Page 1 of Unworthy
Chapter 1
Ridiculous
Yaz
“Please tell me this is not happening,” I whispered as I pulled my mop of crazy, beyond tangled, pink-streaked hair back from my face to get a clearer view of the approaching car. Not my brother’s tiny, sensible, electric car. No. It was the gas-guzzling monstrosity his best friend swanned around in – the big, global-warming-causing poser. ItoldMax I neededhimto come and get me. If I’d known he’d send Heath, I would never have asked him.
Fervently wishing that I’d phoned my sister-in-law Mia instead of my useless brother, I stood up from the log I was sitting on with shaky legs. Every part of me felt stiff and my brain was fogged with exhaustion. That’s what a five-hour trek through a forest in the middle of the night would do to you. Even my yoga-strengthened limbs weren’t up to that particular challenge without consequence.
The Land Rover pulled up next to me and the window slid down.
“Alright, Midge?” Heath’s smug tone which he so often seemed to use with me, combining an undercurrent of humour with exasperation, just made my humiliation worse. “Interesting outfit.” His gaze travelled down from the mass of dirt-streaked tangles to the neon-green silent-disco headphones around my neck, and on to my now ripped Billabong t-shirt and sarong trousers. When he reached my bare feet, he frowned. “For fuck’s sake, Midge. Where are your goddamn shoes?”
I shrugged miserably as he pushed open his car door and jumped out of the monstrosity to come and stand in front of me. As always, at the first sight of Heath my heart seemed to skip a beat and my breath caught in my throat. He was justthatbeautiful. Tall, muscular, with perfectly styled dark hair, a square clean-shaven jawline, and eyes so blue they almost looked unnatural. I’d always felt like a scruffy little urchin next to him. As if I was still only a skinny kid with that ten-year age gap yawning between us. It was only six in the morning and the man was in a tailored suit for God’s sake. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and raised one eyebrow – an expression he’d been using with me since I was five years old. Movement from the car caught my attention, and I peered around Heath to see an equally immaculate woman sitting in his passenger seat. My heart sank even further. Perfect Penny – Heath’s latest girlfriend. Another doctor like Heath. I gave her a low wave and a weak smile before focusing back on the man in front of me who was glowering now.
“I took them off.” My voice was hoarse from all the shouting I’d done into the dark forest last night after I’d got lost.
“You took your shoes off? Why on earth would you–?”
“Heath, I’m sorry that Max woke you both up to come out here to get me, really I am.” My words were trembling slightly now. I couldn’t deal with an angry Heath’s disapproval after being in a terrifying Blair Witch scenario for the last five hours. “But I just need to go home now.” I blinked rapidly to stop any tears forming and ducked my head as I made my way around Heath to get to his car. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten how ripped to shreds my feet actually were, and how stiff my muscles had become – after a couple of limping steps my legs nearly gave out on me. Strong fingers enclosed my upper arms, stopping me from sinking to the ground.
“You’re limping,” he said, his voice harsh and accusing.
“I’m fine I just– Heath!” Both his large hands went to my hips, gripped me firmly, and simply lifted me off the ground. He marched forward then dumped me down onto the driver’s seat facing him with my feet hanging over the side. I glanced over my shoulder at Perfect Penny and gave her an apologetic smile.
“So sorry about this. I rang mybrother. I didn’t expect him to send Heath.”
She was taking in my appearance with a shocked expression, but managed to return my smile. “It’s quite alright. I’m always up by five anyway.”
Of course she was. On an average day she’d probably have shaved her legs, applied her perfect make-up and saved numerous lives in the intensive care unit she worked at before normal humans had even had their first cup of tea.
“How far have you walked without shoes, you lunatic?” Heath’s sharp tone made me jerk my head back round, and I flinched as he lifted up one foot then the other to inspect the shredded undersides, his mouth fixed in a disapproving line. “You can’t just traipse around a forest in bare feet, Midge. What were you doing in there, anyway?”
“It was a midnight silent disco.”
“In the middle of a forest?”
I shrugged. “We were star gazing too. There’s too much light pollution in the town. I thought… Look, one of my mates organised it and I thought it was more acommuning in the starlighttype deal than… well, it turned out to be a rave. An illegal one.” I didn’t mention the drugs – Heath’s head might have exploded. When Bodhi had suggested last night, he definitely hadn’t mentioned the drugs. “There were some blokes there I didn’t gel with.” The handsy bastards wanted me to take an E and weren’t too happy with myI-only-ever consume-natural-productsanswer. I decided to leave that out as well. “I thought I could walk back on my own, but it was so dark and…”
“None of that pesky night pollution then,” Heath said in a dry tone, still examining my feet.
“Well, no. I couldn’t find my bike. And then I couldn’t find my way out. Eventually I had to phone Max – he can track my phone. He talked me out onto the road and told me to wait. I didn’t think…” I trailed off.
“Midnight raves and star gazing? When are you going to grow up, Midge? You’re not sixteen anymore. You can’t just keep getting into scrapes and calling out your big brother to save you at the drop of a hat.”
I pressed my lips together and cast my eyes down into my lap, not wanting Heath to see the tears that were forming. I heard him sigh as he let go of my feet and stood up from his crouching position in front of me.
“There are a couple of lacerations that need gluing. You’d better come into the department.”
My head shot back up and my eyes flew wide. “I’mnotgoing to the emergency department. I need to go home. My feet are fine.” No way was I going to the hospital in this state – to face all of Heath’s fancy colleagues and friends so they could take the piss.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped. I tightened my grip on the seat beneath me and felt my face heat up with embarrassment and anger.Ridiculouswas one of Heath’s favourite words when it came to me:
You look ridiculous, Midge.
All this alternative therapy crap is a ridiculous waste of time.
Your obsession with windsurfing is getting ridiculous.
