Waves of Fire

by Anne Hampson

  She would have agreed to the honeymoon ... and she would now be with her husband. He had searched for her, and having at last found her he had asked her to live with him— ‘Think about it, Shani,’ he had advised. ‘For we’ve a long way to go and the road can be lonely.’ During the holiday he had tried so hard, she saw that now... and she had refused him. He was now tired of trying; all desire for her was dead and she might just as well abandon hope. Perhaps if he had not given her a demonstration of the intensity of his desire, had not submitted her to those savage kisses of possession, she might the sooner have seen him in a different light. He had come to Cyprus hoping to claim her, clearly not expecting to ace the setback of another man having entered her life. The knowledge had inflamed him and his primitive traits had been bared.

  Shani had since discovered a very different side to his nature, had known kindness and gentle care when on holiday with him - had later experienced his tenderness as a lover.

  The news that she was leaving soon spread, but to her surprise she was not questioned as to the reason. Jenny must have enlightened them and they had practised tact. But there would be gossip; like the rest Andreas would know of her supposed reason for leaving, though he would know there was much more to it than a lovers’ quarrel, he himself having made marriage between Shani and Brian impossible. If only she could go to him, and tell him it was nothing to do with Brian - but everything to do with him. He was the only one who never spoke about her going away. He seemed lately to have become sunk in a sort of dull apathy and although he would sometimes nod to Shani in passing, more often he would not notice her at all. In the theatre he rapped out orders and she obeyed. On the wards Jenny - or any other sister who accompanied him - would sigh with relief when the ordeal was over. Only with the patients did he seem to be human, asking about their comfort, and if they had any complaints. And invariably someone suffered the lash of his tongue if a patient did happen to lodge a complaint. Lydia as usual hovered about, being free every afternoon and at the weekends. She was doing clerical work for several of the doctors now, but often she would go over to Andreas’s house, sometimes when he himself was busy at the hospital. Comments were made, but no one appeared to be over-curious.

  Lydia entered the theatre one afternoon when Shani was preparing for the operation Andreas would later perform. Under Lydia’s arm was a briefcase bearing the stamped initials A.M. and Shani frowned momentarily. Perhaps Lydia was doing work for Andreas also. It was quite feasible, because she seemed to have plenty of time on her hands.

  Shani stared questioningly at her visitor, unaware of how lovely she looked in her uniform, her face pale but sweetly composed. She had been engrossed in thoughts of her baby. She wanted a boy, but felt he would be like her, with her colouring. A girl on the other hand would be like Andreas, dark and with fine strong features and sensitive tapering hands. Yes, she decided, she wanted a girl. Andreas would of course have wanted a boy,

  because all Greek men desired to have a son for their first child. So perhaps she should hope for a boy... But a boy would be lost without a father, later on, when he needed companionship. A girl would not miss a father quite so much, so it would be better to wish for— Shani smiled to herself. What good was all this switching of preference? The sex had already been determined.

  ‘I have a message for you.’ Lydia came closer to where Shani was checking the instruments.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Evynia from the village asked me to tell you your order is ready. You’ve been having some table mats embroidered, so she says.’

  ‘Thank you for bringing the message. I’ll collect them tomorrow.’

  ‘You’re leaving us, I hear,’ commented Lydia after a pause.

  ‘I am leaving, yes.’

  'Before Christmas?’

  ‘That’s correct.’ Shani left her task and moved away to check the cylinders, hoping Lydia would take the hint, but the girl remained by the table.

  ‘This is all very sudden.’

  Shani looked at her, recalling Lydia’s confident assertion that she and Andreas would probably announce their engagement on his return from Cos. Lydia had hoped he would take her with him to the island, and that the fortnight’s stay together would produce the desired result. He didn’t take her and she concluded he had gone alone. What a shock she would receive were she to know he had gone there with his wife!

  ‘There’s been a certain amount of speculation as to the reason for your unexpected decision to leave,’ remarked Lydia coolly when it became obvious that Shani was not going to speak. ‘The staff believe it’s owing to a quarrel you’ve had with your young man.’

  She moved over to where Shani was once again looking

  over the trolleys she had earlier set up. The operation was not until four o’clock, Andreas having been operating in Nicosia during the morning and now taking a rest. ‘But that’s not the real reason, is it, Sister?’ The sly note in Lydia’s voice, and the phrasing of the question, brought Shani’s head up with a jerk.

  ‘I don’t think I understand you, Miss Murray?’

  A sneering laugh broke, grating on Shani’s nerves.

  ‘No one else appears to have noticed, but it’s been very clear to me for a while that you’ve had designs on your boss. Of course, it’s nothing new; nurses so often aspire to marry doctors — but they rarely manage to succeed.’ She paused a moment and then added, ‘I suppose you’re finding the situation impossible?’

  ‘Miss Murray,’ said Shani in icy tones, ‘do you mind leaving my theatre!’

  Lydia’s eyes narrowed to mere slits and dark colour fused her cheeks.

  ‘I’ve already warned you about your lack of respect, Sister. If you’re not very careful I’ll report you, to Matron.’ ‘Do that by all means, if you consider you have a complaint. Meanwhile, kindly allow me to get on with my work.’ Her glance went to the door. Andreas’s rest must have been short, because at that moment he walked in. Shani’s face was flushed, and so was Lydia’s. Andreas glanced from one to the other questioningly. Neither spoke. ‘Is anything wrong?’ he inquired of Shani.

  ‘No-no, sir.’

  ‘But I’m sure there is. Lydia, why are you here?’ ‘I came to give Sister Reeves a message,’ she smiled, at the same time shaking her head in a gesture of bewilderment. ‘Instead of thanking me she ordered me out.’ ‘Indeed?’ His eyes became fixed on Shani, the most odd expression in their depths. ‘Is this true, Sister?’

  ‘I did thank her.’ For a moment Shani forgot her position, forgot that in the hospital Andreas was her superior. ‘She insulted me, and I’m not having her in here!

  So you can tell her to leave!’

  An awful silence followed her words; she put a quivering hand to her mouth but could not bring herself to apologize. Andreas continued to regard her in that peculiar way and although he reprimanded her she had the unaccountable impression that it was merely because he had no choice, Lydia’s being a witness to her disrespectful outburst.

  Lydia’s face was a study of mingled triumph and mystification as she looked from Shani to Andreas who, despite his stern words of censure and warning, was still regarding his wife more with curiosity than with anger.

  Shani did not notice either of them. She stared at the floor, her hands clasped in front of her, her face flushed and hot from the lecture she had just received. She was angry with herself, and more angry still with Lydia for goading her into such unmannerly loss of control. And quite illogically she was furious with her husband for coming into the theatre when he wasn’t expected. Why, she thought pettishly, wasn’t he keeping to routine and taking his rest? He had no right to come into the theatre at this time!

  He was waiting for her to look up, intending to speak to her. Sensing this, she deliberately kept her head averted and he spoke to Lydia instead.

  ‘Why did Sister order you out? There must have been some reason for it.’

  Lydia shook her head, and shrugged.

  ‘I really don’t know,
Andreas,’ she purred in a forgiving sort of way, and in the manner of one desirous of smoothing over an awkward situation. ‘Sister Reeves is probably tired - and a little cross because of it. We all get like that sometimes,’ she added, smiling enchantingly up at him. ‘Sister was working in here and it’s understandable that she should wish to do so without interruption. I do understand that and wouldn’t have dreamed of coming here had it not been for the message I was told to pass on to Sister Reeves.’ Her lovely eyes were wide open and

  raised to his; her lips were parted and inviting. Shani glanced up to see a swift smile appear on her husband’s face.

  ‘I expect you’re right, Lydia,’ he agreed softly. ‘It’s kind of you to pass it off so lightly - kind and understanding, my dear, and I’m sure, when she’s feeling less tired, Sister will readily acknowledge this and apologize for her rudeness.’ Shani’s chin lifted, but nothing would have drawn words from her while Lydia remained in the room. Ignoring them both, she began counting the swabs over again, hoping her action would this time have the desired effect. ‘I’ll go now, Andreas. Shall I see you before this evening?’ He glanced at the briefcase under her arm, and then at his watch.

  ‘Were you going over to my house now?’

  ‘Yes, I was on my way there when I remembered the message I’d promised to deliver to Sister Reeves.’

  ‘Make some tea,’ he said after a slight hesitation. ‘I’ll be with you in a few minutes. You have your key?’

  ‘Yes.’ A gloating look cast in Shani’s direction, a dazzling smile for Andreas, and Lydia was gone.

  Shani then said, her anger having subsided,

  ‘I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that, especially in front of Miss Murray.’ She expected a stern, disciplinary expression to enter his eyes, but all she saw was that odd light enter their depths again.

  ‘I had no idea you disliked Miss Murray,’ he said in a toneless voice. ‘You appear to dislike her most strongly.’ She felt puzzled. Where was the frigid manner to which she had now become used?

  ‘I’m not sufficiently interested in Miss Murray either to like or dislike her.’

  ‘You’re not? Why, then, did you order her out?’

  ‘She had no right to be in here.’

  ‘Her reason for being here appears to be quite valid. She obligingly delivered you a message.’

  ‘What I should have said was that she had no right to stay - after giving me the message, I mean.’

  Andreas stared down at one of the trolleys and absently scanned its contents.

  ‘Why did she stay?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ returned Shani a trifle impatiently. Why was Andreas concerning himself with so trifling an occurrence? ‘You wouldn’t be interested.’

  ‘You told me she insulted you,’ he said, ignoring her comments. ‘What did she say to make you so angry?’

  ‘I can’t tell you that.’ Where was the loyalty he owed to Lydia? Or could it be that he did not owe her any loyalty? - that she meant no more to him than she did to any of the other doctors for whom she worked? That she was doing some sort of work for Andreas was now evident. He wrote articles and reports, and of course he would want those typed. Shani frowned. The relationship could not be merely a business one because Andreas and Lydia went out together on occasions, and it was known that he had several times dined with Lydia’s parents at their converted Turkish house in the mountains of Lapithos.

  ‘You can’t tell me, eh? There must be a good reason why you can’t, Shani?’ She said nothing and after a moment Andreas asked softly, ‘Perhaps, then, there is something you will tell me.’ He looked straight at her and she had difficulty in meeting his gaze. ‘Are you really going home because of the break with Brian?’

  Her heart missed a beat. He seemed to be probing into her very soul. His question was odd, and unexpected. He was a doctor ----- Could there be a

  dawning

  suspicion in his mind? Were he to know about the child he would offer to have her with him, even though by his own admission he was no longer interested in her. If she refused his offer he would take the child from her,

  perhaps for six months of the year. The law could grant him this, should she raise an objection.

  ‘Yes,’ she lied in desperation. ‘Certainly it’s because of Brian.’

  His gaze remained on her for a long, frightening moment and then his lip curled.

  ‘I suppose you consider me responsible for this upheaval in your life?’

  ‘You are responsible,’ she whispered, and there was no need for her to lie this time.

  ‘I’d have given you credit for more courage,’ he shot at her with a half-sneer. ‘You’d have got over it in time. There was no need for so rash a decision. ’

  Her eyes kindled strangely.

  ‘Why should you care, Andreas? After all, you yourself said you no longer had any interest in me, so why should you lie concerned about my job, or my future?’ Her voice was low and husky, holding a plea, a desperate little plea which her husband missed.

  ‘You’re quite right, I have lost interest in you - so why should I concern myself about your future?’ With a sweeping glance of a contempt he left her standing there, one trembling hand resting on the trolley, her tiny ray of hope dying as quickly as it had been born.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Working with Andreas had been trying before, but after the little scene in the theatre it had become positively unpleasant and Shani began to wish she had taken Matron’s hinted advice and left straight away. But she was having to work out her notice now because her replacement was not coming for another four weeks.

  When on duty Andreas snapped at her all the time, when off duty he adopted an attitude of complete indifference towards her. This was more apparent when there happened to be a social gathering, which often occurred as one or another of the staff would always be having a little get together, sometimes in Matron’s room and sometimes at the local taverna. On these occasions all formality was dropped and Christian names were used. Shani was as usual popular with everyone — everyone except Andreas, who deliberately avoided speaking to her.

  This pleased Lydia, but always there was a puzzled light in her eyes and she would often glance from Shani to Andreas, a frown crossing her handsome flawless countenance.

  ‘What’s wrong with Lydia?’ asked Jenny one evening when they were having a party in the garden of the tavern. It was Sister Glover’s birthday and many of the staff, including Shani and Andreas, were at her party. ‘She gives you the most peculiar looks.’

  ‘We don’t get along,’ shrugged Shani, watching in disgust as Lydia made eyes at Andreas.

  ‘Who does get along with her?’ Chrystalla put in. ‘No one.’

  ‘Andreas Manou,’ corrected Jenny. ‘I wonder what she’ll do when he’s gone.’

  ‘Follow him, probably,’ interposed Dr. Gordon with a grin, but he shook his head for all that. ‘Can’t see the attraction at all. She just isn’t Andreas’s type.’ ‘She does some kind of work for him.’ Shani’s eyes were drawn to Lydia again. She was speaking, and as though in emphasis she laid a beautifully-manicured hand on Andreas’s arm.

  ‘She does work for several of us, but we don’t reward

  her by asking her out.’

  Andreas glanced across to where Shani’s little group were talking, almost as if he sensed he was the object of interest. He looked indifferently through Shani and turned again to his companion. Her glass was empty and he took it to the bar.

  ‘I think it’s only now and then that he takes her out,’ submitted Chrystalla. ‘Andreas’s lights are on nearly every evening. I think he works in his home.’

  ‘Lydia has charming parents, and probably when he does dine at her house it’s the parents he really goes to see.’ This, surprisingly, came from Jenny, who added, in contradiction to former statements she had made, ‘I entirely agree, she just isn’t Andreas’s type.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Dr. Gordon musingly, ‘you’re
right about her parents; they are charming. I’ve dined with them myself on a couple of occasions.’

  The four folk musicians started to play and several couples got up, dancing on the dusty ground, while in one comer three Cypriots began to perform one of the more lively Greek dances.

  After a while the music stopped and the ‘floor’ was cleared. Yannis, the custodian of Kyrenia Castle, got up and instantly there was a roar of pleasure from everyone. Yannis was the star attraction at any party. Jovial, and so very European in his ways, having worked in England for many years, he was yet the typical Greek Cypriot - open, generous, and a little naive. He was also handsome, and as agile as any twenty-year-old youth. Everyone knew and liked Yannis; he was one of tourism’s greatest assets.

  He danced tirelessly, leaping into the air and twisting to the quick and lively strains of the bouzoki band.

  At last he sat down next to Andreas and they talked for a while, but as the music struck up again he came across to Shani.

  ‘Come,’ he said, laughing. ‘Let’s show them!’

  She brushed and shook her head.

  ‘No, Yannis,-I—’

  ‘Shani! Yes, we want Shani!’ came the resounding chorus. ‘She’s the only one who does it like a Cypriot!’

  ‘Please, Yannis, not in front of all these people.’ But she wasted words. Yannis had her on her feet.

  The dance was slow and difficult, but both Shani and Yannis were experts. They held handkerchiefs, twisting them and shaking them in a way that gave special emphasis to the graceful swerving of their bodies. The movements of the handkerchiefs were important and concise, in complete harmony with the rhythm of the steps. The garden setting by the sea, the folk musicians in their colourful costumes, the twinkling lights half hidden in the vines, the quiet rhythmical handclapping of the audience ... all these contributed to the success of the graceful performance. The dance had its origins in antiquity, its movements often reflecting pagan rites - sacrificial, barbaric. Shani and Yannis danced it much the same as it had been danced over two thousand years ago at the altar of some deity of ancient Greece. Forgetting her audience, and even her anxieties, Shani danced for the sheer joy of being alive, her face flushed, her eyes sparkling and her lovely slender body perfect in movement. She and her partner never touched, but they danced in complete harmony, their steps light and accurate.