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For the next six hours Bridget talked the older nurse through their patients, concentrating on the information that was never at the briefings but which made such an impact on the ground. By the time she emerged, stepping into the wall of heat and shielding her eyes from the sun, Bridget wasn’t expecting the large crowd jostling excitedly in the market area. Instinctively, she headed over. And stopped in her tracks.
Whatever she’d expected, it hadn’t been to see Hayden crouched down, sifting through muddy, dirty water.
What was he even doing out here?
Emotions charged through her and she found herself heading over, a thousand questions dancing on her tongue. But when she spoke, even she didn’t recognise the light, teasing tone in her voice. So completely at odds with all the turmoil coursing through her at that instant.
‘Having fun?’
Hayden twisted his head to eye her critically.
‘Bad day at the office,’ he answered simply.
As though he hadn’t been away. As though nothing portentous had happened at all. And maybe, for him, it hadn’t. Bridget swallowed hard and fought to keep her tone airy.
‘Is that so?’
He stood up, glaring balefully at a dodgy-looking generator hooked up to an even more unreliable-looking control panel, before turning to face her. And then, suddenly, he li
fted up one arm and brushed a stray hair from her face with the back of his hand.
Like flipping a switch to let light suddenly flood the dark, needling void in her chest. Making her feel almost...joyous.
‘Some group got hold of this old jenny, but it keeps pumping out mud and gunk along with the water, and the panel keeps giving people electric shocks. I figured I’d take a look.’
‘Nice.’ She grinned.
‘Hardly.’ He wiped his hands on the army-green rag from his pocket.
‘Aren’t you supposed to have men for that, Major?’ she teased. ‘What are you even doing here?’
‘I heard a new team had come out here to try to help with the influx of people crossing the border. They said it might be a good place to start setting up a new transit camp so I thought I might as well bring a section and repair the old jenny at the same time.’
‘You’ve dealt with the rebels back at Luerina?’
‘They were well gone by the time we got there.’ Hayden shrugged. ‘We patrolled as far as we could with the local police but there was no sign of them. For now, we have to assume they got what they wanted and left, though the police are still up there, trying to stay on hand in case anywhere else gets hit.’
He stood up and moved to stand next to her, and she could feel the heat pouring off his wide, solid chest. Her body went into overdrive, though she tried to pretend to herself that it hadn’t.
‘And when you’ve finished playing superman here?’
‘Then I’m going to check on the rest of my guys. They’re building our first permanent bridge a few clicks away. The components got parachuted in last night.’
‘I heard on the radio.’ She laughed. ‘Apparently the whole camp is buzzing about it. I heard all the kids ran out to the drop zone and you guys had to widen your perimeter fence?’
‘Yeah, got a bit hairy for a while, but it was all good. If you’re ready to get back to Jukrem tonight, can you give us another few hours? I’d really like to get this pump working properly again for them.’
Technically she was due back to ensure cover for the next shift, but she knew Mandy would rather wait a little longer if it meant the people of this village could regain access to clean, fresh water. Besides, there were so many potential patients to see that she definitely wouldn’t be short of work.
‘I can give you a little while,’ she replied.
‘That’s all I’ll need.’
He was already dropping back to the ground when she heard the roar of an engine as his second-in-command headed towards them at speed. The vehicle slowed down far enough away not to put any of the crowding villagers in danger, but as Dean jumped down and began running over, Bridget knew it was serious. No one ran in this heat unless there was a damned good reason.
Her stomach began to swan-dive.
Especially when Hayden stood abruptly and hurried to the captain. Close enough that she could hear them but far enough that the rest of the crowd couldn’t.
