like to talk to you in my office.”
“Why?”
“Because,” he said, his lips tightening into a grim line, “they are both seriously ill.”
ANDROS WAS ALL too aware of the woman following close behind him down the clinic corridor. She smelled good. Like sweet lemons or grapefruit strewn with flowers, and he had an urge to bury his nose in the softness of her neck and breathe her in.
Something about her had stopped him in his tracks the first second he’d seen her on the mountain. Her blonde hair was the color of sunshine, pulled back into a thick, untidy ponytail that had flowed from beneath a creased canvas hat that was definitely for function, not style. The blue eyes that had met his were sharp and intelligent, and there was an exotic look to her features that made him want to keep looking. Maybe not a classic kind of beauty, but there was something intangible and appealing about her. Her skin was practically luminous without any makeup at all. He hadn’t thought much about it until this moment, but, compared to the carefully put-together women he used to date, he liked her natural look a lot.
Down, boy, he reminded himself. Now wasn’t the time to forget he was trying to reform the man who’d liked women far too much in the past, made-up, natural or anywhere in between.
Andros opened the door to his office and gestured for Laurel to go inside, wishing there were a little more room to move around. Usually he didn’t notice how his father’s old wooden desk that Christina joked was the size of an aircraft carrier practically filled the small space. At that moment, however, he was intensely aware of the close quarters.
Standing or sitting within inches of Laurel wasn’t the best idea, since he kept finding himself distracted by her scent and her smooth skin and soft-looking hair. There wasn’t much he could do about any of those problems, though, and he wanted privacy for this conversation. The last thing he needed was for a local to come into the clinic and overhear that there might be a contagion nearby.
“Have a seat.”
She sat and turned to him as he lowered himself into the chair next to her, trying not to bump his knees into hers. He pondered for a moment, wondering how much detail he should give her about the Wagners’ condition. She had to be worried, but instead of bombarding him with questions like a lot of people would, she waited patiently. He looked into her serious blue eyes and decided she could handle the truth, and deserved to know.
“Unfortunately, the Wagners are no better. I’m frankly surprised and concerned about that, after having them on IV fluids and antibiotics all day. As I mentioned before, I’m keeping them here overnight for observation. With any luck, they’ll improve, but we should have seen some improvement already.”
“Doesn’t pneumonia usually respond to antibiotics pretty fast?”
“Often, yes, especially in younger people and those with no underlying physical problems, like the Wagners. That’s the good news. But sometimes it doesn’t. The truth about this situation, though? The presentation of their pneumonia is unusual.”
“How so?”
“According to what they told me, Tom got what he thought was a cold a couple days before Melanie did. This morning Tom’s respiratory rate was about thirty breaths per minute, Mel’s twenty. Which indicates to me that she may have gotten it from him, which generally doesn’t happen with pneumonia. Both are showing symptoms of the pneumonia worsening.” He paused, hoping she wouldn’t get upset at what he had to warn her about next. “If that continues into the morning, I will recommend they be transported to a fully equipped hospital in a bigger city about an hour away. It has twenty-four-hour skilled care and equipment we don’t have.”
Her lush lips parted in surprise. “You really think that might be necessary? Can’t you just give them a different kind of antibiotic or something?”
“It’s not that simple. I’m hopeful they’ll improve and we can manage it here. I’m just making you aware that’s a possibility. I’d prefer you didn’t mention it to them, though. No need to worry them unnecessarily.”
“All right.” She nodded. “Are they… are they well enough for me to talk to them? If I have to take over leadership of the dig, I need to ask some questions. Find out more about the cave dig, since we were supposed to have our team meeting for the week tomorrow.”
The eyes that met his were full of worry and alarm, and he wanted to reassure her but couldn’t. He hadn’t seen pneumonia with quite this presentation before and figured she might as well talk to the Wagners now in case the situation slid south—which he feared very well might happen.
He stood, and she did too, biting her full lower lip as she looked up at him. Standing so close he could have tipped his head down to kiss her. The instant that thought came to mind, he looked into her eyes, the idea now so appealing, so damned near irresistible, he had to inhale a deep breath and quickly step back. “I’ll take you to see them now. They’re on oxygen but will be able to talk to you. I want you to wear a surgical mask.”
“You think I could make them sicker?”
“No. I think they might make you sick.”
“Make me sick?”
Her eyes widened, and he wanted to make sure she understood the possible risk, because he damned well didn’t want her to end up in the hospital too. “I told you before that it’s unusual they’ve both developed this. We just can’t know if it’s possibly contagious or not.”
He turned and led the way down the hall, again very aware of her walking closely behind as her sweet, citrusy scent wafted around him. He grabbed surgical masks from the supply cupboard outside the hospital wing and handed her one before putting on his own.
The Wagners were the only patients in the six-bed wing, and he was thankful for that. Tom Wagner lay motionless, his eyes still closed as they came to stand between the two beds, but Melanie Wagner opened her eyes and reached out to Laurel. She held Melanie’s hand between both of hers, and Andros realized too late he should have had her put gloves on. Or at least one on her good hand, and warned her not to touch the Wagners otherwise.
He mentally thrashed himself. Until they knew what they were dealing with here, every precaution had to be taken anytime someone came in contact with them.
“I’m so sorry to have to dump all the work on you, Laurel,” Melanie said in a whisper. “Isn’t this crazy?”
“Don’t worry about a thing, Mel,” Laurel said, her voice slightly muffled through the mask. “I’ll handle everything until you’re feeling better. Dr. Drakoulias says he hopes the antibiotics will kick in soon.”
“You won’t have any problems leading the team until we’re better. You’ve impressed me since day one on this dig.” Melanie gave Laurel a glimmer of a smile. “Find anything good today?”
“Mostly more potsherds. But the most exciting thing was a gold ring. I’m pretty sure it’s seventh century BC, but you’ll know that better than I. Can’t wait for you to look at it.”
“Me either. I—”
A coughing fit interrupted her speech, and when she finally
