by Ann Mcintosh
“If I don’t keep an eye on her, she’d stay up all night reading,” he said, holding out his hand to Mina. “Let’s go sit outside for a while. There’s a nice breeze tonight.”
Instinctively she took that outstretched hand, and then everything froze, just for an instant.
Something shifted inside as an indescribable sensation crashed through her, causing a jolt of adrenaline, sharpening her consciousness so that she saw Kiah as though for the first time. Became aware of his beauty anew, just as she had so long ago when she’d watched him walk past her desk on the first day he’d come to school.
And as though to emphasize the strangeness of it all, she caught a hint of his scent, warm and woodsy, as familiar to her as her own, and yet suddenly different, too. Not that it had changed, but it was somehow interpreted in a new way, so that her pulse began to pound and warmth flooded her belly.
“Mina?” Kiah’s gaze sharpened, became probing. “You all right?”
The words shocked her out of whatever the heck she’d been going through, and she blinked, as though awaking from a dream.
“What? Yes, I’m fine,” she replied, getting to her feet, firmly shaking off the last vestiges of her strange mental hiatus, although they wanted to cling, like cobwebs. “Just woolgathering for a second. Lead the way.”
Kiah didn’t move immediately, just held her hand, his fingers firm and strong around hers. “You sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Come on. I could use a little cool breeze just about now.”
And that was no word of a lie. In fact, she’d go so far as to say she could use a cold shower. The lingering effects of whatever she’d just gone through felt suspiciously like arousal.
But that was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
“You Canadians and your inability to enjoy whatever the weather is. You constantly complain about it being too hot, or too cold, or too wet, or whatever.”
His teasing words were exactly what she needed and led to a spirited argument about his expecting her to not feel the heat when coming out of the winter’s cold. But even while they were going back and forth with each other, she felt his gaze on her and knew something had irrevocably changed.
Now she needed to figure out what it was.
CHAPTER FOUR
SINCE HE WASN’T back on call until the Sunday night after their arrival on St. Eustace, Kiah’s plan had been to take Mina around and reacquaint her with the island. That went out the window when, the day after they got there, he was called in for an emergency meeting at the hospital, in his capacity as a member of the medical board. In addition to being a surgeon, he wore many hats at the hospital, since the island was small and the number of doctors to call on wasn’t large, either.
“There’ve been reports of possible cases of the chikungunya viral disease in Trinidad, and because we have a lot of people going back and forth between the islands, the minister of health wants to make sure our action plan is solid. Miss Pearl is going, too, since she’s the head of the district nurse program, so you might as well come along with us. You can nose around the hospital while we’re in the meeting. Maybe even sign the rest of the paperwork so they can finalize your work permit.”
Mina was still sitting at the dining table, finishing the last of her coffee, and when she looked up, Kiah saw the refusal in her eyes without her saying a word. He had a battery of answers to combat her excuses, but before they got to that point, his grandmother came into the room.
Miss Pearl gave Mina a visual once-over and then said, “That’s too casual for the hospital. Hurry up and change into something else, or we’ll be late.”
To his surprise, after a short pause, Mina got up.
“Okay,” she replied, shocking Kiah with her meek acquiescence. “Give me a few minutes.”
Kiah watched her retreating back for a moment, before turning and finding his grandmother’s steely gaze resting on him.
Before she could say anything else, he forestalled her with an upraised hand. “And no, although I’m still nominally on vacation, I don’t plan to wear these flip-flops to the hospital.”
But Miss Pearl didn’t seem interested in his casual footwear. Instead, she said, “We should include Mina in the meeting with the minister.”
“Why, Granny? She’s an orthopedic specialist, not an epidemiologist.”
His grandmother gave him a scathing glare, then moved closer, lowering her voice to say, “Use your head, Hezekiah. How long do you think she’ll be satisfied by writing manuals and formulating procedures? She’s in transition, but eventually she’s going to have to figure out what she wants to do next.”
“And how will this benefit her?” he asked, trying not to let his irritation show in his tone. If anyone was going to help Mina, it should be him, not his grandmother.
Miss Pearl narrowed her eyes. “She has to be reminded she was a doctor first, before a surgeon. There are a lot of options open to her, but until she realizes that, she’ll make no progress. I’ve already told a number of people about her, and I think she’ll be a lot busier than she expects. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with her recognizing all the potential here.”
Why did it sound as though there were layers of meaning in that statement he was missing?
Before he could question his grandmother further, she turned away, adding, “Now go change into proper shoes, or you’ll make us late.”
When Miss Pearl used that tone, no one in their right mind disobeyed, especially not her family, so Kiah headed back to his room, still contemplating her words.
She was on the wrong track, he knew. His sole intent on getting Mina to come to St. Eustace was to bring her back to life, give her something to do other than sit around, depressed and wallowing. Once she got back on her feet and was ready to go on with her life, there was no way she was staying here.
There was nothing on their quiet island that would hold her, once she got her head straight. Mina was a creature of the city, used to the bustle and noise, not to mention the frenetic activity of a large, major teaching hospital. She’d had an active social life, too, mostly thanks to Warren the Worm’s determination to make a name for himself in Toronto’s legal circles. The slower pace of St. Eustace wouldn’t hold her interest for long.
Kiah was sure of that.
What was important now was helping Mina come to some kind of peace with the loss of her hand. Kiah had watched her, listened to her, and wasn’t fooled by the happy face she was showing the world. Even without her breakdown when he’d arrived at her apartment, he’d have known. Sometimes, when she didn’t realize he was watching, he saw her agony of spirit in the downturned lips and shadowed eyes, and he wanted to grab her, hold her, tell it would all work out.
But he knew better than to shatter the illusion she tried so hard to keep up, since doing so would make her retreat, probably all the way back to Canada. Mina always had to feel in control—of herself, her world. Losing her hand, and that sorry excuse for a husband, had shaken her confidence, and he wanted to help her get it back.
He’d also done a lot of research since her accident, wanting to be able to offer all the support and assistance she could possibly need. In his estimation, she hadn’t gone through a proper mourning period. Instead, she’d used the excuse of Warren and his crap to push her feelings about the loss of her hand and her job aside, bottling it up inside.
Unless and until she could reconcile herself to her new reality, she’d be stuck. And while getting her back into the hospital setting would be good, he wasn’t sure how sitting in on the upcoming meeting would help. It would no doubt be dry and somewhat boring.
At least, he thought, as he heard her leave her room and walk down the corridor toward the front door and rose to follow, it would get her out of the house for a while.
Getting her out of her funk would probably be a lot harder.
*
* *
Having hoped to put off any talk of going to the hospital to sign papers, at least for a few days, Mina had jumped at the chance of being included in the meeting. She’d ignored Kiah’s narrow-eyed look in her direction when she agreed to Miss Pearl’s suggestion, and now made sure to walk with the older lady, avoiding whatever comments he was planning to make.
Just being in the hospital had brought a rush of longing to prickle the backs of her eyes. Once upon a time, this would have been her milieu, a place she’d feel completely comfortable in. Now the bustle and scents of the hospital were somehow alien. Like wearing a piece of clothing you used to love, which had shrunk in the dryer and just didn’t fit properly anymore.
The minister of health’s eyebrows rose when Mina was introduced to her.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Haraldson,” she said, giving Mina’s hand a firm shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’m happy you’ve decided to lend your expertise to our efforts regarding the Clinicians’ Union over the next month.”
Mina had to resist turning to glare at Kiah. Obviously, he’d made her participation out to be a done deal and, since she prided herself on her reliability, she was now well and truly trapped for at least a month. It could be longer, depending on what exactly they needed her to do. She wasn’t one to leave a job half done.
But there was nothing for it but to smile at the minister and say, “It’s my pleasure, Minister Barrows.” But as soon as the minister turned to go to her chair at the head of the table, Mina sent Kiah a look that promised retribution.
He responded with the sweetest of smiles, which just annoyed her even more.
“As you all know, there have been several cases of chikungunya reported on Trinidad,” Minister Barrows said. “And we need to make sure we’re doing everything possible to try to protect St. Eustace from a similar outbreak.”
“We haven’t had a major outbreak of a vector-borne disease on the island since the early 1990s,” Miss Pearl said, obviously for Mina’s sake. “Although there has been an increase in cases, year over year, for the past five years.”
The representative from the Public Health division nodded, adding, “We have an ongoing program of public service announcements aimed at reminding citizens how to minimize the mosquito population, and be mindful of being bitten. So far, they seem to be effective.”
As the meeting went on, Mina was surprised at how interested she became. The minister spoke about their reluctance to restart a fogging program, since it was hard on wildlife and people who had any weakness of the lungs. Then she grilled everyone on how they could beef up the existing mosquito eradication program. When all that was suggested was an increase in the frequency of the public service announcements on the television and radio, Mina found herself interjecting.
“How old are the announcements?”
Minister Barrows wrinkled her brow and turned her gaze to the public health officer, who shrugged slightly and replied, “I believe they were developed either during or just after the 1992 dengue fever outbreak.”
“Why do you ask?” The minister looked back at Mina, that slight frown still in place.
“Well, you might want to consider doing a new set of PSAs, if the ones you’re using are almost thirty years old.”
The scowl intensified. “Why?”
“If you think about it, you have an entire generation—those younger than thirty—who don’t know what a major outbreak entails, and probably aren’t as cautious as they should be. Couple that with announcements so old that people probably don’t even listen to them anymore, and you have a recipe for the type of apathy that could derail your efforts.”
There were a few moments of silence while everyone considered her words, and Mina felt heat gathering at the back of her neck. Did they think she was talking nonsense?
Then the minister shook her head, still scowling, although slightly less ferociously.
“I see your point, Dr. Haraldson, but unfortunately our yearly budget won’t stretch to new announcements.”
Kiah leaned forward and said, “Now that I think about it, that thirty-and-under demographic might not even be watching local television or listening to the radio very much. Even if you don’t have the funds for new TV and radio announcements, you should, at the very least, put something out on the social media platforms they are tuned into.”
“It would be much less expensive,” Mina said, backing him up. “And how about the schools? What kind of outreach are you doing there?”
“None that I know of,” Miss Pearl replied. “But the district nurses go into the schools regularly, so it wouldn’t be difficult to come up with a plan to add to the usual talks we give.”
“Getting the young people involved could have a huge impact,” Kiah said with a wry smile. “As a parent, I know how much children love to be able to take their parents to task over things.”
They all chuckled, even Minister Barrows, who said, “I concur. My sons are in their teens now, and convinced I know nothing worthwhile.”
“How about some kind of contest in the schools, to tie in with the district nurses’ lectures?” Mina suggested. “Something to get them talking, debating the possibilities?”
That led to a spirited discussion, and a number of ideas were floated, none of which seemed to strike the right chord.
Then Mina had a brainstorm.
“Are the kids here like the ones in Canada, where most of them have cellular phones?”
Once more everyone focused on her, and Miss Pearl replied, “Almost all of them. It’s the bane of us older people’s existence. You can hardly get them to hear you, much less listen half the time.”
“Then, let’s kill two birds with one stone,” Mina said, excited by her idea.
Kiah started laughing, and she knew he understood exactly what she was thinking, even before he said, “A video competition?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t help beaming at him. “Let them produce the PSAs. All the phones nowadays have pretty good video capabilities, and I think we’ll be surprised at the ingenuity the children will display.”
“And any quality issues could probably be cleaned up by the graphics folks,” Kiah added. “It will make people sit up and take notice, as well as get the kids fired up.”
The air of sudden excitement in the room was exhilarating as she and Kiah batted ideas back and forth, with comments and questions from the other meeting members. By the time they wrapped up, the proposal seemed set to go forward.
“I think we have something worthwhile here,” the minister said, with no small measure of satisfaction. “Thank you all for your input, and I’ll keep you all informed as we initiate these new ideas.”
The meeting was adjourned, and Mina got up and stretched.
The minister paused on her way to the door and said, “Thank you for participating, Dr. Haraldson. This may not be your area of expertise, but I can already see you’ll be a valuable resource going forward. Sometimes a fresh perspective is more useful than empirical knowledge.”
“Thank you, too, Minister, for letting me sit in on the meeting. It was very interesting.”
“You’re welcome.” Then she looked from Mina to Kiah, and back again. “You two make a good team.”
“Don’t they?”
Miss Pearl’s tone was brisk, as usual, but for some reason Mina felt a little wave of heat rise into her face.
Kiah just laughed.
“That’s what comes when you’ve known a person for an unconscionable length of time. You start reading their mind.”
“Whatever the reason, I’m grateful for it,” said Minister Barrows, heading for the exit, her little entourage trailing behind her, shedding farewells as they went.
“Don’t just stand there,” Miss Pearl said when it was just the three of them left in the room. “Take Mina and show her around the hospital.”
Kiah held up his hand, stopping the elderly lady before she could say anything more.
“Granny, that can wait. I’m still on vacation, and fully intend to make the most of it before I’m back on call Sunday night. I’m taking Mina to the beach. Do you want a drive home?”
Miss Pearl surrendered far easier than Mina expected. Only with the tightening of her lips did she show any signs of displeasure.
“No,” she replied, giving Kiah one of her dry looks. “I’ll take a cab when I’m ready.”
Mina kept pace with Kiah, but tension tightened her shoulders and she was clenching her teeth as they left the building and approached the car. Finally, unable to bear the thought anymore, she stopped. Kiah took another step before he realized she was no longer walking, and turned a questioning expression her way.
“I don’t want to go to the beach.” Even being shown around the hospital, although also stress-inducing, was preferable to the thought of putting on a bathing suit or sitting in the heat with a long-sleeved shirt on.
Kiah’s eyebrows rose.
“Why not? You love the sea.”
The anger that stormed through her system was stronger than she could control, and she glared at him. He knew exactly why she didn’t want to go but seemed determined to make her say it.
She stepped closer, almost got into his face, and said, “I don’t want people staring at me. I don’t want to have to answer when some nosy person asks what happened to my hand. And, most of all, I don’t want anyone’s pity.”
Kiah’s expression turned stony, his lips momentarily firming into a hard line before he replied, “The only person pitying you is yourself.”
Anger turned to rage in a flash, sending a blaze of fire into her veins, and she clenched her hand into a fist, raising it, ready to throw a punch for the first time in her life. Kiah grabbed her wrist, firm fingers even hotter than her fury-heated skin.
“Dr. K!” A breathless female voice came from behind her, breaking them apart. “Dr. K. Wait.”
Mina was gasping, trying to regain her composure. She rubbed her wrist, which almost burned with the sensation of his fingers lingering there, and kept her back turned as someone ran up to where they were standing. Kiah, damn him, looked as cool and unruffled as a bucolic stream, making Mina even angrier.