After the Fire (14 page)

“You’re not going anywhere until the Doc says so. You had us worried.” Jason pushed her back down.

“How long have I been here?”

“I brought you in yesterday lunchtime. It’s now—” He looked at his watch. “—four in the afternoon on Monday. Once they stabilized you, they sedated you. They want to keep you in again tonight.”

She pulled off the mask and reached for the bell. “Oh, no. I’ve too much to do. I’ve been here long enough.”

“Put that mask back before the doctor comes in. Then I’ll make staying overnight an order from the boss. He sends his love, by the way.”

“His love?” She didn’t know whether to be shocked or amused, but put the mask back.

“His exact words were “give her my love”. Followed by “tell her to take it easy and do what the doctor says or else”.”

“That’s more like him. And you do a good impression of him.”

“Thank you. Freddie, we need to talk.”

“Not now, Jason. I...” She broke off as a doctor came over to the bed.

He stood there for a moment, flicking through her chart then moved over to her. “Miss Flynn, I’m Doctor Jameson. How are you feeling?” He took her wrist.

“I’m fine. Or will be once I get out of here.” She shot Jason a quick look, wondering why he’d given them her real name. Now her cover was well and truly blown. Great.

“You’re going nowhere until we have you stable again. You should know better than to allow your inhaler to run out. Where’s your spare?”

“It’s in my suitcase back at the guest house.” Freddie went on the defensive. “I checked as always before I went out and both were fine. Jason, can you find it?”

Jason opened her locker. “It was on the ground next to you. I grabbed it and your bag when I got to you.” He handed the inhaler to her.

Freddie tried it. She was relieved in a way that it still didn’t work. At least she wasn’t imagining things. “I don’t understand, it was full, I promise.”

Dr. Jameson took it from her and removed the canister. “It’s been punctured.”

“What?” The shock spilled into her voice. She pulled the mask off. “How did that happen?”

Dr. Jameson looked at her. “I’ve come across it before. Sometimes if the canister is put in with too much force it breaks the seal and you get a slow leak. Or if it gets blocked and you clear it with a needle, the needle can slip too far, again causing a slow leak.”

“I didn’t realize it was that easy to break them. You need to take more care with it.” Jason held out a hand. “I’ll get her replacement canister put into it.”

Dr. Jameson nodded and put the inhaler back together before giving it to Jason. “I’ll also organize a new prescription for both her inhalers.” He turned back to Freddie. “I want you to stay in overnight.”

“I can’t do that. I’m really busy at work, and...”

“Miss Flynn. This was an extremely serious attack. Had Mr. North not arrived when he did, you could have died. Now, I have a load of tests to run and until I am satisfied with the results you’re going nowhere. The nurse will take some more blood while I go and organize the other tests.”

Freddie sighed and leaned back. “Fine.”

Dr. Jameson put the mask back. “Leave it on.” He adjusted the oxygen and left the room.

The minute he was gone, Freddie looked daggers at Jason. “And you berated me for using the wrong debit card. You booked me in as Flynn. If my cover wasn’t blown it sure is now. Thanks for nothing.”

“You almost died, Freddie.” Jason’s hand covered hers and his voice sharpened. “They needed your medical records. Besides the label on the canister for your inhaler says Flynn, not Price. I would have looked pretty stupid if I’d booked you in under a different name. Although I could have said this was our honeymoon and your meds were in your maiden name. My priority here is your welfare.”

“And you don’t lie. I’m sorry. I jumped to conclusions.”

“It’s all right.” He gave her a hopeful smile. “So, now you have to stay put for a while, will you please listen to me? I really need to explain a few things.”

“You saved my life. I guess I could listen for a couple of minutes.”

“You were right to get angry with me in the church yesterday, and if you want me to go once I’ve said my piece, then I will. I’ll get the boss to send someone else out here to help you finish this case. Or I’ll reassign someone if you’d rather I not tell the boss where you are. And before you ask, no, he doesn’t know which hospital you’re in.”

Is this goodbye?

“I was wrong, Freddie. I know that now. I applied for the job, really not expecting to get it. After all, I’d gone for pilot jobs before and not gotten anywhere. Actually being offered it was the chance of a lifetime. To serve God and make a difference, you know?”

“No, but carry on.” She pushed back into the pillows.

“I was going to tell you over dinner that night. But then I read in Deuteronomy chapter twenty-four verse five about a newly married man not being allowed to be sent to war or have any other duty for a year. I took that to mean I had to choose. Serve God or get married. But my real hang up was First Corinthians chapter seven where Paul says an unmarried man can concentrate on serving God, but a married man is concerned with his wife and thus divided in his duty to God.”

Freddie turned away, tears filling her eyes.
I don’t want to hear this. Not now, not ever. I don’t want old wounds torn open like this
.
It hurt enough the first time.

A gentle hand touched her cheek and she shivered.

“I put two and two together and made seven. I thought I got the job because God wanted me out there, using my piloting skills to serve Him. Your family needed you here in England.”

“Don’t put this on me.”

“I’m not. I was wrong. I sat in the car and prayed. Then I went to see my brother Mike, get his opinion. He said he’d seen you with another man that afternoon. That you “looked friendly” was the tactful way he put it. I defended you. Told him you’d never betray me.”

“I wouldn’t ever do that.”

“I went to the restaurant that night to meet you. I was going to see what you wanted to do as it affected us both. I stood in the doorway. I saw you, Freddie. You had your arms around this man I’d never seen before. You kissed him. In public. While wearing my ring.” He took a deep breath. “That hurt so much. I turned and left. Rang the mission society and accepted the job. I went home and packed. I left the letter at your place on my way out of town.”

If only he’d stayed. Freddie’s eyes filled with tears. “His name was Frank. He was my cousin, a year older than me. His orders had just come through to deploy to Iraq. He came over to say goodbye, apologize for not being able to come to the wedding. He wanted to meet you, so he came to the restaurant. Only you never showed up. We ate, he left.” She took a deep shuddering breath, tears falling. “Frank never came home. He died midway through his deployment.”

Jason closed his eyes. “Oh, Freddie. I’m so very sorry.”

Freddie lay still as the nurse came over and took several vials of blood from her arm. Once the woman had gone, Freddie pulled off the mask.

“I hated you almost as much as I loved you. I hated you and God for putting me in the dark chasm I spent several years in, but it was more than hate. I was jealous.”

“Jealous of what? God? It was my jealousy that caused this. Ill-founded jealousy at that.”

“Yes, I was jealous of God. Another woman I could get over, but God? He took you away from me. Yet, I look at you, and you’ve got something I don’t. There’s this hole, need, call it what you will inside me and...” She paused. How did she put this so he’d understand when she couldn’t make sense of it herself? “I don’t want to be alone anymore, but I can’t...There’s something stopping me.”

“That’s pride, Freddie.” He put the mask back on. “It’s like Vic said yesterday in his sermon. Doesn’t matter what we do, God still loves us. All you have to do is love Him back. And God won’t mess up, or make the wrong decisions, or leave you. If you want me to go, I will. I’ll go back to the office and get someone else sent out. It’s your call.”

Her eyes searched his, seeing something in them, some glimmer of the man she used to know. “Would you really go?”

“Yes, I would. Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it. I’m not asking you to forgive me or take me back. For one thing, I don’t deserve it and for another, it’s too late. But I can remedy working with you and making you uncomfortable.” He paused. “So, what do I do? Do I stay and finish this case or do I go?”

“You want me to give the vice president an order? I’ll get in trouble again if I do that.”

His eyes twinkled for a moment before they clouded again. “Yeah, I do. And no trouble this time. It’s your call. Do I stay or do I go?”

14

Jason sat there, his heart hammering. He was an idiot for jumping to conclusions. A stab of hot shock and grief had resonated as she told him about Frank. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with him when he joined the company.

He’d laid all his cards on the table.

Freddie said nothing.

Maybe it would be best if he just left, save her having to say anything. A cold hand closed on his.

“Stay.”

“Freddie?” His heart leapt.

“You know the case. Stay. Besides, if you bring someone else in now, any shred of cover we have left is blown right out of the water. Along with any hope we have of the boss not finding out.”

His heart shriveled. She said nothing about their future together.
Well, God, I guess you just wanted me to clear up this relationship. And now I know where I stand. Give me the strength to pursue a professional relationship we can all sit comfortably with.
Stiffening mentally, he nodded.

The nurse came in with the cart. She smiled at Freddie. “It’s time for those tests, Miss Flynn.”

“It’s Ms. Flynn.”

“I’ll go and grab a coffee. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“All right. Did you get any sleep last night?”

“I dozed in the chair. I refused to leave and made a right royal pain of myself according to the night staff.”

“That sounds about right. You always were good at that.”

“I’ll see you in a while.” Jason headed from the room.

Exiting the hospital, he walked across the entrance courtyard and sat on the wall that bordered the flower beds. The hot sunshine blazed down and he shrugged out of his jacket. He pulled out his phone and rang the boss. As he’d expected, he got voicemail. Not wanting to leave too detailed a message, he went for a cryptic coded one.

“Hey, it’s me. Just to let you know that Mum’s awake. She needs to know if peacock’s lay eggs, as the foxes are in the hen-house.” He hung up, knowing the boss would understand. Mum was Freddie, needs to know was the request to give her all the information he had, and fox in the hen-house indicated the danger they were in and that someone knew where they were. Edwin would be able to work out what case he and Freddie were working. Jason couldn’t tell Freddie all he knew without Edwin’s permission.

But if the inhaler had been punctured deliberately, the situation had changed. He’d promised Freddie a week and he’d give her that much.

Jason took a deep breath and then rang his sister. The phone rang once, before a deep male voice answered. “Hello.”

“Hey, Vic, it’s Jason. Is Debs there?”

“Sure, one moment.”

The phone went quiet. Muffled voices spoke before his sister’s voice echoed down the line. “Hey, Jace.”

“Hey, Debs. How are you? Not disturbing you, am I?”

“Not at all. I’m fine. How are you? How’s Freddie?” She spoke over the baby’s cries.

“She’s awake, woke about an hour ago.”

“Praise God...Vic, she’s awake...Is she all right?”

“They’re still running tests, but they think so, yeah.”

“Did you try to talk to her, or not yet?”

“Yeah, I did. For all the good it did. I really hurt her. I leapt to conclusions, and she’ll never forgive me.”

“She’s sick. Give her time, bro.” The baby’s cries got louder. “Shhh, little one. Jace I’m putting the phone down for one second. Rach wants feeding.”

“All right.” A bee buzzed around him before it landed on the roses next to where he sat. His gaze followed it into the centre of the flower. There was a click and rustling before the crying stopped.

“There we go. She’ll be quieter now. How are you, Jace?”

“Glad she’s going to be all right. I’m sorry I didn’t come over yesterday. I promise I will soon.”

“Vic told me what happened, and it’s fine. I totally understand. You needed to sort things out with Freddie and now she’s sick, she needs you there. You made the right decision to go after her.” An ambulance screeched and wailed alongside him, and he switched the phone to his other ear, trying to hear what she was saying.

“Yeah, but you’re my sister. I need you, too. I also need to meet my niece. I promise I’ll come soon.”

“I’ll be here. And you haven’t answered my question, Jace. Are you all right?”

He sat there for a long moment, his gaze following a cat creeping up on a bird in a garden opposite. “No.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Yeah, you can pray.”

“That’s a given. You’re always in our prayers. What’s different this time?”

He didn’t answer. The cat leapt at the bird, catching it. Jason winced.

“Jace?”

“Her inhaler had been emptied. The doctor found a hole in it. He gave us a couple of explanations as to what could have caused it, but given what else has happened, I’m pretty sure it was deliberate.”

There was a sharp intake of breath and a couple of clicks. “Say that again. This is on speaker now so Vic can hear, too.”

“Her inhaler had been deliberately emptied. There was a hole in it.”

“Someone tried to kill her?”

“It looks that way.” Another ambulance arrived. “She almost died. Had I not found her when I did—”

“But she didn’t die. God led you to her in time.” Vic’s strong, reassuring voice spoke.

“In more ways than you realize.” Jason shivered despite the blazing heat. Footsteps clattered past him as a bus discharged its passengers. “The whole time I was searching, I was aware of God guiding me to exactly where she was.”