Page 36 of Greek Island Fling to Forever

The manager shot her a rueful smile. ‘All except Mr and Mrs Colyer. Mr Colyer is still angry this morning.’

Arianna rolled her eyes. ‘Well, angry isn’t going to solve anything. Let’s see if we can come up with something that does.’

The guest houses were the height of understated luxury inside, and Ben began to feel a little less guilty about having been offered a suite here. That was nice, but these were fantastic. But when the manager introduced him to Jem Colyer, he could see straightaway that the hotel’s gesture had done nothing to appease him. He shook Ben’s hand, ignoring Arianna completely.

‘I’m glad to see they’ve called you in to take a look at Eloise, Dr Marsh. I’ve been banging my head against a brick wall with these hotel people.’

‘I’ve not exactly been called in, Mr Colyer. I work in London and I’m not licensed to practise here in Greece. I’m here as a matter of courtesy to Dr Petrakis and as an observer only.’ He had to make that clear right from the very start.

‘Then perhaps you can observe that we’re not at all happy about this.’ Jem frowned.

‘This is lovely, much nicer than the room we had.’ Eloise’s mother caught her husband’s arm. ‘Calm down, will you, Jem.’

‘There’s nothing to be calm about, Kriss.’ Jem glowered at his wife and she let go of his arm. ‘I was looking on the internet last night and Greece had an outbreak of measles a couple of years ago. She’s caught it here, and the hotel didn’t warn us. Don’t you think they should refund our money?’

‘Dr Petrakis is here to see your daughter, Mr Colyer.’ Ben decided to avoid the issue of the hotel’s culpability for the time being. ‘I think that’s the most important thing at the moment.’

‘Yes. Of course.’ Jem seemed to deflate a little, letting Kriss lead Arianna and Ben out of the main living area, and to their daughter’s room.

‘I’m sorry about Jem. He gets worked up about things. Especially when it comes to Eloise.’

Arianna was looking at her thoughtfully. She’d not said a word since they’d arrived, and Ben reckoned she must be standing back to look at the interactions between the couple.

‘That’s all right. Let’s take a look at Eloise and see how she’s feeling today, shall we?’

She took a pair of gloves from her bag, putting them on. Then she pulled a chair up beside Eloise’s bed. The little girl smiled up at Arianna when she recognised her.

‘Hello, Eloise. How are you feeling today? You’ve still got that runny nose, I see.’

Eloise nodded miserably, rubbing her eyes, and Arianna caught her hand, stopping her. ‘Your eyes hurt you?’

Another nod.

‘Okay, sweetie. I know it’s hard but you must try not to touch them. I’ll show your mum how to bathe your eyes for you, and then they’ll feel much better. And we’ll keep the curtains closed, shall we, so it’s not so bright in here.’

Kriss hurried to the window, and Arianna smiled up at her. ‘Leave them for a couple of minutes, please, until I’ve examined her.’

‘Yes. Yes, of course.’

Arianna carefully checked Eloise’s mouth, and Ben saw the characteristic greyish-white spots on the inside of her cheeks. The little girl fretted a bit as Arianna sat her up and removed her pyjama top. The measles rash hadn’t appeared yet, but everything else confirmed Arianna’s diagnosis.

‘Measles. Definitely.’ He supposed he should say something. Arianna shot him a smile.

‘But she doesn’t have a rash...’ Kriss frowned.

‘No, sometimes the rash doesn’t appear straightaway. But Eloise’s other symptoms are unmistakable, and by tomorrow she may well be showing signs of a rash. You’re giving her the medication I gave you yesterday? Her temperature is a little high.’

Kriss began to blush. ‘I gave her the first dose, before she went to sleep last night. Jem said not to give her any this morning. The label on the bottle is in Greek and we can’t read it, you see.’

Ben saw Arianna take a breath. Clearly she was holding her own irritation in check. ‘This is exactly the same medication that she’d be given in England. Children’s paracetamol or ibuprofen will help bring he

r temperature down, and make her more comfortable, so you’re really not doing her any favours by withholding it.’

‘Yes. Yes, of course.’ Kriss turned to Ben. ‘Would you tell Jem that, please?’

Another glance from Arianna. She could easily, in her position as the doctor in attendance, have insisted she tell Jem that herself. But he’d already seen that Arianna’s patients came first for her, and she gave Ben a nod.

‘Yes, Mrs Colyer. I’ll tell him.’ If that didn’t work, Ben might just take Jem out and dunk him in the swimming pool.

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