Читать книгу High-Altitude Doctor - Sarah Morgan - Страница 8

THEY ate sardines and French fries and afterwards, she and Neil gathered the trekkers together in the small, smoky room of the teahouse that served as a dining area when it was too cold to sit outside. In one corner a fire burned and at a table in the corner sat two climbers. One of them was Finn McEwan.

The moment Juliet entered the room their eyes met and held. Then she forced herself to give a nod of acknowledgement and turned her attention to her own party. She would have preferred that he wasn’t sitting in the corner while she talked, but there was nothing she could do about it. So she set about ignoring him.

‘Tomorrow we’ve got a five-hour, three-thousand-metre climb to the village of Namche Bazaar.’ She spread out the map so that she could show them the route. ‘You could call it the last outpost of civilisation. It may not seem far but it’s really important that you walk slowly. At this altitude you can get tired very quickly and if you exhaust yourselves early on, you won’t be finishing the trek. Remember the story of the hare and the tortoise? Well, up here, it’s the tortoise that wins every time.’

One of the men settled back in his chair, his arms hooked behind his head, gym-developed muscles bunched. ‘We’re all pretty fit and well prepared.’ His gaze was slightly mocking, as if it should have been obvious from a glance that he was more than up to the job. ‘I can’t see any of us having a problem.’

Cocky.

Juliet studied him for a moment, looked at the muscles and the man and wondered whether to cut him down to size now or let him fall down by himself later. His name was Simon and she’d met his sort before on treks. Macho. Determined to stride out and prove himself, not understanding the effects of altitude on human physiology. By the next day he’d probably be gasping for breath by the side of the trail, unwilling to admit that he was in trouble.

In the interests of team harmony, she decided to watch and wait. But she delivered a polite warning. After all, that was her job and if she didn’t watch him, she’d be the one clearing up the mess.

‘The only thing that can prepare you for altitude is altitude itself.’ She spoke the words quietly, directly to him, hoping that he’d take heed. Then she addressed the group as a whole. ‘As we get higher up we’ll be sleeping two to a tent, and as soon as you arrive in the camp the Sherpas will serve tea. Make sure you drink it. It’s important to drink plenty of liquid at high altitudes and in hot weather to prevent dehydration. Due to the polluted water supplies it is necessary to boil all water, so hot tea is the best available drink. Having said that…’ Juliet gave a wry smile ‘…heartburn is a common complaint around here and it’s largely due to the tannin in the black tea. It’s abrasive and irritating to the stomach. If you find you have problems, you might want to switch to herbal.’

The two guys exchanged appalled looks that clearly stated their opinion of herbal tea.

Juliet chose to ignore them, knowing that once their stomachs started protesting they’d switch soon enough. Instead, she ran a finger over the map, showing them the route. ‘The first half of tomorrow’s trail follows the river and crosses it a few times. Then we gain some height and that’s when you’ll start to feel the effects of altitude. I’ve said it before but I’m going to say it again because it’s important.’ She lifted her head and looked directly at Simon, determined to get the message across. ‘You need to keep your pace slow and steady.’

He gave a suggestive smile. ‘I can do slow and steady when the occasion demands it. Any time you want a demonstration, Doc, you only have to ask.’

‘You’re totally disgusting, Si.’ Sally gave him a friendly thump on the shoulder and leaned forward to look at the map more closely, her expression interested. ‘Can you really develop altitude sickness at that elevation? I thought you’d need to be higher up to feel the effects.’

Juliet chose to ignore Simon’s comment but the look in his eyes was making her increasingly uneasy about the forthcoming trip. ‘Certain normal physiological changes occur in every person who goes to altitude. At night you wake more frequently and you might notice a difference in your breathing pattern. During the day you’ll find that you become short of breath on exertion and you need to pass urine more often.’

‘All the more reason to cut down on that herbal tea,’ Simon drawled, and Juliet gritted her teeth and reflected on the fact that before the trip was over she might well have stabbed the guy with the business end of her ice axe.

She didn’t like his arrogance and she didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

Something made her glance across at Finn and she was surprised to find him staring at Simon, his gaze cold and hard.

Juliet bit her lip, wondering exactly what had angered him. Perhaps she wasn’t the only person to find the guy objectionable.

Sally sipped her drink, apparently oblivious to the undercurrents of tension around the table. Or maybe she was just used to Simon. ‘And that’s all OK? All those changes are normal?’

‘As long as the shortness of breath resolves rapidly once you take some rest. The increase in breathing is an essential part of adapting to the altitude. You have to work harder to obtain oxygen and you do it by breathing more deeply and more quickly.’

‘Because there is less oxygen in the air?’

‘Precisely.’

The other male trekker, Gary, was enjoying a drink of chang, the local brew, and Juliet gave him a pointed look. ‘That can be a pretty alcoholic drink and by tomorrow you might be regretting that decision. It’s a good idea to avoid alcohol and certain drugs, anything that might decrease breathing—that’s if you want to finish the trek. Remember, you need those extra breaths to give your body the oxygen it needs to function. And even when you’re breathing faster you still won’t gain normal blood levels of oxygen.’

Simon stared at the glass. ‘No alcohol and plenty of herbal tea. Who the hell talked me into this trip?’

Sally frowned at him. ‘For goodness sake, shut up, Si.’

Silently thanking Sally for the timely intervention, Juliet continued with her talk, aware that Neil had joined Finn and was watching and listening from the edge of the room.

An oldtimer at altitude, Neil had seen it all before. And heard it all before.

Juliet carried on talking, made the points she wanted to make, answered the girls’ many questions and then called a halt to the evening.

She needed some space and time by herself.

And she needed to get away from Simon.

Leaving the group of trekkers to enjoy themselves, she dragged on her jacket and left the teahouse, braving the freezing air outside.

Juliet stood for a moment with her eyes closed, feeling the sting of the cold bite her cheeks and listening to the rush of the river just below the lodge. She breathed in the smell of smoke and outdoors and instantly felt more relaxed. Apart from the muffled laughter that came from within the lodge, the night was silent and she huddled deeper inside her jacket and opened her eyes, letting her vision adjust to the semi-darkness.

She walked a short distance, sat down on a boulder and hugged her knees, enjoying the night sounds.

‘That trekker of yours is going to give you a problem. You need to watch him.’

The deep, masculine voice came from right next to her and she gave a soft gasp, wondering how she could have not noticed the powerful figure leaning against the tree.

It was Finn McEwan.

He was obviously escaping the crowds, too.

She stared into his strong, handsome face and felt her heart beat faster. Frustration at her own unexpected reaction to him made her more irritable than usual. ‘Thanks for your concern but I don’t need your advice on how to handle arrogant men,’ she said, resisting the temptation to scramble to her feet and take refuge inside the lodge. She’d wanted some air and she was going to stay put. No one was going to drive her away. ‘Simon will be fine once he recognises the effects of altitude.’

There was a long pause. ‘I wasn’t referring to his fitness levels, although you and I both know those muscles aren’t going to help him much up here.’ Finn’s tone was even. ‘I was referring to the way he was looking at you. And if you didn’t notice then you’re not the woman I think you are. A woman who thinks she’s smart enough to get herself up Everest should be smart enough to sense a problem when it’s staring her in the face, and that guy is trouble.’

Juliet felt a flicker of unease. She wanted to argue with him but she couldn’t because she knew he was right. Simon was trouble. ‘I can handle it,’ she said calmly, stuffing her hands deep in her pockets to keep them warm. ‘I was brought up dealing with trouble. You don’t need to worry about me.’

She certainly didn’t want him worrying about her.

She wished he’d go inside and leave her to enjoy the cold night alone but he didn’t shift, his broad shoulders planted against the tree, his eyes watchful. She was aware of the hard planes of his handsome face, the steady rhythm of his breathing as his breath clouded the freezing air. Together they shared the darkness and it felt as though they were the only two people in this corner of the world.

The forced intimacy unsettled her, especially as he seemed reluctant to drop the subject.

‘Take my advice,’ he drawled softly. ‘Keep Neil close by at all times.’

She gave a little shiver and her own sense of unease escalated. ‘I don’t need a bodyguard to keep an over-persistent man at a distance. You don’t need to worry about me.’

There was a long silence while he watched her and then he stirred, obviously intending to respond. ‘Dr Adams—’

‘No!’ Juliet lifted a hand and interrupted him hastily, before he could say what she suspected he was going to say. ‘I know that some men are very protective towards women but I don’t need your protection—and I don’t want it. I’m fine on my own. I’m used to being on my own.’

‘Calm down.’ Finn’s tone was level. Neutral. ‘I’m just looking out for a colleague.’

Juliet stared at him for a long moment and felt something stir inside her. Felt something she definitely didn’t want to feel. ‘I’m not in trouble, Dr McEwan, and I’m not your colleague. We’re two strangers who just happen to have our sights set on the same mountain. That doesn’t make us colleagues.’

It was a warning.

Don’t come any closer.

His gaze didn’t shift from her face. ‘Up on that mountain, we’re all part of the same team, you know that as well as I do. The fortunes of one person are inextricably linked with all the others,’ he drawled softly, strolling across to her and pausing only inches away from where she was seated. ‘Which brings me to my next question. What are you doing here, Dr Adams? What the hell are you doing here?’

Her heart beat faster. ‘Why shouldn’t I be here?’ Juliet rose to her feet, flustered and boiling with frustration, and then wished she’d remained seated because standing merely brought her closer to Finn McEwan and closer to Finn McEwan was one place she really, really didn’t want to be.

He stood within touching distance, hard and tough, a man with a strength, maturity and presence that set him apart from other men. It crossed her mind that he made Simon look like an adolescent—over-eager to score with women and then brag of his successes. Still very much a boy despite the outward appearance of manhood.

In contrast, there was nothing of the boy in Finn McEwan. He was all man.

She felt a throb of awareness deep inside her—something sexual that she’d long denied.

‘I’m doing exactly what you’re doing, Dr McEwan.’ In an attempt to halt the slow, insidious curl low in her pelvis, Juliet took several steps backwards, increasing the distance between them. ‘Combining my interest in high-altitude medicine with my love of climbing.’

Finn didn’t comment on her retreat but she knew his eyes had noticed the movement. She saw the sudden narrowing and the silent question in those dark depths.

‘Climbing Everest is hardly an everyday sort of hobby,’ he said mildly, and she tilted her chin, aiming for angry. Angry was so much safer than sexually aware.

‘Do you feel threatened by strong women, Finn?’ Her eyes flashed him a challenge. ‘Are you more comfortable with stereotypes? Do you expect a woman to stay at home and knit and bake cakes while waiting for her man to return from a day’s hunting?’

There was a moment’s silence while he scanned her face, his expression thoughtful. ‘I think a person should be whatever they want to be,’ he said finally, ‘and should travel in whatever direction they wish to travel in life, irrespective of sex or age.’

Her eyes clashed with his and held for a long, breathless moment. Her heart stumbled in her chest. ‘So why don’t you think a woman like me should be on the mountain?’

‘I suppose I’m just wondering whether you’re doing what you want to do or whether something else entirely is driving you.’ He looked at her with that lazy, masculine scrutiny that she found so unsettling. ‘What exactly are you doing here, Dr Adams?’

This wasn’t a conversation that she wanted to have. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘No?’ His gaze didn’t shift from hers. ‘Mountains are harsh and unforgiving. They make man feel strong and invincible and then reveal him as puny. They force you to take risks and then make you pay, possibly the ultimate price. Is that what you want? Are those the risks you truly want to take?’

Her heart beat a little faster. ‘I don’t take risks, Dr McEwan.’

His mouth curved into a faint smile. ‘Just being here is a risk, and you know that as well as I do. You could get seriously hurt, or worse.’

‘Maybe we have a different definition of risk. I happen to call this living.’ As if to illustrate her point, she breathed in deeply and glanced around her, her green eyes shining in the semi-darkness. ‘And as for hurt…’ She gave a tiny shrug. ‘It doesn’t matter where you go or what you do in life, you can’t avoid being hurt. I can play it safe and still manage to get hurt. I can be hit by a bus, stabbed by a patient and I can get my heart broken by a man.’

There was the briefest of pauses and when Finn spoke his voice sounded strangely harsh in the cold night air. ‘And is that what happened to you, Dr Adams? Did you get your heart broken by a man?’

Tension throbbed between them and for a moment Juliet couldn’t find the breath to speak. She pushed the memories back into the past and reminded herself that climbing a mountain was all about moving forward in slow steps. And life was like a mountain. ‘It was just a phrase. Hearts don’t break, Dr McEwan.’ She tilted her head, ignoring the fact that her pulse was dancing a jig. It was the altitude, she told herself. Just the altitude. ‘Arteries get clogged, valves degenerate and muscles weaken and die, but hearts don’t break. You’re a doctor. You should know that.’

He inhaled sharply. ‘I know that there’s a great deal about the human body we don’t understand.’

‘And never will. A bit like life.’ She gave a little shiver and wrapped her arms around her waist. ‘It’s getting cold. I’m going back inside. Goodnight, Dr McEwan.’

Finn’s hesitation was barely perceptible. ‘Goodnight, Dr Adams. Sleep well.’

She knew she wouldn’t and she suspected he knew that, too.

As she walked away, she thought she heard him mutter, ‘And if there’s a lock on your door, use it.’ But she decided that she must have imagined it.

Finn stood still in the dark and the cold and watched Juliet go. He wanted to call her back, wanted to make her stay and talk long into the night until he’d got right inside her head, but instead he kept silent and watched the door swing closed behind her, his last glimpse of her focused on the blonde plait that hung down her back.

The man in him saw soft curves, creamy skin and green eyes that sparked and teased. He saw temptation and seduction in every graceful movement of those long limbs. He saw guts mingled with a vulnerability that could cut a man off at the knees.

The doctor in him wondered whether she had enough body fat to make the strenuous assault on the world’s highest mountain. He knew that about fifteen per cent of body weight was lost after three months at high altitude. He had a better than fair experience of women’s bodies and he was willing to bet money that Dr Adams couldn’t afford to lose fifteen per cent.

Would she make it to the top of Everest?

With a soft curse he reminded himself that her fitness wasn’t his problem.

The fact that she was trekking to one of the most inhospitable places on earth wasn’t his problem.

Finn was used to climbing with strong women and he would never have dreamed of offering assistance unless it was requested. So why was she different? Why did he suddenly have a need to switch teams and anchor himself firmly to her side for the duration of the expedition?

Why did he have a powerful urge to bundle her straight back on that terrifying flight and deliver her safely back to Kathmandu?

Finn let out a vicious curse and reminded himself that feeling over-protective was his problem. She’d made it clear enough that she wouldn’t welcome his interference or his protection.

And he had no right to offer it.

‘Climb, Jules, Climb!’

Juliet was eight years old and clinging to a rockface in frozen terror while her big brother grinned down at her from above. Daniel Adams. Daredevil and wild boy. To her he was a god. Fourteen years old and totally fearless, whereas she could hardly breathe for fear. It gripped her in its jaws like a wild beast, preventing movement, and now she was stuck, clinging to the exposed rockface, paralysed by the enormity of the risk she was taking. ‘I’m going to fall!’

Her fingers tightened in the tiny crack and her toes felt numb.

She was going to let go.

‘You’re not going to fall and even if you do, I’ll catch you because we’re roped together.’ Her brother’s voice was impatient. ‘Look up, not down. Concentrate. Feel the rock. Go for it, Jules, you can do it! You’re my sister!’

A moment of delicious pride mingled with the panic.

She didn’t want to go for it. She just wanted to curl up in a ball away from risk, but she’d discovered that the biggest high on earth was her older brother’s approval. And she couldn’t fall because to fall would be to fail and no one in her family ever failed at anything.

Everyone in her family was bold and fearless and kicked against the life-throttling ropes of convention. And she was going to be the same.

So she closed her eyes and tried to forget the drop beneath her.

She tried to forget that climbing terrified her. She tried to forget that heights made her stomach roll.

And she climbed.

Upwards, towards her brother’s approving smile. Her brother always smiled. And he was still smiling when he lost his footing moments later and plunged headlong down the sheer rockface, dragging her with him into a dark, dark void of terror and death.