The massage was almost as relaxing as the facial and David had to fight to keep awake but he couldn’t face any more dreams of burning body parts, horribly handsome Jules or Geraldine’s delectable breasts. He managed to keep his gaze fixed on a tiny spot of dirt on the ceiling, promising himself that he would get the ladders and wipe it off before the day was out while agreeing that both the types of relaxation method were perfect for their clients and their partners.
Chapter Eleven
Only another two weeks to go and the château would be opening its doors. Even in his desolation, David felt that he was doing something good. They would be fully booked for the New Year’s ball with guests arriving from four in the afternoon onwards. Several of his former colleagues were coming with their families and he was looking forward to seeing them.
All of his friends had messaged and asked how his love life was going. Denial seemed easier than the truth. He answered with bravado that he didn’t have a clue what they were on about. He was just good friends with all of the staff.
He swallowed the lie every time he said it, hating himself for being duped but not really blaming Geraldine. It hadn’t been her fault that he had expected far more than she could possibly give.
He didn’t kid himself that he was over her, he didn’t think that would ever happen but he kept his emotions under strict control whenever she was about. The only time he came near to losing it was when she announced over the breakfast table that Jules was interested in viewing the château. Apparently he’d played in the ruins when he was younger and was desperate to see what they had made of it.
Ellen couldn’t wait to meet the man and told Geraldine that Jules was welcome anytime but Geraldine arranged for him to come the very next afternoon.
David made sure he was well out of the way. He spent the whole afternoon from lunchtime until dark sawing huge logs that could be used for one of their corporate activities. He arrived back at the château as night fell, exhausted and sweaty, filthy with mud and algae from the trees only to find that Jules had been invited to stay for dinner.
He marched furiously up the stairs to his room and spent the next hour sitting in the shower ignoring the sting of the scrapes and bruises on his body. Cutting the trees by hand had seemed a good idea at the time. Now, when he was tired and hungry but fighting his pride he wasn’t sure that he shouldn’t have waited until Joe arrived to help him.
Exhaustion swept over him as he dumped his towel in the linens basket. Still damp, he threw himself on the bed and lay there staring up at the canopy while he contemplated what he was going to do. His choices were limited given the state of his body and while he knew that money was never going to be a problem he had hoped for something worthwhile.
He had thought that the project was going to be his work for the rest of his life, had wanted it to be but he now realized that he would have to leave. Watching Geraldine fall in love with another man wasn’t something he could bear to see happen in front of him. He groaned as he thought of her in another man’s arms and fury swept through him.
He cursed the warlords that had forced the boy to blow himself up, cursed Steve for saving his life, cursed Ellen for insisting that he came here and he cursed himself most of all for being so stupid as to fall in love.
Bitter tears leaked out onto the pillow but he just let them fall. He had to leave the place, couldn’t stand being there any longer. He knew he couldn’t just leave like a thief in the night. Ellen would be devastated, but he had to leave before New Year. Geraldine would be here and he had already seen Jules’s name on the guest list beside Geraldine’s. His gut burned as he thought of her dancing with the man, his arms around her, his hands on her body and later when they went to her room. He held back the bile that rose into his throat as images of the perfect Jules doing unspeakable things to the woman he loved swept through his mind.
The woman he loved! He covered his face with his hands and groaned as realization dawned on him. It had sneaked up on him, lured him in and captured him as quickly as sliding down the zip wire. It wasn’t going to do him any good moaning about it but he couldn’t stay there and see her in the arms of another man. It would be impossible; his heart would be ripped from his body if he saw it.
He wondered if he could get his old job back in the army. Richards would probably have him but he didn’t know if he’d be allowed now he had resigned his position. He couldn’t really see that as being a viable option. There was no way he would pass the physical they used for ordinary recruits.
Maybe he could do something similar to Ellen but at a different château. He had considered perhaps a facility for rehabilitation but hadn’t gone any further than think about it. Maybe he could now. Thanks to his legacy it wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford it and if he made it an international facility he could probably raise some government funding anyway.
He rolled over in the bed as the phone rang beside him. It was an internal call from the kitchen, Ellen no doubt wondering why he hadn’t come down for dinner, but he just couldn’t sit there and watch while Geraldine and Jules made moon eyes at one another.
He picked up the phone.
“I’m too tired. I cut those eight trees up by hand. Do you think you could just make me a sandwich and I’ll come and get it in an hour or so?” He asked after Ellen told him that they were about to eat. There was a short silence and then she agreed quietly.
He put the phone down and crawled under the covers. The sheet stuck on his still slightly damp body and he lugged it up over his shoulder. Physically and emotionally exhausted, he curled into a ball and pulled the spare pillow in front of him, cradling it with his body, holding it gently against him as he would a woman, the woman he loved, the woman he would never now have.
He blinked blearily as sunlight streamed in through the open curtains. His arms were still wrapped around the pillow and he pushed it away as he sat up. He looked at the clock on his night stand and raised his eyebrows when he saw that it was gone ten in the morning. Over twelve hours sleep. He must have been more tired than he thought.
He rubbed his eyes and frowned at the covered plate that sat beside the clock. He lifted the foil and then the top slice of bread. Smoked ham and mustard sandwiches lay there, slightly curled and dry at the edges. He didn’t care; he’d never been a fussy eater. He was hungry and the sandwiches were still edible. He picked one up and munched on the crust for a few moments. Ellen must have brought it up to him on her way to bed when he hadn’t appeared to collect it.
He thought about his decision to leave and scratched absently at his thigh as he wondered how long it would take to pack his things. He only needed a small bag to tide him over for a few days until he could decide what to do next. Ellen would keep his things in his suite until he had decided on his next course of action.
He scratched his other thigh as he brought the second sandwich to his lips and then he put it down again. His thighs really were itching. Hurting in fact. He gingerly lifted the duvet and stared in horror as he saw the skin covering the ends of his thigh bones.
It was red raw, splitting in places, the skin flaking dryly. He lunged for the phone in panic.
“Ellen!” He shouted into the receiver when she picked up.
“She ‘as gone to the market, David. Can I ‘elp you? ‘as something ‘appened.” Geraldine’s voice sounded thick and slightly strange.
David gulped. He didn’t want her anywhere near him but he couldn’t sort this out on his own. He had hoped Ellen would have an idea of what to do but he didn’t have any alternative. If the skin on his stumps was failing he would need further surgery.
Panic nearly overcame him. He couldn’t make his voice work at all. He gulped air like a fish and nearly choked as he heard Geraldine suddenly say in a far more confident tone of voice.
“David, stay calm, I’ll be with you in two minutes. Put the phone down and try to keep calm.”
He slammed the phone back into its cradle and breathed deeply as he stared
at his skin. What in God’s name had happened overnight? Panic rose in his chest again as his legs throbbed painfully. They seemed to be becoming redder before his very eyes. Sweat broke out on his brow and then suddenly cooled as Geraldine burst through the door and rushed to his side.
She took one look at his face and then dropped her gaze to his naked body. Her eyes didn’t linger but opened in horror as she saw the ends of his legs.
She leaned forwards and gently lay her hand on his burning skin. It was swollen and tender. He winced as she touched him with feather like fingers.
“Mon Dieu! What ‘ave you done? David, did you not rinse after your shower last night? After all that work in the forest they must have been really sweaty and tender. I hope you didn’t spend too long under the ‘ot water. Did you dry them properly and use your cream and powders?”
David shook his head numbly, still too panicked to speak.
Geraldine took a deep breath as she scolded him with her eyes.
“Foolish man! You know ‘ow important it is to keep your skin in top condition.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She spoke rapid French to someone at the end of the line before she pocketed the phone once again and bent to look closely at what remained of his legs.
David swallowed noisily.
“Am I going to lose more of them? I can’t face it Geraldine, I just can’t go through all that again.” his voice nearly broke with the strain.
Geraldine stood back and stared grimly at him. She wasn’t going to hide the facts.
“I hope not but you ‘ave not helped yourself ‘ere. The skin is infected and you are going to have to remain flat on your back for a few days. I just called the doctor. You need a full dose of antibiotics immediately. He’s bringing them up right away.” She turned to leave the room but David lunged forwards and caught her hand.
“Where are you going? You can’t leave me.” The fear in his voice was audible to his own ears.
Geraldine smiled down at him gently. She gripped his hand back tightly for a second and then released it.
“Don’t worry, I’m just going to get my bag. I have some proper cleanser and antibiotic cream in there. I’ll probably have to dress them for you too as soon as the doctor ‘as taken a look. Now let me go and I’ll be back in just a few minutes, I promise. In the mean time you might want to put on some underwear or the doctor might think you’re swollen in other places too and give you some medicine to reduce that as well.” She gave him a cheeky wink as she disappeared out of the door.
David looked down at himself and for the first time since he had woken realized his state of undress. Heat suffused his cheeks but then he frowned. What on earth was she talking about? Swollen in other places where? He looked absolutely normal everywhere else. He stared down at his body for a long moment. Okay chest covered with a light dusting of hair, flat stomach with defined muscles, a well-proportioned but perfectly normal manhood lying at rest at the moment. He stopped there and gulped. Then his head shot up and his mouth dropped open as he suddenly realized what she had meant. He had been lying there as naked as the day he was born and in his panic never even thought about his nudity. She had clearly copped an eyeful. He’d always known that he was well endowed but for his nurse to mention it was a bit of a surprise. It was even more of a surprise as she had a boyfriend.
He rolled to his side and pulled at the nearest nightstand drawer, grabbed out a pair of boxers and dragged them on, wincing again as they touched his tender skin, moments before she returned to the room with her bag in hand.
The next few hours were torture. The doctor arrived and after a brief and painful examination confirmed Geraldine’s first diagnosis. Both his legs were badly infected. His own sweat from his work in the forest had softened the skin around his bones. He had made a bad situation worse when he stupidly left soap on his already delicate skin. It had dried his already tender flesh so much that the abraded layers had cracked in the night, splitting, flaking and weeping in places.
The doctor left a huge bottle of tablets and released him into Geraldine’s care. Ellen arrived home from the market a few moments later and flew up the stairs after hearing what had happened from the departing doctor.
She then sat on the end of the bed yelling at her brother, telling David off while Geraldine gently cleansed his sore skin, then spread a generous amount of antibiotic cream on his limbs using feathering strokes to apply it to the places that throbbed the most.
He gritted his teeth as not only his skin throbbed at her tender touch. Only Geraldine’s swift placement of a thick towel saved him from the ultimate embarrassment in front of his sister and he sighed with relief as she left the room still berating him for his foolishness and disregard for his health.
Silence enveloped them as Geraldine continued working on his skin. She concentrated hard on his thighs as the silence deepened and then David suddenly spoke before he could change his mind.
“I’m leaving. As soon as this has cleared up, I’m going back to England. I made a massive mistake coming here and I want you to know that I’m sorry I put you in this position.”
Geraldine looked up at him and he nearly lost it as he saw her eyes fill with tears.
“It’s my job.” Her voice quavered. “It’s what Ellen employed me to do.” She cuffed her tears with the back of her hand. “I didn’t mean to fall in love. I thought… I’m sorry that you feel you ‘ave to go. This is yours and Ellen’s project; I should be the one leaving if that’s ‘ow you feel.” She choked as she finished speaking.
David held his hands at his sides. All he wanted to do was to haul her into his arms and comfort her but if he knew if he touched her he would be undone. He gulped back his own sobs and smiled gently as he held back a tumult of emotion.
“Silly woman, and leave all my colleagues without a fabulous nurse to look after them? I would never do such a thing. You have to stay here and do this with Ellen if I can’t.”
Geraldine began to wrap his legs in a soft bandage. She lifted her chin and indicated for him to lie back to make it easier for him to lift his sore thighs as she wound the cotton around him. She dropped her gaze as she worked and spoke again.
“But I don’t understand why you can’t stay. I thought that everything would work out. We are good friends, yes? I don’t understand what ‘as ‘appened.”
David shook his head. Friends was not what he wanted to be.
“It’s not you Geraldine. It’s me. I just can’t do this. I can’t face seeing you here every day. Call me weak, call me whatever you like but I just can’t stand to see you in another man’s arms. It’s killing me just knowing that you are with Jules and it shouldn’t be like that. You should be free to choose whoever you want without me acting like a love sick fool in the background. I’m so jealous I could kill the guy and I’ve never even met him. I have to get away from here”
Geraldine suddenly stopped winding the bandages, her hands suspended in mid air. She lifted her chin and frowned at him.
“Jules? My Jules? Is he why you ‘ave been avoiding me these last two weeks, why you didn’t join us for dinner. You are jealous of Jules?”
David nodded guiltily as he bit the inside of his cheek and held back the spleen he wanted to vent at her new man.
“If only you knew how much. Look, I know you have your job to do but I can see to myself now that I have the antibiotics. You shouldn’t come near me. I might not be able to control myself if you do.”
Geraldine sat back on the bed. She had finished wrapping his legs but she stared at them for several moments longer. She lifted her chin and David saw that her beautiful green eyes had cleared. She was obviously relieved that he would be leaving.
She cut the bandage and pinned it carefully.
“Okay, I understand your position but I must check on your legs at least twice a day. I am your nurse as well as your friend. If you miss anything it could spell disaster for you so please let me do this service for you. I promise that I w
ill make my examinations as brief as possible to allow you the least discomfort. Agreed?” She stood up as she spoke and David followed her with his eyes.
“Fine, and thanks for being so kind to me. I really don’t deserve it. I shouldn’t have assumed so much.”
Geraldine walked slowly towards the door, her head dipped, her shoulders slumped. She glanced back over her shoulder.
“I’ll drop back in this evening. Do you want me to bring you some books or are you happy with the television?”
David stared at the big, vacant screen and then shook his head.
“I’d prefer Ellen to bring me some books. I can’t be bothered to watch the television now I don’t need to learn French.”
Geraldine narrowed her eyes for a second and then nodded.
“Okay, I’ll ask her to bring some. I’ll see you later but if you feel any more discomfort, anything at all, you must call me immediatment, do you understand? You must not argue with me over this David. Your future could depend on it.”
David gulped. He knew that she wasn’t playing any games now. He nodded seriously.
“Okay. I promise I’ll call for you if anything changes at all. Now stop wasting your time pandering to me. I’ll be fine.”
She left the room and closed the door without looking back and David heaved a huge breath into his lungs as his heart tore in two once again.
Geraldine didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The relief almost overwhelmed her as she discovered what was wrong with him, apart from the stupid man’s infected legs. She walked away from his room feeling better than she had in over a fortnight. It had been two weeks of excruciating personal torture. He had ignored her, avoided her and done everything he could to stay out of her way and all because of her lovely Jules.
She laughed in sudden happiness. If he was that affected by the situation it could only mean one thing. She wasn’t mistaken about all their emails and texts. When he had first arrived back at the château she had begun to wonder if her English was as good as she had initially thought. Ellen never seemed to have a problem with it but she had begun to worry that she hadn’t been understood.
Scarred Beginnings (Scarred Series Book 2) Page 10
