For His Little Girl

'Ms. Davis seems to have a lot of friends.'

The ride up was long enough for him to realize he was walking into the unknown. Josie had known nothing, but she would have been told by now, and some of it would have come from Frank. He wondered if his daughter hated him. For himself, he could bear that burden, as deserved. But when he thought of what it would do to her, the world seemed to grow dark.

As soon as he stepped out of the lift he saw what the receptionist had meant. A crowd had gathered in the corridor. Luke counted seven before he identified Frank, Elly and-

'Josie!'

'Daddy!' The little girl's shriek split the air, and the next moment she'd evaded Frank's detaining hand to dash down the corridor straight into Luke's waiting arms.

'I knew you'd come,' she said frantically. 'Uncle Frank said you wouldn't. He said you were horrid to Mommy and you'd helped make her sick and you'd never really loved her and-'' Luke's eyes met Frank's over Josie's head. 'You've been saying a lot of things, Frank,' he said coldly. 'Most of them you had no right to say.'

'And you have no right to be here,' Frank said in a tight voice. 'How dare you come barging in, upsetting the child-'

'I reckon she'd be a sight more upset if I hadn't come.'

'You're nothing here. If Pippa had wanted you, she'd have stayed with you.'

'We'll talk about this some other time,' Luke said, giving him a warning glance. 'For the moment I'd like to know how she is.'

Elly had come to join them. 'They're operating. It's been a long job, but they should be through quite soon.'

The others drifted across and introduced themselves. They were the current crop of house guests. Luke picked up Harry, Jake, Davina, and his mind refused to take in any more. They regarded him without condemnation, but with a lot of curiosity.

Josie kept a tight hold on Luke's hand to make him sit beside her. 'Daddy, why did Mommy leave like that? Were you horrid to her?'

'Tell her everything, if you dare,' Frank jeered.

'All right, I will. Yes, darling, Mommy and I did have a quarrel, and it was my fault.' A tremor shook him. 'All my fault. I came to tell her I'm sorry.'

'But why? What did you do?' •

'When I found out that she was ill, I didn't understand why she hadn't confided in me. I blamed her.'

Josie's eyes filled with tears. 'Me, too. Oh Daddy, I got mad at her on the plane. I didn't mean to but I couldn't help it. And when we landed she collapsed, and it's all my fault-' She burst into sobs.

Luke gathered her into his arms. 'It's not your fault, darling. It's mine if anyone's. She should have told both of us, but you see, Mommy's a very strong person. She tends to shoulder all the burdens herself, so that other people can be happy-' his voice wavered '-and then you find out that she's been bearing things alone, and you feel kind of hurt that she didn't share it with you. But you have to understand-you have to understand-that she doesn't mean…' His voice ran down. He tried to hide his despair from the child, but he couldn't do it, and his head sank until it was resting against hers.

They didn't move after that. Nor did anyone else go near the man and the child, enclosed in their own world, needing only each other.

Nobody knew how many hours passed before there was a noise at the end of the corridor as the doors were opened so that a bed could be wheeled through. It was accompanied by a doctor and two nurses, one of whom was holding a drip that was connected to the woman lying on the bed. Everybody stood up tensely to watch the little procession approach and turn into the room opposite. Luke caught the barest glimpse of Pippa's face as she passed, and felt his daughter's hand seek his.

The doctor faced them. 'She's not as strong as I'd like, but she's holding on. The next few hours will be vital.'

'But she's going to live?' came Frank's voice. 'Surely you can say that much?'

The doctor hesitated. 'It's too soon to make any promises.'

'I want to see Mommy,' Josie said.

'In a few minutes,' the doctor said, 'when they've finished settling her. Just you and one other person-perhaps the next of kin-'

'I'm her next of kin,' Frank said through gritted teeth, 'since she isn't married.'

Luke flinched, but he didn't retaliate, because into his head had come the memory of Pippa's words in the letter. If you fight with Frank it will make her unhappy…

'Daddy-' Josie reached for him, but he forced himself to step back.

'I'll wait,' he said.

'No,' Elly said, intervening. 'You're the one she wants.' She laid a gentle hand on her husband's arm, silencing his protest.

Hand in hand, father and daughter slipped into Pippa's room, and Luke couldn't have said which of them was clinging to the other more desperately for comfort. The sight of Pippa horrified him. She lay as still as death, her eyes closed, her face the color of parchment. On each side she was attached to drips or machinery that seemed to overwhelm her. Like any creature that lived mainly through its senses Luke recoiled from illness. But now all he could think of was how small and frail she looked and how he would have liked to gather her protectively in his arms. But he couldn't.

'Can we touch her?' he asked at last.

'Better not,' advised one of the nurses.

'What are her chances?'

'Her color's reasonably good, and she's stable. That's really all we can say for the moment, i think you should go now.'

Outside in the corridor Luke repeated the nurse's words to everyone, but speaking mainly to Frank, keeping his voice gentle, trying not to react to the open dislike on the other man's face.

Everyone settled down for a long wait. Somebody went for coffee and sandwiches. A silence fell. The clock ticked on as the light faded into darkness. Josie was allowed back in to see her mother.

'Daddy-'

'Take your uncle Frank, honey,' he said. 'He loves her, too.'

He had to force the words out. Only the conviction that he was doing what Pippa would have wanted made it possible. Frank regarded him with suspicion and went on into the room.

'That was very nice of you,' Elly said when Frank and Josie had gone.

'It's Pippa, she-' He couldn't say any more, but he suddenly noticed how kind Elly's eyes were. He wondered why he'd never seen it before, and felt ashamed that he'd ever seen her as a person to make fun of. On impulse he pulled Pippa's letter out. 'She wouldn't mind my showing you this.'

He pointed to the end of the letter where Pippa had written, 'Josie loves you, but she loves Frank and Elly, too, and if you fight it will make her unhappy.'

'Thank you,' she said, giving it back to him. 'I'll try to make Frank understand.'

Josie slipped out and came to Luke. 'She's just the same,' she said.

'No sign of waking up?'

'No, they say she won't tonight, because she's being kept under heavy sedation. They'll start lifting it tomorrow.'

'They say we might as well go home for the night,' Frank said.

'That's a good idea,' Jake observed. 'Nothing is going to happen for hours. The house is just around the corner. Harry will stay here, just in case, and if anything looks like it's happening he'll call and we can be back in five minutes.' He looked at Luke. 'Frank and Elly are staying at the guest house. Have you got somewhere?'

'I never thought of it.'

'Then you'd better come with us.'

'Thanks, but I'm staying right here,' he said firmly.

Frank put an arm about Josie. 'Come along, darling,' he said.

But Josie shook her head. 'I want to stay with Daddy.'