the telephone.”
    Derek took up a position outside the hospital, to wait for the time when Lisa came out for her three-hour break. When she did come out, he was shocked to find she was whisked off in a large crimson car before he could cross the road.
    Ellard Lindon, too, having tried unsuccessfully to telephone Lisa, had called at the hospital on the off-chance of seeing her. She was angry, but got into his car to avoid a scene.
    “Why did you wait outside the hospital for me?” she asked him heatedly.
    “No other way to contact you, Lisa. What’s the idea of not being available on the telephone?”
    “Avoiding Jacky’s calls,” Lisa said briefly. “We aren’t allowed private calls in hospital hours, but she just won’t believe that.”
    “She wouldn’t,” he said grimly. “I just wanted to ask you if you’d spend an hour or two with me this afternoon. I’ll drop you off if you’ve something else planned.”
    “I hadn’t,” she admitted honestly. “Not apart from trying to study for my exams, that is,” and she had to smile ruefully.
    “You know, Lisa, you’ve a very lovely smile,” he told her seriously. “I must be very careful or I’ll begin to think too much of you.”
    “You think that would be bad?” she asked, laughing in spite of herself at the fleeting alarm in his face.
    “I’m a confirmed bachelor, my dear. The rule of my life has always been to like women but never to fall into the trap of love. That way lies disaster.”
    “I shouldn’t worry about it if I were you, Ellard. I can’t see you falling in love with anyone,” she assured him.
    “But you don’t dislike me any more, do you?” he asked shrewdly. “I can tell you don’t. You’re such an honest little soul, Lisa; you couldn’t hide anything for long.”
    “Am I as transparent as that?” she asked in dismay.
    “Not transparent. Just ... well, honest, and I’m not used to meeting honest women. It’s rather refreshing,” he finished lightly, as if already afraid of having said too much.
    “Where are we going?” she asked presently, feeling that she was beginning to enjoy trips in this lovely car with Ellard as a companion. It was not that she was getting to like Ellard any more than she had done at first. She tried to analyze her feelings,