LITMIR.BIZ

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SIX

      ZAC HAD NO idea what the time was when he rolled over and reached out for Olivia, only to come up empty-handed. ‘Olivia?’ He sat up and stared around. His heart thumped hard. Not again.

      ‘I’m here.’ Her voice came from the en suite bathroom.

      Phew. He dropped back. Something clattered in the hand basin, and Olivia swore. ‘You okay in there?’ he called.

      Silence.

      ‘Olivia? Are you all right?’ His gut started to tighten.

      ‘I’m making sure I can walk past the hotel receptionist without looking like I’ve been … urn, doing what I’ve been doing.’

      ‘You’re heading over the road?’ Now he was on full alert. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he stood. ‘What’s wrong with staying the rest of the night? You and I don’t usually settle for once.’

      ‘Don’t do this, Zac.’ She stepped into the room, but kept her distance. ‘We’ve got to stop before we get carried away.’

      As the cold reality of her words hit him he pulled his head back, glared down at her. ‘Why? We are willing, consenting adults, not two teenagers who have to go home to Mum and Dad looking guilty.’ Hopefully she didn’t hear the anger her rejection made him feel. Again. And the pain because she was right.

      ‘I’m sorry.’ Her eyes were brimming with tears. ‘I shouldn’t have got so carried away.’

      A gut-buster, that statement. ‘We got carried away, sweetheart. We.’ He shoved a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what had happened to cause her to haul on the brakes. He should be grateful. He’d hoped to sooth his need, not crank it wide-open. How wrong could a bloke be?

      ‘Exactly. We didn’t stop to think about what we were doing. Not for a moment.’ Her back was straight, her shoulders tight, but her chin wobbled as she said, ‘Which is why I can’t go to Fiji with you.’

      ‘You’re changing your mind?’ Of course she was. For some reason he didn’t feel happy. He’d enjoyed being with her tonight. It had been like finding something precious after a long search. He could barely look at her and not reach for her again. She might’ve put the brakes on but it would take a tank of icy water to cool his ardour and return his out-of-whack heart rate to normal.

      In the doorway she hesitated, turned around to look at him, sorrow leaking out of those baby blues. ‘Yes, Zac, I am. Going on holiday together would only exacerbate the situation. I can’t have another affair with you. It’s too casual, and anything more is impossible for me.’

      He stood rooted to the floor, unable to ignore the sharp pain her statement caused yet knowing she was stronger than him. The itch had gone beyond scratchy, was now an open wound that needed healing. Olivia was the cure but, as she’d so clearly pointed out, that wasn’t about to happen.

      Moments later his main door clicked shut, presumably behind her, and still he stood transfixed. For a moment earlier on, when they’d been sated with sex, he thought he’d found that untouchable thing he’d been looking for in his dreams and pushing away when he was wide-awake. Hell, he’d felt as though he’d connected with Olivia in a way he’d never connected with another human being in his life. Sure, they’d had sex without any preamble, as they’d always done, but there’d been more depth to their liaison. He’d made love to the woman of his dreams. Literally.

      Which made Olivia heading back to her hotel room absolutely right. Unlike him, she had a handle on their situation. Where was his gratitude?

      Zac’s phone vibrated its way across the bedside table. ‘Hello?’ Had Olivia had a change of heart?

      ‘It’s North Shore Emergency Unit, Dr Wright. We’ve got a situation.’

      Not Olivia. Guess it wasn’t his night. ‘Tell me,’ he sighed.

      ‘A bus full of rowers returning to Whangarei went off the road an hour out of the city. There are many casualties so we’re ringing round everyone. Can you come in?’

      ‘On my way.’ It wasn’t as though he’d been sleeping. A certain woman had taken up residence in his skull, refusing to let him drop off to sleep even when his body was craving rest.

      ‘Kelly Devlin, nineteen-year-old rower, fractured tibia,’ the ED registrar told Zac within moments of him striding into the chaotic department.

      Zac studied the X-rays on the light box. ‘She needs a rod insertion,’ he decided, and went to talk to his patient.

      Kelly glared at him. ‘I’m a national rowing champion, Doctor. I can’t have a broken leg.’

      Zac’s heart went out to her. ‘You have. I’m sorry.’

      ‘Does that mean the end of my career?’

      ‘First I’ll explain what I’m going to do to help you.’ He sat on the edge of her bed. ‘I’ve seen the X-rays and your left tibia is fractured in two places. To allow the bone to heal without too much added stress I’m going to put a titanium rod down the centre of the bone. There will be screws to hold it in place while you heal.’ He kept the details scant. He knew from experience that too much information at this stage usually confused the patient and added to their distress.

      ‘Will I be competitive again?’ the girl demanded.

      ‘That will take a lot of work on your part, but I don’t see why not.’ When disbelief stared him in the eye, he added, ‘You’re a champion rower so you know what it’s like to work your butt off to get where you want to be. This will be harder. Your muscles will need strengthening and the bone will require time to knit.’ He hoped he wasn’t misleading Kelly. ‘You may have to compensate in some way for the damaged leg, but we won’t know for sure until further down the track.’

      Tears slid down her cheeks. ‘You’re honest, but I don’t have to like what you’re telling me. It’s going to be painful for a while, isn’t it?’

      ‘You’ll have painkillers.’ Bone pain. Not good. ‘A physiotherapist will have you working on that leg when I think you’re ready.’

      ‘When are you operating?’

      ‘As soon as I get things sorted a nurse will come and get you ready for Theatre.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll see you in there. Have your family been told about the accident?’

      ‘Mum and Dad are on their way from Whangarei, but I don’t want to wait. If I’ve had surgery before they arrive it’ll be easier on them.’ She shifted on the bed and cried out as pain jagged her.

      ‘Take it easy. Try to stay as still as possible. You’ll soon be given a pre-anaesthetic drug that will make you feel drowsy and dull your senses a little.’ Zac nodded at the nurse on the other side of the bed. ‘I’ll talk to the anaesthetist now, get everything under way.’

      As he headed out of the ED to arrange everything Zac rubbed the back of his neck. What a night.

      ‘Morning, everyone. Sorry I’m late. Forgot to set my alarm.’ Olivia slid into the only vacant chair at the table in the hotel dining room where she was having a late brunch with Andy and his family, Maxine and Brent Sutherland, who were Andy’s close friends, and Zac.

      ‘Have a late night?’ Zac asked.

      She scowled at him. ‘Something like that.’

      He told her, ‘I’ve been in surgery.’

      ‘Already? Were you on call?’ He’d have mentioned it, wouldn’t he?

      ‘A bus went over the bank near Waiwera. The hospital needed orthopaedic surgeons in a hurry.’

      ‘Why was a bus travelling through the night?’ she asked.

      ‘Taking rowers home from the nationals down south.’

      ‘Coffee

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