Page 75 of Ignited in Iceland
‘Iris, I do not think you will be able to do anything without seeing for yourself that he is okay.’
That was true. She was desperate to see him, and she didn’t think all of the Easter decorating in the world would change that.
She nodded. ‘I need to see him.’
The two of them tidied up.
‘Can we call in at the hotel on the way? I didn’t bring a coat.’
Anders was behind the reception desk. ‘Is there any news?’
‘He’s okay,’ Iris said. She left Gudrun to fill him in on the few details they had while she ran up to her room for her coat and hat.
‘Anders has offered to drive us,’ Gudrun said.
‘Thank you, that’d be great.’ The idea of walking had seemed like a way to clear her head before seeing Siggi, but the offer of a lift was too good to refuse. She wanted to be there as soon as she could.
‘Call the hotel if you need a lift back,’ Anders said as they climbed out of his car. ‘And give Siggi my best wishes.’
Iris had butterflies as they walked through the doors of the emergency department at the hospital. It wasn’t the best time to have this big conversation about everything, when Siggi had just had an accident. Could they gloss over that for now?
‘They have said we can wait through here,’ Gudrun said, taking Iris’s hand.
Jonas and Olafur were both waiting in the same place. Olafur grinned when he saw Gudrun and stood up to embrace her.
‘Hey, Iris, he will be pleased to see you.’ Jonas gave Iris a hug.
‘What happened?’
‘We don’t know anything more than what Gudrun probably told you. But the main thing is that he is safe and will be okay.’
They sat in silence together in the waiting area. Eventually a nurse came out and spoke to them.
‘We can see him for a few minutes,’ Jonas said.
Iris was torn between wanting to see him and being scared to death of what she was going to find. She held back, letting the others go into the room before her, almost peeking out from behind Olafur to get her first glimpse of Siggi. He was sat up in bed, leaning back against a lot of pillows, but he looked like himself. A tireder version, but he was smiling as everyone said hello to him. His right leg was on a pillow, sticking out from underneath the sheets that covered the rest of him, and heavily bandaged.
‘Iris,’ he said, and held his hand out to her.
Olafur stepped aside, and she walked over to the bed and took Siggi’s hand. He pulled her to him and kissed her, the fingers of his other hand pushed into her curls, cupping the back of her head. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I want you to stay.’
Iris smiled and bit her lip. ‘We don’t have to talk about this now,’ she said, but she was happier than she could have imagined to hear him say that.
‘But I need you to know that I did not mean what I said. I would love you to take the job and stay here.’
‘Okay,’ she said, placating him with another kiss so that he would rest. ‘I hear you. We can talk about all of this, but not tonight.’
‘The nurse said you need to sleep. Our time’s up,’ said Jonas glancing to the door where the nurse was hovering ready to kick them out. We’ll see you tomorrow. Olafur and Jonas fist-bumped Siggi, then Gudrun gave him a quick kiss.
‘Takk fyrir að bjarga lífi mínu,’Siggi said to them with a nod.
‘Ekkert mál,’Olafur said, with a similarly sombre nod.
‘Siggi’s saying thank you for saving him,’ Gudrun explained to Iris in a low voice. ‘We’ll wait outside while you take a minute.’
‘Can I see you tomorrow?’ Siggi asked once they were alone.
He was still holding onto her hand and Iris didn’t want to leave. The couple of minutes they’d had wasn’t enough. She didn’t want to do all the talking now, but she did want to be with him.
