Greek Island Fling to Forever

by Annie Claydon

  ‘That’s okay. I get extra points on the emergency doctor scale for carrying someone, you know. I’m just glad you aren’t too heavy.’

  Helen smiled, even though the joke wasn’t really so much of a joke. Ben had just done his job, what he needed to do to keep Helen quiet and safe. But somehow, that lost feeling of being able to make a difference had filtered back into the equation. Maybe because of Helen, but more likely because Arianna Petrakis was just five minutes away now, and she’d known him when he could make a difference.

  Ben saw a light blanket draped across the bottom of the couch and pulled it up over Helen’s legs. She was beginning to recover now, although the smallest thing could leave her struggling for breath again. The door to the surgery opened quietly and Ben turned.

  Arianna. He’d know her anywhere. Dark curls, cut to frame her face. Liquid brown eyes, and flawless olive skin. There was something about the way she carried herself that reminded him of the bravery of the little girl who had clung so tightly to him, and...there was no getting away from it...she was beautiful.

  ‘Hi, I’m Dr Petrakis.’ Her manner was perfect, assured and relaxed, even though the pink in her cheeks suggested that she might have been running to get here. ‘You’re Helen?’

  Helen nodded, and Arianna put a large paper pharmacy bag onto her desk. ‘I’ve got a selection of inhalers, but Dr Marsh says that the blue one with Albuterol is the one you usually have.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’ Helen seemed much better now, and managed to get three words out without gasping for breath.

  ‘That’s good; I have the one you need.’ Arianna reached for the bag, taking a box out and reading the Greek lettering on the side, before opening it and taking out the inhaler.

  Her English was flawless, and spoken with a slight London accent, the kind you didn’t get from just learning the language. The thought that maybe she’d lived in Ben’s home town and he’d never known how close she was took Ben’s breath away, and then Arianna turned her gaze onto him.

  ‘Thank you, Dr Marsh.’ He thought he saw some spark of recognition, but maybe it was just in his imagination. ‘I’ll examine Helen now. Corinna will make you some coffee, if you still want to wait?’

  Yes, of course... He was a tourist who’d just helped out in an emergency, and it was time for him to leave.

  ‘Thanks. I’ll wait.’ He turned to Helen with a smile. ‘You’re looking much better now.’

  Helen gave him a smile and a thumbs up, and Ben returned the gesture before walking back out into the reception area. He didn’t really want coffee, but Corinna insisted on making him some, putting a selection of biscuits on a plate next to his cup. He sipped his drink as he waited, before Arianna appeared again.

  ‘Claire, you can go and see Helen now.’ She spoke to Helen’s friend, who’d been sitting miserably in the corner, despite all of Corinna’s attempts to cheer her up. ‘She’s much better, but she needs to rest a little. Andreas, our paramedic, has just arrived and he’s sitting with her. Be calm and quiet, yes?’

  Claire nodded. ‘I’m sorry...’

  Arianna batted the apology away with a flick of her hand. ‘It’s frightening to see someone taken ill like that, isn’t it? Now that she’s here, we can look after her and she’ll be fine. What she needs right now is to see you smiling.’

  Arianna was being kind. The hurried rush through the streets to the health centre couldn’t have done Helen any good; it would have been better to keep her sitting down and get help to come to her. Maybe she’d explain that at some point, but Ben had little doubt that her firm, gentle way would make it sound like a bit of advice for the future rather than a condemnation.

  Claire wiped away her tears and tried out a smile, and Arianna gave her an approving nod. Corinna took Claire’s hand, leading her towards the surgery, and then Ben’s heart started to beat a little faster as Arianna turned to walk across the reception area towards him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  MAYBE IT WAS the last dregs of her dream. It had been so clear, and Arianna had struggled to break free of it as she’d showered and made breakfast this morning. But when she’d walked into her surgery, the handsome English doctor had made her catch her breath. There was something so familiar about him.

  She’d managed to quell the feeling as she examined and treated Helen, but now that Andreas was back from his afternoon visits and would sit with Helen while she recovered it had started to nag at her again. And when she caught sight of Dr Marsh again, sitting in the waiting room, she was even more convinced she knew him. From a day years ago, when a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy had saved her from the sea.

  It was impossible. That kind of coincidence just didn’t happen, even if it had occupied her daydreams for much of her teens. And her dreams as an adult. Dr Ben Marsh was probably here for...something else. Someone else.

  He got to his feet as she approached him, all hard lines and male beauty. Maybe that was why he seemed so familiar. He was definitely the kind of man that any woman would want to know.

  ‘Dr Petrakis...’

  ‘Arianna, please. Since we’ve already put you to work. You’re on holiday here?’ His casual trousers and shirt didn’t indicate that he was here on business.

  ‘I came to Ilaria to see you.’

  Okay. Maybe she did know him from somewhere. But that still didn’t mean Ben Marsh was the man a part of her hoped he was. Although it really shouldn’t be necessary to search her memory for someone as strikingly attractive as Ben. Maybe Arianna’s resolution to have nothing more to do with any man who looked capable of sweeping her off her feet had worked a little too well.

  ‘I’m sorry... Have we met before?’

  ‘If you’re the Arianna Petrakis I think you are, then yes. It was a long time ago, though...’

  He was obviously wary, clearly unwilling to spring anything on her, but now Arianna wondered if her instincts had been right.

  ‘You were on the ferry? The one that sank just outside the harbour?’ Her heart was pounding in her chest, as if her life depended on his answer.

  ‘Yes. You were there too, wearing a white dress.’

  ‘Broderie anglaise?’ The detail seemed suddenly important.

  ‘I think so. It had little embroidered holes—is that what they call it?’

  ‘Yes. You dived in when I fell overboard.’

  He smiled suddenly. ‘Dived makes it sound a lot more expert than it actually was. I saw you sliding across the deck and when you fell into the water I jumped in after you.’

  ‘I was drowning...’ The memory made her catch her breath. ‘You pulled me up.’

  ‘I don’t know how I found you. Somehow I did.’ He took a step forward, holding out his hand to shake hers. Arianna took it, winding her fingers tightly around his.

  Once she did, she couldn’t let go. Arianna willed her fingers to loosen around his but they wouldn’t respond. She was clinging to him as tightly as she had that day in the water.

  Then, she’d been blinded by tears and panic, and the men in the boat had been forced to prise her arms from around his neck. Things were different now. Ben was no longer a skinny youth, and Arianna was old enough to recognise that he now had that indefinable something that rendered a man attractive rather than just handsome.

  ‘You still have a tight grip.’ He smiled suddenly.

  ‘Uh...sorry.’ Still she couldn’t let him go.

  ‘Don’t be. I needed you to hold on while I swam.’

  ‘Is that what you said to me?’ One last detail clicked into place.

  ‘Yes. You didn’t understand?’

  ‘No. I didn’t speak English then...’

  If twenty-five years of longing to see him had taught Arianna anything, it had taught her restraint. She finally released his hand, feeling a chill of regret as she did so.

  ‘We can’t talk here. Can
I take you for coffee somewhere?’

  He shook his head. ‘I should come back tomorrow. You have things to do here.’

  The thought of him walking away now, of having to wait for a whole day before she could talk to him was impossible.

  ‘It’s all right. I start work early and I should be finishing around now anyway. Andreas covers at the clinic in the afternoons and early evenings, so he’ll be here with Helen for a few hours and he’ll give me a call if he needs me. If she’s not well enough to go back to her hotel tonight, we have a three-bed ward here and I can come back and stay the night...’

  She was babbling. It would have been enough to say that she had a few hours free and plenty of time for coffee. Maybe throw in a few words about what a pleasure it was to see him after all this time...

  ‘How about this? The last ferry is at nine, and if Helen’s well enough then I can go with her and Claire and make sure that they get back to their hotel. In the meantime, I’d like it very much if we could go for coffee.’

  ‘That would be... Do you mind?’

  ‘As long as you’re willing to discharge Helen medically, so that I’m just a concerned member of the public travelling with her.’ He grinned.

  ‘Of course. I’ll go and get my bag.’ Arianna flew out of the waiting room, grudging every moment that it took for her to check carefully on Helen and tell Andreas that she’d be down at the harbour if he needed her. It seemed as if she’d been waiting for this meeting all her life, and she didn’t want to waste a second of it.

  * * *

  It felt like a dream. Finally Ben had found the girl who’d changed his life, and it felt as if he’d spent every day with her since their first meeting. In some ways he had. He’d got on with his life, but there hadn’t been many days when a brief thought of her hadn’t flashed through his mind.

  Numbly, he followed her out of the health centre and back down the hill towards the harbour. They walked in silence. This was too big a thing for small talk, and Ben wasn’t sure where to start with the things that really mattered.

  ‘Is here all right?’ She pointed to a small taverna, which looked out over the harbour, with seats outside that were shaded from the late afternoon sun.

  ‘It looks great.’ Anywhere would be fine. Ben had the feeling that Arianna would shine in the darkest of dungeons, and that her dress would still shimmer around her legs in the same way.

  She chose a table to one side of the bustle of the main seating area, and sat down. A waiter appeared, greeting Arianna by name, and she asked Ben what he’d like and then ordered in Greek.

  ‘I’m glad you came, Ben. It’s good to see you.’ Now that they were finally able to talk, she seemed a little unsure of herself.

  ‘I wasn’t sure if you would be.’ He felt strong suddenly. As if once more he should protect her from whatever she was feeling.

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘I read... What led me to you was a news article. It said that your brother had been on the ferry, and that he drowned.’

  ‘Yes. That’s right.’ Arianna’s frank gaze found his. ‘I would have drowned too, if it hadn’t been for you.’

  Ben shrugged. ‘If my coming here is an unwelcome reminder of that day, then... I’d like you to tell me.’

  ‘You think I could ever forget about it?’ Arianna raised one eyebrow.

  ‘No. I can’t forget and... I had to come...’

  She pursed her lips in thought. The waiter reappeared, unloading a tray of drinks and snacks and disappearing just as abruptly. Arianna reached for her coffee, taking a sip.

  ‘I’ve never forgotten you, and I’ve always wondered what became of you. And now I know your name at last.’ She gave him a smile that made Ben’s heart lurch.

  ‘And I’ve found out that broderie anglaise is the correct description for that dress of yours.’

  She laughed suddenly. ‘So we’ve both got some answers. I’ve always wondered about what happened to you after you lifted me into that boat. Tell me what you’ve been doing all my life.’

  It was tempting to tell Arianna that he’d been waiting for her. That wasn’t entirely true. Ben had done many other things, but wondering about the little girl in the white dress had probably been his most long-term preoccupation. And, lately, jumping into the water after her had seemed to be one of the few things he’d done exactly right.

  Was he about to put all of that at risk? Turn the perfect memory into something vulnerable, which could be destroyed by the present? But when he looked at Arianna he couldn’t believe that she would destroy anything.

  ‘Right from the beginning?’ He took a gulp of his coffee, feeling the strong taste hit the back of his throat.

  ‘Yes. How did you get back to the shore—did you swim all the way?’

  ‘I was a pretty strong swimmer and I reckoned I could make it. But I was very glad when someone saw me and a boat came to pick me up. It was a bit different from swimming in the pool at home. So was attempting to rescue someone.’

  ‘I’ll bet.’ Arianna leaned back in her chair. ‘Those dummies they use in the pool don’t wriggle quite as much as I remember doing.’

  ‘They don’t hang on as tight as you did either. You were very brave.’

  She smiled suddenly, and Ben wondered if anyone had ever told her that. ‘You were the only thing I had to hang onto. I owe you my life.’

  Something warm and proud bloomed in Ben’s chest. That feeling had changed his life and guided him through all of his darkest days. He owed Arianna his life as well, but didn’t quite know how to say it.

  ‘Well...’ He decided to stick to the bare facts of the matter. ‘The boat picked up a few more people and then took us all back to the harbour. I managed to find my parents and my brother and sister, and got a real telling-off from my dad for running off.’

  ‘You didn’t tell him that you’d saved someone?’

  Ben shook his head. ‘No. I felt... It felt so good that... I wanted that feeling all for myself so I kept it a secret.’

  ‘Which is why I could never find any reference to you when I looked back on the news coverage. I knew that you’d survived, though, because you weren’t amongst the list of casualties.’ Arianna smiled. ‘Another mystery solved.’

  The thought gave a whole new meaning to his memories. ‘You looked for me?’

  ‘Of course I did. You were my superhero, appearing out of nowhere to save me and then disappearing again. Whatever makes you think I wouldn’t look?’

  He wasn’t the hero that Arianna thought he was. He was flawed, capable of the best and the worst, and pretty much everything in between. Maybe this was why he’d decided to come, after all the heart-searching and uncertainty. He wanted to get back in touch with what he could do. It was a way of believing in himself again.

  He began to tell the rest of his story. How the hotel where they’d been staying had heard that the ferry had sunk, and sent out a boat to bring them back to the mainland. How the holiday had ended and he’d gone back to England. Back to school, and then onto medical school.

  ‘What made you want to be a doctor?’ Arianna shot him a quizzical look.

  ‘The same as anyone, I suppose. I wanted to make a difference.’

  ‘Because you already knew that you could?’

  ‘That day on the ferry... I’ve never forgotten how it felt. When I was younger, I thought my whole life could be like that.’ Ben quirked the corners of his mouth down, knowing how naïve that teenage notion was now. He hadn’t really meant to discuss this with Arianna.

  ‘It changed you, then. You wanted to feel that way again.’

  ‘Yes, it did. It meant a lot to me.’

  It was as close as Ben could get to telling Arianna how much he needed her now. Her gaze was steady on his face and perhaps she understood a little of what he hadn’t said, as well as that w
hich he had.

  ‘And after medical school?’

  That all seemed easier to say, now. ‘I did most of the usual things. Got a job, worked hard. Fell in love and got married. We bought a house and then our son, Jonas, came along, and redefined the meaning of tired.’

  ‘I’ve heard they do that. Are your wife and son here in Greece? I’d love to meet them.’

  ‘Jonas is here. We’re staying at a hotel on the mainland with my sister and her family. My wife, Emma, died in a car accident four years ago, when Jonas was a year old.’ The words had lost their sting now. Time was a healer, which had softened the pain of grief. The pain of guilt was a different matter, and Ben never talked about that.

  Arianna’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh. I’m so sorry, Ben.’

  ‘It’s...’ He shrugged. ‘It’s not okay, but I live with it. Maybe you feel the same about your brother?’

  She thought for a moment. ‘I never quite accepted that I was the one who survived.’

  That was how Ben felt too, and he had good reason. It had been his fault that Emma was alone in the car with Jonas, and her quick and selfless reactions had meant their son had escaped the crash unharmed. No amount of guilt and regret was going to change that now, and no amount of sharing would either.

  Arianna’s eyes glistened in the setting sun, and Ben fancied that he saw tears. There was something that Arianna wasn’t saying, but he wouldn’t press her. There were things he wasn’t saying as well.

  ‘Being the one that’s left behind is difficult, isn’t it?’

  She nodded. ‘How do you deal with it?’

  He didn’t. That wasn’t for anyone to hear either.

  ‘Let’s just say that it took the edge off my belief in being able to change the world. The first year was very hard. The following one was better and then...one evening about six months ago, after I’d put Jonas to bed, I was searching the internet for some ideas on child-friendly holiday destinations. Ilaria came up and it reminded me of you. I couldn’t resist searching one more time for information about the passengers on the ferry that day, and found an old newspaper article. I didn’t understand it, it was written in Greek, but there was a picture of you and your family. Once I knew your name, I had to find you.’