Page 100 of The Christmas Holiday
‘Yeah. Me too.’
I hooked my hair back behindone ear. ‘But that wasn’t where you got the scars.’
He shook his head and lifted his coffee cup to his lips. I waited.
‘I was in Syria covering the civil war there, three years ago now. Javier, the journalist I was working with, was great at getting stories from the people who really mattered, not just the talking heads. The people really paying the price in any situation. He’d found adoctor who wanted to talk to us, and show the conditions and injuries he was dealing with, and we were on our way to the hospital when we got caught in a bombing raid.’
My nails dug into my palms as I waited for Hunter to continue.
‘We were sitting ducks in the jeep so we got out to try and get to shelter. In all the confusion and noise and dust, we got separated from each other and theraid just kept coming. I eventually found Javier and…’ He paused, swallowing hard. ‘He was in a really bad way. I managed to get him to shelter and some incredibly kind people helped me try and stop the bleeding and take care of him. The raid seemed to have passed and I hadn’t seen our translator since it started. I needed to make sure he was OK as well as get help for Javier. I was halfway acrossthe street when the bombing resumed. I remember light and pain and screaming but I don’t know if that was me or someone else. At one point, I looked down and saw all this blood and touched it. I remember it was warm and thinking how odd it was that the blood I had on me from carrying Javier would still be warm. I think it was probably just as well I was too spaced out from blood loss and shockby that point to realise it was my own. I’m not sure how well I would have handled that.’
Hunter moved from the chair and knelt in front of me, his thumbs gently wiping away the tears that now streamed down my face.
‘This is partly why I didn’t want to tell you.’
I shook my head. ‘No. Please. Go on.’
Hunter studied me a moment before resting back on his heels. ‘There’s not reallya lot else to say. The people I’d left Javier with saw what happened and risked their own lives to run out into the street and drag me back to the relative safety of the building. Ironically, we ended up meeting the doctor we’d been planning to after all, just under very different circumstances. I was supposed to have been taking photos and instead he ended up picking shrapnel out of me. I cannever thank those people who took care of us enough. Without them, I definitely wouldn’t be here now.’
‘Was Javier OK?’
‘He is now. It took a long while. He was close to losing his leg but he was adamant that wasn’t going to happen. And Javier’s the kind of guy, once he knuckles in on something, whose mind it’s pretty damn hard to change. But he’s doing great now. I know the leg stillgives him trouble, but he knows, like I do, that things could have been much worse. We were pretty lucky that day.’
His words made me laugh and cry at the same time and I fumbled in my pocket for a tissue.
‘Lucky? Hunter, you were blown up by a bomb! How is that lucky?’
‘Because I could have died and I didn’t. Because my friend could have died, and he didn’t.’
There was somethingelse. Something he still wasn’t telling me.
‘And the translator? The one you went out to look for?’
Hunter’s brow creased and he looked away. ‘We found out later he’d been killed in the raid. I never should have lost sight of him.’
I leaned forward, and lifted his hands from his knees, holding them together, within my own. ‘I’m so sorry. I truly am. But you can’t blame yourself forthat. You mustn’t. I can’t even begin to imagine the chaos that surrounds a moment like that. And you helped save one person. You helped Javier survive and go home to his family.’
‘Touma was just a kid. Nineteen years old. I should have protected him. He should have been able to go home to his family too.’ Hunter’s eyes were rimmed with red and the crack in his voice alluded to the pain andfrustration that loss still held for him.
‘You can’t protect everyone, Hunter. I know you want to. You always did.’
He met my eyes and the smile was sad.
‘I’m so sorry about Touma.’
He nodded, accepting the condolence but not yet ready to speak.
‘I understand now why you’re so keen to know exactly where everyone on your team is. At least I’m assuming that’s where it stemmedfrom.’
‘Yeah. I know. I’m a pain in the butt about that but I can’t help it.’
‘It’s perfectly understandable.’
He pushed himself up and made to go back to the chair.
‘Sit here. It’s more comfortable.’ I shuffled up the couch a little and Hunter lowered himself down.
‘Why didn’t you tell me all this before?’
