I hadn’t shown up last night.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘That I just had a guts ache.’ Stella sounded defensive.
‘True enough. Did…um…your dad say anything this morning?’
‘No. He was really good.’ Stella sounded surprised now. ‘I thought he’d be mad at me for swearing at him. Did you tell him not to be?’
‘No. He probably understands more than you think. Or maybe he’s just a nice guy.’
Stella snorted. ‘He’s just Dad. Hey, what’s the hotel like?’
‘Gorgeous. The bed’s so big I could sleep sideways.’
Not that Susie had slept much at all. Far too much of that odd energy had stayed with her and made for a wakeful night haunted by images of Alex. Of his black eyes and tousled hair. The sound of his voice and—most of all—that appealing vulnerability she’d seen for the first time.
A glimpse of a real man under the image and reputation. A man that clearly blew every other male on the planet out of the water as far as being attractive went.
‘There was champagne in an ice bucket and a big bowl of tropical fruit,’ Susie continued. ‘Chocolates on my pillow and brochures about all the cool stuff you can do at the resort.’
‘Like what?’
‘Ooh, luxury stuff. Like day spas and personal trainers in the gym. Scenic flights in a seaplane or helicopter. Paragliding, scubadiving, private picnics on a deserted island. You name it, they’ll make it happen. Oh, and a really good laundry service, too. Your skirt’s in a bag on the veranda chair at your cabin.’
‘Thanks.’
‘No sweat.’ They had reached the part of the administration building Susie used for her physiotherapy sessions. The equipment was minimal but adequate and included a set of parallel bars for standing and walking practice. ‘How about leaving those crutches by the door, Stell—I mean, Star. If you can do as well as yesterday, we might head out and try the track. Maybe even some steps or sand.’
‘You’ve done the right thing, admitting her.’
‘Not… We’re not overreacting?’ asked Jill Shaw. She was the woman responsible for the little girl on whom Alex was just completing the neurological examination Beth had asked him to do. Charles’s partner. Apparently Lily was their ward. Jill had a sticking plaster on a reddened cheek, which looked odd, but this was no time to ask her what had happened.
‘Not.’ Alex put down the reflex hammer but kept Lily’s leg bent at the hip, supported by his arm. ‘Can you straighten your leg for me, Lily?’
She could and that was good. A negative Kernig’s sign. Alex put the leg down and pulled the cover back over the sick little girl, whose eyes were closing again.
‘She started showing these symptoms yesterday, is that right?’
‘Yes.’ The word was almost a growl from Charles, whose wheelchair was positioned right beside the bed that was in what passed for the medical centre’s emergency room. ‘But it looked like any run-of-the-mill viral illness. She had a bit of a temperature. She was a bit sniffly. That’s all.’ He sounded defensive.
Jill said nothing. She was standing at the head of the bed, holding Lily’s hand. Alex caught the look she directed at Charles. Tentative. There was an undercurrent of tension between these two. Understandable, of course. They were worried about Lily and Alex was only too aware that he might not be able to allay those fears. Not yet, anyway.
‘Beth says she was having nightmares.’
‘More like hallucinations,’ Jill whispered.
‘It was a nightmare,’ Charles interrupted Jill. ‘I told you she was upset by that dead bird she found the other day.’
‘But she saw it flying around the room.’
‘She’s running a temperature. She’s in a strange place.’
Lily had opened her eyes again. She looked from Jill to Charles and back again. Her bottom lip wobbled. ‘I want to go home,’ she said plaintively.
Alex leaned closer and smiled at the frightened child. ‘We’ve got you here so we can all take extra-special care of you,’ he said. ‘Do you remember my name, Lily?’
She shook her head. The over-brightness of her eyes and the two red spots on her cheeks were indicating the high temperature she was now running. It was the listlessness and drowsiness that was more of a concern right now, however. Alex had the impression her level of consciousness was down a point or two.
‘How’s your neck, poppet?’ He slipped his hands behind Lily’s head. ‘In here.’
‘It hurts.’
‘It’s just her glands,’ Charles said sharply.
Alex caught his gaze. They both knew better than that. ‘Let’s not take that as read,’ he said mildly as he straightened. ‘Let’s step outside so we can let Lily go back to sleep,’ he suggested. ‘Marcia, can you stay with Lily, please? She could have that dose of paracetamol now.’
The nurse, Marcia, nodded, moving closer to the bed as everyone else filed out.
‘Beth’s right,’ Alex said, as soon as the door closed behind them. ‘On the positive side, we’ve got no rash and a negative Kernig’s sign, but we can’t rule out meningitis without a lumbar puncture.’
There was a moment’s silence as the implications sank in. Meningitis was a scary word, even to the kind of highly trained medical professionals these people all were.
Charles broke the silence. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘No.’ Beth spoke firmly. ‘You can’t. You know you can’t. You have one of the country’s top paediatric neurosurgeons right here. How many lumbar punctures have you done on children, Alex?’
‘I can’t say. A lot.’
‘I’d be guessing it’s a lot more than Charles or I have done,’ Beth said. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s a no-brainer. You’re her daddy, Charles. You get to hold her hand.’
‘I’m staying with her,’ Jill said quickly.
For just a moment Alex’s attention was being diverted. Further along the corridor they were in, Susie was entering the medical centre. She looked almost prim this morning, with her hair tied back in a ponytail. And she was wearing long shorts and a demure T-shirt with a silly picture on it.
No hint of those endless tanned legs, blonde curls brushing bare shoulders or the lace-covered cleavage that had taunted him as he’d tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep last night. Curiously, the way she was covered up this morning only seemed to spark an even more noticeable ripple of attraction.
Especially when she smiled.
Alex
