Page 13 of Do Opposites Attract?

Once again, Brianna shifted in her seat. ‘Having second thoughts about tagging along now?’ he asked.

‘No.’

He almost smiled. As if she’d admit to being wrong. ‘Ever seen a bad injury?’

‘My mother once cut her hand on a kitchen knife.’

He couldn’t help himself. He snorted. ‘Don’t tell me. She needed one, no maybe two plasters?’

‘She needed stitches,’ Brianna muttered, refusing to look at him.

Casting his eyes down to her hands, he saw how tightly she clutched them together and felt a twinge of sympathy. ‘You want my advice? When we get there, don’t look.’

He brought the truck to a halt outside the ruined remains of a small house and flung open his door. Leaving it up to the rest to bring the equipment, he headed straight towards the cluster of people. A woman, presumably the mother, lay on the ground, weeping loudly and cradling the boy’s head in her arms. They all looked up as he approached.

‘Doctor, doctor,’ the mother cried in Spanish, tears streaming down her face.

Mitch nodded at her and hunkered down next to the boy. He might have seen several such injuries, but it didn’t take away the immediate feeling of repulsion. Poor little mite. Gently he began to examine him, trying to find out if the pole had skewered any vital organs. Thankfully the boy was unconscious, though the family confirmed he’d been awake when they’d got there.

‘It looks like it’s just missed his heart,’ he reassured the mother in his serviceable Spanish.

* * *

While Mitch and the others raced to the child, Brianna hung back. From what she judged to be a safe distance, she allowed her eyes fleeting glances of the scene, keeping them at head height so she wouldn’t accidentally glimpse the poor boy on the ground. She felt really, really shaky. Mitch and Tessa had been right. She had no place here.

Suddenly the crowd around the boy moved away, and Brianna’s eyes unthinkingly shifted downwards, towards the child. Instantly she knew she had to look away, but found she couldn’t. It was as if someone had hit the pause button and she was left staring at the grotesque sight of a long rusty pole sticking out from the top half of a child’s body.Oh my God.

A tidal wave of nausea hit her, clawing at her stomach, and the air she sucked in came out in short, rasping breaths. She felt cold and clammy and rubbed absently at her arms, trying to warm herself, all the while her eyes fixed on the distressing sight in front of her.

‘Brianna!’

Through a fog of horror, Brianna heard Mitch’s harsh voice yelling at her. She blinked and slowly moved her head, as if coming out of trance. Dimly aware of him motioning for her to move away, she turned and took a few steps towards the truck. That was when her knees gave way. Quickly she crouched onto the ground and put her head between her legs, letting the blood rush back to her brain. Bugger, bugger, bugger, she’d been about to faint. Would have done if Mitch hadn’t called out. Just as he’d predicted she’d nearly added to his problems.

‘You okay, Missy?’ One of the men who’d been standing by the boy came up to her, speaking in halting English.

Weakly she smiled up at him. ‘Yes, thank you, sorry.’ Her eyes involuntarily flickered towards the scene, but this time Mitch’s large body obscured her view. Hastily she looked away. ‘Is he your son?’

The man shook his head. ‘My nephew. He in bad way.’

Brianna reached out and squeezed the man’s arm. ‘Yes, but he has good people looking after him. They will do everything they can.’

Together they sat and waited. Brianna found she was unable to resist looking over again, but this time she kept her eyes onMitch. Whether it was because the initial shock had worn off, or because she was now focused on Mitch instead of the boy, she wasn’t sure but she no longer felt she might black out. Or heave.

‘He must have nerves of steel,’ she whispered out loud. The boy’s uncle clearly didn’t understand, but smiled as if he did.

The more she watched Mitch work, the more her admiration for him grew. There was nothing hesitant or unsure about his actions. Rather they were decisive, confident. If she’d been the mother she would have felt immensely reassured that this man was looking after her child. He had the air of a man who wouldn’t let anything beat him. It was wildly inappropriate, but she felt a stir of desire. There was something incredibly sexy about the sight of the calm, self-assured doctor at work.

Disgusted with the way her thoughts had turned, she forced her mind back to the reason they were there. ‘Do you know why your nephew came back here?’ she asked the man at her side, trying to take both their minds off what was happening.

‘I think he miss his things,’ he replied sadly. ‘He look for them.’

Brianna waited until they were putting the boy onto the stretcher before walking up to the ruins. She wondered if there was something in particular the boy had been searching for. Something important enough to him that he’d walked all the way from the camp to find it. There, under a sheet of corrugated iron, she caught sight of the furry ear of a toy rabbit. Lifting up the iron sheet, she tugged out the soft toy. It was dirty, but nothing a wash couldn’t solve.

* * *

Back at the medical tent Mitch and the team operated on the child while Brianna waited anxiously with his mother and father. It had been two hours now and they’d still not received anynews. Restlessly she stood and started to pace. Putting her hands in her pockets, she felt the soft fur.

‘Here.’ She handed the cuddly toy to the mother. ‘I found this in the rubble. Maybe it was what your son was looking for?’

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