A Child to Heal Them Page 5

  ‘We’ve done what we can, Ada. We’ll try and get this family back to Mosa as quickly as possible.’

  ‘Thank you so much. Please hug Abeje for me. She is very precious. My sister’s only child.’

  ‘Of course.’ Tasha gave the woman a hug and then they all got back into the truck so they could head back to the ship. They leaned out of the windows and waved as Quinn turned the truck in the opposite direction and began to drive.

  He seemed different this morning. More work-focused, if that were possible. When she’d woken he’d been gone, and she’d fought with feelings of relief and disappointment.

  There’d been some anxiety in her about what waking up with Quinn might be like. Would it be awkward? Would he tell her that she snored and talked in her sleep, as Simon had always complained? But then opening her eyes and finding him gone had been sad, too. Part of her had wanted to wake up and see his face on the pillow next to hers. She’d wanted the chance to lie there and study his face, to look at the man Quinn had become. So many years had passed...

  The road was as bumpy as she remembered, and for the first few miles she said nothing, just stared ahead through the windscreen, occasionally looking out and spotting gazelles, or scavenger birds whirling in the sky, soaring on the morning thermals. But the silence in the truck was wearing her down. Yesterday he’d asked her lots of questions. Today he was like a monk who had taken a vow of silence. What had changed?

  ‘Did you...er...sleep okay?’

  He shrugged. ‘A bit. I got up a few times to check on the children. Changed their IVs. I got a few hours.’

  ‘I can drive if you want the chance to get some more shut-eye.’

  ‘Thanks, but I’m okay. It’s only two hours to Ntembe.’

  ‘And when we get back you’ll have a long work-day. You’ll be exhausted.’

  ‘Awake enough to look after my patients—don’t worry.’ He smiled. ‘Doctors have survived on less sleep than this.’

  Survived, yes. Thought clearly? No.

  ‘And that’s when accidents happen.’

  She didn’t want to think about her own mistake. The sequence of events that had led to her quitting medicine. It was exactly this kind of ill-advised bravado that Quinn was gushing that caused tragedies in the first place. She should know. And they were returning to the boat, where he would have to look after not only Abeje but the two children currently in the back of this truck.

  ‘Stop the truck and let me drive.’

  ‘Honestly, I’m fine.’

  ‘Quinn! Stop the damned truck!’

  He frowned, turning to look at her. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘I’ll be better knowing that you’ve had some decent rest before we get back to that ship.’

  ‘If you’re worried about my ability to look after Abeje, I can reassure you—’

  ‘Reassurances mean nothing, Quinn. They’re just words. Would you please put my mind at rest and allow me to drive?’

  He thought about it for a moment. Checked his watch. Looked at the road ahead. Then he gave her one last look. ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘I’m very sure.’

  Quinn pulled the truck to a stop, the brakes screeching in protest.

  * * *

  Tasha had taken over the driving, but he felt a little confused by how angry she’d got. He sat in the passenger seat, frowning, wondering if she thought he would be a danger to Abeje.

  ‘What was that all about?’

  ‘Nothing. I was just being safety conscious, that’s all.’

  ‘So that was just you being a teacher and doing...what...a risk assessment for the trip?’

  ‘Not just the trip, no. I want you on good form and well rested when you get back to the Serendipity.’

  ‘You don’t think I’ll look after Abeje well enough?’

  She let out a sigh. ‘I’m sure you will, but doctors work long hours and push themselves when they really ought to take a break, and exhaustion can have an effect on their decision-making skills. If anyone’s health suddenly took a turn for the worst I’d want your brain firing on all cylinders and not just one or two because you think you’re Super Doc.’

  ‘I can assure you I never think of myself as that.’

  He turned away and closed his eyes, welcoming the opportunity to get the rest she was offering him. It had been a long night and he had lied. He hadn’t got one or two hours’ sleep at all. He’d barely got forty winks. He’d been up and down, checking on his patients, and in between staring at Tasha as she slept, trying to work out how she made him feel. How much he needed to do to repair their past.

  ‘Good. So do me a favour and shut up and sleep.’

  He smiled sleepily, feeling exhaustion slowly claim him. The warmth of the day, the rocking of the vehicle, the hum of the engine...all served to lull him into unconsciousness.

  He didn’t wake until the screech of the brakes woke him again, and they were portside to the Serendipity.

  * * *

  No one could have been more happy to see the Serendipity than Tasha was. She wanted to see Abeje, and she wanted to know the two children in the truck would be in a hospital, where they ought to be. She was also exhausted herself. It had been a long two days. She was tired, hungry and thirsty. And she was covered in dirt from the road. She needed a shower. She must look a sight.

  Next to her, Quinn yawned and stretched.

  ‘Wake up, sleepyhead. We’re back.’

  He smiled, rolling his shoulders, working out the kinks. ‘You got us back here in one piece, then?’

  ‘I can drive a truck. Does that surprise you?’

  ‘No. I’m sure you have all kinds of skills I know nothing about.’

  Tasha looked down at her hands.

  You’d be surprised.

  ‘I’d like to come on board and see Abeje before I head off to work. Is that okay?’

  ‘Sure. We’ve got staff showers you can use if you want to freshen up.’

  She ran her hands through her hair and her curls released a spray of red dust around her in a halo. ‘I think that’s probably a good idea. I must look a sight.’

  ‘You look absolutely fine.’

  Fine? Fine? That was almost as bad as You look nice. Damning with faint praise. But what else was he going to say to her? That she looked gorgeous? Beautiful? Stunning?

  ‘Thanks.’

  But she flinched backwards as he leant in towards her, his hand reaching out. What is he doing? She could feel herself begin to panic. Her breathing increased, her heart pounded, her mouth went painfully dry.

  His fingertip swiped a line of red dust from the slope of her nose.

  He wiped the dust on his shirt and grinned at her, opening the truck door to get out. ‘You’ve got half the road on you.’

  And then he disappeared out of her sight to go to the back of the truck.

  Tasha sat there for a moment, steadying her breathing, wondering just what the hell was going on in her insides. He just had to look at her, smile at her, touch the tip of her nose and her body went into overdrive!

  What was that all about? Was her body still remembering the crush she’d had on him? Or was this something new? Something infinitely more powerful? More primal?

  Perhaps it was something she ought to be afraid of...

  * * *

  Tasha’s shower made her feel more human. She stood under the cool spray and let the water run off her body, revelling in the refreshing flow until she suddenly remembered she had a class to teach today and there was no time for standing around.

  She towel-dried her hair, wincing at the wildness of her curls, and then headed off to check on Abeje.

  There’d been no change. Not for the better, anyway. Abeje was sleeping, so Tasha went to check on the other two children.

  ‘How are they doing?’ she
asked Quinn, patting down her hair, hoping it wasn’t going crazy and wild in the heat.

  ‘They’re stable.’

  Stable. Another one of those medical terms that was so politically correct. Neither giving hope nor taking it away. So no one could be blamed.

  ‘Have you done the bloods?’

  ‘Yes. We’ve just sent them off to the path lab.’

  ‘They’re on the chloroquine and ACTs?’

  He nodded, looking at her strangely.

  She folded her arms, a surge of frustration flooding her body at not being able to do anything to help except watch and wait as Quinn took the children’s observations, marking them on a chart.

  Temperature. Blood pressure. Heart-rate. Respirations. Oxygen saturations.

  Numbers. Always numbers deciding someone’s chances. Numbers and statistics had ruled her life at the children’s home, too—the chances of being adopted as a teenager, the likelihood of girls being preferred to boys, the fact that the longer you stayed in a home, the less chance you’d have of being adopted.

  The day she’d turned thirteen her hopes of being adopted had plummeted. No one would take her. No one had wanted her in all these years—why would they take on an unruly teenager? Each day had added to the fact, depressing her, and only her crush on Quinn had brightened her day.

  Looking at him now, just on the other side of the bed from her, reminded her of what it had been like to watch him as a young girl. He’d always seemed so out of reach. So unattainable.

  ‘I’d better get back. I’ve got a full day of teaching.’

  ‘Well, you’re welcome to come and check on your young charge whenever you’ve got a spare moment.’

  ‘I’ll come round straight after I finish—later today.’

  ‘Great. Maybe we could have a coffee or something?’

  She flushed. She couldn’t help it. Years ago she would have bitten his hand off in excitement. Now she was more wary, worried about what it might mean.

  ‘A coffee?’

  ‘No strings. Just two old friends spending time together after a long day.’

  ‘I don’t know...’

  ‘Come on, Tash. We’ve both changed. We’re both different now. We’ve moved on. Let’s not dwell on the past.’

  ‘The past is what’s made me who I am today.’

  He smiled. ‘And I’d love to know more about who you are today. Give me the chance.’

  That smile... That smile of his was powerful. Did he realise what it did to her insides? She could still see that sixteen-year-old boy in that smile, but there was also the man too—and boy, oh, boy, that man had a come-to-bed smile.

  She was scared. Her entire body felt his pull, but the logical part of her mind was desperately trying to remind her of how cruel he had once been. How much he had hurt her.

  But didn’t he deserve a chance to show her that he was different?

  She nodded quickly, before she could change her mind. ‘Okay. Coffee.’

  He smiled. ‘Great. I’ll see you later.’

  As she walked away all she could think of was him. The time they’d spent together so far. The way their pasts bound them. All that had gone before...all that was still unwritten.

  Her feelings for him were strong, but what were they, exactly? Friendship? Attraction?

  It was hard to ignore the fact that she still felt attracted to Quinn. Because she’d rather hoped that all these years of thinking of him as the bad guy would have wiped out the teenage crush that had begun all those many moons ago.

  Was this a bad idea? Was agreeing to coffee the wrong thing to do? Their relationship was from the past—perhaps it was best to leave it there? Undisturbed.

  I think it’s too late.

  She was already involved. She was already disturbed. She couldn’t help it.

  She was drawn to him, wanting to know more about him, about what he’d done in all these years. If he’d ever thought about her, the things he’d accomplished, his dreams for the future. And she realised, as she sat at home with a cup of tea, that she wanted to share the details of her life with him, too. She wanted to talk to him about stuff. Things she’d done, things she’d seen, places she’d gone to.

  He was her only connection to childhood. Her strongest memory.

  He felt like home.

  * * *

  Abeje was awake when Tasha returned to the ship in the evening, and even managed to give her a small smile.

  ‘Oh, you’re awake! Hi, you. How are you feeling? You really had me worried.’ She bent over and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

  ‘I’m tired, Miss Tasha.’

  Tasha stroked the hair back from her face. Abeje’s skin still felt hot to the touch, but not as bad as it had yesterday.

  ‘Of course you are, sweetpea. But you’ve been getting some good medicine. You know where you are?’

  ‘The ship.’

  ‘That’s right.’

  She felt so much relief that Abeje was awake and talking. That her eyes looked clear and bright and that the anti-malarials Quinn had given her seemed to be working. She knew they weren’t out of the woods yet, but maybe they’d got to Abeje early and stopped the parasites in their tracks?

  ‘We did some creative writing today in class. Everyone wrote stories. They were really wonderful. You’d have liked that.’

  Abeje smiled and then closed her eyes. When she was sure she’d gone to sleep Tasha got up from her bedside and pulled the curtain around her to give the little girl some peace and quiet.

  The ward was quite busy. They had the three children in this ward, and next door they’d had some new patients come in, to whom Quinn had been called.

  She figured if they were going to get a coffee it was certainly going to be a late one. Perhaps it would be best if she just left him to it? They could grab a coffee another day.

  Reluctantly, she headed off the boat, and was thinking about going home and grabbing something to eat when she heard her name being called.

  Quinn was waving to her from the deck. ‘You bailing on me, Tasha Kincaid?’

  She face lit up without her realising it. ‘Not at all! I just thought you were busy.’

  ‘I’m done! Hold fire and I’ll be down in a minute.’ He disappeared from view and she stood there like a young girl again, feeling all silly and excited, waiting for a boy.

  The boy. Quinn Shapiro.

  What am I doing?

  She tried to remind herself that she was a grown woman, with a lot of water under the bridge. She tucked a stray curl behind her ears and sat on a wooden crate beside the dock as she waited.

  Soon enough Quinn joined her, wearing a fresh blue linen shirt and khaki trousers. ‘Hi. Ready to grab a coffee?’

  ‘Actually, I’m starving. Could we get something to eat, too?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say no to that.’ He smiled and took her arm, guiding her towards a small dusty and rusty car.

  ‘This is yours?’

  ‘Well, we’re not stealing it.’ He grinned, holding the door for her to get in.

  It looked old. Dilapidated. As if he’d picked it up from a scrapyard rather than a dealership. Foam was bursting out of the torn seats.

  ‘Does it work?’

  ‘Like a dream. The aesthetic helps to deter thieves.’

  Hesitantly, she got in, reluctant to touch anything in case it came off in her hand.

  He got in beside her and started the engine. It fired first time.

  Tasha looked out of the window and smiled.

  What am I doing? she thought again.

  Quinn drove them through Ntembe, occasionally having to sound his horn to clear the way, sometimes sticking his arm out of the window to wave and say hello to people he knew. He seemed popular.

  ‘How long have you been here?’ she asked.


  ‘Only a couple of days.’

  ‘But the entire port seems to know you.’

  ‘We’ve docked here many times.’

  Which meant he’d left many times, too. ‘How long are you here for?’

  ‘A month.’

  A month! So in a few weeks he’d be gone again?

  She wasn’t ready for the onslaught of disappointment that hit her like a freak wave.

  People always leave me.

  ‘Where will you go next?’

  ‘Madagascar is our next port of call.’

  ‘Oh.’

  He looked at her. ‘Will you miss me?’

  She looked away from him, out of the window at the passing streets, still filled with people on their way home from long working days.

  ‘I haven’t been with you long enough to miss you.’

  The atmosphere in the car had changed. She appreciated that he was trying to be bright and perky, friendly and amiable, but she wasn’t sure if she could cope with that from him yet.

  ‘Maybe we should just stick with coffee,’ she said.

  Quinn quickly pulled over.

  She turned to look at him and ask why. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I want to know what’s wrong.’

  ‘Nothing’s wrong.’

  ‘So why do you want only coffee now?’

  Exasperated, she undid her seat belt and got out of the car. He’d stopped by a small field of what looked like sweetcorn. Between her and the field was a small irrigation ditch that smelt quite dank and dirty. It made her think about mosquitoes and malaria and sick children. About Abeje lying in her hospital bed, weak and feeble, whilst she was out gallivanting with a man who, by rights, she really ought not to be talking to.

  And then there were thoughts of another child. A child she hadn’t been able to save. She hugged her arms around her body, haunted by the past.

  She heard Quinn get out, too and then he was by her side. ‘What’s wrong? Come on, Nit-Nat, you can tell me,’ he said in a soft voice.

  Tasha shook her head, angry. ‘Don’t call me that.’