by Anne Fraser
Kendrick took Sunny by the arm and turned her round. He peered into her face. ‘You don’t look too good. What did the doc say?’
‘The doc hasn’t said very much yet. We think it’s a case of flu but just in case, the doc has taken some blood,’ Elizabeth said, irritated.
But Kendrick was no longer smiling. ‘What about your pee? Is it normal?’ he asked Sunny.
Elizabeth was growing more indignant by the moment. Just who did he think he was?
‘Well, now that you ask …’ Sunny looked embarrassed. ‘It’s kind of dark.’
An alarm bell went off in Elizabeth’s head.
‘And when was it that you were in Tanzania for those few days’ filming? Ten days ago, if my memory serves me right,’ Kendrick continued.
‘Yes. About then.’ Sunny turned to Elizabeth. ‘Philip had a couple of scenes he wanted to shoot there. Something about the light. Only Jack and Tara and a few of the supporting crew were needed, apart from me. Anyway, Kendrick, why are you asking?’
‘I think I should have a closer look at you, Sunny,’ Elizabeth said. Damn it, she had been so sure it was flu she hadn’t even asked the obvious questions.
‘Did you take prophylactic anti-malarial medication before you went?’ she asked as a confused-looking Sunny let herself be led back inside.
‘Yes. Of course. Why?’
Kendrick and Elizabeth shared a look. ‘Doesn’t necessarily mean anything,’ Kendrick said.
He was right. Although prophylaxis helped, it didn’t, contrary to what most people thought, mean you couldn’t get malaria. Add the flu-like symptoms and the tiredness to the dark urine and malaria was seeming more likely.
‘I think you might have to go to a hospital in Los Angeles to be checked out more thoroughly,’ Elizabeth said. She could have kicked herself. Why hadn’t she asked more questions? ‘I should take you there. Is there a car we could use?’
‘I’ll take her,’ Kendrick volunteered. ‘I’ll use the helicopter. It’ll be faster and more comfortable. I could be there and back in a couple of hours.’
‘You can fly a helicopter?’ Was there nothing this man couldn’t do?
‘I’m a qualified pilot,’ he said briefly.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. What was a trained pilot doing working as a stuntman?
‘If you could get Philip to agree, that would be a help.’ Elizabeth placed a reassuring hand on Sunny’s arm. ‘It’s best we get you to hospital as soon as we can, but it’s only a precaution.’
‘I’ll tell Philip I’m taking it. Don’t worry, he won’t try and stop me. I fly it for him for his stunts and we keep it handy in case we need to get anyone to hospital in a hurry.’
Elizabeth guessed that the people most likely to require to be flown to hospital in a hurry would be the stuntmen. Kendrick in particular. She wondered if he’d thought about who would fly him if he got badly hurt.
‘The cost of a trip to LA is nothing in the scheme of filming a movie like this,’ Kendrick continued. ‘Besides, sometimes I fly Tara and Jack to LA for the weekend to save them hiring their own planes. It’s all part of the service. We stuntmen do all sorts of stuff on set.’
‘In that case, would you clear it with him and let him know what’s happening? Sunny, do you want to grab what you need for a couple of nights in hospital? You might want to phone your family and let them know what’s happening. While you’re doing that I’ll speak to the admitting attending at the hospital so they know we’re coming.’
By the time she’d spoken to the hospital, Sunny had packed a bag and was waiting by the door of the helicopter. Kendrick was in the pilot’s seat, doing some sort of checks, or so Elizabeth assumed.
The helicopter was small with only just enough space for Sunny and Elizabeth in the back.
‘Philip’s not too happy about me going,’ Sunny said. ‘He depends on me. Are you sure it’s necessary? I don’t feel that bad.’ Then she groaned. ‘Just really, really tired. Is it okay if I lie down?’
‘Sure,’ Elizabeth said. Sunny was definitely deteriorating. It was good that they’d be at the hospital in thirty minutes.
Elizabeth’s stomach dropped as Kendrick took off and she found herself clutching Sunny’s hand.
‘It’s okay,’ Sunny mumbled. ‘I’ve see him fly. Believe me, we’re in safe hands.’
As soon as they were airborne and the helicopter levelled out, Elizabeth was too busy monitoring her patient to worry whether they’d make it to the hospital in one piece. At least until they got into Los Angeles city and she saw that they were flying just over, and sometimes between, the skyscrapers. At that point she wished she could keep her eyes closed.
Kendrick put the helicopter down so gently Elizabeth almost didn’t realise they had landed on the roof of the LA city hospital. Almost before the rotors had stopped turning, the hospital staff were wheeling a gurney towards them.
Sunny opened an eye and tried to protest that she could walk, but she didn’t have the energy. Elizabeth quickly updated the doctor, who nodded. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take it from here. I’m afraid you’re going to have to move that chopper from the landing pad. We’re expecting another casualty in a few minutes.’
Although she knew the hospital was first class, Elizabeth didn’t want to abandon Sunny. But she didn’t really have an option. She bent over her patient.
‘I’ll phone and find out how you’re doing as soon as I can.’ She squeezed Sunny’s hand. ‘You’re going to be fine.’
Kendrick had hopped out of the pilot’s seat in time to hear the doctor’s words.
‘Jump in beside me, Lizzie. We’d better get out of the way,’ he said.
Reluctantly, Elizabeth did as he suggested. She wasn’t at all sure about being in front with Kendrick where she had a bird’s-eye view of the buildings they had to negotiate their way through, but now was clearly not the time to argue. As Kendrick started the engine he passed her a pair of headphones and indicated she should put them on. Then with another stomach-lurching lift, they were back in the air.
‘I should have stayed with her,’ Elizabeth shouted above the noise of the engine.
Kendrick winced. ‘You don’t have to yell.’ His amused voice came over the head phones. ‘Just speak normally. Sunny will be fine, I promise. Besides, you might be needed back on set.’
Elizabeth couldn’t say anything as they flew between the buildings. She was clenching her jaw too tight. Thankfully, and not a minute too soon, they were leaving the city behind.
‘How come you guessed it was malaria?’ she asked as soon as she could speak.
‘Saw a bit of it in the army.’
‘You were in the forces?’
‘Yup.’ He didn’t elaborate.
Kendrick surprised her more and more. Thank God he had recognised what could have turned out to be very nasty for Sunny if she hadn’t been sent to hospital.
‘I should have picked it up,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Kendrick said. ‘It happens.
‘But not to me. I hate making mistakes.’
Kendrick’s smile was back in action. ‘I might not have recognised what it was if I hadn’t known she was in Tanzania a couple of weeks ago, so I wouldn’t call it a mistake, exactly.’
‘What would you call it, then?’ Elizabeth snapped.
Immediately she felt ashamed. She was tired and out of sorts but that didn’t excuse any of it.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I’m not usually this touchy. It’s just …’ She stopped herself just in time. If her history got out, if people knew the real reason she was here, they would be sympathetic and want to know all sorts of stuff she didn’t want to talk about. More worryingly, they might wonder if she should be back at work and if she was up to the job. Especially if they knew she had almost missed diagnosing Sunny immediately. Of course, as soon as the blood results had come back she would have known that there was something
more seriously wrong than flu. But by then it might have been too late. She shivered. Sunny had two small children depending on her.
Kendrick was looking at her as if she puzzled him. It was hardly surprising. Her behaviour must seem odd at the least.
She forced a smile. ‘Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.’
Kendrick studied her intently for another moment, before touching his hand to his head in an informal salute. Elizabeth wanted to tell him to keep an eye on where he was flying but she had the horrible suspicion that if she did, he would tease her by doing some trick with the helicopter. It was just his style.
As they flew out over the desert Elizabeth began to relax. At least out here there was nothing to crash into.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been in a place quite as desolate as this before, but it has its own magic.’
‘I’ll show you more of it when we have time off,’ he said.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she wouldn’t dream of spending a minute longer with him than she had to, but she bit back the words. She’d been quite rude enough for one day. It wasn’t his fault that he made her feel on edge.
‘I’d like that,’ she said.
‘It reminds me of my folks’ home,’ he continued.
‘Where is that?’
‘A few hundred miles to the north. My father has a ranch near the San Bernardino Mountains.’ He glanced at her. ‘Have you ever been to a working ranch?’
‘No. I would love to see one, though.’
When she saw the satisfied smile on Kendrick’s lips she could have bitten her tongue. Clearly the man thought he was making progress. Didn’t he recognise a friendly, polite response when he got one? But anything she said now would only make it worse.
The rest of the short journey passed quickly. Kendrick made a short detour to point out the San Andreas fault.
‘Have you ever experienced an earthquake?’ Elizabeth asked. The thought of one happening, even though they were so close to the fault, didn’t concern her. How could it? The worst had already happened.
‘I was involved in the rescue mission after the quake in Kashmir. The army used the helicopters’ heat-seeking equipment and radar to locate trapped bodies.’ He brought his dark eyebrows together and his silver eyes darkened to pewter. ‘It was tough. I sure hope we don’t see anything like that here, even though they think it’s inevitable.’
There was nothing much she could say in reply. The more she knew about Kendrick the more he surprised her. From helicopter pilot to stuntman? None of it seemed to fit. But the closed look on his face told her now was not the time for questions. If ever.
When they touched down they were surrounded by people wanting to know about Sunny. As soon as she’d updated them, Elizabeth excused herself, saying she wanted to phone the hospital, leaving Kendrick to field their questions. Whatever he decided to tell them about her near miss was up to him. Somehow she knew he would make sure there was no blame attached to her and she didn’t know how she felt about that. She didn’t want to be beholden to this man.
That night, when Elizabeth was lying in bed, her thoughts kept drifting back to Kendrick. Thumping her pillow and throwing off her blankets didn’t make any difference. Resigned to a sleepless night, Elizabeth made herself cocoa and took a seat by the window, gazing out at the thousand stars lighting up the cloudless sky.
Earlier she had spoken to the doctor at the hospital and he’d confirmed a diagnosis of malaria.
‘Well spotted,’ he said warmly. ‘A day or two would have made a difference. She would have become a lot sicker. As it is, we should be able to discharge her after the weekend.’
‘It wasn’t me who spotted it,’ she’d said. She couldn’t sit back and take credit where none was due. ‘It was one of the stuntmen. He was in the army and saw a lot of it there, apparently. He’s the one who flew us down.’
‘Well, whoever caught it, the result’s the same,’ the voice on the other end of the phone said. ‘But tell him good job from me.’
Why did her thoughts keep returning to Kendrick? There was no doubt he was interesting. One minute he was acting like someone straight out of an action movie, the next he was being kind and perceptive and, she had to admit, good company. But that wasn’t the only reason. There was a strength about him, an assurance, as if he was always in control, as if he’d never let anything bad happen on his watch.
In every way he was different from the man she had married. She couldn’t imagine Kendrick walking out on his wife and child when that child had a life-limiting illness. But then again, what did she really know about the stuntman? He was clearly someone who liked his freedom. But that was okay. It wasn’t as if she was thinking of Kendrick in that way. Being intrigued by someone was a whole different ball game to wanting to be with them.
She walked across to the bedside table and picked up the photograph of Charlie. Tracing the contours of her daughter’s face with the tip of her finger, she smiled. From the first moment she’d held her daughter in her arms, she’d been overwhelmed with love. In that instant she’d understood when people talked about a mother’s tigerish protectiveness. And when Charlie had finally been diagnosed with Gaucher’s disease, that instinct had only grown stronger. She would have given her life for her child.
Simon, on the other hand, had been disbelieving, almost outraged. As it had become apparent there was something seriously wrong with their child, he’d insisted on getting a second and then a third opinion. But no matter how many doctors they had seen, the diagnosis had always been the same, as Elizabeth had known it would be. Charlie had inherited a rare gene from both her parents and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the illness taking its course. Finally she had put her foot down.
‘Enough, Simon. She has a terminal illness and nothing’s going to change that. She won’t be with us for long, but whatever time we have with her, can’t we just make the most of it? No more treating her like a pincushion. No more dragging her halfway across the world.’ Seeing the grief in her husband’s eyes, she had softened. ‘Let’s just love her.’
Simon had shaken his head and looked at her, his eyes filled with abject misery. ‘I don’t know if I can cope with all this. I know what that says about me, but I don’t think I can.’
And he couldn’t. He had tried at first, but soon he’d been spending more and more time away from them and at work. Elizabeth had intended to return to her job with the air ambulance service when the baby was six months old, but that had proved impossible. Not that she’d minded. She’d wanted to make the most of every second she had of Charlie’s life.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise when Simon had left, but it had been. To be honest, she hadn’t even noticed him drawing away from her until it had been too late.
His leaving her rocked her soul, but for Charlie’s sake she had picked herself up and carried on. What else could she do? The last time she had seen her ex-husband had been at Charlie’s funeral.
She would never love again, she knew that. It was too painful. So why was she even thinking about Kendrick? The man was clearly not her type. But wasn’t that part of the reason she was attracted to him? At least he didn’t pretend to be something or somebody he wasn’t.
CHAPTER THREE
KENDRICK glanced over to where Jack was leaning against one of the cars they were using in the shoot, gesticulating with his hands as he talked. Next to him was Elizabeth but from her body language, arms folded, whatever Jack was saying was cutting no ice. For the first time ever, Jack’s famous smile and charm was having no effect. Kendrick eyed Elizabeth speculatively. Most women were fawning, gibbering wrecks when Jack turned on his charm. But Dr Lizzie seemed less than starstruck. Kendrick grinned. The movie star was still persevering, but it would take more than his dazzling, whiter-than-white smile to thaw this particular ice maiden.
What was her story anyway? Why was she so cool and distant? Had she just come out of a broken re
lationship? It was the most likely explanation for her frosty exterior. If so, he knew exactly how to fix that.
He strolled across to Jack and Elizabeth and was pleasantly surprised to see the look of relief in her eyes when she noticed him and shot him a smile. He loved seeing her all-too-rare smile. It softened her mouth and lit up her eyes.
‘Kendrick,’ she said. ‘Jack was just inviting me to his party next weekend. He says everyone’s going.’
Sneaky so-and-so. Trying to get in there first. Thinking that an invitation to his mansion in Beverly Hills would tip things in his favour. His gut was telling him that it would take more than glitz and glamour to impress the doctor, but he wasn’t going to tell Jack that.
‘You’re coming too, I assume, Kendrick?’ Although the lead actor smiled, Kendrick could see that he didn’t want him to get in his way. Every time they did a film together there would be this little unspoken competition about who would end up with the woman they both wanted. So far the score had tipped in Kendrick’s favour, but Jack was only just lagging behind.
‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ Kendrick said easily. ‘Would you excuse us for a minute? There’s something I need to speak to Dr Morgan about. In private.’
‘He’s after you, you know that,’ he said as soon as Jack was out of hearing.
Elizabeth shook her hand free and glared at him. ‘I’m perfectly able to look after myself, you know,’ she said coldly. ‘And as for Jack being after me …’ her voice was thick with sarcasm ‘… I can assure you I’m not interested. In him, or any other man for that matter.’
Ouch. There was no mistaking how she meant that comment. It was time to change tack.
‘Look, I was just being a little over-protective. Can’t help myself.’
‘Not when a little lady might need to be rescued,’ Elizabeth bit back.
Wow! She was prickly. This wasn’t exactly going to plan. He changed tack again.
‘Actually, I wanted to ask you about my arm.’ Women couldn’t resist a man in pain and as the doctor she had no choice but to take him seriously. ‘When I did my latest stunt, I think I wrenched it again.’