‘May I join you?’ Charlie asked, walking hesitantly over to where she sat, gazing out over the rain-soaked but nonetheless impressive vista.
‘Well, you’ve already scared off my class, so feel free,’ Holly said quietly. She looked, uncharacteristically, utterly defeated. Charlie’s heart ached.
The pause between them seemed to stretch for an eternity. Not worrying about his suit trousers, that were probably ruined beyond all redemption anyway by the rain and the mud, he plonked himself down next to her, turning to look at the view, to see what she saw. Suddenly, all of the primeval yelling made sense. The rain was easing and the rolling mists were beginning to clear. There was something about that view, even about the wide-open space between himself and the still semi-shrouded land and seascapes beyond, that made him want to yell out too. The sound built up inside him, rising in his chest until he felt he couldn’t contain it for a moment longer, and he released it, a long, loud, scream into the warm wind and what was left of the rain.
‘Feeling better?’ Holly’s expression was unreadable, but Charlie was sure he’d seen the slightest of smiles lifting her mouth at the corners.
‘Not much,’ he admitted. ‘But at least I’ve got rid of some of the frustrations.’
‘Lucky you.’
An uncomfortable pause fell like the raindrops between them, made all the more so by a sudden gust of cold wind.
‘Look, can we get off this bloody hill and talk?’ Charlie made to stand up, but Holly’s hand on his knee stopped him.
‘No. You’ve come all the way up here, you might as well say what you have to say right here, right now, in the rain.’
She was drenched from head to foot, but Charlie thought he saw a tear slide out from under her lashes as she raised her eyes to look at him before she scrubbed impatiently at her face.
‘OK.’ Charlie drew a deep breath. ‘You were right. You’ve been right this whole time, about my job, about the Department of Health, about the drugs campaign… and I’m hoping it’s not too late to do something about that to show you how right you were.’
‘What can you do? It’s over,’ Holly replied. ‘At least as far as you’re concerned. You made that clear when we last spoke, and in that ridiculous interview.’
‘Well, not exactly,’ Charlie replied. ‘One of the good things about being a rookie at this job is that, if I make a mistake, people tend to be a bit more forgiving for a while. Provided it’s not too serious, of course.’
‘Like involving a duck house or a brothel?’
‘Exactly.’ Charlie struggled to his feet, sopping-wet trousers flapping in the breeze. ‘So, from this moment on, I’m putting myself wholeheartedly behind the campaign to get these drugs on the NHS and to get them to Harry.’ He reached out a hand to Holly, who, after a moment’s pause, took it and stood up.
‘Forgive me if I’m a little sceptical,’ she said, ‘but you said that to me and Rachel before. Why should we believe you now?’
Charlie took a risk and reached out a hand to brush the sodden hair from Holly’s forehead, so he could see her eyes better. ‘Because some things are more important than careers. And because you, and your family, are the most important things in the world.’ He felt dizzy as he stared into her eyes. ‘And one day, if you decide you’ll have me, I wouldn’t want to think that our children wouldn’t be able to benefit from the most up-to-date drugs, should they need them.’
‘I don’t know, Charlie,’ Holly said. ‘These are great words, but you’re a politician, that’s what you do. I’m struggling to see how that translates into anything actually helpful.’
‘I guess what I’m trying to say is that I was wrong to back away because of my career. And I hope it’s not too late to do something about it. I want to put all of my weight, for what it’s worth, behind this campaign. I’ll talk to the committee, start making some proper noise in the House, anything it takes to help get this drug reassessed.’
‘But without the backing of the Secretary of State, you’re shouting in the wilderness,’ Holly replied. ‘You’re just one voice, at the end of the day.’
‘Wasn’t it you who told me off for saying your plastic bags and litter picks achieved nothing?’ Charlie replied, a note of frustration in his voice. ‘Isn’t it a start?’
‘Harry doesn’t have time for grand gestures,’ Holly dropped her hand from Charlie’s. ‘If he gets access to this drug now, he could get another twenty-eight years of life. If he waits until he’s twelve, it’ll be twelve more. Can you see how important this is?’
‘What do I have to do to convince you?’ Charlie tried to touch her again, but Holly, agonisingly, stepped out of his reach. ‘Jesus, Holly, I’ll cross the floor if I have to.’ Charlie was referring, of course, to the tradition of MPs who disagreed with the government, leaving their political party to sit on the opposition benches and act as independent candidates, which, at times of national crisis, seemed to happen with alarming regularity.
‘Then you’d be out of office quicker than a mouse up your trouser leg,’ Holly said. ‘And absolutely no use to us at all. Politically, at least. You know how Stavenham is about its politicians. They’ve only voted one way in the past twenty-five years.’
‘Then let me help. I know I messed up by backing off; my father always moaned at me that I thought too much and did too little, but this time I want to act. I want to make things count. Please, Holly, put your faith in me one more time.’
‘What do you propose to do?’ There was just a flicker of hope in Holly’s eyes, now, and Charlie seized on it, quickly.
Charlie smiled. ‘What if I told you I was going to begin by tabling an Adjournment Debate on it? That your influence on me, and the media, might just be the thing that swings the drug company to lower the price and come back to the government with a deal?’
‘Then I’d say you were probably lying. Again,’ Holly snapped. ‘Besides, government has been talking for months. What difference can it make?’
‘Go with me for a second, please.’ Charlie took a deep breath. ‘If I can get some time, some real time, on the floor of the House, if I can get this debated, it might just be the step that we need to put those wheels in motion.’
‘That sounds very noble and high-minded, Charlie, but am I right in thinking that, by making your first proper speech all about CF drug funding, you’ll be trying to secure your future in the Ministry of Health, and that it’s got nothing to do with Harry, or me, or anything other than your own bloody self-interest?’
Charlie jerked as if she’d hit him. ‘You know how much I’m risking by going out on a limb with this. The Secretary of State’s decidedly ambivalent about it. One week she’s warning me off, and the next she’s telling me I’ve got the PM’s attention. As far as I can see, my career in the ministry will effectively be fucked either way.’ He reached out and she finally allowed him to take one of her hands in his. Her hands were freezing cold, and he had to resist the urge to pull her into his arms before they both ended up with hypothermia.