After Hurricane Nina, Nolan's Resolution (Hot Hunks-Steamy Romance Collection Book 2)

by Angela Stevens

  God, how he’d changed! Throughout his adult life, Nolan rarely invited a woman to stay over and he actually preferred sleeping alone—but then Olivia happened and, even though they had been sleeping together less than a month, he’d gotten very used to waking up with her in his arms. Now the space around him felt vast and lonely.

  Nolan rolled over and closed his eyes. After tasting the happiness he’d had with Olivia, he wondered if it would ever be possible to find it again. His whole perspective was altered and over the last few weeks he’d come around to thinking about a future with her, having that special someone to share the rest of his life with and, for the brief moment it had lasted, it felt fucking good.

  Thinking back to what he’d said to Olivia just before they left San Francisco, he wondered if he could actually go through with his promise. Rationally, he knew it was him that had to bow out. Olivia was married to Lenny, he was… shit! He didn’t even know what he was to her. All he knew was what he couldn’t be.

  The alarm on his phone sounded like a klaxon going off. Nolan rolled over in bed to shut it off, his head thumping, his mouth dry, and he felt disorientated. It took him a while to realize he was halfway around the world and when he did, dread pooled in his gut as he remembered why they were there.

  “You take a shower first,” he mumbled into his pillow.

  Nolan must have fallen back asleep because he woke again with a start when Olivia shook his shoulder. “All free.”

  He made his way into the shower, hoping the hot water would invigorate him and give him the energy for what was to come. When he came out, Olivia was dressed in light-colored jeans and a floaty blouse. She scraped her dark hair back into a ponytail. The humidity was already getting to it, making the soft waves ping into tighter curls around her hairline. Nolan grabbed his clean clothes and went to loosen the towel around his waist. Olivia blushed and turned her back on him. Remembering they were no longer in a relationship, he snatched them up and went back into the bathroom to change.

  Emerging ten minutes later, he grabbed his wallet and passport. “You ready to do this?”

  Olivia sighed and pushed her shoulders back. “As I ever will be.

  It was only a short walk to the consulate, but Nolan’s heart was pounding against his chest by the time they arrived. He glanced sideways at Olivia and judging by how pale she was looking, he guessed she was feeling as apprehensive as he was.

  “Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Carmichael, welcome. I’m Robert Morrison.” The Consul general reached out his hand, shaking theirs in turn. “Please, have a seat.”

  “Thank you for seeing us.” Olivia’s voice was barely audible and she clasped her shaking hands in her lap.

  He shuffled some papers. “Um, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

  Nolan cleared his throat. “Are you able to confirm it is Lenny?”

  The diplomat’s cheeks reddened a little. “Well, things are rather confused, Mr. Carmichael. There seems to have been some mixed information circulating and since we contacted Mrs. Johnson a couple of days ago, I haven’t been able to validate the information we have received.”

  “What do you mean? Is Lenny at Kuta hospital or not?”

  “We believe he is, but…” The man wriggled in his seat and scratched under his shirt collar. “Um, you will have to forgive me. I have only just taken over here and to be quite frank, I inherited a bit of a mess. Now, from my understanding, Mr. Lenny Johnson went missing during Hurricane Nina on November 30, 2016. From the report you and Mrs. Johnson filed, he was last seen outside your hotel on Pandawa Beach and was believed to have been washed away.”

  Nolan could feel his patience waning and he glanced over at Olivia to find her looking deflated. “Look, your phone call said there was a patient at Kuta that you believed was Lenny…”

  “Ah, yes. Um, this is all very embarrassing.”

  “You said that already. Now, is Lenny there or not?”

  “Well, the man my assistant called you about is there, but we haven’t been unable to confirm his identity. When he was found he had no ID on him and the local police made enquiries about him in the area but no one has been able to offer us a name. We only have the items we found at the scene of the accident to go by, um, but it doesn’t say here what they are. Obviously, a passport or a driver’s license would be more conclusive but I’m not sure these things were present.”

  Nolan pushed his hands through his hair, his temper was barely hanging on. They’d flown over eight thousand miles around the world and were confronted with this idiot.

  Olivia’s hand flew to his and she gripped him tightly. “S-so, you are saying that this man, this man might not be Lenny? That we came all this way for nothing?”

  The diplomat hung his head. “I’m very sorry, Mrs. Johnson. I’d hoped to have more information to give you before suggesting you travel here, but you surprised us by leaving the U.S. so quickly.”

  “Fuck.” Nolan collapsed back in his seat. He wasn’t sure his emotions could take any more hits.

  “In the circumstances, I think it would be best if I escorted you both to Kuta and we can speak to the doctor concerned and arrange for you to visit the patient. Hopefully, that will confirm things one way or another.”

  Chapter 14

  Olivia

  The twenty-five-minute journey took them almost back the way they had come the previous night and, as they skirted the airport, Olivia’s anxiety knotted tightly in her stomach. Nolan squeezed her shoulder and she tried to reassure him with a smile.

  The hospital was much larger than she expected and was housed in a four-story modern building with huge glass panels. Olivia wasn’t sure what she was expecting but it wasn’t this. The place looked state-of-the-art and wouldn’t have looked out of place back home.

  The Consul General must have noticed her surprise. “It’s quite something, isn’t it?” She nodded, feeling a little dazed. “Bali has invested a lot in medical facilities. They want in on the medical tourism boom. This place has one hundred and four beds and is part of a chain of Siloam hospitals across Bali. If this man is your husband, he will be receiving the best possible care around.”

  They were met by a German doctor who led them to a quiet office. He shook her hand firmly as he introduced himself. “Dr. Koch, I have been dealing with the patient who came in with severe head injuries.” He offered them seats and then sat behind a desk and placed a file in front of him. “I’m sorry, but we have limited information on the man who was brought in. He was found lying in the road three days ago, a motorcycle was found close by. From what we can gather, he seems to have been hit by a large truck and left for dead. We found the remains of an American passport—sadly the inside pages are missing and the cover is very damaged. However, I believe he was wearing this.”

  The doctor reached into his draw and pulled out a wrist watch. He turned it over and Olivia’s hand covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a sob. She couldn’t take her eyes off the date and name engraved into the back. “Th-that’s Lenny’s. I gave it to him on our wedding day.” She put out her hand and the doctor placed the watch in it. “This is the date we were married.”

  For a moment, all she could do was stare at it. Lenny was alive. Then it hit her—but he was in a coma and she had no idea whether he would survive. “H-how badly is he hurt? Do you think he will wake up? Can I see him?”

  Nolan sat beside her, slumped into his chair, his hand scratching his chin. The expression he wore was as shocked as her own and he seemed to be trying to digest everything.

  “I’m afraid I can’t discuss this man’s medical condition until we are sure you are related. Um, but under the circumstances, I can arrange for you to see him so that we can make that confirmation.”

  “Please.” Olivia didn’t know why but her voice sounded weirdly detached from her, like someone else had stepped up and taken control.

  “Okay, Mrs. Johnson, if you would give me a few minutes to make some arrangements.” Dr. K
och got up and left with Robert Morrison following behind.

  Olivia found she couldn’t sit still and got up, pacing the room.

  “Are you okay?” Nolan joined her by the window and together they looked out over the vast hospital parking lot.

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t think I am.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  She glanced up at him. “Nothing.”

  “Livi, don’t shut me out. I want to help you.”

  The hurt in his eyes was too much to bear. “I just have to do this, Nol… on my own.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I want to see Lenny by myself.” She walked away, not wanting to look at him.

  “Livi…”

  “You aren’t a relative, I doubt they’d even let you in there.”

  “Why are you shutting me out?” He crossed the room after her, cornering her so she couldn’t escape.

  “You know why.”

  “Because of us?”

  “There is no us,” she hissed. “There can’t be. If Lenny ever finds out…”

  “Livi, I already told you I won’t tell him. If this is Lenny, I’ll keep my promise and leave you both alone.” He lowered his head, looking at his shoes. “You know this might not be him?”

  Nolan’s closeness was too much and she pushed past him. “You saw the watch. I gave that to him, Nolan. This is Lenny, I can feel it.”

  Putting up his hands in surrender, he stepped toward her. “I’ll go along with whatever you want, but just remember, I’m here for you.”

  A surge of anger took her by surprise. “You hope it’s not him, don’t you?”

  “Of course, I don’t!” His eyes turned black and he lowered his voice. “He was my best friend. There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t wished he was still here, that I haven’t prayed for a damn miracle. God, I want it to be true, Livi. Even if it means I can’t have you… shit, I want this to be true.”

  Tears poured down her cheeks. She knew she was being unfair but for some reason she had to lash out at someone. “You don’t have me! We fucked a few times, Nolan, but both of us know that’s all it was. You’re not Lenny, sooner or later you’d be back to your old routine. I was just another notch on your bedpost. You’re probably already lining up your next lay.”

  Nolan grabbed her biceps and shook her. “Stop it, Livi. You know none of that is true. I fucking love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  She shrugged her arms out of his grasp. “Why the hell would you say that? My husband is in a coma and you… you…” She slumped into a chair, her hands covering her face. Why would he say that now? Why was he trying to make this more difficult?

  “I’m sorry. Shit, it just came out. But, goddamnit you know how I feel about you. Look, I’ll wait outside, if you need me I’m here, if you don’t then I’ll keep out of your way.” Nolan turned on his heels and yanked open the door. As it thudded back into place, Olivia was left shaking in her seat.

  For half an hour, she cried herself out in the room and was just trying to get it together when the door opened. She looked up, hoping it was Nolan, but Robert Morrison stepped in.

  “They are ready for you now. Is Mr. Carmichael coming with us?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know where he went.”

  Nolan appeared behind the Consul. “I’m here, Livi.”

  Relief flooded through her. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

  The walk down the long hospital corridors just added to the tension. Their footsteps ricocheted around all the hard surfaces and the smell of bleach, or whatever sanitizing products were being used, made her stomach churn. Eventually, they passed through a set of double doors into an area that was filled with beeping monitors.

  Nolan stopped at the doors and leaned against the wall. Folding his arms in front of his chest he said softly, “I’ll be here if you need me.”

  Olivia wanted to say she’d changed her mind, but she knew she had to do this by herself. She couldn’t stand in front of her husband with her lover, it just wasn’t right.

  They entered a curtained off area. There were two beds in this section, one occupied by a man who was hooked up with wires and drips, an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, but the other bed was empty, the sheets disheveled as if someone had been recently removed from it. Around the bed, two nurses bustled, packing up equipment.

  “Sorry for the wait.” Dr. Koch stepped into the room, we had an emergency with another patient and…”

  Olivia looked at him confused. She thought she was being taken to see Lenny. “I don’t understand? Where is my husband?”

  Koch frowned at Morrison and the two men looked toward the occupied bed. The hospital bed hissed and vibrated and the man lying in it seemed to rock and roll as it jostled him.

  Olivia stared at the occupied bed. “Th-that’s not Lenny.”

  “Are you sure, Mrs. Johnson? The apparatus around him is obscuring him a little, would you like to come closer?”

  “I don’t need a closer look.” Her eyes flew to the doctor. “My husband is African American, not Caucasian, Dr. Koch. I have no idea who this man is or why he was wearing my husband’s watch, but this is certainly not Lenny Johnson.”

  The doctor swept up a pile of papers and rifled through them, his cheeks reddening as he searched them. “Mrs. Johnson, I don’t know what to say. The description… black hair, brown eyes… there doesn’t seem to be a mention of… oh, dear.” He looked up from the papers. “I really am very sorry, please, let’s go back to my office.”

  When she stepped through the double doors back into the corridor, Nolan stepped away from the wall. “Is it Lenny?”

  She shook her head, too stunned to answer. How could the hospital have made this mistake?

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Carmichael. There seems to have been some sort of mix up… we, um, we’ll be investigating what went wrong. Please, let’s go back to my office and I’ll explain everything.” The Consul General ushered them down the corridor but Olivia couldn’t make her feet move. Her hands began to shake and the tears cascaded down her face. The people around her made her feel claustrophobic and the hospital’s antiseptic smell added to her light headedness. She looked up at Nolan and he swam before her eyes.

  Olivia woke in an examination room, Nolan standing beside her holding her hand while a nurse took her blood pressure. She groaned. “What happened?”

  “You fainted.” He grinned down at her. “Caused quite a commotion.”

  “Shit.” Olivia struggled to sit up.

  “Please, Mrs. Johnson, take it slow.” The nurse came to her side, fussing around her.

  “I’m fine. It was just the shock on top of the traveling and—”

  “I’ll keep an eye on her, could you give us a minute?” Nolan gave the nurse a reassuring smile and she nodded and left the room.

  As Nolan went to shut the door behind her, Olivia swung her legs around so she could climb off the bed. When Nolan turned back, he shook his head at her. “Oh, no you don’t, stay where you are.”

  Reluctantly she did as she was told.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “It wasn’t Lenny—the man was white! Why would they even let me think there was a hope…”

  He put his arm around her shoulder. “Fuck. Seriously?”

  She nodded. “We came all this way for nothing.”

  “Hey, hush. Calm down. This is pretty shitty, but I’ll talk to them. There has to be some complaint procedure…”

  Olivia shook her head. “I don’t want to make a fuss, Nol. It’s not going to make any difference. We still won’t know what’s happened to him.”

  The door opened and Mr. Morrison popped his head around the door. “Ah, Mrs. Johnson, you’re awake? How are you feeling?”

  “How the fuck do you think she is feeling?” Nolan squared his shoulders at the diplomat.

  In all the time Olivia had known him, she had never seen Nolan look so
pissed off, and, as he towered over the diminutive frame of the Consult General, he looked intimidating. Nolan’s hands clenched and unclenched and for one moment, she thought he might hit the guy.

  Olivia climbed off the bed and put her hand to Nolan’s forearm to calm him. “I-I’m fine. It’s just been a very long couple of days that’s all.”

  “Yes, I can understand that. Um, please, both of you, have a seat. I have further information I need to discuss with you.”

  Chapter 15

  Nolan

  “You have to be fucking kidding me?” This level of incompetence was unbelievable! Nolan leaped to his feet, his gaze going to a stunned and silent Olivia who just stared blankly at Robert Morrison.

  “I wish I was. Honestly, Mr. Carmichael I can only apologize and set up an enquiry to determine the breakdown in procedures.”

  Nolan raked his hands through his hair as he mulled over how they had got to this point. “Let me get this straight, you now believe there was a mix up with Lenny’s belongings and the man you took Olivia to see?”

  Robert Morrison ran his finger around the collar of his shirt. It looked like he was being strangled by it and Nolan felt an overwhelming desire to help the shirt collar out.

  “It seems the personal artifacts that arrived at the hospital with the motorcycle patient were actually not found on that man, but had been left in the ambulance from an earlier call out.”

  “So where did they come from?” It was beginning to dawn on Nolan that they had to come from somewhere and that could lead them to Lenny.”

  The Consul General cleared his throat. “Um, well that is what we are trying to ascertain, but it seems the vehicle was used to transfer a body earlier in the day.”

  Nolan stopped pacing and glared at the man. “A body?”

  “Um, yes. It seems that someone was found washed up near Kuta that same morning.”