Nikos!
Except it wasn’t the man she knew. This version of him wasn’t cognizant of the world right now. In a deep sleep, he was heaving great sobs, and fell over on his side. In the moonlight his tortured features glistened with moisture. Greek words broke from his lips. She couldn’t make out anything except Kon’s name, which he cried over and over again.
He’d been reliving the explosion. She knew about PTSD, but she’d never been with someone who was in the middle of a flashback. Without conscious thought she sank down on the sunbed next to him and put her arms around him.
“Nikos, wake up! This is just a bad dream.” She rocked him for a few minutes, but he was too immersed. At one point he grasped her arm and let out a scream that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
“It’s all right, Nikos. It’s over. Go back to sleep.”
He twisted and turned, but held on while he sobbed on and off for another half hour. His fingers bit into her skin through the thin material of her robe, with such force she knew she’d have bruises. As terrifying as it was to see him like this, she felt a new closeness to him. His cries let her into his psyche, where he suffered. He’d seen the horrors of war, but the explosion that blew up his friend had traumatized him dramatically, and she was a vicarious witness.
Her gaze flew to Kon’s ring. The reminder of their friendship must have set him off during his sleep. While she kissed Nikos’s face, she put her leg over his to help quiet him, and murmured endearments.
Nothing seemed to help. Not at first. Then slowly, his fingers slid away and he fell quiet. Yannis would know all about this. Tomorrow Stephanie would get him alone and find out the name of Nikos’s doctor. He needed help getting through his nightmares.
She held on to him. He’d said this yacht was home to him now. Had he decided to sleep up here? If so, how often did he do that? A few days ago, when she’d explored the lower deck, she’d noticed his unmade bed. The poor darling had probably suffered these incidents since being hospitalized.
Did he have more than one episode a night? She’d read that a flashback could be triggered by something and come on at any time. While he stayed on this yacht, he could be away from people.
It made perfect sense that he didn’t want to be with family. But what if he hurt himself while up here on deck? What if he walked in his sleep and fell overboard? She’d heard the military wouldn’t take sleepwalkers because they could be a danger to themselves and others.
After a few more minutes she eased away from him and got to her feet. In his trauma, he’d flung his arm around and his elbow had caught the corner of her jaw. Both it and her arm felt sore, but it didn’t matter. She covered him with the blanket, then reached for the towel and sat down in the lounger to watch over him. It was quarter to six. Who knew how long he’d sleep?
Since her arrival, he’d been watching her like a hawk because of the baby. What an irony, since it was his welfare she would be worrying about, along with her own, from here on out! He could injure himself without realizing it. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.
Before this new day was over, she planned to talk to his doctor. Nikos needed watching. One thing was certain: Stephanie wouldn’t let him go to bed without her. Wherever he chose to sleep, that’s where she’d be.
She’d sat there for another half hour when she saw Yannis come on board. The second their gazes met, she got up without making a sound and padded across the deck toward him.
“So you know,” he whispered with a grave expression.
“Yes. I heard him during the night and came up to investigate. He’s resting now, but I need to talk to his doctor.”
He nodded. “The one he sees now is at the main clinic here on the island.” The same place her new OB practiced. “His name is Dr. Ganis.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you’re back. I don’t want him to know I heard anything until I’ve talked to the doctor.”
“I think that would be best.”
“Does he have flashbacks often?”
“Since he got out of the hospital, he had one the first night on the yacht, and last night.”
“The wedding must have triggered thoughts of Kon. I’d better go below so he doesn’t know I was up here.”
“That’s a good idea. He’ll notice the red mark along your jaw.”
Yannis didn’t miss much. “I’ll cover it with makeup.” She patted his arm before hurrying toward the stairs.
The first thing she did on entering her room was get the card for her appointment out of her purse. Once she found it, she phoned the off-hours service at the clinic and left word for Dr. Ganis to call her back ASAP. As soon as she mentioned it was Mrs. Nikos Vassalos calling about her husband, the receptionist said she’d get in touch with the doctor right away.
For the next hour Stephanie got ready for the day. First her pills, then she took a shower and washed her hair. By the time she’d finished blow drying it, marks had come out on her left arm. She’d been afraid of that.
An application of makeup to the small blotch near her chin helped, plus a coating of mango frost lipstick. Then she headed for the closet. Stephanie thanked providence she’d had the foresight to buy a long-sleeved blouse. It was an all-over print in a gauzy fabric that hung just below the waist. She put it on and matched it with a pair of white pleated pants that accommodated her thickening figure.
Stephanie had just put on some lotion when the phone rang. She grabbed for it and clicked on immediately. It was Dr. Ganis’s nurse, who indicated he had an opening at 11:00 a.m. if she could make it. Stephanie said she’d be there and hung up.
Things couldn’t be working out better. She’d planned to go into town, anyway, and buy some picture albums. While she was at it, she’d look for a handicraft store in order to start making a quilt for the baby. While Nikos did business, she intended to stay busy and not bother him.
Nikos had told her she could use the car. While she left him alone to work, she would carry on with her new life. Besides loving to explore new places, Stephanie liked to cook. She could shop for food and fix their meals from now on. This evening she planned to prepare a totally American meal and surprise him. She wanted to help him. There was no use kidding herself any longer. She loved him desperately.
* * *
Once Nikos had showered and shaved, he got dressed and walked down the hall. Just as he knocked on Stephanie’s door, she stepped out of the bedroom and then collided, wringing a small cry from her. He grabbed her arms to steady her. To his surprise he saw her wince. Not only that, he noticed a slight bruise along her jaw that hadn’t been there when she’d gone to bed last night.
“You’ve hurt yourself!”
She averted her eyes. “It’s nothing.” She tried to ease away, but he prevented her from walking out the door.
“What’s wrong with your arms?”
“Not a thing.”
“Since you’re wearing long sleeves, I’ll be the judge of that. Let me see.” With care he pushed the sleeve of her blouse up her right arm, but found nothing. When he did the same thing to the left, it was a tug-of-war, but he prevailed and saw bruising both above and below the elbow. “Who did this to you, Stephanie?”
“No one. When I was in the galley, I was clumsy getting something down from the cupboard. It hit my jaw and jammed my arm against the counter by accident.”
“I don’t believe you. Look at me.” When she refused, he said, “These marks were made by someone’s hand. You’re trembling. Tell me the truth.”
Finally, she lifted her eyes to him. Those dark blue pools stared at him in pain. “About three-thirty this morning I heard moaning sounds coming from the deck and thought it was an animal. When I went up to see...”
Nikos drew in a burning breath. “You found me.”
“Yes. I knelt down to try a
nd comfort you.”
He raked a hand through his hair, gutted to think she’d seen him like that and he didn’t even remember it. “I could have done real damage to you and the baby. I could have given you a permanent injury, or worse!”
“But you didn’t, Nikos. You were jerking, but you weren’t violent and didn’t walk around. Mostly you were crying Kon’s name. I wouldn’t have let myself get close to you otherwise.”
“I should have told you about my PTSD. The doctor gave me medicine, but sometimes the nightmares come on, anyway. By not saying a word to you, I put you at risk and have done the unforgivable.”
“That’s not true!” She cupped his face between her hands. “I’m glad I saw you like that. It helped to understand what you’ve been going through since the explosion. You’ve suffered so terribly. All I wanted to do was calm you down.” She kissed his lips. “After a little while you started to sleep peacefully again. I sat there until Yannis came on board.”
Nikos backed away from her. “Forgive me.”
“For deserting me on our wedding night?” she teased.
“You know what I mean.” He rapped out the words angrily.
“Nikos, there’s nothing to forgive. Now that I know, I have a suggestion, because I’m worried about you sleeping up on deck when one of those flashbacks hits. As you told me on the way out of the church, I’m your wife now, for better or worse, so why don’t we sleep in the room with the twin beds? That way we can keep an eye on each other. When you have a bad night, you’ll be safe and so will I.”
“I’m not safe to be around anyone, especially not you when you’re pregnant.”
“Where did you get an idea like that? Thousands of soldiers come home from war with battle fatigue. They resume their lives with their wives, who are pregnant or not, and they work things out. To be honest, I asked Yannis for the name of your doctor this morning. I have an appointment at eleven. I’d like to hear what he has to say, and want you to come with me. But if you won’t, I’m going anyway, because I need to know the best way to help you.”
She headed for the galley. Nikos followed her and watched her reach for a roll. She darted him a glance. “Have you had breakfast?”
“I couldn’t.” He wasn’t able to tolerate the thought of food after what he’d done to her. “Stop being so damn brave.”
“That’s what I’ve wanted to say to you since I saw that cane you’ve refused to use in front of me. Why don’t we agree that you’ve tried to be brave long enough? Now it’s time for us to be totally honest with each other. Otherwise how are we ever going to get through the rest of this pregnancy without losing our minds?”
Totally honest?
Since Stephanie had shown up on board the Diomedes, he wasn’t sure he was in control of his mind or his fears. Deep down he wanted the baby to be his more than anything in this world.
She poured herself a glass of orange juice and drank it. “I’m planning to do some grocery shopping while we’re in town.”
“We just stocked up a few days ago.”
“Have you forgotten you’ve picked up an American wife since then? She’d like to make you some of her favorite foods.” He blinked. “Oh, and will you bring the camera? We can take it to a print shop and have the pictures downloaded so we can mount them.”
He cocked his head, amazed by this unexpected domestic side of her. Being with Stephanie on vacation hadn’t prepared him for this aspect of her. “Anything else?”
She flashed him a full, unguarded smile that knocked him sideways, though the sight of the bruise on her jaw tortured him. “Since we don’t know the gender of the baby yet, I think I’ll work up a white puffy quilt and stencil it with the outline of a lamb. I’d love your input on the materials.”
She washed out her glass in the sink. “I’ll get my purse and see you at the car. If not, would you give me the keys?”
He ground his teeth. “I’m coming with you.” As they left for town it occurred to him he needed to buy them a house, preferably today. The yacht was a great place for him to do business with Tassos, but it was no place for a woman whose nesting instincts had already kicked in.
While Nikos waited for her outside the local photo shop, he called Tassos, who knew of a villa he’d had in mind for Nikos for a while. It was in a more exclusive area of town that would be perfect for them.
With a phone call to a friend who was a Realtor, he made the arrangements and gave Nikos the address. The man agreed to meet Nikos and Stephanie there at one o’clock. That would give them enough time to see the doctor first.
It seemed to make Dr. Ganis’s day to find out Nikos was married to a wife who intended to be proactive over his PTSD. He gave them a card they should both read regularly, but all the time he spoke, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Nikos had already come to learn that with Stephanie’s blond beauty and lithe figure, taking her out in public was proving to be a hazard. He could already count one traffic accident because the male driver had taken one look at her and driven right into the back of another car. It served the poor devil right.
Nikos read what was on the card.
Always be truthful with your vet, always keep safety in mind. Don’t walk on eggshells. Grieve for what is lost and move on. Stay on top of medications. Short periods of withdrawal to help control anger make sense, but withdrawing from life into a “bunker” is not helpful. Conflict is normal. Focus on the issue at hand and resist bringing up issues from the past. Exercise, get regular meals, good nutrition, plenty of rest and time for play. Enjoy the good times. When bad times come, hang on. Good times will come again.
As they got up to leave his office, Stephanie won the doctor over with her final comment. “I consider these bruises my mark of bravery.” His laughter followed them out the door.
Unable to help himself, Nikos gave her waist a squeeze as they left the clinic for the car. “Do you mind if we put off all the shopping until tomorrow? I have a surprise for you that could take up most of our day. Let’s grab a bite to eat before we meet Mr. Doukakis.”
* * *
Stephanie couldn’t imagine what it was. However, she was so happy to see that Nikos had forgiven himself for the bruises, and seemed to be in a mellower mood, that she didn’t care what they did as long as it was together. When he’d interrogated her in the doorway of her bedroom earlier that morning, she’d been frightened that irreparable damage had been done to their relationship.
At one of the sidewalk cafés she ordered a lime crush drink and discovered she adored the bruschetta made with apple and goat cheese. Nikos downed a whole loaf of lamb rolled slices. Taking the doctor’s advice, he passed on caffeine-laden coffee and ordered decaf. Stephanie made a mental note to buy the same, so he would sleep better.
When she couldn’t eat another bite, he drove them up a hillside covered with flowering vegetation. They came to a charming, two-story villa, where he stopped behind the car parked in front. The man at the wheel had to be this Mr. Doukakis he’d mentioned.
She flicked a glance at Nikos’s striking profile. “What are we doing?”
He shut off the engine and turned to her. “Hoping to buy us a house.”
What? “But I thought—”
“Let’s not go there.” He cut her off. “I’ll use the yacht for business, but decorating one of the rooms below deck for a nursery is absurd.”
“I agree, and have no intention of doing any such thing. As for the quilt, it’ll be a gift for our baby. I’m looking forward to making it, that’s all.”
“You’re avoiding the issue, Stephanie, and I know why. If you don’t like the looks of this house, we’ll find something better.”
Just when she’d been on a real high, he’d sprung this on her. Already she could see the writing on the wall. While she was at the house, he’d work late, then call t
o tell her he was staying on the yacht overnight. No way!
“I don’t want a house, not with you coming and going when the mood takes you.”
“You mean you don’t like this one,” he thundered. “If you want a mansion, just say so and I’ll accommodate you.”
Now she was angry. “I thought we left that issue in the past, but I can see you won’t let it go, about me wanting to marry you for your money. For your information, I love living on the water.”
She watched his hands grip the wheel tighter. “It’s no place for a baby.”
“The baby won’t be here for months! Why did you bother to marry me, Nikos? Sticking me in a house will make me feel like a kept woman. I thought you’d been honest with me, but you weren’t.”
His features had turned into a dark mask of anger. Good!
“Since it obviously irritates you to have a woman around, I’ll settle for living on my own boat, to stay out of your way. Instead of a house, buy me one of those little one-person sailboats bobbing at the marina on Egnoussa. I’ll pay you as much as I can when the condo sells.”
“Don’t say another word, Stephanie.”
“You started this, so I’ll say what I like. It would cost only a fraction of what it would take to buy me a mansion I don’t want to live in by myself. Or better yet, let me rent a sailboat. That would be fair. Yannis could take me to pick one out, and bring it across to moor by the yacht. ‘His and hers.’ We’ll be the talk of the island.”
While she was still shaking from their angry clash, he got out of the car and walked to the other one. The two men spoke for a few minutes before Nikos came back and levered himself into the front seat once more.
She sensed he’d love to wheel away on screeching tires, but he controlled himself on the drive back to the dock. By the time they reached the parking area, she’d repented of the way she’d blown up at him.
THE GREEK'S TINY MIRACLE Page 11
