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‘Right, well—’ sliding the screwdriver inside and prising the filter out with a grunt, Lukas cast the grimy diesel-covered part a triumphant grin ‘—we’d better show everyone—including my beautiful new wife—that I’m more than that, don’t you think, gentlemen?’
And he told himself that his chest didn’t swell when Oti flushed that delicious shade of pink that he was beginning to get to know so well.
Not in the slightest.
* * *
‘You know you’re the hero of the week?’
Lukas glanced up as she approached. His face was already taking on a golden colour from the sun, making him all the more handsome, if that was even possible.
She valiantly tried to stop her heart from hammering in her chest.
‘Is that so?’ he drawled.
The hammering increased in intensity.
‘Everyone is buzzing about you.’ She made herself laugh, looking around the small group as they waved their newly acquired supply run beers in the air and turned up the volume a little more on the music. ‘You can’t go anywhere without being a success, can you?’
‘I just rigged up a bit of filter repair.’ He brushed it off in typical Lukas fashion. ‘It was a bit hammy, but it did the job. The vehicles are with Clem, the mechanic, now for some proper repairs.’
‘Don’t underestimate your value,’ she told him, suddenly serious. ‘If you hadn’t cooled that truck in time, we wouldn’t have much in the way of usable medicines, and we sorely needed everything we got. The rains here really impacted our supplies this past month.’
‘Speaking of which, you rushed off so quickly to do that medical drive, once we got the truck generator working again, that I didn’t get chance to ask how the baby is—Shangok, right?’
‘He developed sleep apnoea that second day and the spasms increased, so we feared the worst.’ She didn’t tell him that neither she nor Amelia had gone to bed that night, or the next day. ‘Then, just as we feared he was starting to slip away, the drugs must have begun to kick in and everything stopped getting worse. And then, all of a sudden, he began to improve. Just a little, but enough to give us hope.’
‘And now, with these drugs?’
She nodded, hopeful but not wanting to be unrealistic.
‘Now he really stands a chance of recovery. I hope he does,’ she couldn’t help but emphasise.
She eyed him carefully before speaking again.
‘Did you take the mission with the loggies to keep away from me?’
She noted that he took a lon
g pull of his beer before answering.
‘I think staying away from each other, at least in an intimate setting, is for the best, wouldn’t you agree?’
‘Why?’ She shook her head, careful to keep her voice low.
‘Because the last thing I should have done was sleep with you that night.’
‘Was it really that bad for you?’ Oti blurted out suddenly, even as she squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could swallow the words back.
‘What?’
‘Forget it.’ She shook her head violently. She was such an idiot.
‘Oti...’
‘No, really.’ She backed up, hitting a wooden pillar in her haste. ‘Forget I said anything.’
‘You think it was bad for me?’
