Page 66 of Do Opposites Attract?

Brianna wondered if the dour, intensely private Mitch would see it that way.

* * *

The afternoon sailed past. Brianna followed up on the leads she had with potential sponsors, and felt a real sense of achievement when one of them promised to donate regular amounts of money in return for a mention on their website.Work-wise, her life was going well. Donations were already up and the team were in the happy position of deciding how to manage the new level of investment. Even Margaret was smiling at her. If only her love life was going down a similar smooth road, life would be perfect.

‘Oh my God.’ Looking up sharply, she saw Sally’s tortured expression. ‘How badly is he injured?’

Brianna’s heart flew into her mouth. It had to be one of the team.Henarrowed it down to a male. There were only three males she was aware of out there. A one in three chance it was Mitch. The odds were in the right direction.

‘Keep us posted, won’t you? Yes, I’ll tell the office. Look after him, Tessa. I don’t need to tell you, he’s rather special.’

When Sally came off the phone, they all surrounded her. ‘Mitch was trying to rescue a man when the building collapsed on him. They managed to get him out, but he’s been badly injured.’

Brianna felt the blood rushing from her head. The room started to spin and she staggered back towards her chair, just managing to grab hold of it before everything went black.

‘Brianna, wake up.’ Coming to, her eyes focused on Margaret’s face. ‘Are you back with us?’

Brianna nodded her head, trying to get up from the floor where she was currently lying.

‘Hey, careful, we don’t want you blacking out on us again.’ Margaret helped to ease Brianna to her feet and onto her chair.

‘Sorry,’ Brianna mumbled, trying to clear the muzzy feeling from her brain. ‘I don’t know what happened. One minute I was fine. The next—’

‘You were rather gracefully collapsing onto the floor,’ Sally interjected.

The fog cleared. ‘Oh God, it was Mitch. You were telling us he’d been injured.’

Margaret took Brianna’s hand and rubbed it, clearly trying to get some warmth into her clammy circulation. ‘Yes, it sounds like he has. Why don’t you come into my office for a bit and get yourself together?’

With a sensitivity Brianna didn’t realise Margaret was capable of, she was helped into the office, sat down with a coat to warm her up and given a hot tea. ‘How bad is he, Margaret?’

Margaret moved to the chair opposite her. ‘From what I can gather, he’s got the usual broken bones and bruises, but it’s his head they’re worried about. He’s unconscious and has fractured his skull. They think he’ll need an operation to remove bits of the skull from his brain.’

Brianna threw a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh God.’

‘Sorry, that sounded more gruesome than I’d intended.’ Margaret glanced at her sharply. ‘You’re not going to black out on me again, are you?’

Brianna tried to shake her head, but she felt so dizzy she had to stop. ‘What can I do? How can I increase his chances? Can he be airlifted home?’ The words tumbled out of her.

‘Honestly? If he can be moved, then yes, he’d have a much better chance of pulling through if he’s treated in a specialist centre.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll do.’ Brianna leapt to her feet, grabbing at the back of the chair when the floor seemed to move slightly. ‘I’ll arrange for him to be flown back here to a centre specialising in brain injuries.’

Margaret held up her hand. ‘Hold on a minute. There are a couple of issues here. Firstly, we need to check with the team whether he’s okay to fly. And secondly, arranging for the flight, if you want it done quickly, would have to be done privately, which means enormous cost. We are insured, but that could take time—’

‘Time he doesn’t have. The money is no problem. I’ll sort it.’ Brianna’s hands tightened on the chair. ‘He can’t die, Margaret,’ she said quietly. ‘He’s too important.’

Margaret gave her an understanding smile. ‘And I think you don’t just mean in terms of his work here.’

Brianna flushed. ‘No, I don’t. He’s important to me.’

‘I can see that. I’ll give the guys a call; see if he can be moved. You sort out the transport and receiving hospital.’ Brianna was almost out of the door when Margaret spoke again. ‘He’s tough, Brianna. I can’t see Mitch letting a brain injury stop him, can you?’

It was wobbly, but Brianna managed a smile. ‘I hope not.’

* * *

Brianna didn’t know how she got home. When she opened her front door, she glanced back over her shoulder to see her car parked outside. She must have driven, but she had no recollection of the journey. She was functioning on automatic pilot, going through the motions of everyday life, but her mind was with her heart. In Indonesia.

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