Читать книгу Christmas Kisses Collection - Джанис Мейнард, Louise Allen - Страница 35

CHANCE ROSE A couple of times during the night to check on their patient. Each time Ellen curled into the warm spot he had left. When he returned she moaned her appreciation as he took her into his arms again. That kind of treatment he could get used to.

He looked out the doorway at the full moon. It was well after midnight. Their patient had spiked a fever. After giving him another dose of antibiotics, Chance used a four-by-four to bathe his head. Under these conditions there wasn’t much more he could do. He joined Ellen again.

“How’s he doing?” she murmured.

“Fever’s down. Go back to sleep.”

“Next time I’ll get up.”

He pulled her close again. “Deal.”

The sky was still more dark than light when Chance was shaken awake. “Must go,” the boy said in a low urgent whisper. “Now.”

Chance was instantly alert.

The boy was already picking up Chance’s to-go bag and putting things in it. “Bad men come. Must hide.”

Chance stood and helped Ellen to her feet.

“They find you, they kill you.” The boy didn’t slow down.

His statement propelled Chance into action. “Ellen, make sure we have everything picked up that might indicate who we are. Leave nothing behind.” He grabbed her backpack and finished putting their things, even the paper covers, into the pack. Done, he zippered it up.

“What’s going on?” Ellen looked around as if unsure what to do first.

“Drug traffickers. They’re looking for our patient over there. If they find us they’ll kill me and ransom you. If you’re lucky.”

“What about our patient?” She started toward the man.

“We’ve done all we can for him. Now we have to take care of ourselves.” He thrust the backpack at her. “Put it on. Do exactly as I say. No more questions.” He took his pack from the boy and pulled the strap over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Ricco?” she asked.

The boy went to the door and stopped. “He leave when the men come close. Hide. Then warn doctors.” The boy waved them on. Instead of heading across the grassy field, the boy led them to the edge of the jungle. There he went into a squat. Chance followed suit and pulled Ellen down beside him. The boy searched the area.

There was a stillness in the air as if nature was waiting for something to happen. No birds chattered in the trees or monkeys swung from limb to limb. Seconds later voices broke the silence. The boy put his finger across his mouth. They waited, waited. The sounds came no closer.

The boy, followed by Ellen and then Chance ran stooped over around the edge of the field for a time until they ducked into the foliage near a large banyan tree. At almost a run they headed down a path that was harder to follow than the one they had been on the day before.

They had been moving at a fast pace for about ten minutes when Ellen tripped and went down on her hands. Chance grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to her feet.

“Are you all right?” he whispered close to her ear.

She nodded.

Chance looked at the boy, who had paused. He waved them forward.

“We have to move.” Chance took Ellen’s hand and started after the boy.

As they ran Chance tried to push the leaves back so they wouldn’t slap Ellen in the face but wasn’t always successful. She kept up despite the difference in their size and the fact she was wearing chunky boots. A few minutes later the boy pulled to a stop and squatted on his heels.

Ellen took a seat on a large root. Strands of hair hung around her face. Her cheeks were bright red. Her deep breathing filled the air along with his and the boy’s.

Standing, the boy said quietly, “I must go to my father. You follow path to river, then go down river to Saba.” The boy headed up the path the way they had come.

“He’s leaving us?” Ellen whispered in disbelief.

“Yes. He’ll be missed and we’ll be in more danger.”

“Won’t they know we have been there when they see his father?”

“Maybe they won’t look that closely or hopefully they don’t even check the shack.” Chance offered her his hand and she took it. “We need to put as much distance between us and them as we can.”

He hurried down the path but not at a run and Ellen kept pace with him. As they went the birds started to call at each other and the animals scurried off. At least the jungle was accepting them. If the traffickers were close and they heard no noise they would know where he and Ellen were.

They had been walking for about an hour when Chance stopped and led Ellen off the path. Stepping through the vegetation about ten feet, he found a large fig tree that would give them plenty of cover.

“Why’re we stopping?”

“You need to rest.” He looked around. “Hell, I need to rest. Take a seat.”

Ellen pulled off her pack and dropped it to the ground. Satisfied that they were out of sight of the path, Chance joined her on the ground.

“Any way you have some food in that bag?”

He grinned. “As a matter of fact I do. Two or three breakfast bars.”

“That’s what I love, a man who’s prepared for a quick run through the jungle.”

Chance chuckled and started searching though his bag. No one was prepared for this situation but he didn’t want to scare her by saying that. He pulled out a bar. Tearing it open, he handed her half of it. “It’s more like a man who has had to go a day without a meal.”

“Do you know where we are?”

This was a conversation he wasn’t looking forward to having. It would go one of two ways: she would panic or she would take it in her stride. So far Ellen had been a good sport but this was more than they both had bargained for when he’d agreed to go help the boy’s father. “Three days is my best guess if we don’t run into trouble.”

“Three days!” Her voice rose. Birds squawked and flew away.

“Shush, we don’t know who else is nearby.”

Ellen’s brows grew together and she looked around with concern. “Sorry.”

“Just be careful from now on. We have to walk and it won’t be an easy one. Even following the river, we have to circle any villages we come to. We don’t know who we can trust.”

“We really are in a mess. I’m sorry I insisted that we help the father.” She took a bite of the bar. “Now I’ve put us in danger.”

“It didn’t take much for me to agree. Let’s not worry about it. We need to make plans. First, we have to conserve what food we have. Which consists of two and a half bars. We’ll need water.” He was now talking more to himself than her.

“We have the two saline bottles. We can fill them up at the river.”

“No, we mustn’t drink the water unless we have no other choice. The chance of getting a parasite is too great. We’ll collect rain water. We’ll just have to make do until it rains.” Thankfully it did that almost daily.

By the deflated look on Ellen’s face he suspected she was thirsty now but she didn’t say anything.

“Do you have any idea where we are?”

“Some but we’re far deeper in-country and north than I’ve ever been.” Maybe he shouldn’t be quite so truthful with her but he couldn’t bring himself to lie either. He finished his half of the bar and put the paper in his bag. “We’d better get going.”

They both stood. He gave her a hand signal to stay and stepped out to check the path then waved her to join him. Chance offered his hand. Ellen took it. She trusted him to get them out of this. He just hoped he’d earned her faith.

Ellen realized she was in over her head this time. She’d done what her had father worried would happen. Taken a risk. It was starting to take a great deal of effort to contain her fear. The pace Chance set had her feet aching and her body sweating. By the time the rush of the river could be heard the sun was high in the sky.

Her mouth was desert dry and her clothes stuck to her skin. She couldn’t remember being more miserable but she refused to say anything or ask to slow down. There was no way she would be responsible for putting them in more danger. She’d already placed them in enough.

Chance stopped. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded but didn’t like the idea of being left. By the sound of the water the river was around the next bend. Surely Chance wouldn’t be gone long. When he was no longer in sight panic pushed its way into her chest. She looked up the path from the direction they had come. Then back to where Chance had gone. What if something happened to him and she was left out here alone? What if he got hurt and needed her? What if those men found him? Why didn’t he hurry?

With a flow of relief that had to equal the river in size, she saw Chance coming back.

When he joined her again he gave her a searching look. “You okay? Hear something?”

She gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

“That might be stretching the truth. River’s right ahead. There’s a path running beside it. We’ll use it but we’ll have to be careful not to run into anyone.”

“You lead, I follow.”

“When we get down a way we’ll stop and cool off for a while.”

“Gives me something to look forward to.”

Chance started down the path. “I’ll give you this, Ellen Cox, you’re a trouper.”

The path widened and she walked beside him. “You might want to save that praise until you see how I do over the next few of days.”

He took her hand and squeezed it. “We’ll make it.”

Ellen couldn’t contain the “Aw” that came out at the sight of the river. It was breathtaking. The water flowing over the white rounded boulders whooshed and boiled as it made its way to the coast. The contrast of the vivid vegetation framing it and the blue of the sky above made for a perfect picture. If it hadn’t been for the situation they were in she would have sworn she was in paradise.

Chance let go of her hand and stood beside her. “It’s just one of the many things I love about this country, the beauty.”

They started moving again. “Still, you’ve had a hard time dealing with all the needs you see and keeping the hospital going.”

“I have to admit that the struggle to retain staff, find funding and most of all making a real difference here has started to eat away at me.”

It was the first time she’d heard him really share his feelings about anything personal. “So your plan was to discourage help when it shows up?”

As they walked along the path beside the river he pointed down, “Watch the rocks. We don’t need a twisted ankle to deal with.”

A couple of minutes went by as they maneuvered over a narrow, difficult area. Back on a wider section, Ellen said, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I don’t discourage people from coming. In fact, I encourage them. We need the help down here.”

“I didn’t get that kind of welcome.”

“Only because you reminded me of my ex-wife at first, then because you didn’t. I wasn’t sure you could handle this type of work. I was concerned for your safety. Still am.” He took her hand and helped her down over a slippery area.

It was nice to have someone care but she was a survivor. She’d learned that when her mother had died and during those days in the hospital. “But there’s more to it.”

It took him a second to answer. “I was attracted to you and I didn’t want to be.”

“Why’s that such a bad thing?”

“Because I have nothing real to offer you.”

Before she could get him to clarify that statement he said, “Here’s a good place to rest.” The river slowed and created a pool. “I’ll keep watch while you clean up. Just be sure not to swallow any water despite how temping it might be.”

Ellen crouched beside the river. She must look a fright. Cupping her hands, she splashed water onto her face. She did it again, rubbing her hands down her cheeks, and was amazed at the dirt that came off. The water felt wonderful. Cool and refreshing. Cupping another handful of liquid, she ran her hand along the back of her neck. Now, if she could just have a drink.

She sat on a rock and started working with her bootlace. “I’m going to take my boots off and cool off my feet for a second.”

“No. Don’t.” Chance’s tone was sharp. “You won’t be able to get them back on because your feet will be so swollen. Hopefully, we’ll be somewhere tonight where you can remove them.”

Ellen started re-lacing her boot. So much for the pleasure of having water run over her throbbing feet. Done, she stood. “Your turn.”

Chance stepped to the river and began cleaning himself. As she expected, he poured and splashed the water into his hair. He slung his head back. His hair curled and dripped around the collar of his safari shirt. In an odd way he belonged to the wild uncertain world around them.

While he was doing that she checked up and down the path. Pulling her band from her hair, she let it fall then gathered it again, working to get all the loose strands back under control.

The shrill call of a bird had her jerking around to search the area behind them. She looked back at Chance. He was on guard as well.

Stepping away from the river, he picked up his bag and came to her. “Come on, we’re both tired and jumpy. We need to rest. Get out of the heat. We’ll start again in an hour or so.” He pushed leaves of rhododendron the size of a man and vines out of the away, putting distance between them and the path. They soon came to a banyan tree.

“This should do. We have cover here.” He bent over and weaved his way between the roots that grew almost head high in abundance around the tree.

Ellen followed.

Chance put his satchel on the ground, lay down and used the bag as a pillow. Ellen took the space beside him, doing the same with her backpack. After they were settled and still, the birds started talking again. She looked up into the tree, catching glimpses of sky through the thick canopy.

“Chance,” she whispered.

“Mmm?”

“Tell me about your ex.”

He rolled his head toward her and opened one eye. “Why do you want to know about her?”

There was a hint of pain in his voice. She must have destroyed him.

“Because I think she is part of the reason why you’ve been trying to stop anything from happening between us.”

Chance looked away. She wasn’t sure if his eyes were closed or if he was staring off into the distance.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I met her at a fund-raiser. She was all about looks, which worked because she had them. In spades. Blonde, blue-eyed, leggy.”

Ellen’s lips tightened. Like her.

“I fell for her right away. She liked the good things in life and she was more than glad to hitch a ride with me. What she didn’t bargain on was living in Honduras. She came from a middle-class background where they camped on vacation and didn’t have the comforts of high living so I thought she would do fine down here, especially staying at the resort. It didn’t take her long to start complaining about the heat, the bugs, the rain and most of all having to spend the day by herself. She wanted nothing to do with the clinic. There wasn’t enough to do and she was lonely.”

Ellen could hear the disgust and disappointment in his voice.

“One of my buddies from med school came down to work for six weeks. She had been so unhappy that when she started spending time with Jim and smiling again I was glad. Suddenly she wanted to come out with us and help at the clinic. I thought it was a good idea. The more she saw maybe the more she’d want to help. Yeah, right. It turned out they were having an affair. He was from an old Boston family with the name and money to please her. When he left, she went with him.” The last he all but spit out.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“It was a long time ago. I’ve moved on.”

Ellen had never known a person more in denial. “You do know I’m nothing like her?”

“Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly.” There was a contrite note in his voice. “I was tough on you there at first.”

“You think?”

He smiled slightly.

“So those question and comments about Michael and me was you being jealous?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

She leaned over him and looked into his eyes. “I would.”

Their gazes held for a long time before he said, “Lie back, Dr. Cox, and get some rest. You’re going to need it.”

Ellen did as he asked with a grin on her face. He cared far more than he let on. Could she have a relationship with Chance and still maintain the freedom she’d fought so hard to gain? From what she’d learned about him, he had a strong need to protect. Could she handle that?

The sounds of the birds as they took flight from the top of the trees woke her. Chance rolled over her and put a finger to her lips. His body remained rigid and still. Seconds later the voices of males speaking in Spanish reached her ears. They were on the path. She only caught a few words because the dialect was so different. Words like “find” and “American” she understood.

They were looking for them!

Chance saw the fear in Ellen’s eyes. Her body trembled beneath him. She’d heard the men. They were in more danger than he’d believed. The drug traffickers were determined to find them. Ellen’s eyes were wide with terror. She squirmed as if wanting to run.

He brushed his lips over hers as he shook his head. Bringing his hand to her cheek, he held her so that he could deepen the kiss. Ellen opened. Her tongue mated with his. Fingers weaved into the hair at the nape of his neck and her body softened. She kissed him with the passion of a person hanging on to life. An arm came down to his waist then pushed under his shirt and grasped his back.

Heaven help him, Chance wanted her. Here. In the jungle. On the ground. Beneath this tree. But he couldn’t. He must keep her safe.

His lips remained on hers as he listened for the men. They had moved on but they were going the same way as them. They would have to wait here and let them get further down river then cross over. Find somewhere to hole up for the night. It would mean more time in the jungle but getting Ellen back in one piece would be worth it.

She quit kissing him. He opened his eyes. Hers were fixed on him. He put his finger to her lips. She kissed it. Thankfully the panic had cleared from her eyes. Passion and questions filled them now.

“Shh.”

She nodded. He rolled off her and sat up. She did the same. They waited there, just listening, for what seemed like an eternity. The birds settled again. All he could make out was the usual jungle sounds.

Standing, he extended his hand and helped her to her feet. He put his finger to his lips again then gently pushed the undergrowth back as they made progress toward the river. Ellen was glued to his back as if they were one. He paused and carefully searched the area before they stepped out onto the path.

Using a low voice, he said, “We have to cross the river and find somewhere to stay the night. Maybe they’ll give up by tomorrow.”

She nodded.

“We need to do it here. I’m afraid to go downstream any farther. We’ll cross at those rocks.” He pointed down the river just below the pool. “Guess what? You get to take those boots off after all. We don’t want to get them wet or they’ll be even harder to walk in. Tie the laces together and put them around your neck.”

Ellen did as he instructed without question. Minutes later they were ready to go. Chance led her across some rocks and down into the water and up again. There was a section where the water was moving fast between two large rocks close to the bank. It was moving rapidly enough that Ellen wouldn’t be strong enough to walk through it without assistance.

“I’ll step over then help you though.” Chance didn’t wait for a response. They had to get out of the open. There was no way of knowing if the men would come back this way. He held on to the rock and put a foot into the gushing water. Secure, he took a long step, making it across the flow. He offered his arm to Ellen. She grasped his forearm and he hers. He swung her more than helped her over the divide. She now stood a little in front of him.

In his peripheral vision he saw a flash of color. He pushed Ellen into the deeper water surrounding a large rock. When he did so he slipped. He was headed down the river and right into the sight of the men looking for them.

His bag strap held him back. Seconds later he felt a tug across his chest.

“Help,” Ellen whispered close to his ear.

Using a foot, Chance pushed against a rock beneath the water and back toward her. He did it once more. Now at least half of his body was behind the rock, lying over Ellen’s. She held tightly to the strap, pulling him against her chest. The water tugged at him as it flowed over his legs but Ellen held steady. They stayed in that position without daring to look to see where the men were for a long time. The shadows were long on their side of the river before Chance had the nerve to lean forward. Scanning the area, he saw no sign of human life.

He worked to find adequate footing then managed to get turned around and to the bank. Ellen took his hand and he brought her over to join him. They climbed out of the water and moved into the vegetation. Sitting, he said, “Thanks for saving my butt back there.”

“Think nothing of it.” She sounded exhausted.

“When did you see—?”

“About the same time you did. I couldn’t think of anything to do but hold on.”

“You did well.” What he didn’t want to tell her was that they had bigger problems now. Like it was getting dark and they had no safe place to stay for the night. “Let’s get our boots on. We need to get moving. The good news is that they were headed upstream so the chances of us meeting them again is slim.”

“So there’ll be no more distraction kisses?”

“I hope not.”

“Shame, I rather enjoyed it.”

He grinned. “I did too. Get your shoes on. We need to get going.”

“I’m afraid they’re wet.” Ellen dumped water out of one of hers.

“We’ll have to wear them anyway.”

They both had their boots on and were ready to go in a few minutes. Once again Chance led, pushing plants out of the way. It was rough walking but they made headway. He almost kissed the ground when they came to a path. Keeping the sound of the river to his right, he could be sure they were still headed toward the coast.

Now to find a place for them to stay for the night. They were both soaking wet. He was starting to chap and Ellen must be also. But still no complaint. He shook his head. The woman with hot pink fingernails had just saved his life. Who would have thought?

Where did she find that fortitude? In his experience with women they would have broken down long ago. As the daughter of Robert Cox she’d grown up in a privileged home. He couldn’t imagined her having done anything that would prepare her for this type of undertaking. It was nice to have someone he wasn’t having to reassure all the time. A partner in the effort.

They walked about an hour without seeing any obvious good place for shelter. Under the tree canopy it was almost dark. He had to find something soon. As if in answer to his prayer, a giant kapok tree came into view. It was so large that its trunk and roots created a cave of sorts. They had just made it to the tree when rain started to fall. Ellen stood with her mouth open, letting the drops off a leaf fall into her mouth. He wished he could let her continue but they had to see to their needs first.

“Get the bottles and put them where they’ll collect water. I’ll make sure we don’t have any company inside this tree. Then we need to get out of these clothes and shoes. We can’t take a chance on a fire but we do need to give our bodies relief from the damp.”

Chance left her to see about the drinking water while he checked out the tree. There was just enough room for them to both lie down. At least it was dry. He returned outside and found a banana tree and started stripping leaves from it. He would use them to clean out any ants or spiders that might want to share their room. They couldn’t afford to be bitten.

He’d just finished and had their bags inside when Ellen joined him, soaking wet. She had one full bottle of water in her hand.

“I poured what I had in one. I’ll go out after the other in a few minutes. Have some.” She handed it to him like she was giving a Christmas present. “It’s wonderful.”

Chance gladly took a swallow. And another, before handing it back to her. “Drink all you can so we can fill it up again.”

She did as he said and passed it to him once more.

“I think we’re safe here so we need to get out of these clothes. There’s a root we can hang them on. They won’t dry completely but it’s better than nothing.” Chance started unbuttoning his shirt. He couldn’t help but watch Ellen pull her T-shirt over her head. Why couldn’t there be more light? Beneath she wore a sports bra.

“Please, don’t look at me like that. I’m not used to undressing in front of a man.”

Chance unbuckled his belt, bent over and removed his boots then dropped his pants. “You certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re amazing.”

“From what I can see of you, you’re not so bad yourself. So you’re a briefs guy. And I would have said boxers.”

She’d given thought to what type of underwear he wore? He rather liked that idea.

Ellen sat on a banana leaf and removed her boots then stood. The sound of a zipper drew Chance’s attention away from hanging clothes. In the dim light he could see a strip of white bikini panties. Once again he had to remind himself to focus on keeping them alive instead of his baser desires.

“Hand me those,” he said in a gruff voice.

She gave him her pants.

“We need to go through our packs and see what we have that we can use to gather food and attend to our feet. I don’t know about you but mine feel like shriveled-up prunes.” The job needed to be done but it would also keep his mind off the half-naked woman sharing a tree bedroom in the middle of nowhere with him. It should have been the stuff that dreams were made of. Instead they were in a nightmare.

He’d worked hard all day to sound upbeat and not to show his fear and concern. Gut-wrenching anxiety filled him any time he let himself think about their situation. People with guns were after them, they were dehydrated, had no real food, their feet were blistered, they were insect bitten, and exhausted. He just couldn’t let on to Ellen how dire their situation was.

She sat on a banana leaf again and opened her backpack. She started laying things out. When she found the flashlight she start to turn it on.

“Wait until we have everything out so we don’t waste the batteries.”

“It’s so wet it might not work.”

“It’s the kind sealed for water. It should be fine.”

She went back to digging in the pack. “What’s this?” She held a rag with its ends tied. She opened it carefully. It was food like the boy had bought them last night.

“The boy must have put it in there when he was packing things up.”

“I don’t care how it got here, I’m just grateful to have it. I’m starving.” She handed one to him.

They stopped what they were doing and took a moment to eat. Neither said anything about saving some but they only ate a little. Chance gave his back to her and she put them both back into the rag and tied it.

“Okay, what else do we have?” she asked.

Most of what they had was medical supplies, which did them little good for food or drink.

“Let me see that light. I want to look at your feet.”

“Why, Doctor, that’s a kinky idea.” Ellen brought her feet around in his direction.

“Funny. You keep that up and I might tickle them.” Chance shined the light on her feet. He wanted to cry. They had blisters and were bleeding in some places. “I have some antibiotic ointment I’m going to put on these. Why didn’t you say something?”

“We couldn’t stop, could we?”

“No.”

“Then what was the point? I’m sure yours are just as bad. Finish up with mine and then I’ll see to yours.”

He gently applied the ointment to her feet but it wouldn’t really help much. The air and time out of her boots were the best healer. “Before you do mine, let me go out and see to the water.” Chance picked up the bottle and headed outside. He soon returned to find her repacking their bags.

“It’s your turn.” Chance wiped as much dirt off his feet as possible and sat down to let her examine them. Her hands were gentle as she checked each angry spot and applied the cream. She was an above-average doctor.

“We’re both in sad shape but we’ll survive. My father will never believe this. I’ll be lucky if he lets me out of town again.”

Chance placed banana leaves so that they had a bed of sorts. He put his bag and her pack on it and lay back. Patting the area beside him, he said, “Join me.”

Ellen did but didn’t touch him.

He clicked off the flashlight. “Would you mind keeping me warm?”

She placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. Shifting, she got comfortable and he became uncomfortable. He could so easily roll over and make love to her but he was bone weary and she could only be just as tired. They needed their rest more than release.

“These banana leaves make you think a dirty tarp isn’t so bad.”

Chance chuckled and kissed her temple. “You never cease to amaze me.”

The soft sound of her even breathing brought the only feeling of peace he’d found all day.