Page 46 of Greek Island Fling to Forever

The police surged forward and Arianna followed, desperate to make sure that Ben was all right. But as she reached the open door of the bar she saw that three policemen had Jem on the floor and Ben was kneeling next to him, still talking and obviously trying to calm Jem and inspect him for any injury. She should stay back, and let him finish what he’d started. Hanging onto his neck and kissing him could, and almost certainly would, come later.

The muffled beat of a helicopter was louder now and it was coming in close, hovering just feet above the jetty so that the men inside could jump down from it. The incident team had medics with them, who ran ahead towards the ferry.

They were taking no chances and Jem was put onto a stretcher and examined before they carried him out of the bar. Ben sat back on his heels, obviously drained by the last hour, his hand moving to his side. It was then that Arianna saw the blood.

‘Ben...’ She ducked past a couple of the island police, skidding to a halt next to him. He looked up at her, summoning a tight smile.

‘It’s okay. What is it you’re supposed to say? Just a scratch.’

‘You can let me be the judge of that, Ben.’ Arianna loosened the vest, lifting it over his head, and saw a patch of blood on his shirt. The knife must have been deflected by the vest and sliced just below its protective shield.

‘Uh... Can’t you do that later?’ He winced as she unbuttoned his shirt, trying to make a joke of it.

‘Be quiet.’ Arianna turned to call for a medical kit, but one of the officers had already thought to fetch one, and it was lying on the floor behind her. She examined the wound on his side carefully.

‘How’s it looking, Doctor?’ His tone was still flippant, but Arianna could see pain in his eyes.

‘It’s superficial.’ The wound was bleeding a fair bit, but it wasn’t deep. Once the flow of blood was staunched, and Arianna had stitched it, he would be all right.

‘I’ll dress it, so that we can get you back to the health centre.’ She took a wad of gauze from the medical kit, positioning it over the cut. ‘Hold that there, will you, while I tape it. Keep the pressure on it.’

He did as he was told, providing the essential third hand that made any dressing easier to apply. The officer in charge of the scene cleared a path as Ben was led to a police car, and got behind the wheel himself, driving them the short way back to the health centre. He shook Ben’s hand and Arianna sent him away, assuring him that there was nothing more that they needed.

The health centre was silent, and Arianna locked the main door behind them.

‘Where’s Jonas?’

Arianna picked up the note on the reception desk. ‘Andreas and Eleni have taken him to their house. He’s okay; they’ll keep him occupied there. I’ll get you fixed up and then you can see him, yes?’

‘Yeah. Good, thanks.’ He went to wrap his arms around her shoulders, and then drew back again. ‘I’m sorry. There’s a smudge of blood on your dress.’

‘That’s okay. I keep a change of clothes here and it’s not the first time I’ve had to wash blood out of something.’ She hugged him, careful not to touch the dressings on his side. Ben’s chest rose and slowly fell, as if now he could finally breathe.

‘I’ve got you, Ben,’ she whispered against his chest.

‘Yeah, I know. That feels so good, right now.’

She led him through to her surgery and he climbed onto the examination table, rolling stiffly onto one side. Arianna cleaned the wound, anesthetising the area in readiness for the stiches. They had to be perfect. Nothing less would do on his perfect body. She’d leave no scar, even though she wouldn’t be there to see the wound knit and the mark fade. Ben lay silently as she worked.

‘Done. Would you like to see before I dress it?’ Arianna didn’t usually offer patients that option, but it would save on a dressing because Ben would be peeling it off as soon as her back was turned.

‘Yes, thanks.’ He peered into the mirror that she positioned above his side, tilting it a little so that he could see. ‘I’m impressed. Very neat.’

He was trying to smile but the lustre had gone from his eyes. Maybe if she waited he’d get around to saying what was on his mind. Arianna picked up his bloodied shirt, holding it up and then throwing it into the bin.

‘You can’t let Jonas see you in that. Andreas has a couple of scrub tops that he keeps here; he won’t mind if you take one.’ The V-necked blue cotton top looked enough like the casual shirts that tourists wore that once it was out of the context of the health centre it would hardly draw a second glance.

‘Yes, I need to see him.’ Ben started to sit up, and Arianna helped him swing his legs down from the couch.

‘Of course. Not with blood on your hands, though.’ Arianna took a wipe from the box on her desk, picking up his hand and carefully wiping it. However much she cleaned him up, she couldn’t restore the light in his eyes, and Jonas would see that. She saw it, and it made her heart ache.

‘Jem saw Kriss go? Is that why he got so agitated?’

‘Yes. He was very on edge when I went in there, but he seemed to be getting calmer. I’d managed to persuade him that there was a way out of the situation for him, and that he didn’t need to hurt himself or anyone else. Then he saw Kriss leave with Eloise, and he just flipped. He was shouting about killing anyone who got in his way.’

‘So you got in his way.’ Arianna tried not to show her disapproval.

‘There wasn’t much choice. He wouldn’t have stopped, and if he’d have got out of the bar there would have been casualties.’

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