by Sue MacKay
‘Like I said, it’s a shelter for neglected children. The operating theatre’s tiny. Not a lot of operations are done there. Take today. A wee girl was found hidden in bushes under the Dubrovnik bridge, cold, hungry and with numerous injuries. She hasn’t spoken a word, has had surgery, and faced strangers poking at her and asking questions, and just stands there staring around as though nothing’s real.’
‘Except the pain in her heart.’
‘Exactly. One look in her eyes and you can see it, you know? It’s huge, and everyone accepts it’s going to take a long, long time to lighten it.’
‘If they ever do.’ A layer of sadness settled in Alesha’s eyes and voice.
She really got it. Did that mean she’d been hurt badly in the past? Or was there a massive heart inside that chest that understood people? ‘At least she’s safe now, but what the future holds is anyone’s guess.’ Kristof needed air, space. That sadness was tugging at him when it shouldn’t. Standing up, he walked to the other end of the deck to stare down at the harbour filled with cruise ships. Tourists flooded Dubrovnik during the day, turning the Old City situated behind these hills into a place most locals avoided until winter, when they got the city back to themselves. At night many of the tourists would be back on board their ship making the most of the entertainment put on free of charge.
He heard a movement beside him and Alesha was standing there, her hands on the concrete wall, leaning forward to peer in the same direction as him. ‘It’s stunning.’ So she’d joined him but wasn’t continuing the conversation that had him fidgeting to get away.
He usually managed to keep the kids he saw in his mother’s clinic at a distance. But today Capeka had got to him. His shield had slipped. He didn’t know why, but did know it wasn’t a good look. And that it couldn’t happen again. Not if he intended to maintain his barriers against being in a loving relationship. ‘Yes, it’s magic.’
‘Very different from London.’
If she was digging for information about his life back there she would need a bulldozer. He commented, ‘We don’t get the wonderful weather, for starters.’
Her mouth flattened. Then turned up into a grin. ‘Fair enough.’ The grin was quickly followed by a yawn. ‘Sorry. It’s been quite a day on top of a long night. I didn’t knock off work until eleven last night and since it was my last time on the ward there was a visit to the pub involved afterwards. Then today Luke’s bombshell really sank in when I stepped out of the plane into Croatia.’
‘I’ll leave you alone, then.’ Kristof’s jaw dropped. He didn’t want to go. He really didn’t, instead wanted to hold her close, kiss away that hurt that had started going on in her eyes when she’d mentioned a big day. ‘Are you going to be all right?’
Wipe your mouth out. You don’t do personal questions. With anyone.
It brought people close when he learned what made them tick, meant he could no longer put them in a box.
Alesha blinked, hard. Her mouth flattened. He didn’t like that. Nor that slumping that sloped her shoulders.
‘Sorry, don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.’ But if he could make her feel a bit happier, he would.
‘We planned this trip at Easter. Then a couple of weeks ago I learned I was the only one flying to Dubrovnik. Luke has found someone else and they’ve gone to Paris for the weekend.’
That was appalling. Who did that? ‘Can I swear?’
‘Go ahead but it won’t change anything.’ She’d crossed her arms and those long manicured fingernails were digging into her biceps.
He’d prefer they were on his biceps. Kristof stepped closer so his arm touched hers. That was as close as he was getting, tantalising fingers or not. But hell, he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss that sadness away. Even when the man she’d want kissing her wasn’t him.
Alesha leaned into him, as though now she’d voiced what had happened the strength to stay upright had deserted her.
He couldn’t resist. His arm wound around her shoulders, to give her support. Nothing more. Or was it? A heady mix of gentleness, need and friendship closed around him. A totally foreign sensation. He lost track of how long they stood there, both staring out across the harbour with a myriad lights winking from the ships and the wharves, he holding her, she trembling.
Then she knocked him sideways with a whisper. ‘You don’t have to go. I could do with some company.’ When she turned to face him she was close so her breasts brushed against his chest. When her mouth touched his, those lips were soft and warm, exciting, just as he’d imagined. Talk about getting what he wished for.
Kristof lifted his chin and stepped back, his hands on her shoulders until she found her balance. ‘Thank you for asking but you’re feeling let down, unhappy, disappointed. Tomorrow you’ll regret having made that suggestion.’ He was already regretting not following through. As far as kisses went that one had barely got started, but every cell in his body was screaming out for more and for the follow-up rampant sex.
‘That’s a no, then.’
‘Yes, Alesha, it is.’ Give him strength, because the more he said no, the more he knew it was a lie, that he wanted to accept her invitation, to lose himself in her, give her a reason to let go the hurt plaguing her eyes for a few hours at least.
‘I could beg.’ Fixed on him, her eyes were enormous.
‘It wouldn’t become you.’ His lips grazed her forehead. He breathed in apples from her hair.
Go, while you still can.
Dropping his hands, he stepped further away. ‘Take care, Alesha. Whatever you do, enjoy your time in Croatia.’ And on that dry note he left, feeling her eyes boring into his back until he reached the bottom step and let himself out onto the street. He didn’t know if she watched from above as he walked up the road, wasn’t looking back over his shoulder to find out. Alesha had come into his life with a problem. Now the crisis was fixed and with every step he took he was leaving her further behind, safe, out of his life, out of the way of temptation. He couldn’t fix her bigger problem.
‘Kristof, wait. Stop. Look up the road.’ Alesha was running after him. ‘I think there’s a fire further up.’ She had his arm now, was pulling at him and pointing towards the area where his mother’s house was.
A red glow backlit a building. Not his mother’s, but close. Someone’s house was definitely burning. ‘I’m calling the emergency services. You go back inside.’ He didn’t need to be worrying about Alesha while he tried to assess the situation.
‘I’m coming with you. There could be people inside.’
Arguing wasted time. ‘What can you do to help?’ It was an honest question. If she was hanging around there might be something she could do to help.
‘I’m a nurse, remember?’
‘Come on.’ There wasn’t time to argue, and she was right, she might be needed. He began sprinting up the road. Hopefully she wasn’t going to be required at the scene of the fire.
Puff, puff, from beside him. Not a fit nurse, then.
The emergency dispatch for the city answered his call, preventing him saying something he’d regret. Rattling off what he knew about the location, nothing specific but once the emergency crews got close they’d work it out, he punched the red icon and shoved the phone deep into his pocket, hoping it stayed there while he got on with helping out at the fire. Losing all his work contacts was not on.
You don’t want to lose Alesha’s number either.
Best if he did, then he couldn’t be tempted into calling her, asking her to join him for a beer or a trip into town for a meal during the coming week.
Kristof really was trying to fool himself. Who needed a number when he walked by the apartment complex every day? Which reminded him. ‘Did you remember your keys?’
She gaped at him, her eyes wide and filled with disgust. ‘Guess it really isn’t my day.’
They w
eren’t going to call Karolina out a second time. ‘There’s a spare bed at my mother’s.’
Laughter filled the now smoky air. ‘I meant there went my opportunity to crash at your place. I have keys and phone buttoned into my back pocket.’
He looked. How could he not? Yes, there, on that smooth, curved outline of her backside, was the obvious shape of a phone and a bundle of keys. ‘Well done.’
Damn.
CHAPTER THREE
ALESHA DREW DEEP breaths in an attempt to stop puffing so hard. Time to find a gym if this was what a short run up a gently sloping hill did. Beside her Kristof was barely breathing any faster than normal.
‘Bystanders are saying there’s a family of four inside,’ he told her. ‘I’m going to see how close I can get.’
‘Be careful.’ Look out for yourself, don’t get injured. Clench, clench went her stomach for her new—What? Friend?
She couldn’t hear any sirens. ‘How far away is the fire station?’ She picked her way through the crowd behind him.
‘Ten minutes. Stay back here.’
‘And if you find someone in need of medical attention?’
‘We’ll bring them out here and you can help me.’
‘We?’ That was when she realised two other men were pushing ahead on the same track Kristof was following. ‘Fine.’ She was wasting precious time, holding him back from possibly saving someone. ‘Go.’ Her heart sank. If there really was a family in that inferno their chances of survival were slim, and getting smaller by the second. When she was training back in Christchurch she’d worked in a burns unit and had hated it. The stench, the raw agony, the horror in her patients’ eyes as they stared at their scars, had drained her emotionally in a way no other field of nursing had.
Around her people were talking as they gaped at the scene. Unfortunately she couldn’t understand a word. Someone pointed towards the house and there was a shout as a burning piece from the roof plunged to the ground. Kristof towered above everyone, making it easy to keep an eye on his progress.
Be safe, please.
He was in charge. No doubt about that. He seemed the kind of guy who’d take note of the situation and still charge in to save whoever he could with little regard for his own safety. Not that she could explain why she felt that, she just did. He’d impressed her with the way he’d looked after her earlier. No one had ever gone out of their way for her before, and it made her feel special, as if she counted for something. Then she’d repaid him by coming on to him. It was a wonder he’d spoken to her at all after that.
‘Does anyone know if the family was definitely at home when the fire broke out?’ she asked without thinking, and got a surprise.
‘The mother and son came home thirty minutes ago,’ the woman beside her answered. ‘The husband and other son are still out.’
‘Two safe. That’s a start.’ Where had Kristof gone? There was no way he could get inside. Not and survive. It was a furnace in there.
‘I hear sirens,’ said the woman.
There was movement ahead, and the crowd parted. Kristof strode towards her, a body in his arms. ‘Alesha? I’ve got the lad. He’s unconscious.’ Kneeling down, he laid his precious bundle on the ground.
Running forward, she dropped to her knees, ignored the gravel digging into the earlier bruises. ‘That’s a nasty cut on his head.’ Blood oozed through the lad’s hair. Her fingers gently probed, touched swollen flesh. ‘Something must’ve fallen on him. Where did you find him? You’d better not have gone inside.’ What did that matter now? If he had he was out safe.
‘On the back porch lying half out the door.’ Kristof began checking the boy over, gently rolling him onto his right side. ‘Burns to his back and left arm.’
‘Don’t pull that shirt off,’ she warned. They didn’t need to cause any further damage.
‘Agreed.’ Kristof was feeling the bones in an oddly shaped elbow, a competent doctor at work. ‘Fractures for sure. He’s got cuts as well as massive trauma bruising. Someone mentioned an explosion.’
‘Do people here use gas for cooking?’ That could explain the injuries and the fire.
‘Yes.’ He gave her a nod of acknowledgment. ‘You know your stuff.’
‘Worked in a burns unit. He has respiratory problems, probably due to smoke inhalation.’
‘I’ll check his heart.’
Cardiac arrest often followed respiratory failure. ‘Will an ambulance come with that fire engine?’ A defibrillator wouldn’t go astray right now, just in case of the worst-case scenario.
‘Of course. From what I’m hearing two fire trucks and one ambulance have just pulled up. The good news is the hospital is only a mile further up the road.’
‘Knowing the lingo is a plus.’ Never had she felt so useless. Not understanding what was going on was disturbing. But she did understand this boy’s dilemma and that was all that really mattered. He needed her help, not her doubts and frustration.
‘Great nursing skills don’t need interpreting.’ Kristof underscored her thoughts as his hand touched the back of hers briefly. Except she hadn’t thought great was true, just thorough.
Someone in uniform knelt beside her, asking rapid questions in Croatian. No doubt a paramedic. She locked eyes on Kristof. ‘You take this.’
He was already talking to the other man. She continued taking the boy’s pulse for a second time. ‘Slower.’
Another person in ambulance uniform joined them and Alesha was nudged aside. Her back cricked as she stood up and looked around. ‘What about the mother?’
Screams rent the air. Someone was pushing through the crowd. A woman. In her late thirties? The boy’s mother? Alesha crossed her fingers. That would mean she was safe and not inside. The woman dropped to the ground beside the boy, crying and shouting, reaching to touch her son, being gently held back by Kristof and another lady.
Alesha stepped away. The woman’s grief was personal, and heart-wrenching. On the other side of the road she stopped amidst the crowd to take stock. Around her voices were low and all eyes seemed to be on the mother and boy. Time to head back to the apartment. There was nothing else she could do to help here.
‘He’s going to be in hospital for a while but I think he’ll be all right.’ Kristof materialised out of the gloom. ‘None of those injuries look life-threatening.’
‘If you don’t count the scars he’ll have.’
‘True.’ His sigh echoed her own. ‘I’ll see you back to the apartment.’
‘That’s not necessary. It’s only a few hundred metres down the road.’
‘I don’t care if it’s next door. I’m coming with you.’
Nice. Especially when she’d all but thrown herself at him. ‘Thanks.’ Maybe this time she’d finally get to bed to catch up on some sleep. Alone, and right now that didn’t seem as lonely as it should. It was a normal state.
* * *
A sound like a sweeping broom from outside her room penetrated Alesha’s mind, bringing her to the surface of the sleep that had dragged her under the moment she’d dropped onto the bed after getting back from the fire. Judging by the smell of smoke, she should’ve showered but falling asleep under the water jet wouldn’t have been a bright idea. Her shirt was rucked up to her breasts but it seemed she had managed to pull her jeans off.
The good news was she’d slept all night. Picking up her phone from the floor, she gasped. It was nearly one in the afternoon. Half the day had gone. What a waste when Dubrovnik was out there, waiting to be investigated.
Swinging her legs over the bed, she sat up and instantly dropped her pounding head into her hands. Too much sleep did that. And too many glasses of champagne on an empty stomach. The half-full bottle mocked her from the bench. Another waste, but thank goodness she hadn’t drunk it all or she wouldn’t have been able to help with that boy last night. Nor would she be feeli
ng semi good to go today. What had she been thinking to have beer and champagne? It was so not her, but nothing about last night had been. On the other hand, last time she got dumped she might have packed a sad and had a few drinks, but she hadn’t locked herself out in a foreign country or made a pass at a relative stranger. Throw in the fire and it’d been a drama-filled night.
How was that boy today? Hopefully he’d be heavily sedated to allow those burns time to settle down. Days, if not weeks, of painkillers and heavy doses of antibiotics were ahead for him.
Picking up her jeans, she grimaced at the not so white fabric. Dirt from kneeling on the ground by the boy looked as if it would never come out, but she’d throw them in the laundry in case she got lucky.
Heading for the shower, she tripped over a bag. Kristof’s clothes. He’d forgotten them in his hurry to get away from her. Now what? Could she nail them to the wall outside the gate for when he walked home tonight?
Swish, swish. The sound that had woken her. Opening the wooden blinds showed Karolina sweeping the deck that covered the width of the property and right back to the table where she’d eaten squid with Kristof. Karolina would know where to find the children’s home. It wouldn’t be a problem to drop the bag off there on her way to the Old City. She also owed Kristof an apology for her untoward behaviour while they were eating. What had possessed her? Apart from feeling unloved and a teeny bit in awe of him?
With a towel wrapped around her waist, she snatched up her keys and headed outside. ‘Karolina, hi.’
The woman turned, her long, thick ponytail flicking across her back. ‘I hear we have you to thank for young Stevan surviving the blaze that destroyed his family’s home. You and Kristof.’
‘There were other people there more qualified to look after him. How is Stevan today?’ Knowing his name brought him closer.
‘He’s in—how do you say—Intensive Care?’
Alesha nodded. ‘That’s it.’
‘Heavily sedated?’
