Sins of Sarah

by Anne Styles

  Nick lay awake night after night, his mind on Sarah, and Madeleine frequently heard him pacing the veranda early in the morning. But it was useless remonstrating with him, though she tried. 'Nick, you'll crack up at this rate!' she warned him in her motherly way. 'You need sleep badly, and you aren't eating properly.'

  'I don't particularly feel like eating, Maddy,' Nick admitted. 'I hope I'm not going down with one of those bugs. I can't afford to be ill - not after all this battle to keep the schedule more or less on time, not now we're so close to finishing.'

  'Is your arm bothering you still?' Madeleine caught at his wrist and quickly jerked up the cuff of his shirt that hung loose. She was too quick for him to stop her and she gazed at his swollen forearm in horror. 'For God's sake, Nick! This is a real mess! Why the hell didn't you say something?'

  'It's only got worse the last day or so,' he lied. 'I thought it could wait until we go back to Coari or Belem.'

  'Well, it won't! Let me get the village woman to look at it at least?' Madeleine coaxed.

  Nick was in too much pain to argue with her by that time, though when half an hour later she returned with a middle-aged native woman with wizened skin and very black teeth he rather wished he had. With everything else to worry about he had tried to ignore the troublesome swelling. His apprehension grew as she clucked and muttered over it for long minutes before she finally dug into the straw bag she carried and began rubbing a cold-feeling salve onto it.

  'What on earth is she doing?' he demanded of a fascinated Madeleine.

  'Bad things in here,' the woman told him. 'They must come out.'

  'I think she's going to lance it,' Madeleine volunteered. 'Get the swelling down.'

  'What the hell with? Oh, my God, not with that!' Nick stared in shock at the curved knife that appeared in her hand. 'Get her out of here!'

  'Very quick,' she told him, patting his arm.

  'Shut up. Nick!' Madeleine put in. 'And don't be such a coward! I'm surprised at you!'

  'It's all right for you!' he retorted, wincing as the knife touched his skin. Laughing, Madeleine took hold of his other hand.

  'Come on, baby, I'll hold your hand for you,' she offered. 'It's poison, Nick, it has to come out.' She did her best to reassure him, having been told what it was likely to be and deciding that it was best Nick didn't know. 'Look the other way,' she advised.

  But Nick didn't. He was riveted to the knife that slid through his distorted flesh, expecting the blood, and pain but to his everlasting shame he took one terrified look and fainted at their feet.

  * * *

  The treatment had been primitive, but it had had the desired effect. His arm was bandaged and in a sling, but for a week or two he felt far more able to cope. The weather improved slightly, and they even had several miraculous days without rain. Picking up shots he had thought he would have to do without cheered him enormously, and life took on a rosier hue altogether. Refusing to consider going back to Belem to recuperate, since finally he could get some work done, he battled on, convinced things were going his way at last. Even rest days on site were ignored in his push to keep to the murderous schedule he had set for himself. Anything to finish and get back to LA, he told himself, and pushed even harder.

  Madeleine and Bud begged him to take it easier but he refused to listen. Without access to regular weather bulletins he had no choice but to keep working while the weather held, he told them firmly, and work they did.

  Nobody seriously minded the work; they were as anxious as he was to get the job finished and on time.

  Actual money was in short supply, since all their currency had to be negotiated in Rio and cash brought up to them to pay their bills locally. Even, it was whispered amongst their native helpers, to pay off the rumoured bandits who were supposed to linger in the surrounding area. Nick doubted it, but he made sure they didn't take any more risks than they needed to, and the whole crew, native and American, guarded Madeleine and the one make-up girl as if they were rare and precious commodities when that particular rumour began to circulate amongst the already strung-out crew.

  Elated by the fantastic footage he was getting, and the editor's enthusiastic reports. Nick decided to add more library shots to help the editing when they got back to the States. The sunset promised to be clear and perfect that evening, and he cheerfully bribed Lenny to forgo his evening drinking session and go out with him to shoot.

  I'll come too,' Madeleine decided. 'I could do with the exercise; I've been typing all day.' 'Well, don't moan if you can't keep up,' Lenny told her. 'I'm in a hurry, and it'll be no fun if we get stuck out there in the dark.' 'No chance.' Nick shrugged. 'We'll take one of the guides with us. Don't worry, Len, we'll get back in time for you to get a couple in!' They rounded up a guide, a rather sour little runt of a man, and set off briskly, bouncing along the rough tracks in the battered Jeep they used as transport to the spot high above the river that Nick had noticed on a previous expedition. As he had hoped, the view of the river and the darkly encroaching trees made beautiful pictures, and they set up and took some stunning shots of the landscape before they finally got the sunset they were waiting for.

  It was magnificent, and Nick and Madeleine stood watching it in awe.

  'God, I wish Sarah was here to see this,' Nick sighed.

  'I bet she'd love it.' Madeleine, knowing the situation, squeezed his hand sympathetically. 'Cheer up. Nick only a few weeks to go.'

  'Thank goodness,' Nick sighed. 'I'm not sure I can hold on much longer. Christ! I've got such a headache, Maddy. Do you have any aspirin with you?' Madeleine pulled some out of her bag, laden as usual.

  'That's the third headache in as many days,' she chided. 'Are you sure you're OK, Nick?'

  'Nothing going home won't cure.' He grimaced, and swallowed the pills dry, choking slightly from the effect.

  Madeleine ran back to the Jeep and found a bottle of water to toss to him. He needed it desperately, and drank most of it in one go.

  'You should have taken the chance to rest this evening instead of doing this,' she said crossly. 'You never learn, Nick.'

  'Give me a break,' Nick snapped back. 'I can sleep all night! Come on, then, Lenny, get a move on.'

  'Stop giving the girl a hard time, Nicholas,' Lenny warned as he packed the camera back into its protective bag. 'She only has your best interests at heart, and, frankly, you're beginning to look as if you have a permanent hangover or something. You look dreadful, mate.'

  'If I want your advice Lenny, I'll ask for it,' Nick said. 'And that goes for you too, Madeleine. I feel fine.' He didn't feel anything like it, but that was for his own thoughts only. He felt sick and cold, then hot and dizzy, and had been all day. He put it down to the wound on his arm playing up, and cursed the woman who had lanced it so crudely, convinced that she had made things worse, though the nurse, on dressing it, had commented favourably enough on the work that had been done. The native woman had even stitched it together, he had discovered when he had finally recovered consciousness, apologizing profusely to a giggling Madeleine. She teased him un mercifully about it, bringing forth all kinds of promised retributions from Nick if she dared to tell Sarah about it!

  Slowly, he made his way back to the Jeep, and found to his amazement that he could only manage to climb into it with the greatest of effort, whereas he had sprung out of it only an hour or so before. 'Len,' he said, 'I think you may be right. I do feel really strange.'

  'Nick!' Madeleine leapt at him as he swayed across the seat. She caught him just in time to prevent him falling back out of the cab, shrieking at Lenny to help her. Nick was so hot his skin seemed to bum her hands as she struggled to hold him. 'Lenny, he's ill - really ill. Feel his skin!'

  'I'll be... fine. . . let's just get back. . .' Nick groaned, not wanting them to fuss.

  His head hurt so badly that every bump and jolt of the truck made him want to scream with pain. Madeleine held him against her to try and cushion the friction, and eventually in desperation he burie
d his head into the curve of her neck in a fruitless effort to ease the pain. Lenny drove as carefully as he could, but in the darkening jungle it was a nightmare to try and see where they were going, even with their guide hanging out of the vehicle to tell him the way. By the time they finally made it back to the village Nick was almost delirious from the pain, and they had to summon help from other members of the crew to lift him out of the Jeep. Even though he had lost weight recently, he was still too heavy to lift easily.

  Madeleine took charge automatically and made them take him to her own room. It was far more comfortable than Nick's, and she had her first aid equipment to hand. Not that there was a great deal she could do. 'Where's Erica?' she demanded as her first question, knowing that the nurse had been in the village that afternoon.

  'Nothing for her to do,' Bud said. 'She went back to Coari.'

  'Then radio for her and get her back up here fast,' Madeleine ordered. 'And get a doctor, if you can. Bud. We sure as hell need one.' Frantic now, she turned back to Nick, who was throwing off the blanket she had just put over him. His skin was burning, though his face was ashen under his deep tan. As Bud rushed to carry out her orders she ran to the tap that served for water and filled a basin under it. Wringing out a cloth, she tried to sponge his face to cool him, but he groaned at even the light the pressure of her hands and immediately tried to push her away, thrashing about the bed in an attempt to evade her.

  'Get some ice, Lenny,' she decided. 'I'll try that. Nick, honey, don't fight it. Please, I want to help.' He was moaning unintelligibly, tossing on the bed, and she stood for a moment trying to think logically. Finally, and with a great deal of effort, she managed to get first his soaking shirt and then his shoes and chinos off him, before she tried to put the sheet over him again. He constantly threw it off, and she resorted to swearing at him as she tried to bathe his skin with cool water. Eventually, her somewhat crude efforts had an effect, and by the time Lenny came back he was a great deal quieter.

  'I'll stay with him,' she told Lenny as she wrapped the ice in a cloth to put on his forehead. 'I can sleep in the chair.'

  'We'll take turns,' Lenny offered. 'Until the nurse or a doctor can get up here - though I doubt that will be before morning; it's raining again.'

  'I hope it will be.' Madeleine shuddered. 'He s ill, Lenny, far worse than any of the others were. They just had stomach bugs. This is far more than that. I can't get any sense out of him at all, and it happened so quickly.'

  Lenny pushed his glasses to the top of his head. Fevers come and go quickly in these parts,' he tried to reassure her. 'He'll probably be fine in the morning. He's a tough bugger!'

  'Not with this kind of thing,' Madeleine said, worried. 'He hasn't been well for weeks, Lenny.' 'Pining for that smashing bird of his, I wouldn't mind betting,' Lenny said sagely, and Madeleine stared at him.

  'How did you know that?' she asked. 'No one is supposed to know.' 'It's common knowledge among the lads; he's only had eyes for her since the day they met!' Lenny grinned. 'You can't keep much from my boys! Stands to reason he's occupied, or he'd have had you in the sack pretty quick!'

  'It takes two, Lenny.'

  'Sure! But that's never been a problem for the boss!' Lenny settled into a chair. 'I'll take a quick kip, then it's your turn, miss. We don't want you sick as well, do we?' Madeleine tossed him a blanket and then settled herself beside Nick, constantly sponging his heated body in a vain effort to make him more comfortable.

  In the dark, quiet hours that followed the heat finally began to dissipate, but he then began to shiver violently.

  She tucked an extra blanket over him and then several of her jackets to keep him warm, but still long shudders racked him. Finally she. lay down beside him, wrapping her own body around him to try and give him the warmth he needed. Surprisingly it seemed to calm him, though she knew from touching him that he was barely conscious, but he settled into a slightly calmer sleep in her arms.

  She woke up with a start, finding Nick's arm heavy and hot across her waist and Lenny grinning down at her.

  'Time I took over,' he said. 'He's hot as hell again. See if you can find some clean sheets. He'll be more comfortable if we can change these, they're soaked.' As Madeleine herself was too from the heat of Nick's body, and she slid off the bed to do as he suggested.

  Between them they changed the bed and rolled Nick back into it. He had hardly stirred as they manoeuvred his limp body around, his only word was 'Sarah' as Madeleine leant over him.

  'Time enough for that later,' Lenny told him, as cheerfully as he could manage, and settled down to sponging him as Madeleine had been doing, and trying unsuccessfully to get some liquid into his mouth. 'Tell you what, Maddy, Have you thought what the lads are going to do if the boss is out of action?'

  'Carry on, of course!' Madeleine had no doubts on that score. 'Bud is a director in his own right - he's already done some second unit stuff - he'll have to take over. We can't afford to lose any time at all. You can use Nick's notes and guide him along, I'm going back to Coari with Nick. I'm not letting Erica take over, he loathes her.' Despite Lenny's reassuring presence she couldn't sleep, and they finally both stayed awake, coping as best they could when Nick began to throw up even the water Lenny had tried to give him, until Bud appeared at five o'clock ushering in the nurse and a local doctor she had rounded up. By that time Madeleine was frantic, and she then had a stand-up row with Erica when Erica informed her she would not be needed in Coari.

  'Where Nick goes, I go!' she announced firmly. 'I'll pack a bag for him and come with you!' Erica recognized a formidable opponent and gave in. Madeleine packed a bag for both herself and Nick, gave Bud and Lenny the work list for the day and followed Erica and the doctor. The crew members they hustled out of bed managed to carry Nick to the waiting motor boat, and they finally started on the long trip down the river to Coari. Anxiously, Madeleine questioned the doctor at length during the journey, but to her fury he was totally non-committal. She had no faith in him whatsoever by the time they reached the little town and transported their patient to the tiny clinic the doctor managed.

  'I'll give them forty-eight hours,' she threatened, after an infuriating wait with no results.

  Nick was plainly deteriorating, his breathing laboured and difficult as his body alternated between high fever and hideously racking shivering fits. A saline drip kept him from dehydrating but still he kept vomiting, and she was beginning to really panic, isolated as she was, miles away from the rest of the crew. Finally she could stand it no longer. In desperation, she found a telephone and man-aged to get a call through to Los Angeles and Seth Waterston.

  'I've got to have the jet come for us!' she demanded of a startled Seth. 'Nick has to be in an American hospital! I'm afraid, Seth. He's going to die if we don't get him out of here; it isn't even clean!'

  'Why the hell did you wait all this time?' Seth demanded furiously. 'We'll be with you in a matter of hours, I promise.'

  'I thought he'd come round quite quickly,' Madeleine confessed. 'The others did.'

  'He's obviously not suffering the same problems the other guys did,' Seth said. 'Hang on in there, Maddy, we're on our way.' Rather like the cavalry, Madeleine thought with almost a smile as she hung up. And it felt a bit like that when eight hours later a solid and very comforting Seth arrived in his jet with a couple of reassuringly American doctors in tow and efficient, crisp-looking nurses to take over. Immediately hooking him up to drips and terrifying-looking bottles, they wasted no time in whisking Nick away to the plane, heading for the sanctuary of their Los Angeles hospital.

  Tired out of her mind, and relieved at last of the responsibility, Madeleine fell into her seat on the plane and burst into tears of relief. She hadn't slept for three days and she was totally exhausted. 'Just let go and sleep,' one of the nurses told her gently. 'You've done everything you could, it's our turn now. He'll be fine.' She was given a sleeping pill to help her rest, and though she protested that it was hardly necessary
she took it and quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, only waking as they taxied into their parking place at LAX.

  'Nick?' was her first question on waking, and she was immediately reassured by the friendly nurse.

  'He's stable,' she said quickly. 'Don't worry, I've seen worse.'

  'But do the doctors know what it is?' Madeleine demanded.

  'Some kind of virus, they think. His arm is crudely stitched, but not showing any sign of infection. They don't think the two are related, as the doctor in Coari thought.'

  'He was an idiot!' Madeleine spat furiously. 'He would have let him die before he would admit he didn't know what to do.'

  'Well, we are not going to let him die,' the nurse said. 'You can be sure of that.' Miriam met them at the airport and stood no argument from Madeleine. She swept her off to the Waterston house with her as Seth took charge of all the arrangements.

  'You can go see Nick later,' Miriam said in reply to her protests. 'First we must make sure his family know what's happening, and you need to help me with that. I don't seem to have a number for Sarah Campbell, and she should be told.'

  'I don't think Nick has heard from her for weeks, Madeleine admitted. 'He was getting quite anxious that something was wrong, but of course it was impossible to phone from the location.' In vain they tried to phone Sarah's flat, and constantly got the number unobtainable tone. Finally Madeleine phoned Jane, and found that even Jane had no idea where Sarah was. She was quite au fait with the situation regarding Diana, and told Miriam in no uncertain terms that ringing her was out of the question. Perplexed, they tried Charles Hastings, at Jane's suggestion, but even Charles seemed to have no idea where Sarah was.