Читать книгу All The Care In The World - Шэрон Кендрик, Sharon Kendrick - Страница 12

CHAPTER FOUR

NANCY awoke with a splitting headache and the dull ache of hunger gnawing away at the pit of her stomach. She turned to stare at the space beside her on the bed, and again felt relief and guilt in equal measures on discovering that it was empty.

She showered and dressed, before going downstairs. She felt much too vulnerable to face her husband wearing nothing but a pair of cotton-brushed pyjamas which fell in soft folds against her bare skin.

Steve was sleeping just where she had left him, still snoring—his mouth open and moistly slack—sucking in great shuddering breaths of air. She went into the kitchen, made a pot of strong, black coffee and poured him a vast mugful, before attempting to shake him awake.

‘Go away!’ he mumbled, and turned his head into one of the cushions.

‘Steve, I’m not going anywhere,’ she told him patiently, even though the stale smell of alcohol made her want to gag. ‘It’s eight o’clock in the morning, and I have to leave for surgery in five minutes. You, meanwhile, have a client meeting booked for ten-thirty so I suggest you drink this and dive into the shower.’ She bent and loudly crashed the coffee-mug onto the table next to the sofa. ‘Pronto!’