just like me,’ she said. ‘What’s best for them is best for me. And what I say goes.’
And she seated herself—firmly—in the rear of the limousine and prepared to wait.
But what she hoped Victoir didn’t see was that she sat not because she needed to but because her knees were shaking.
What was she letting herself in for?
And then she glanced out of the window of the car and there was Leo. He was striding out to check on the new patient being admitted.
He’d paused like everyone else.
He’d heard.
So what? She turned away, putting her hands to her cheeks to try and subdue the slow burn spreading across her cheeks. Her knees were still trembling.
She needed that day bed.
She needed space.
She needed to get home to England.
The evacuation team was delayed and delayed again. It happened. Neighbouring countries assisted as they could, but their own emergencies took precedence over Tovahna’s. Finally, though, and before evacuation took place, Carla regained consciousness.
It was six at night. She’d been unconscious for almost ten hours. She was confused, her speech was a little blurred and she wasn’t sure what was happening or why, but she recognised Leo. She recognised Maria. Her vision seemed only slightly impaired. Her fingers and toes worked, albeit with a struggle.
‘What…what…? Tell me what’s happened.’
The spectre of unimaginable brain damage faded. It was so much more than Leo had dared hope that it was all he could do to hold back tears.
Maria couldn’t. She sobbed, openly. ‘Oh, Carla, we’ve been so frightened. You nearly died. And the Castlavaran, Anna, had to help save you.’
‘The Castlavaran…’ Carla managed. ‘What…? Tell me…’
So Leo sat beside her and held her hand and told her. He wasn’t sure if she took it all in. You didn’t suffer a bleed on the brain without some repercussions, he thought, but her state of awareness now was a huge promise of a short rehabilitation and total recovery.
‘Do you remember banging your head?’ he asked, and she looked blank.
‘The Castlavaran, Anna, banged her head.’
She was remembering. Better and better.
‘She did.’
‘And you’re dating her.’
Hell. ‘I’m not.’
‘I remember—’
‘Carla…’
‘That would be so wonderful.’
And there was no response to that. Carla’s eyes were closing. With the amount of drugs on board, the battering her brain had taken, her body was demanding sleep.
But it was sleep, not lack of consciousness. What a gift.
‘Thanks to Anna,’ Maria whispered. ‘We need to let her know.’
‘I’ll see to it,’ he said, and he left Maria watching Carla like a mother hen with her favourite chick.
We need to let her know…
He had Anna’s number. He should simply ask the receptionist to ring a message through.
But before he could do anything he was hailed from down the corridor by two young men. One was Ben, Carla’s son, who he guessed had hitched a ride in with the evacuation team from Italy. The other was Bruno, the nurse-practitioner. The evacuation team was behind them, signing in at Reception.
He hadn’t realised how tired he was until he saw them. An almost-doctor to share his load. A son to take over his love for Carla and to accompany her on evacuation. Trained paramedics to take Carla to a world-class neurologist.
‘You look like a car crash.’ Bruno’s voice was filled with concern. ‘I came as soon as I could. And here’s Ben to be with his mother. Tell us the worst, Leo.’
But it wasn’t the worst. He felt himself growing even lighter.
‘There’s every reason to think she’ll make a full recovery,’ he told them. ‘She’ll need full neurological assessment but now…the real concern is how she came to have the bleed in the first place.’
‘I can tell you that,’ Ben said grimly. ‘When I rang her last night she said she’d had a headache, then hit her head on the open bathroom cabinet and made it worse. She was making light of it but I could tell she was rattled.’
‘But she still came to work this morning.’ Hell. They were so short-staffed. Carla would have come to work with more than a sore head.
He might have done the same.
‘I’ll be having words with her,’ Ben growled. ‘I know she’s popping aspirin for her arthritis. Once she’s evacuated to Italy I’ll insist on some enforced R&R, and have her visit an arthritis specialist while she’s there.’ He coloured. ‘I have the money to afford it.’
‘There’s no need to sound apologetic,’ Bruno said. ‘I just took my son to Italy to have a complex fracture seen to. We each look after our own as best we can.’ He glanced up at Leo. ‘I hear we even treat Castlavarans.’
‘She’s not that bad,’ Leo said grudgingly. ‘You know she’s a doctor? She gave the anaesthetic while I operated on Carla.’
‘She did what?’ To say they were both astounded was an understatement.
‘She did all she could.’ He told them briefly what had happened. ‘She’s a talented doctor.’
‘Well, pigs might fly,’ Bruno said, and whistled. ‘All this while she had her own sore head.’
‘I need to thank her,’ Ben said. ‘She’s still here?’
‘She’s back in the castle.’
‘Well, that’s that, then,’ Bruno concluded. ‘The castle walls have been broached and sealed again.’
‘We don’t know that,’ Leo told him.
‘Really? Does she intend to help anyone else in this country? Like repair the roof on this dump?’
‘You know the Trust stops her.’
‘Then I’m not interested,’ Bruno said. ‘It was good of her to help Carla but it’s over to us again. Tell Ben where his mother is. Give me a handover, sign off with the evac team and then go home for a sleep.’
Sleep.
