pestering her finally caught up with her.
* * *
Axel could hear her deep, even breathing and he glanced over at her. Her head was pressed against the window and she was fast asleep. She was quite beautiful. He hadn’t been expecting that. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, to be honest, but he hadn’t been expecting her.
Blonde hair, brown eyes and a pixie-like face. She was tall, or at least taller than the women he was used to dating. Although it was hard to tell because of the heels. She seemed to have a bit of fire in her, but one that she was suppressing and he couldn’t help but wonder why.
Axel was attracted to her but, with his past and the fact that Betty would only be in Iceland for a short time, there was no point acting on that attraction.
He relaxed, but only fractionally.
When he had been ordered by his father to take on the role of assisting the new American surgeon in her three-month placement he’d instantly been outraged.
“I don’t want to babysit some American surgeon.”
“You need to do this, Axel,” his father had said sharply. “I don’t have time to deal with her.”
Axel had been able to feel the pain in his father’s eyes even without looking directly at them. He’d become an expert at it since the accident two years ago. He still couldn’t look his father in the eye. Not really.
“I’m here to save lives, not babysit another surgeon who outranks me.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“I do my work. I save lives!”
“You’re not striving for anything better. You’re not publishing papers or doing anything innovative. There will be no more discussion about this. You’re doing it.”
Axel really hadn’t been able to say no. His father was the Chief of Surgery and was Axel’s boss now that he was no longer part of the tactical coast guard and worked as a surgeon in the hospital. He just wanted to save lives and go home. He didn’t want anything more. He didn’t deserve anything more.
He’d worked with Americans before and they hadn’t been pleasant to him. So when he’d gone to the airport to pick up Dr. Betty Jacinth, he hadn’t been expecting the woman he’d found waiting for him.
Her beauty stunned him. Sure, she had a feisty little temper, but there was a vulnerability beneath her surface and he wondered what had made her that way.
What had hurt her?
What made her feel as if she needed to prove herself in front of him? Prove that she was so strong, when really he could see that her confidence was shaken under the surface.
That he understood.
He could still hear the screams, smell the smoke and feel the icy cold water cut through his skin like daggers.
Get control of it.
Axel rolled his shoulders as he banished the thought away. It was hard, especially during the winter months when the thoughts of the helicopter crash crept closer. The botched rescue attempt.
His elder brother drowning beside him.
He was the only one who survived, when he should’ve been the one who died.
Now, Axel was guardian to his fourteen-year-old niece, Eira, and he had to deal with the fact that his father blamed him for Calder’s death. His niece certainly did.
Don’t think about it.
Betty stirred in her sleep and Axel glanced at her only briefly. Working with her was going to be harder than he’d originally thought.
Maybe his father would take pity on him and step in, especially if his father saw how working with her would be a struggle. He wasn’t completely sure how he was going to manage that, but he’d find a way. He couldn’t work with Betty. Her or anyone.
He was better on his own. Focused on saving lives and taking care of Eira. That was all he could handle in his life and that was all he really deserved.
His PTSD and Eira were baggage that women couldn’t handle and he was fine with that. Eira and his work were his priority. Too bad he was also failing at that. Lives he could save, but dealing with a fourteen-year-old girl was something else altogether.
Still, Eira had no one else and he’d promised his brother he would care for her as they’d clung to what was left of the helicopter in the stormy North Sea.
Betty woke with a start, jolting Axel from his musings.
“Are we there?” she asked drowsily.
“Nearly,” he said, gently.
“Good.” She sat up and stretched. “Sorry I dozed off there.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re tired and you need to get your sleep. You start in a couple of days and the shift starts at five in the morning. I’ll come and pick you up.”
“I can walk to the hospital.”
“It’s still dark at five in the morning. I will pick you up.”
“Fine. I guess that’s okay. I don’t want to get disoriented on my first day.”
“You will have obstacles. Language, for one.”
“I can speak a bit,” she responded in a bit of broken Icelandic. “And I believe most people here speak very good English.”
He laughed. “You are right. When did you learn Icelandic?”
“My father spoke Icelandic because he spent a few years working here before I was born. That’s how he and your father became friends. My father came here to work and met your father and then they corresponded for years. My father loved it here and taught me a few words of the language.
Axel shrugged. “I never thought to ask how my father knew yours, but I guess it makes sense. My father is not much of a traveler, so I couldn’t really picture him going to the US.”
Silence fell between them.
He pulled down a side street off the Hverfisgata that wasn’t far from the hospital. Her little rental was a small blue-green cottage that had a view of the water. It made his stomach twist in a knot as he looked out over that cruel, unforgiving stretch of sea.
He used to love that wide expanse of churning blue, now he hated it.
“Here you go. I’ll help you in.” Axel didn’t give her a chance to protest. There would be icy patches down by the sea and it was windy. As soon as he stepped out of the car he could feel salty mist spraying his face.
“Hold on, Calder. Help is coming.”
“I... I can’t.” There was a wound
