Page 91 of Never Too Late to Date

He was acting as if this father–son bonding was about to happen any moment. Giannis had to be speaking to her first, and that was still a way off. Christian’s obvious desire to be a father was somewhat overwhelming.

‘I’d better be getting back soon. It’s rock night at the bar, always a popular one.’

‘I’ll have to pop in some time.’

‘Feel free.’

It was the afternoon sun that caressed their faces on the return journey, and Suzie lay back on the plump silk cushions with her feet up. She hadn’t bothered to put her clothes back on, and Christian was still shirtless. It had been one lazy, relaxing day. Such a contrast to the hard graft in store for her later. Maybe she should do this more often.

They were almost home when her phone rang. Whoever it was could go hang until she got back on dry land. But when she saw the name ‘Panos’ flash up, her heart missed a beat. They always communicated by text. The man hated the phone. Usually, he didn’t ring her from one month to the next.

‘Hello?’

‘Please don’t panic, but Kosta has been in an accident.’

Chapter Twenty-One

Suzie’s heart was in her mouth.

‘What do you mean? When?’

‘He came off his bike half an hour ago. He’s already been taken to hospital.’

‘How serious is it?’

‘I don’t know all the details. I’m my way there now. Can I pick you up”

‘Yes, please. I will be at the port in…’

She turned to Christian, who’d obviously been listening and was holding up five fingers. In this instance, she was grateful for him being able to read her mind.

‘Five minutes. See you there.’

Speaking was out of the question until she’d got some answers about Kostas. It was only after she’d leapt off the boat without a backward glance and was sitting in Panos’s van that she realised she was still in her sarong and flipflops. Her clothes were in a bag on the boat.

Not that it mattered. Getting to her boy was all she cared about. Thinking about the slightly chaotic nature of Greek hospitals occupied her for the rest of the journey, while she tried not to imagine what was waiting for them once they arrived.

Venturing inside the local hospital was always something of a shock. They were lucky to have one; most islands had to make do with a clinic, or sometimes a lone doctor, and anything more serious than a minor complaint was sent straight to Athens by boat or, in the most serious cases, helicopter.

Fortunately, she’d not had to spend much time in the town hospital as a patient, other than for her two straightforward births. Although the medical care was no doubt excellent, when visiting others she’d always been surprised at the crazy noise levels, lack of chairs and the number of family members allowed in at once.

Relatives brought in the food for the patients, which meant competing smells wafting through the air at strange times of the day and night, and the wards were often mixed sex, something that any injured tourists found disconcerting.

Running full pelt through the corridors, they found Kostas in a bed in the corner of a ward. Suzie breathed a huge sigh of relief. Thank God, he was sitting up and smiling at Giannis, who’d beaten them to it. Things couldn’t be that bad. Suzie flashed her older son a tentative smile but rushed to her younger son’s side.

A harassed doctor came over when he saw them approach the bed.

‘He was lucky. Just mild concussion and a broken arm. I suggest he stays here tonight, but then he is free to go.’

The doctor looked down at her flipflops and up at her face again. Suzie reached for his hand to shake.

‘Thank you so much.’

Suzie moved towards Kostas at the same time as her ex-husband, and they ended up kissing a cheek each. Suzie added a major hair ruffle too, before pulling out the hairband from her own hair and scraping her son’s locks up into a knot as he usually wore it. Although there were some nasty scratches on her boy’s face, and one arm was in plaster, he looked relatively unscathed.

‘Baby, you’re OK. We’re so relieved. That bloody bike.’

‘You can’t blame the bike, Mama. I swerved to avoid a dog. There was nothing I could do.’