stirred as if he were trying to get up, but then he slumped back. It revealed so much.
“You actually went to the trouble to find a costume for me?”
She swallowed hard. “I had it made.”
After a pregnant silence, “Give me a clue.”
“Well—you were a military commander of Thessalonica in the early fourth century.”
“There were dozens of those.” His voice grated.
“This one was appointed by the Emperor Maximian to take his place.”
“As I recall, Maximian persecuted Christians.”
“That’s right, but this commander was a defender of Christ. For defying the emperor he was cast into prison. Then an angel of God came to him and told him to be brave. A few days later he was martyred and became a saint.”
Another silence ensued. Much longer this time. He’d guessed who it was.
Before she could hear him say it, there was a rap on the door. Then the housekeeper appeared with a tray. Behind her came Ananke and Leon, followed by a bearded, middle-aged man carrying a doctor’s bag.
“So, Dimitrios. I hear you received a big bump on your head. Let me take a look at it.”
Alex stood up to leave.
“Sit down and eat, Ms. Hamilton,” Dimitrios ordered her.
The doctor winked at her. “Dimitrios never did make a good patient. Since he has spoken, you’d better obey.”
The housekeeper set the tray down on the table, then left while the other two stood waiting to hear what the doctor had to say. Alex had little choice but to abide by her boss’s wishes.
After checking Dimitrios’s vital signs, the doctor asked Leon to bring him some warm water from the bathroom. He explained he was going to clean the wound.
As he examined it he said, “Tell me how this happened.”
“Ms. Hamilton knows more about it than I do,” came the wry response.
Everyone looked at Alex, who had to finish swallowing her bite of sandwich before she could say anything.
“As he was coming back to his seat, the plane hit an air pocket. His body flew, and his head hit the wall of the plane knocking him unconscious.” It was still distressing to recall the incident, let alone talk about it.
“Hmm. Considering what you’ve been through, Dimitrios, you seem in amazingly good shape. But I don’t doubt you’ve got a concussion.
“I’m not going to give you anything for the pain yet. Someone will have to watch you for the next twelve hours. If you become ill or sleep too long, then you’ll have to be brought to my office for an X ray.
“However, if all goes well, and I think it will, by noon tomorrow you can start to eat and drink what sounds good to you. You’ll be dizzy for a time. Don’t try to overdo when you first get up. Call me if you have any questions.”
He closed his doctor bag and started to leave. Ananke accompanied him to the door. “I’ll stay with him.”
“I’ll trade off with you, Mother.”
“I appreciate both your offers, but Ms. Hamilton has already agreed to sit up with me.”
His declaration shocked everyone, especially Alex, who almost fell off the chair at the lie.
“She slept most of the way over on the plane,” he continued. “Now that she’s awake and I’m too dizzy to go sleep, we’ll be able to get our work done without interruption.”
“But you can’t expect your secretary—”
“My secretary has the entire responsibility of the trade fair on her shoulders, Ananke,” he cut in. “She needs tonight to go over the details with me. If I should suddenly lose consciousness, she’s perfectly capable of letting you know. Isn’t that true, Ms. Hamilton?”
The tension in the room was unbearable. There were strange undercurrents Alex couldn’t begin to understand. His nephew looked confused and hurt. Along with an angry look at Alex, his sister-in-law reflected her son’s feelings. Unfortunately Dimitrios was waiting for an answer.
“Yes, of course.”
ALEX felt tremendous guilt to hear the bedroom door close behind Leon and Ananke.
“Don’t worry, they’re going to be fine,” Dimitrios murmured. “There are things I know that you don’t. Tonight I’m not up to anything but a little peace and quiet. With you here to be my own guardian angel, I’ll be assured of the rest I crave.”
One glance at the lines of strain around his nose and mouth and she could tell his energy was spent. No doubt at this point he was starting to feel other aches and pains.
She slid out of the chair and turned off all the lights, hoping it would help. The sigh that escaped his throat told her she’d done the right thing. Taking advantage of the dark, she removed her glasses and put them on the table.
“This is almost as cozy as the plane. I don’t suppose you’d come over here and hold my head again.”
Alex was surprised by his banter, but she knew how awful it was to be dizzy. Combined with unrelieved pain, he had to be in a terrible state. She wished she could do what her mother did when her father suffered from a severe migraine.
If Alex had the temerity, she would sit next to him and use the tips of her fingers to tickle his face until he fell asleep. First his forehead, then across his brows and eyelids, down his straight nose to his mouth.
Though it was dark, it wasn’t pitch black by any means. Alex was able to use her eyes for fingers. She imagined tracing a line over every masculine feature and plane of a face that was so beautiful to her.
An hour must have passed before she saw the drawn look around his mouth relax. He was finally asleep. She found a light blanket and put it over him.
For the rest of the night she kept a constant vigil. Every so often she checked his pulse and felt to see if he was running a temperature.
Fearful he might go into too deep a sleep, she listened carefully for any change of sound in his breathing. At one point the urge to touch him was so strong, she smoothed the black curls off his forehead before sitting in the chair she’d pulled next to him. The joy of taking care of him was inexplicable.
At five to ten, the sun spread spokes of light across the bed through the shutters. As she leaned over once more to check his pulse, his eyelids opened.
He caught her hand with surprising strength before she could remove it. Though she hadn’t escaped in time for him to realize what she’d been doing, it proved he’d passed through the period of crisis without problem.
His
