‘You’ve got something to explain to me?’ When she sat down next to him and handed him his coffee, Mimi saw that he had a pad of paper balanced on his lap.
‘Nope. We’re on a break.’ He gave her one of his most gorgeous smiles. The one that said the world could wait for a moment. This was Rafe’s safety valve. Some people talked things out of their system, a couple of her colleagues had their own blogs, but Rafe seemed to have developed the capacity to just change gear, leave it all behind for a while and divert all of his attention to something else.
‘So what are you doing?’
‘I’m making a boat.’ He tore a leaf from the pad and started folding.
Mimi put the coffee down on the bench between them. When talking about things just sent you round in circles, sometimes Rafe’s solution was the better one. It was usually a great deal more fun.
‘Give me a sheet, then.’
Rafe’s boat turned out to be a complex, double-hulled affair which took more than one sheet of paper and sported a sail. Mimi stuck to a basic coracle shape, but she could make three in the time it took for Rafe to make his one.
They walked to the water’s edge. Like a pair of kids with nothing else to do but mess around with paper boats. Mimi carefully placed her boats and, as the surface of the pond rippled in the breeze, two of them floated towards his.
‘Watch out, Rafe, my pirates will be boarding you any minute...’ She grinned up at him.
‘No, they won’t.’ He picked up a stick, nudging his boat away from hers, and it began to drift slowly toward the centre of the pond. ‘And anyway...’
He produced a wrap of paper from his pocket. ‘What’s that?’
‘Duck food. My secret weapon.’ He gave her a Machiavellian grin. ‘Found it in the glove compartment.’
He’d been feeding the ducks without her. Of course he had. She couldn’t have expected Rafe to go five years without taking time out to feed the ducks.
He tipped a measure into his hand, and then hers. Then threw some of the food into the water. ‘Here they come...’
A large green and blue duck was making for the food, diving for it as it sank beneath the surface. Another well-aimed throw hit one of Mimi’s coracles and the duck tipped it upside down in its eagerness to get at the food.
‘Hey! Two can play at that game.’ She aimed for Rafe’s boat and it wobbled slightly on the water as the grains hit it. ‘Come on...’ She urged a smaller brown speckled duck on, which was paddling across the water towards it.
‘No, no, no...’ Rafe clapped one hand to his forehead as his boat lurched and relaxed as it righted itself. ‘Yesss...’
They were both laughing. Rafe managed to lure another duck towards her second boat and it nudged its beak inside before lifting it out of the water entirely. The little brown duck was making his boat wobble dangerously, but somehow it survived the onslaught.
Mimi still had one boat left, caught amongst the roots of a tree. Picking up a fallen branch, she clambered across to nudge it out on to the water. Leaning out to free the boat, she felt herself begin to tip.
‘Rafe...!’ A knee-jerk reaction—screaming for him before she knew quite what she was doing. And, by the same instinct, he was there, pulling her back from the water’s edge.
He didn’t let go. Mimi dropped the stick, turning in his arms.
‘Nearly...’ He was holding her tight. In a sudden, controlled movement, he threatened to spin her backwards into the water, and then pulled her back again. Mimi clung to him.
‘You wouldn’t...’
‘Is that a dare?’
She knew better than to dare Rafe, particularly when he was in this mood. He might not actually push her in, but he’d find some way of dangling her so close to the water that she’d be hanging on to him, begging him not to.
‘No.’ She tightened her grip on his jacket.
‘Because a dare would be...’ Something melted in his eyes. The reserve that had been keeping them both safe.
‘Dangerous...’ She whispered the word.
‘Yeah. Very.’ He didn’t let go of her. And Mimi couldn’t let go of him.
Getting wet was the least of her worries. Rafe had her in his arms and the look in his eyes... Suddenly nothing was impossible. A vision of their naked limbs, twisted languidly together, flashed into her imagination, making her heart pound.
He was so close. His lips a whisper away. If he kissed her... If he didn’t kiss her, she was going to kiss him.
‘Please... Let me go.’ If he didn’t move away now, she wasn’t sure that she could. And kissing him would only open up old wounds, not heal them.
Wordlessly he moved back, holding on to her hand as she stepped away from the precipice. Steadying her when she almost tripped over a tree root.
‘Ready to go back to work?’ His gaze was thoughtful. Tender.
‘Yes.’
He glanced over her shoulder and Mimi followed his gaze. There was no trace of the remaining boats, both of them having been scuppered by the ducks.
‘What do you reckon?’ He was searching in his pocket for something. ‘A gaggle of ducks?’
She grinned. ‘No, I think that’s geese.’ Rafe had changed gear again, turning away from the things that threatened to hurt them. But this time he seemed intent on bringing her with him, lightening her load.
Mimi picked up the empty coffee cups as Rafe tapped a search into his phone. ‘A sabotage of ducks?’
He chuckled. ‘Yeah. Actually, it’s not as good as that. It’s a paddling or a waddling. Depending on whether they’re in or out of the water, presumably.’
Mimi strolled to the car with him as he laughed over the list of collective nouns he’d found on the Internet. A murder of crows. A parliament of owls.
It was time to go back to work.
* * *
This was going to be the last call of the day. If it hadn’t been for the fact that each call meant that someone was in trouble then Mimi would have been sorry.
‘They should be on the road, here somewhere.’ She leaned forward, straining to see through the rain and the darkness. A light shone briefly and disappeared. Then describing an arc, up ahead of them.
‘I see them.’ Rafe slowed to a crawl in the teeming rain as the car headlights illuminated a figure standing in the middle of the road, signalling with a distress lantern. Another figure was sitting, hunched over, in the shelter of a tree by the side of the road, and a few yards further up a car was nose-down in the ditch.
The white rear number plates reflected in the glare of the headlights and Mimi saw that it was a European registration, with a D under a circle of stars to denote the country. ‘What’s that? German?’
‘Yep. Hope they speak English.’ Rafe stopped the car and got out, jogging towards the figure in the road, and Mimi followed.
It was a woman. She spoke a hurried sentence that Mimi didn’t understand, and Rafe frowned in incomprehension.
‘Wir werden ein Krankenwagen.’
The woman gave her an uncomprehending look and Mimi tried again, hoping that the woman might get her drift. If she didn’t, then Mimi was going to have to call the translation service.
‘Ich brauche einen Arzt.’ She smiled, jerking her thumb towards Rafe, and the woman raised her eyebrows. ‘Um... Sprechen Sie Englisch?’
‘Ja... Yes, I speak English. Danke.’ She caught Rafe’s sleeve, pulling him towards the figure by the side of the road. ‘My husband is hurt. Please can you help us?’
The woman’s English was slightly accented, but seemed fluent enough. It was common to find that people under stress spoke first in their own language, and that calming them down would improve their English no end.
Mimi found the woman’s hand and took it. ‘The doctor is here and he will help your husba
nd. Do you understand?’
‘Yes... Yes, I understand.’ The woman watched as Rafe hurried over to the man by the side of the road.
‘I need you to help us.’
‘Yes. What can I do?’ The woman looked frightened and stressed but she was keeping it under control.
‘My name’s Mimi. Yours?’
‘Annaliese.’
‘Okay, Annaliese. I want you to help translate for us. Can you do that?’ If her husband was hurt, then it was important they hear everything he had to say.
‘Yes, I can do it.’
‘Good. Thank you.’ Mimi led Annaliese over to where Rafe was kneeling in the mud next to the man. ‘What is your husband’s name?’
‘Leo,’ Rafe answered. He’d already got that far and it seemed that he’d also checked the man for any life-threatening injuries as well. ‘He’s been moving around but I’ll put a neck brace on him anyway, and then I think it’s best we get him over to the car.’
Annaliese translated quickly for her husband but he was already trying to get to his feet.
‘All right...’ Rafe laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘Stay still for one minute. Let us help you.’
Mimi jogged back to the car to fetch the neck brace and, when Rafe had fastened it securely, they got him on to his feet. With one at each side to support him, they walked him slowly over to the SUV, sitting him in the back seat. He was wet through and shaking.
‘It’s ten minutes to the hospital.’ Mimi looked at Rafe. She knew that he was weighing up all the factors. It was impossible to treat him effectively here, and the quickest way to get him warm was to go straight to A and E.
‘Yeah. He seems alert and I can’t find any signs of major injury.’ Rafe considered the question for a brief moment. ‘We’ll take him now?’
‘Yes, I agree. Would you like me to drive?’
‘The steering’s pretty heavy...’ Rafe hesitated and then smiled, handing over his car keys. ‘Why don’t you drive? I’ll sit in the back seat and keep an eye on him.’
Good call. If she could handle an ambulance, she could handle Rafe’s SUV. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle with your car.’
‘You’d better be.’
* * *
The A and E department of the hospital was always busy, but tonight it was busy. The doctor in charge recognised Rafe, though, and after an exchanged greeting waved them through to an empty cubicle. It seemed that they were going to be keeping their patient for a little while longer.
Mimi sat Annaliese down in a chair in the corner and helped Rafe get Leo out of his soaking clothes. There was only a gown to dress him in, but Mimi found a couple of blankets and tucked them around him on the bed.
Rafe’s quick nod told her that he could continue with the examination on his own and she turned her attention to Annaliese, who was crying quietly now.
‘Let’s get your coat off. You must be cold.’
Annaliese nodded gratefully, allowing Mimi to help her off with her coat and overtrousers. She was moving stiffly, her arms shaking.
‘Are you hurt?’ Mimi had already asked the question out on the road and Annaliese had said she was fine, but she didn’t look all that good now.
‘No. I am okay.’ Annaliese was holding her arm.
‘May I see your arm?’ Annaliese nodded and rolled her sleeve up to expose a livid red friction burn. ‘That’s from the airbag?’
‘Yes. I think so.’ Now that they had reached the safety of the hospital, Annaliese seemed about to break down. Mimi had seen that many times before. People’s courage brought them through to the point where they knew that they and their loved ones were safe and then took a back seat, allowing them to cry.
‘The doctor’s examining Leo now.’ She leaned towards Annaliese confidingly. ‘He’s the best.’
‘I heard that...’ Rafe murmured the words without taking his attention from what he was doing.
‘So did I. Thank you.’ Annaliese smiled and seemed to relax a little.
Mimi took off her own jacket and dropped it on the floor in the corner. She’d known that the tension between her and Rafe was unsettling for their patients and now it seemed that the warmth was making itself felt too.
She set about cleaning Annaliese’s wound. ‘When I first spoke to you, in German...’
‘Ah. Yes.’ A sense of fun suddenly showed in Annaliese’s face.
‘What did I say? You looked a bit puzzled.’
‘You told me that you were turning into an ambulance.’ Annaliese smiled. ‘But I understood. You made a mistake that is common with English speakers.’
‘What did I say afterwards?’
‘You said that you needed a doctor.’
Mimi pulled an embarrassed face and heard Rafe chuckle quietly. ‘At least you were somewhere in the ballpark.’
‘Ja... Yes, it is good to try.’ Annaliese turned to her husband, speaking quickly to him in German, and he nodded, managing a smile.
‘I don’t suppose you could write the correct wording down for me, could you? I meet a lot of different people in the course of my job and it might come in handy in the future.’
‘Yes, of course. I have paper...’ Annaliese reached for her handbag eagerly, and Mimi stopped her.
‘We’ll get your arm sorted out first. Then you can give me some lessons.’
* * *
Annaliese was wrapped in a blanket, sitting by the side of her husband’s bed, sipping a hot drink. Mimi had ascertained that her clothes were wet only around the shoulders and fetched a spare T-shirt from her own locker, along with a blanket and a drink. Annaliese received the comb that Mimi handed her with a smile. It was the little things that did the most to reassure people sometimes. Taking the time to comb your hair was a step back into normality.
Rafe had concentrated on Leo. Now that he was warm and dry, and his distress levels were reduced, it became clear that his English was good enough for them to communicate directly, without needing a translator. His injuries were relatively minor but needed treatment and care—a broken wrist, shock and slight concussion, along with rapidly forming bruises on his face and chest.
Rafe beckoned to Mimi and she followed him out of the cubicle. ‘I’m going to see if I can find a bed for him. I wouldn’t normally admit him, but he needs care and rest. I assume they have nowhere to go?’
‘No. Annaliese said that they left their hotel in Exeter to drive to one here, not realising that it was flooded. Apparently the hotel didn’t think to phone people and let them know, just expected everyone not to come.’
‘Great. Masterpiece of forward thinking.’
‘Yeah. They were looking for other accommodation when their car went off the road.’
‘So what are we going to do with her?’ Rafe knew that the correct procedure was to alert hospital services and they would find somewhere for Annaliese but, from the snatches of conversation he’d heard between the two women, maybe Mimi had other ideas.
‘I’ve called Charlie. With Jan and Matthew there, he can only offer her the sofa bed, but I reckon it’s better than a mattress on the floor in a community centre somewhere. She’ll never get a hotel tonight, and Charlie will be around tomorrow to get her to the hospital.’
‘She’s okay with that?’
‘Yeah. Fine. Charlie’s got room for Leo as well, if you want to release him.’
‘I’d prefer he stays here, if they have a bed for him.’
She nodded, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a bunch of keys. Slipping a familiar one off the ring, she handed it to him. ‘Here. I’ll go on ahead with Annaliese and you can follow when you’re finished.’
‘Are you sure?’ Rafe had resolved not to go back to Mimi’s cottage again but, now that he had the key in his hand, temptation made him waver.
He couldn’t say no now. Rafe nodded, pocketing the key.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHARLIE HAD BEEN ready with hot soup for Annaliese. Janet had fussed over her, going out of her way to make her welcome, and Mimi had left the four of them in the sitting room around a roaring fire, getting to know each other. She half wished that she could have stayed.
But her own quiet cottage was waiting for her. Rafe would be home soon. The thought twisted in her stomach. It wasn’t his home any more. She’d erased almost every trace of him from the place, working in a fury of hurt and anger.
Maybe all the feverish effort had just been her own attempt to prove that she was good enough. And maybe she hadn’t needed to after all. She opened the kitchen cupboard and, taking the bottle of emergency brandy out from the back of the top shelf, poured herself a measure.
Slipping off her heavy boots, she settled herself down on the sofa and swirled the amber liquid in the glass. No answers there, but it felt warm and relaxing. They couldn’t change what they’d done, now. But perhaps there was some way that they could come to terms with it and get on with their lives. She reached for the TV remote and then threw it back on to the cushions beside her. She had too much going on inside her head to be able tolerate anything other than silence at the moment.
Her back ached and her limbs were heavy. Stretching out on the sofa, she sipped the brandy slowly...
* * *
‘Hey...’
‘Geroff...’ She could feel someone’s hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. Mimi swatted it away and rolled over. The sound of breaking glass, and Rafe’s sudden exclamation of surprise, brought her back to wakefulness.
‘Careful...’
‘Yeah, sorry. Didn’t see the glass.’ He was kneeling down next to her.
‘That’s okay. Have you cut yourself?’ The glass must have fallen on to the floor when she fell asleep.
Rescued by Dr. Rafe Page 10
