by Dianne Drake
So, no, she didn’t trust relationships, and Adam had given her no real reason to trust him.
Except she did. More than that, her feelings seemed to be straying a little further than trust, and the tingles running up and down her arms right now were the tangible proof of that. Good thing she had the sense to know she couldn’t do anything about it. Not that he’d tried anything. Or so much as hinted at it.
“Well, I went back to Trinique’s, couldn’t find him there. Thought he might be at the clinic, but he wasn’t. Checked back around the boat. No luck there either.”
“Would he have run away?” she asked, trying not to think about Tadeo out there alone in the jungle at that time of night. He was a resourceful little boy, though, well at home in his surroundings. So she shouldn’t be worried. But she couldn’t help herself. She was, and it was growing by the minute.
“He’s independent. I don’t think he realizes that boys his age have limitations so, yes, he could have run. But he’s a good kid. I think he’s more inclined to face me at some point and see if he can make good. Or, at the very least, apologize.”
“But what will he do if he thinks you’ve totally turned against him? He knows you loved that boat, Coulson. And I believe he loved it probably as much as you did. For the same reason you did—it tied him to someone important to him. Think about it. What would you have done, when you were his age, if you’d destroyed it?”
“Felt like the whole world had turned against me. Been scared to death. Wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and never come out. Or run away.”
“Exactly. He’s eight, probably a little afraid of the dark, so I don’t think he’s gone too far from his comfort zone, yet. But I have an idea that if we don’t find him tonight, he’ll be gone by tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll look until I find him,” Adam said.
“We … we’ll look until we find him.” She held out her hand to Adam, and he took it.
“You’re too nice to me, Red. I don’t deserve it, after the way I’ve acted.”
“You’re right. I am too nice to you, and you don’t deserve it. But we’re neighbors. You’re not going anywhere, I’m not going anywhere, so getting along makes it easier. Otherwise we’d have to build a real fence between our properties, and I like the view on your side.” More than she would admit to him.
He chuckled. “You beat everything. Do you know that?”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It just might be.”
Hand in hand, they walked down the dark path, looking for Tadeo, calling his name. Occasionally they separated, went off in different directions to search. But always came back together in a matter of a minute or two. And each time the way her hand slipped so naturally into his … it felt right to him. Such a simple thing, yet such a significant one. She was definitely getting to him. And as Davion had suggested, that’s why he’d been grumpy so much lately. Fundamentally, he didn’t want to be gotten. But Erin was so … good. Sexy as hell, a genuine femme fatale the way she attracted him, and he didn’t think she even knew she had it in her. She did, though. More than that, she had such strength, such a sense of purpose, which he found almost as sexy as the rest of her.
He’d given up, a long time ago, thinking there could be a complete package. Every woman fell short in some way. Then there was Erin, who totally wiped that idea out of his mind. And, damn, he wished he could do something about it, more than hold her hand. But they were going to spend a long time here together, living next door to each other, working, maybe not together but in parallel, so what if he did advance, and she retreated? Or what would happen if they got together in some way other than professional, and it didn’t work out?
He wasn’t inclined to take the risk because he knew how those risks turned out. He’d done it before. Married the person he’d thought would share his dream, even though, when he looked back on those days, he truly hadn’t seen any evidence of that in Janice. Not a speck. Maybe he had seen only what he’d wanted to see. Who knew? But he’d taken that risk anyway and had ended up down and almost out. So, not this time. No more risks. He’d come here for a reason, stayed here for a reason, forfeited his marriage for that very same reason, and he didn’t want that boat rocked in any way. Of course, a superstitious man might have read something into that boat actually burning. But he wasn’t a superstitious man. Wasn’t a risk-taking man either.
So, for Erin and him it had to be friendship. That’s all there was to it. To maintain their relationship in the long-term, the only thing it could be was camaraderie based on professional respect. Something he truly regretted, though, because the thoughts in his mind … Anyway, they both had goals, and that’s what he had to remember, all the time. He wanted to succeed in his own goals but, as much as he wanted what he wanted, he also wanted Erin to have success in her goals, too.
“Look,” he said, reluctantly dropping her hand and stepping away from her. “He might have gotten into one of your buildings. It’s not where he would have normally gone, but these aren’t normal circumstances.”
“Nothing is locked up,” she said. “It would be easy for him to hide there.”
“Then why don’t you take the main building and I’ll go look in the outbuildings? If we don’t find him in any of those … I think we’re going to have to wake Davion and a few of the locals and start a real search.” He held out a flashlight to her. “It’s not much, but it will help. You take the shorter way and I’ll take the other path around, and unless he’s actually gone off into the trees somewhere, that will cover us between here and the hospital compound.”
Erin nodded then, without another word, turned and ran in the direction of her hospital. In the dim light coming from the Reyes cottage, he watched her on the path until she was gone then took the alternate route, glad he didn’t have to watch her run … watch her crazy, wild hair fly in the breeze, watch legs he wanted wrapped around him moving gracefully in long strides, watch her hips swaying.
Definitely he needed a different path. In more ways than one.
“Tadeo,” she called into the darkness. She hadn’t been here at night and, on entering the main ward after a quick check of the private rooms, she was attacked by a galloping case of goosebumps. It wasn’t that she was frightened by the dark, because she wasn’t. But this room.it seemed so large, so empty, and the purpose of everything she wanted to accomplish here suddenly came alive. During the day, this was a hospital. It looked like one, would function as one. But now, at night … when she’d been young, nights had always been the worst. Dark, barren hours with nothing to do but think, or be afraid. The nights had terrified her, not the darkness so much as the emptiness, especially when she’d been in one of her sicker cycles. Daylight always made things better, though. It brought new hope and that’s what she wanted here. New hope.
Her kids weren’t ever going to be in the dark, Erin decided. After the large ward was turned into separate rooms, she would paint luminescent stars on all the ceilings, make sure there were night-lights everywhere. No total darkness. Not for her kids. “Are you in here, Tadeo? You’re not in trouble, Adam’s not angry about his boat, but he’s very worried about you. We’re both worried. Afraid you may have gotten hurt … or burned. Tadeo?”
She held still, listened. Didn’t hear so much as a scrape on the wooden floor or the rustle of someone shifting positions nearby. Or the sound of panicked little breaths either. But the obvious lack of anybody there didn’t stop her from looking, from walking up the center aisle and shining the wavering beam from the light on each and every bed, then down underneath. Sixteen beds examined, and no Tadeo. He wasn’t in the tiny exam room at the end, not in the room set aside for staff, or even the room she’d designated to be her surgery. Not in the supply closet either. Nowhere.
On that discouraging note, she headed back to the front door, keeping her fingers crossed that Coulson was having better luck. Just at the front, though, in the tiny reception area, she flashed her light on a built-in c
loset, meant for hanging jackets, maybe lab coats. It was barely more than the size of a modest locker, but she opened the door anyway and there, huddled in a ball at the bottom, was Tadeo. His big brown eyes wide, he simply stared up at her, didn’t say a word.
“We all make mistakes,” she said, holding out her hand to him. “I’m sure you were only trying to help Adam with his boat, and you didn’t mean for the fire to happen. He knows it was an accident, Tadeo.”
“It was dark,” he sniffled, not taking her hand, not making a move to come out. “I was trying to get ready to varnish. Doing some more sanding.”
“And you lit a fire to see by? Is that what happened?”
He nodded. “In the lantern.”
“Then accidentally knocked it over.”
“I tried to stop it,” he said, as the tears started to slide down his face. “Tried hitting it with some of the rags and stomping on it. But the fire got so big.”
“Where were you burned, Tadeo?” she asked gently, instinctively knowing that he had been.
He shrugged.
“Can I see where you were burned? It’s got to hurt awfully bad, doesn’t it? Maybe I can find something to make it feel better.”
Finally, he nodded, and held out both hands. The insides were burned, from his palms to his fingers. Red, splotchy, already blistering in places. The poor child had been too frightened to get help and the pain had to be terrible for him.
“Look, Tadeo, I need you to come out of the closet so I can help you.”
“He’s going to hate me,” Tadeo whispered, still resisting her.
“He doesn’t hate you. In fact, he’s out looking for you right now because he was afraid you might have got burned, and he wants to take care of you.” She thought that might draw him out when, in fact, it caused him to draw in on himself even more. “How about if I take you over to the clinic and take care of your burns myself, then we don’t even tell him about it? Would that be OK?”
A tentative nod was all that Tadeo mustered, but it was enough to cause Erin to bend down and gently tug Tadeo from the floor of the closet then bundle him up in her arms and head for the door. “You’re almost as tall as I am,” she said, struggling not so much from Tadeo’s weight but from the awkwardness of carrying a larger child without hurting him any further than he was already. At the front door, she simply kicked it open then descended the two steps—steps she was going to turn into a ramp soon. Halfway across the compound’s central yard, she saw Coulson step out of one of the cabins and shine his light directly on her. She shook her head at him when he started to run toward her then shook her head more vigorously as he continued his approach. The second warning stopped him, but not for long as he fell into step quite a way behind her, and followed her to his clinic. Once there, he ran to the back door, opened it and went immediately to open the front door for her. But he stepped behind the door as she entered carrying Tadeo, so Tadeo wouldn’t see him there.
He was a man who truly loved this child. There was no hiding it. And there was no hiding his anguish. The kind of man she could love, if she was willing to take that step. someday.
“It’s going to hurt a little bit,” she explained to the boy, who was nestled against her so tightly it made walking difficult. The easiest thing would have been to hand the boy over to Coulson, but Tadeo wasn’t ready for that yet. Wasn’t ready to face the person she believed he cared about more than anybody in the world. “But I’m going to give you something that will make you feel better.”
In the first tiny exam she came to, Erin laid Tadeo on the table, turned on the light then took a good look at the burns for the first time. Second degree, but not as bad as they could have been. “I need to go and get some bandages,” she told him. “You stay here, don’t move around too much, OK?”
Tadeo nodded bravely, but the quiver to his bottom lip told her his bravery had just about run out.
One step into the hall and Coulson pulled her all the way across, into the other exam room. “How is he?” he choked, his voice so low she could barely hear him.
“Scared to death. With second-degree burns on both his hands.”
“Does he need to go to the hospital?”
“No. I can take care of it here. And he’s not ready to face you yet, Coulson. I’m sorry. He’s really frightened, and I tried reassuring him that you’re not angry, but he’s a stubborn little boy and he doesn’t want to see you … right now.” She gave his arm a supportive squeeze. “But he will when he’s feeling better. Just give it some time.”
“Pabla needs to know,” Coulson said.
“Will she care?” Erin didn’t think she would, which made her heart ache all the more for Tadeo.
“I’m going to roust out Davion and send him over here to help you while I go and confront … tell her what happened.”
“Could Davion do that?”
“Because you think I’ll say something I shouldn’t?”
“Because you’re too emotionally involved and, yes, I do think you’ll say something you shouldn’t. Not that Pabla doesn’t deserve it.”
“I’ll be fine. On my good behavior because Tadeo needs that from me.”
“Then I’ll take you at your word, Coulson, but would you get me some water before you go? I want to cool down his hands first, before anybody does anything else.”
“Back in a minute,” Coulson said, then bolted out the door like a man running for his life. Three minutes later, while she was still gathering supplies, Davion appeared with a bucket of water.
“He decided to go and have a talk with Miss Reyes right away, while he was still relatively calm.” He handed the bucket to Erin. “He’s pretty mad about this … not the boat but about how she doesn’t pay attention to Tadeo, and he doesn’t want to make things worse for the boy. Anyway, can I help you? I’ve never treated anything other than a first-degree burn before, but I can do whatever you need.”
“I’d love your help, Davion.” In spite of his promise to her, Erin didn’t imagine Coulson was going to be too amiable in his confrontation with Pabla Reyes. But maybe that was OK, because Tadeo needed someone on his side, someone to fight for him. Someone to be fierce. Coulson, it seemed, was that someone, and it did her heart good to see the depth of his emotion for the boy. In Tadeo’s life, that would make a difference. It would in Coulson’s life, too.
“If the second-degree burn is no larger than seven or eight centimeters in diameter, treat it as you would a minor burn. Cool it, cover it, control the pain. Luckily, Tadeo’s small hands won’t accommodate anything larger than seven centimeters, so we’re in luck. But the exception to that is if the burn area is larger, or it’s on the patient’s hands, feet, face, groin or buttocks, or even over a major joint. Then it has to be treated like it’s a major burn. In other words, urgent care.”
“So, Tadeo’s a pretty lucky kid,” Davion replied, more for Tadeo’s sake than anything else.
“Tadeo’s very lucky. And to prove it, he’s going to get some of the very best bandages I’ve ever done.” She smiled at Tadeo, who looked so scared it broke her heart. Actually, these weren’t going to be easy wounds to manage, given his age and home circumstances, and she had an idea Tadeo understood that. “Now, there are several ways to cool a burn, but the first thing to remember is that you can never let a burn come into contact with ice. That can cause further damage, often tears the skin that’s still intact. But you can hold the burned area under cool running water for about fifteen minutes, which isn’t practical for us as the sink is too high for Tadeo to reach. So, do you know any other method of treatment?” she asked, feeling, for a moment, like she was Davion’s teacher. A little bit of Coulson rubbing off on her, she supposed.
“Cold compress. Or you can immerse the wound in cool water … like in a bucket. Sterile water’s the best, if you have it, which we don’t. However you do it, though, the reason is to reduce the swelling that’s going on by conducting the heat away from the skin.” He grinned. “Adam has taug
ht me well.”
“Don’t underestimate your own ability, Davion. You have a gift for medicine.” She grabbed a stack of sterile gauze pads from the supply shelf, as well as a stack of wash rags.
“And I’ll be going to medical school in a few months.”
Once organized, she began to dip the rags in the water. “I didn’t know it was going to be so soon.”
“I was expecting to wait for a while, but Adam sold his hospital to get me there before I’m an old man. He’s been saying he applied for a scholarship for me, and he thinks I don’t know he’s the one going to pay most of my way. I’ve felt bad that he had to sell his hospital, but he did it before I knew what he was doing. So, because of what he’s done, I’m going to make sure he’s proud of me.”
“Don’t feel bad that he sold his hospital, Davion. When you love someone, you want to make the sacrifices. That’s the best kind of life anybody can live, and even though he’s grumpy about it, that’s the kind of life Coulson lives, or lived, until I showed up. And I know for a fact that he’s very proud of you. Now, lay the compresses gently on Tadeo’s hands then switch the compress as soon as you feel it turning warm. You’ll be able to feel the heat from his burns radiating out. Keep applying them while I go and find something to take the edge off his pain. You wouldn’t happen to know what kind of pain medicine Coulson has on hand, would you? ”
“Ibuprofen. In the back room, not locked up.”
She was barely in the hall when Coulson came running, breathless, straight at her. “How is he?”