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Alex still heard the tremble. ‘Yes. Complete cloud cover. Long way from the bright lights. Are you…are you okay?’
No, she wasn’t. The night and the noises outside were freaking her out. She took some ragged breaths to stem the spiralling anxiety that his calm explanations had not placated. ‘B…bad dream. Not really.’
‘Would you like some light? I can get the lamp going. There’s torches here somewhere too,’ he said, feeling his way down from the bunk and groping around the shelves. His hand briefly came into contact with a torch before it rolled away and then dropped to the floor, narrowly missing his foot.
The creaking of the metal frame made her jump, and the unexpected noise of the torch smashing on the ground startled her so much she cried out as adrenalin surged through her system.
‘Hey,’ he said softly, turning towards the direction of the bed, really concerned now about the state of her mind. He could hear her strained breathing above the wind and the rain and the surf. ‘I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to startle you.’
‘Don’t w…worry about i…it,’ she stuttered, trying to bring her suddenly chattering teeth under control.
Alex sank to his knees and groped for the edge of her bunk, not caring how appropriate his behaviour was. Isobella was obviously freaked out. ‘Hang on a sec,’ he assured her, ‘I’ll get us some light.’
‘No!’ Her hands shook as she groped blindly through the thick cloak of night. He was close, as usual she could feel his presence, and his gravelly voice was giving her something to anchor herself to. She didn’t want him to leave her side. Her fear had gone far beyond her need for light.
What she needed most now was touch. Human comfort. How many times in the ICU had she been spiralling into panic in the darkness, awake beneath all the drugs, and a soothing stroke to her forehead or a reassuring squeeze to her hand had brought her back from the brink?
Alex stopped. A hand touched his face, then his shoulder, going from tentative to grasping as she squeezed hard. He could feel her trembling, and he felt an overwhelming urge to pull her close. ‘Isobella?’
She almost whimpered as she found solid muscle and clung to it. He was just there. The knowledge beat the demons back a little. ‘D…don’t leave.’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he assured her, gently placing a hand over hers. Her biting grip on his shoulder eased a little.
A streak of lightning lit up the sky and Alex got a brief look at Isobella’s wild-eyed face before a thunder clap shook the quarters to their very foundation. He felt the jolt of panic rip through her, felt her muscles leap as she lurched towards him.
Alex’s heart thudded in his chest almost as loud as Isobella’s terrified breathing against his neck. ‘Hey, hey. Shh,’ he crooned.
He sat with her awkwardly for a few moments, kneeling by the bed, sitting back on his heels. She was half out of bed; he was trying to support her while the rough seagrass matting bit into his knees. He shifted, trying to relieve the pressure on his knees, and her arms around his neck tightened.This was ridiculous.
‘Move over,’ he whispered, and he moved to join her.
Isobella was beyond thinking rationally about what was appropriate and professional. Or even that she’d spent the last sixteen years shying away from just this kind of situation. Right now, in her freaked-out state, she needed to feel the anchoring comfort of another human being’s arms, and she couldn’t think of a better solution than being totally wrapped up in him. And knowing it was pitch-black, that he couldn’t see her flawed body, gave her a freedom that she hadn’t known in years.
She shuffled over, closer to the wall, and felt the bed give as Alex’s weight depressed the mattress.
‘This is kind of squishy,’ Alex muttered, trying to keep his mind off her leopard print underwear.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
Alex shrugged. ‘I’ve had worse.’
Despite the cramped conditions Isobella almost cried as relief swamped her body. His presence was warm and solid beside her, and she eagerly pressed her body into the side of his. The fact that he was shirtless was secondary. He lifted his arm and she nestled her head on his chest, his hand resting protectively around her shoulders.
She could hear the bang of his heart beneath her ear and it was wonderfully grounding. The wild weather receded. The unholy racket made by the howling wind, the pouring rain and the pounding surf all faded away. Just the steady drum of Alex’s heartbeat filled her head.
