Page 30 of Vitamin Sea
“You’ve had a traumatic experience but fortunately no broken bones or major lacerations. You should take it easy the next couple of days. You don’t seem to have a concussion, but someone should keep an eye on you all the same. And make sure you have the doctor at Costa Morpho see you tomorrow for a checkup,” he directed. “Actually, leave that with me. I’ll call and arrange it and send them over my notes.”
“Thank you,” Chloe said gratefully. It was a miracle she had survived, and she was fortunate that she would walk away entirely unscathed. Well, maybe not entirely; her mind went back to the superficial injuries she had sustained. Another thing she was walking away with was a much healthier appreciation for the ocean. From now on, without a life jacket, she would be steering clear of the water.
“I’m going to keep you here for another half an hour for observation. I’m just going to step out to my office and make a call to your resort. If you need anything, use this phone to call the front desk and they will have a nurse or myself come and assist you.”
“Thank you, Dr. Vargas,” she repeated.
He opened the door and stepped out with his hand still holding it open. Chloe could hear voices, but she was too tired to strain to hear what they were saying.
“Ms. Ryder,” Dr. Vargas appeared in the doorway once again, “Mr. Fraser wanted to know if you would like company?”
“Yes,” she nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay,” the doctor motioned to Jack who, apparently, was standing off to the side.
A millisecond later Jack, with a look of concern on his handsome features, walked into the room.
Chloe was glad she wasn’t currently hooked up to a heart-rate monitor or a blood-pressure cuff. Even in her dazed and injured state Jack was enough to get her heart rate up.
“Hey,” he said softly as he approached the stretcher. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now that you’re here.” She had said it before she could stop herself and then blanched when she realized what she had said.
Fortunately, Jack seemed to take it well and a large, easy smile blossomed across his face.
“Well, in that case, maybe I should pull up a chair and make myself comfortable.”
Chloe smiled back. “That would be nice.”
Jack did just that.
“Are you staying at the resort?” he asked.
“No.” Chloe shook her head and twisted her face a bit knowing what was coming next.
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
“Costa Morpho,” she said with a bit of hesitation.
Jack didn’t give any outward appearance of knowing what the place was.
“Costa Morpho?”
“Yes.” Chloe paused. “It’s just around the corner.” She paused again. “It’s actually a nudist resort.”
She wasn’t quite sure what had made her blurt out that last part.
Jack looked lost for words.
“Naturist resort, I mean. But I’m not a nudist,” she said quickly. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. To eachtheir own. I’m a travel editor and I’m on an assignment. I didn’t actually know I was going to a nudist resort . . .” Chloe trailed off.
“Travel editor.” He looked impressed. “That’s a pretty cool job. But didn’t you Google the place beforehand?” He seemed a bit incredulous.
“No.” She paused. “I’ve had a lot going on in my personal life. And I also try and avoid looking up any resort or hotel I’m going to be staying at. That way I don’t show up with any bias and I experience everything for the first time. I’m not tainted by any TripAdvisor or Google reviews. You can imagine the shock when I walked into the lobby and everyone except for the staff was naked.”
He laughed out loud at that.
“I imagine that was quite the scene.”
