sniff filled the air.
“What’s going on?” Michael called from the end of the van.
“A guy was trying to steal drugs. Had Ellen at knifepoint,” Chance answered.
Michael climbed in, went to Ellen and gathered her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest. For some reason Chance wished he was the one she had turned to. He left the van and spoke to Marco, who’d already tied the man up, but his thoughts were still with Ellen. The trespasser admitted that he was with the injured man Michael had been caring for. The injury had been a small self-inflicted wound and used as a diversion.
The rest of the staff had to know what had happened in detail before they returned to packing up. Chance gave the short version on what he’d done before Ellen told her side. He was all too aware of Michael’s arm around her shoulders the entire time. Why shouldn’t she seek reassurance and comfort from him?
Marco would see to it that the Honduran authorities picked up the man they had captured and looked for the other two. Little would be done to them because Honduras had larger drug problems than these petty thieves.
Half an hour later it was dark and the trucks were loaded and ready to leave.
“Ellen, come on up here,” Michael called from the cab of the truck. “I think you’re still a little shaken up.”
“I’m okay back here.” She climbed in the rear with Karen and Peter.
She was tough. Chance admired her for that. After those few minutes of emotion with Michael she’d joined in and helped store the supplies, acting as if nothing had happened.
* * *
That evening at dinner Chance watched as Michael stood and tapped his fork against a glass.
“We have a few awards to give out tonight. First, to the great Dr. Freeman, for his heroic use of a van door to apprehend a drug dealer.” Michael grinned. “Well done, Chance.” He placed a second plate of dessert near him.
Chance smiled and nodded. Why did Michael have to make a big deal of what happen?
“And last but not least, to Dr. Ellen Cox, who held herself together under pressure and didn’t give up the key to the drug cabinet.” Michael held up his drink glass. The others joined him. A soft clinking of glass touching glass sounded around the room. “For you a flower.” He bowed as he presented her with a large orange Bird of Paradise.
Ellen smiled but it didn’t quiet reach her eyes. Had she been and was she still more scared than she let on?
“Chance deserves all the accolades. I did nothing.” Ellen looked directly at him with sincerity in her eyes. “Thanks for saving me.”
Examining the terror coursing through him when he’d realized Ellen was being threatened was something he didn’t want to look at too closely. The emotion had been too strong, raw. Still he couldn’t deny the relief that had replaced the terror when he’d known she was okay.
Satisfaction he’d not felt in a long time filled him. His look held hers as he nodded. Why did he suddenly feel like standing and thumping his chest?
* * *
Ellen rolled to the left and minutes later to the right. She’d been trying to sleep for hours. The sound of rain with the steady dripping off the hut roof would normally lull her to sleep but not tonight. At least the adrenalin rush she’d experienced today should have had her in a deep sleep but it didn’t seem to come.
She rubbed the back of her neck. The feel of the man’s breath on her skin and the prick of the tip of the knife remained. Even after a hot shower and neck massage the ache between her shoulders blades remained. Would it ever go away? Could she forget that feeling of helplessness? Fear for the others?
It had been that same feeling she’d had when she’d been trapped in the car with her mother. They had been making a simple trip to buy Ellen a dress. It had been a pretty day but the traffic had been heavy. Her mother had sped up to go through a traffic light that had turned yellow. The next thing Ellen had known they’d been upside down and her mother’s blood had been everywhere.
Her mother had said, “Your father always says I take too many chances.” Then the life had left her.
Slinging the covers away, Ellen slid out and grabbed the thin blanket off the end of the bed, wrapping it around her shoulders. She headed out the front door. Maybe if she watched the rain for a few minutes she could sleep.
She walked to the porch rail. The shower had eased and a full moon was making an appearance every now and then behind the clouds. When it did the soft glow made the raindrops on the ferns surrounding the hut glisten. She stood there, absorbing the peace.
“Can’t sleep?”
She yelped and spun toward Chance’s hut. He climbed out of the hammock wearing nothing but tan cargo shorts that rode low on his hips. She couldn’t help but stare. “Have you been there since I came out?”
“Yep.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” she snapped.
“I thought you needed a few moments to yourself. What happened today can be hard to process.”
He wiped all the times he’d been less than warm away with one compassionate comment. “Yeah, it got to me more than I wanted to admit at dinner.”
He came down the steps and started toward her hut. “You wouldn’t be human if it hadn’t affected you. And you are very human.”
She looked down at him. Her heart fluttered as she watched his half-naked body coming toward her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He started up her steps. “That you’re one of the most empathetic and naturally caring doctors I’ve ever worked with. You feel things more strongly than most. There’s no way you wouldn’t be upset about being held at knifepoint.”
“Wouldn’t anyone be?” How did he know so much about her when they’d only known each other such a short time?
He came to stand an arm’s length. “Sure they would, but I have a feeling you were not only worried about yourself but the rest of us. Or what would happen to the local boy if you gave up the drugs. Your heart is too tender for this type of work.”
“I thought caring was what it took to work here.” She continued to watch a small stream of water flow over a large leaf and to the ground.
“Yeah, but it also makes for a great victim.”
Ellen turned to face him, propping a hip against the rail. She was no victim. When her mother had died she’d proved that. “You know, there was a moment there that I thought you might be trying to cheer me up. I should have known better.”
“Look, you did good today. Held it together. I don’t know if anyone could have done better. How was that?”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “Better. But it lacked a ring of sincerity. By the way, I really do appreciate you saving me.”
“That’s what I do, save people.”
Was
