‘Fine,’ he said with only a hint of resignation. ‘I’ll take Susie to dinner, then. By myself.’
‘It’s only dinner, Dad.’ Stella’s tone was soothing. ‘I know she’s not your type.’
‘Oh? What is my type?’
‘Dark and kind of brooding. Like those pictures of Mama. Like…you know…Greta.’
Yes. Dark and sultry. Or should that be sulky? Funny how that didn’t seem remotely appealing any more.
‘Susie’s different,’ Stella concluded.
‘Yes. She certainly is.’
But Stella wasn’t listening any longer. Jamie had reappeared, with a surfboard under his arm, and Stella’s face was glowing—her eyes alight with joy. Starstruck.
Alex understood. Too well maybe. It might be totally hidden but there was a part of himself that was feeling the same way. Blown away.
Touched by magic.
And his daughter, bless her, had just ordered him to spend the evening—the whole night, in fact— exploring more of that magic.
AN EVENING with Alex.
Dinner at the elegant resort restaurant—the Rainforest Retreat—a vast conservatory that blended into the rainforest behind the hotel. With huge indoor palms and ferns blurring the transition even further.
Dancing.
And Alex had said Stella intended staying in the camp with her friends. Why would he have told her that unless it was an invitation to spend the whole night with him?
‘It sounds wonderful,’ was all she’d said.
Could he have guessed what a mastery of understatement her response had been? Anticipation was an astonishingly powerful drug running through her veins now. Having a physio session to get through with Jack Havens before she could shower and change and indulge in the luxury of thinking of nothing but the evening ahead was doing little to dull the underlying thrill.
How could it, when Alex was in the same room, doing an examination on young Danny? The curtain between the beds was pulled but Susie could still hear the clear sound of Alex’s voice.
‘Wake up, Danny! Open your eyes for me.’
Susie kept her voice down so she wouldn’t be a distraction to the medical team on the other side of the curtain. ‘You can turn on your side now, Jack.’ She bent to pick up one of the large, extra pillows she had brought with her. She could see Alex’s feet. They weren’t the only set of feet around Danny’s bed and it wasn’t unusual to see a doctor wearing sandal-type footwear, but those were Alex’s feet.
Bare toes. Impossible not to remember the sight of him discarding his clothes last night—the hard, lean lines of his naked body illuminated by the soft light of the moon coming through the unshuttered glass wall of the penthouse suite. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so overwhelming tonight. She could take the time to savour what she saw. Tease them both by helping him undress…slowly…
Susie shut her eyes for a second, clutching the big, soft pillow in her arms.
‘Bright light, Danny,’ she heard Alex say. ‘Keep your eyes open and look at my nose.’
‘It hurts…’ Danny’s voice was uncharacteristically pathetic, but at least he was talking now.
‘What hurts, buddy? Your eyes?’
‘No. My head.’
‘Whereabouts? Can you show me?’
‘No. Can’t. It’s inside.’
‘All over inside, or just in one place?’ Susie could hear the smile in Alex’s voice and it made her own lips curve as she tucked the pillow behind Jack.
‘All over.’ Poor Danny sounded miserable.
‘OK,’ Susie whispered to Jack. ‘Turn back over now, sweetheart.’
Jack flopped, ending up at a forty-five-degree angle because of the cushioning. Automatically, he lifted his arm on that side and tucked it over his head, well used to the position that gave his therapist good access to the middle lobe of his left lung. She cupped her hands, conforming the shape to match the chest wall and trapping a cushion of air to soften the impact as she began the rhythmic percussion.
‘Squeeze my hands, Danny,’ Alex said behind her. ‘Good boy. And this hand?’
‘Danny had a fit,’ Jack told Susie.
‘I know. I was there. He’s not very well, poor wee guy.’
‘He’s been really sleepy since he came in here. I heard the nurse talking to one of the doctors. They think there’s something wrong with his head.’
‘Just let your leg go floppy,’ Danny was being instructed. ‘I’m going to tap it with my special hammer. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.’
Susie stopped the percussion and flattened her hand to shake the lung segment and try to encourage the movement of mucus.
‘Big, deep breath,’ she instructed.
The action started him coughing and Susie waited until he had finished.
‘Excellent! You’re doing really well, Jack. Do you remember what the next position is?’
‘Pillow between my legs and I put my arm down.’
‘Cool. Let’s go.’ Susie moved the pillow. ‘You’re sounding a lot better.’
‘My temperature’s down. I’m going to be allowed to go back to camp.’
‘That’s great. Did they say when?’
‘Tomorrow.’ Jack twisted to look up at Susie hopefully. ‘They might let me go back tonight if you said it was OK. They’re having a movie.’
‘It would be fine by me. As long as you take things quietly. You might not be able to run around too much for a day or two.’
‘I don’t mind. I’d like to see the movie, though. It’s been really boring in here. I thought I could play with Danny but he’s just sleeping all the time.’
‘He’s sick.’ Susie started percussion on the lower lobes of Jack’s lung, staying quiet to try and hear what Alex was saying to his medical colleagues. Was it unprofessional and selfish to hope the little boy would be well enough to give them an uninterrupted evening? She may not know Alex very well but Susie was quite confident that personal pleasure would be postponed if he was needed by one of his patients, even out of hours.
‘Where
