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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘ITOLDYOU, I’m fine,’ Tessa muttered, considerably less fine now than she had been a moment earlier, before Alex had burst into the studio, midway through the doctor he’d sent drawing blood from the crook of her arm.
‘Doctor?’ Alex turned his attention to the middle-aged woman with the reassuring bearing. ‘What’s going on? How is she?’
‘Dehydrated,’ the doctor replied without lifting her gaze, removing the needle and pressing a cotton ball against the skin, stemming the blood droplet. ‘Beyond that, I won’t know until I get these results.’ She lifted the three vials of blood and then slipped them into the pocket of her lab coat, only then making eye contact with Alex.
‘But you suspect something is wrong?’ Alex demanded, not looking in Tessa’s direction, so she had a moment to stare at him, and she took it, drinking in the sight of him while he was distracted, allowing herself to commit every detail to memory. It had been weeks since she’d properly looked at him, longer since they’d touched. Her heart did a funny little palpating thing and she let out a soft groan.
Alex turned to her at once, then crouched beside her. ‘Agape, what is it?’
If she’d thought that term of endearment hard to hear before, it was nothing compared to now that she had confirmation he didn’t love her. She offered him a tight smile, hoping it was reassuring. ‘I’m just—I’m fine,’ she said, her eyes skittling away from him and towards the doctor, who nodded professionally.
‘I should have these results by tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Alex stood, turning to face the doctor, his shoulders squared. ‘That’s too long. Send them to a different lab, I don’t care what it costs.’
The doctor’s expression was one of patience, as though she’d heard that before. ‘I will put a rush on them,’ she said politely, then turned to face Tessa, ‘and call you when I have the results.’
Tessa nodded her thanks and went to stand, to accompany the doctor to the door, but her legs were still wobbly and she swayed a little, so Alex rushed to her, placing a strong, commanding arm around her waist, holding her against his side. Little electric shocks flooded her. It felt so good to be touched by him, to be felt by him, she just wanted to stay there a little longer, to take strength from him.
‘I’ll speak to you soon, Mrs Zacharidis.’
Beth, standing by and watching, eyed the couple. ‘Do you want a coffee, Tess? A muffin?’
Tessa didn’t feel like anything, but she nodded, because she felt as though Alex was about to explode.
When they were alone she went to pull away from him, but he held her tight, right where she was, staring down at her thoughtfully for several seconds, before swinging her into his arms and carrying her, cradled against his chest, from the studio.
‘What are you doing?’ she demanded, looking around despite the fact they were alone.
‘Fixing this,’ he said through gritted teeth.
Even though it was cheating, she let her head rest on his shoulder, and she listened to the beating of his heart, the proximity giving her the strength she needed. But when he stepped out of the building and approached his car, she knew she had to assert her independence once more.
‘Alex, I’m serious, what do you think you’re doing?’
‘I told you, fixing—’
‘Nothing needs fixing,’ she denied. ‘Beth will—’
‘I will call her and explain,’ he insisted as he opened the front passenger door to his car, helping Tessa in. She was too exhausted to struggle. He came around to the driver’s side quickly and looked at her as though reassuring himself of something, then started the engine with a dramatic roar and pulled out into traffic.
It took several blocks before Tessa realised they weren’t moving towards his home, and several more minutes to recognise where they were going. Her insides clenched as his helicopter came into view, and suspicion began to form.
‘No.’ She shook her head, the idea of being back on Epíneio a torture she couldn’t withstand. After all, the island was where she’d realised she loved him, that she’d always loved him.
‘Yes,’ he muttered, killing the engine and coming around to her door. When she didn’t move, he unbuckled her seatbelt then lifted her from the car, carrying her once more towards the helicopter.
‘Damn it, Alex, I can walk, I’m fine.’
‘Just let me do this, for God’s sake.’
She startled, the tone of his voice pulling at something in her heart. She hesitated a moment and then nodded. Epíneio scared her but there was something about Alex that worried her more than she was scared, something about him that seemed...shattered.
‘Thank you.’ The words were dredged from the depths of his soul. Only once they reached the helicopter did he set her down, holding her hand to help her up then coming around to the pilot’s side and taking his own seat. She buckled in while he adjusted the controls and started the rotor blades spinning, then they were up, Athens shrinking into a model city before her eyes.
From time to time, Tessa was afflicted by travel sickness and her exhaustion translated into nausea, so as Alex expertly piloted the chopper towards Epíneio, she pressed her head against the headrest and closed her eyes, dozing in the streaming sunlight until he set the helicopter down and gently tapped her knee, waking her. She looked at him, nothing making sense for a moment, and then she sat up straighter, her heart bolting as she saw the island.
