And the Bride Wore Red

still.

‘She’s passed out,’ Jack said desperately. ‘What can I do?’

‘Don’t panic,’ Lang said firmly. ‘I’m a doctor, do as I say. Place two fingers against her throat to check for a pulse.’

Jack did so, but wailed, ‘I can’t feel anything, and she’s stopped breathing. Oh, dear God, she’s dead!’

‘No!’ Olivia screamed.

‘Don’t panic, either of you,’ Lang said sternly. ‘She isn’t dead, but she’s had a cardiac arrest. Jack, we’ve got to get her heart started again. First raise her legs about eighteen inches, to help blood flow back to the heart.’

They both watched as Jack put a couple of pillows under Norah’s feet, then looked back at the screen for further instructions.

‘Place the palm of your hand flat on her chest just over the lower part of her breast bone,’ Lang continued. ‘Then press down in a pumping motion. Use the other hand, as well, to give extra power-that’s it! Excellent.’

‘But is it working?’ Olivia whispered.

‘Don’t disturb him,’ Lang advised.

As they watched, Norah made a slight movement. Jack gave a yell of triumph.

‘The medics should be here soon,’ he said. ‘I left the main door open so that they could-Here they are.’

Two ambulance crew burst in, armed with equipment, confidently taking over. One of them asked Jack what he’d done, then nodded in approval.

‘Well done,’ he said. ‘She was lucky to have you.’

As they moved Norah onto the stretcher, Jack addressed the screen.

‘I’m going to the hospital with her,’ he said. ‘I’ll call you when I know something.’

‘Give her my love,’ Olivia begged. ‘Tell her I’ll be there soon. And, Jack, thank you for everything.’

‘It’s not me you should thank, it’s him,’ he said gruffly, and the screen went dead.

‘He’s right,’ she whispered. ‘If she lives, you did it.’

‘Of course she will live,’ Lang insisted.

‘I shouldn’t have left her. She’s old and frail. I’ve stayed away too long.’

‘But she wanted you to. Every time I’ve seen her she’s been encouraging you, smiling.’

‘Yes, because she’s sweet and generous. She must have smiled on purpose to make me think she was all right. She was thinking of me, but I should have been thinking of her.’

‘Olivia, my darling, stop blaming yourself. You’re right, she is generous. She knew that you needed your freedom and she gave it to you. Accept her generosity.’

‘I know you’re right, but-’

She could say no more. Grief overwhelmed her and she sobbed helplessly. Lang’s arms went around her, holding her close, offering her all the comfort in his power.

Many times in the past he’d held her with passion, letting her know that she could bring his body alive, as he could hers. But now there was only strength and tenderness, giving without taking, all the warmth and compassion of his nature offered in her service.

She stopped weeping at last, because the strength had drained out of her. Normally so decisive, she now found herself floundering.

‘Start your packing,’ he told her gently, ‘and I’ll call the airport.’

An hour later they were on their way. Lang had found a flight to London for her, and one to Beijing for himself. When she had checked in, they sat in silence, holding hands, trying to come to terms with what had happened. One moment their joyous life had seemed set to last for ever. The next, without warning, it was all over. The speed with which light had turned to darkness left her reeling.

And yet, what had I expected? she asked herself. We were always fooling ourselves about bringing Norah to China. I have to go to England and his life is here.

How bitter was the irony! The woman who’d been so sure she could command her own fate had been swept away by a tide of love whose strength she was only beginning to appreciate now that it was slipping away from her.

‘I’ve got something for you,’ Lang said. ‘I bought it to give you as a symbol of our coming marriage.’

‘Oh, no,’ she begged. ‘Don’t say that. I can’t bear it. How can we ever marry?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said sombrely. ‘I only know that somehow we must. Don’t you feel that too?’

‘Yes. Yes, I do. But how can we?’

‘I had hoped that we might make our home in China and Norah could come here and live with us. I still hope for that. She will recover in time, and all will be well. We have only to be patient.’

She looked at him with desperate eyes, longing to believe that it could be that easy, but she was full of fear.

‘We must never give up hope,’ Lang persisted. ‘Don’t you know that whatever happens some day, somehow, we must be together?’

‘I want to think so, but how can we? I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, perhaps always.’

‘However long it is,’ he said, taking her hands between his, ‘it will happen at last. There will be nobody else for me. So in the end we must find each other again, because otherwise I shall spend all my life alone. Now I’ve known you, there could never be anyone else.’

‘You make it sound so simple,’ she said huskily.

‘No, I make it sound possible, because it is. That’s why I want you to take this.’

He drew out a small box and placed it in her hands. Opening it, Olivia saw a brooch in the shape of a dainty, silver butterfly: the sign of eternal love and lifelong fidelity.

‘I bought it yesterday, when I was gone for that time,’ he said. ‘I’ve been waiting for the right moment to give it to you, but I never thought it would be like this. Wear it and never forget that we belong together.’

‘I will wear it always,’ she promised.

Overhead a loudspeaker blared.

‘They’re calling your flight,’ he said. ‘Goodbye-for now.’

‘For now,’ she repeated.

He took her into his arms. ‘Remember me,’ he begged.

‘Always. Just a few more moments…’ She kissed him again and again.

‘You must go-you must go.’ But still he held onto her.

The call came again.

‘Oh, God, it’s so far away!’ she wept. ‘When will we see each other again?’

‘We will,’ he said fiercely. ‘Somehow we’ll find a way. We must hold onto that thought.’

But even as he said it there were tears on his cheeks, and now she could see that his despair was as great as her own.

The crowd was moving now, carrying her away from him. In agony she watched him grow smaller, fading, until the distance seemed to swallow him up and only his hand was still visible, faintly waving.

The flight from Shanghai to London was thirteen hours. During the interminable time Olivia drifted in and out of sleep, pursued by uneasy dreams. Norah was there sometimes, laughing and strong as in the old days, then lying still. Lang was there too, his face anguished as he bid her farewell.

She managed to get a little restless sleep, but it was tormented by ghosts. There was Norah, as she’d seen her on-screen only a few hours ago, looking dismayed at the thought of the flight to China. Now Olivia realised that she hadn’t imagined it. Norah had known she wasn’t well, and she’d hidden it.

From beneath her closed eyes, tears streamed down Olivia’s face.

Jack was waiting for her at the airport, his face haggard.

‘She’s in Intensive Care,’ he said. ‘She was alive when I left her an hour ago, but she’s bad, really bad.’

‘Then I’ll get there fast.’

‘Shall I take your bags home with me?’ he offered. ‘I expect you’ll want to move into Norah’s place.’

Until that moment it hadn’t dawned on her that she had nowhere to go. She thanked him and hurried to the hospital.

Once there, she ran the last few steps to Intensive Care, her fear mounting. A nurse rose to meet her, smiling reassurance.