Page 86 of Reluctant Chemistry

CeCe went rigid. “No. I hate needles.”

“Me too,” Melissa soothed while Luka pulled antiseptic, a syringe, and bandages out of the bag. “Can you tell me what day it is, CeCe?” She swabbed a spot on CeCe’s thigh and plunged the needle home.

“Ouch.” Her breathing quickened. “That hurt. Sunday. Where’s Nick? Is he okay?”

“He’s safe and well. Do you know where you are, sweetheart?”

“Middle of nowhere,” she muttered. “I know where I’d rather be.”

Melissa dressed CeCe’s thigh with Luka acting as her assistant. “Yeah? Anywhere special?” she asked.

“Sandwater Bay,” CeCe whispered and looked up at Luka. “Nude surfing.”

Luka smiled. He wished they were there too. Walking through the shallows hand in hand. Eating breakfast in the back of the Kombi. Having sex at sunset.

Melissa chuckled. “Yeah? Can’t say I’ve ever tried that.”

“You should. Best feeling ever. But you need a…a watchdog.”

Russo’s voice filled Luka’s radio. “You ready to roll? Over.”

“Almost.We have a laceration to the left thigh that we’re sticking a Band-Aid on. Over.”

“Copy that. Don’t muck around. Mist’s rolling in thick and fast. Think I might let you take the controls on the way back. I hate flying through this pea-soup crap. Over.”

“Roger that. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Over.”

“Right, CeCe,” Melissa said as she finished securing the bandage. “This young man will escort you to your pumpkin carriage that awaits outside. You happy with that?”

CeCe nodded, and when Luka caught her eye, she smiled at him like he remembered from his dreams. He leaned in closer. “This will hurt a little, but I’ve got you. Okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I wanted to turn back.”

He helped her sit up. Even with twigs in her hair and her face splattered in mud, she looked beautiful. “Don’t worry. We all make mistakes.” Luka slipped one arm under her and scooped her up. “Let’s get out of here.”

41

Sea of Faces

Fluorescent lighting blazed overhead in the Emergency Department of Clifton Falls General Hospital. CeCe had been waiting almost an hour but still hadn’t seen a doctor. She closed her eyes, trying not to think of what might have been.

The rescue flight, through shrouds of mist and heavy rain, had been the most terrifying experience of her life. Every time they hit an air pocket, her stomach lurched, and despite the injection, pain still pinched her tight.

But the entire time they were in the air, she’d been unable to take her eyes off Luka at the controls.

Now, lying on the gurney while waiting to be seen, she ached all over. Luka, Melisa, and Russo had been amazing, totally professional and in control. But when they dropped her off, Luka didn’t stay, not for more than a few minutes anyway. And as he’d disappeared into a sea of faces—her parents, Mitch, Tayla, and the nurses on duty—he hadn’t even said goodbye.

Maybe it was for the best. She’d fallen in love with him the last time he’d rescued her, and now wasn’t the time for history to repeat itself.

Seated in a gray plastic chair to her right, her mother held CeCe’s hand, and across the room, her father paced, as he did in times of crisis.

“Why don’t you go get yourself a coffee?” Andrea said to her husband.

He stopped pacing. “I still can’t get my head around this. That Nick should have his PLB rammed up his backside,so he doesn’t forget it next time.”

CeCe lifted her head off the pillow. “Dad! That’s a terrible thing to say. It wasn’t Nick’s fault. I should have insisted we stay home. But I didn’t.”

“Then there’s that Luka fella,” Frank continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Making eyes at you like you’re his.” He huffed. “Telling everyone you’re an ‘ex-student.’ As if. I’m getting too old for this crap.”

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