The Forever Assignment

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She didn’t pause, didn’t turn back to ask him what exactly he was thanking her for, because she knew what his answer would be and that it wasn’t the one she really wanted to hear. Adam was thanking her for her work that night, for acting as his anaesthetist and doing her job well. Every surgeon she’d ever worked with had done that because it was what was expected of one professional to another. However, as she made her way upstairs, she couldn’t help wishing that Adam’s thanks had been a bit more personal, that he’d thanked her for being her, not just a colleague.

It made her see just how ambivalent her feelings were towards him, and how hard it was going to be to work with him because of that. She might be ready to fight tooth and nail to uphold her status within the team but it didn’t mean that she didn’t want Adam’s approval, did it?

All of a sudden it felt as though she’d come full circle and was back to where she’d been five years ago, when wanting and hating Adam had almost destroyed her. Would she survive this time?

CHAPTER THREE (#u802e0e0a-b128-585f-aeb7-6116dd33197a)

‘START her off with two litres of saline but I want it pushed through as quickly as possible.’

Adam was hard-pressed to contain his anger as he looked at the young girl lying on the bed. Amelia Undobe had been celebrating her thirteenth birthday that day when she’d stepped on a land-mine close to her home. Her right foot had been blown off in the explosion and the left one had suffered such extensive damage that he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to save it. It was hard to suppress his fury when he saw what had been done to the child, but he couldn’t allow his emotions to get the better of him or he wouldn’t be able to do his job properly. He turned to June and there was no trace of what he was feeling as he continued.

‘She’s too dehydrated to undergo surgery at the moment so we need to get her fluid levels up. I’ll be back in a few minutes to take another look at her so do what you can.’

He stripped off his gloves and tossed them into the waste sack then left the treatment room. Every muscle in his body was aching with tiredness and it was his own fault, too. Hadn’t he laid down the law about people not trying to prove themselves? So why was he pushing himself to the point of exhaustion? Did he really think it would stop him thinking about Kasey if he worked until he dropped? He’d still be thinking about her on his deathbed at this rate, still feeling this same mixture of longing and anguish that was eating away at him, and he sighed wearily as he headed along the corridor because he knew what had set it off.

Feeling her lying beneath him the other night had awoken urges he’d thought he’d conquered years ago. He might have been trying to protect her but his body had taken a completely different view of what had been happening and he’d been paying the penalty ever since. For the past three nights he’d dreamt about her—felt her softness over and over again, smelled the perfume of her skin—and now the images seemed to be locked inside his head and he couldn’t seem to shift them no matter how hard he tried. The thought of having to put up with such misery for an unknown period of time was more than he could bear and he cursed roundly as he veered off towards the canteen. Maybe a cup of coffee would give him the boost he needed and set him back on track.

‘Ah, Adam, my friend. I was just coming to find you.’

‘That sounds ominous.’

Adam drummed up a smile when Matthias caught up with him. He’d met Matthias when he’d been working with the French aid team during his first visit to the country and they had remained friends ever since. Matthias had qualified as a doctor in England but he’d returned to Mwuranda after completing his training and worked in the hospital they were currently using as their base. Adam knew that Matthias could have left when so many other educated people had fled the country but he’d stayed and done all he could to help his people during the war. It was because of Matthias that he’d agreed to run this mission, in fact.

‘So what’s gone wrong this time?’ he demanded as Matthias fell into step with him.

‘How do you know it’s bad news?’

Matthias smiled at him, his teeth gleaming against his black skin. A tall, handsome man in his thirties, he had the looks and the bearing to have achieved great things in the world of medicine. It was a measure of his character that he’d turned his back on material success to help his countrymen.

‘Instinct? A lucky guess?’ Adam replied drolly, shouldering his way into the canteen. Although the catering team had done their best, the place still bore the evidence of the recent turmoil—the walls were riddled with bullet holes and most of the glass was missing from the windows. Still, the coffee was hot and strong so that was something to be grateful for.

He went over to the urn and filled a couple of mugs with the steaming black brew then carried them over to a table. There were a few other people taking a break as well, and he averted his eyes when he spotted Kasey and Daniel sitting at a table in the corner. Hooking out a chair with his foot, he sat down and shoved one of the mugs across the table.

‘You are far too cynical, my friend,’ Matthias reproached him. ‘It does no good to expect bad things to happen all the time. What is the point of always expecting the worst?’

‘That way you don’t risk being disappointed,’ he replied shortly, his eyes skittering across the room before he could stop them. His mouth thinned when he saw Daniel lean over and pluck something out of Kasey’s hair. It was a gesture that positively reeked of intimacy and he couldn’t help glowering at the couple. To his mind, they were getting far too familiar and he would have to have a word with them—remind them that they weren’t there for fun but had a job to do.

‘Something has upset you, Adam?’

‘What?’ His gaze swivelled round when Matthias interrupted his thoughts.

‘The way you were glaring at that young couple, I assumed they must have done something to upset you.’ Matthias’s tone was bland but the look he gave him was far too knowing for Adam’s liking.

‘I prefer it if members of my team don’t fraternise during working hours,’ he said shortly, knowing that he sounded like a leftover from the Victorian era.

‘Ah, I see. It’s important to have clear guidelines so everyone understands what is expected of them, although it must be difficult for you to ensure that people stay within the accepted limits.’

Adam scowled when he heard the amusement in his friend’s voice. ‘I came here to do a job, not win a popularity contest, if that’s what you mean. If the members of this team won’t abide by my rules then they will be sent back to England.’

‘But all Daniel was doing was removing a piece of lint from Dr Harris’s hair. Hardly a major crime, I would have thought.’ Matthias smiled faintly. ‘You seem a little…sensitive where that young woman is concerned. It isn’t the first time I’ve noticed you glaring at her.’

‘Maybe I’ve had good reason,’ he replied tersely because he hadn’t realised that he’d made his feelings quite so obvious. ‘Anyway, what did you want to speak to me about?’ he added, swiftly changing the subject because he didn’t want to talk about Kasey or his feelings for her—whatever they were. Telling her that he’d been concerned about her safety the other night was something else that had been playing on his mind. He’d tried telling himself that he would have been equally concerned for any member of the team but even he wasn’t convinced it was true.

The thought did little to improve his already fragile temper and he glowered at the other man. ‘Don’t tell me we have another problem on our hands.’