Instantly, my heart kicked. “Jess? Is she okay?” I flew out of bed, ready to run to my friend. Jess had been getting stronger too. Like Sully, she slept a lot, and small bursts of exercise drained her quickly.
“Yes, yes, she’s fine.” Cal pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t wake him. I have a surprise, follow me.” He tracked through the star-speckled lounge, leading me to the front door and outside.
Cicadas buzzed, bats cackled, and the occasional owl hooted in the dark proving just because we slept didn’t mean the night wasn’t teeming with creatures who frolicked in a different playground than us.
“What the hell is that?” I chuckled, swatting at a mosquito as I followed Cal down the pebbled path to the sandy laneway. A vehicle waited, chrome and matte black with rugged tyres, and a big tray on the back full of discarded pots ready for seedlings. The side panels held the same logo for Lebah that I’d seen on the girl’s uniform.
“It’s an ATV. They use them for the gardeners to transport seeds and what-not around Lebah.”
“And what’s it doing here?”
He crossed his arms, a gloating smile catching the slowly lightening sky. “It’s for Sinclair.”
My eyes widened as understanding bowled through me. “So he can get out of the villa without breaking his legs a second time trying to walk in the soft sand.”
“Exactly. He’ll be going stir-fucking-crazy in bed. At least this way, he can just sit and enjoy the ride.”
“It’s a great idea! You should give it to him.”
“Nah, you do it. When he wakes in a few hours, take him for a whirl. Come visit us, we’ll have breakfast together.”
I hugged myself at the thought of getting him out and about. Of feeling the sun on our skin after being cooped up for so long. The tyres were big with all-terrain tread which would allow us to drive on the beach and through the shallows.
“He’ll love it.”
“Good.” Cal turned to walk back to the main hub. “I’ll see you soon then.”
“Hey, Cal?”
“Yeah?” He turned around, raising his eyebrow.
“Why are you up so early?”
He smirked. “I’m always up early. Normally, I’d hit the gym before work, but with my lungs still healing and Campbell still on my case, I just get up out of habit. I was taking a walk when the boat arrived with this morning’s vegetable delivery, along with this. I asked for one to be sent from Lebah the day Sully woke up.”
Dashing to him, I pressed a kiss on his cheek. “You’re a good friend.”
Was I imagining it, or did colour flush over his cheeks? The icy second-in-command who tried to warn me off Sully was finally melting. “Just want him up and running, that’s all.” Giving me a quick sarcastic salute, he stuck his hands in his short pockets and strolled into the dawn.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
A WEEK PASSED.
A week of torturous rehabilitation and bossy doctors preventing me from leaving my bed even though Cal had delivered a perfectly good ATV that could be my legs.
Eleanor had argued on my behalf, saying a trip around my island would be beneficial, however, Louise had been insistent.
She’d ganged up with Campbell when he came to check on me. They advised they’d restrain me for my own benefit if I insisted on being an idiot. That my system wasn’t ready yet. That I had to accept that my beaches and oceans would be there in another week or so when my vitals were more stable and the frustrating habit of randomly falling asleep had ceased.
I hadn’t liked it, but I couldn’t deny the wooziness in my head or the throbbing of my legs. If being bedbound for another week cured me faster, than fine.
I could be fucking patient.
Despite his stoic support of Louise, Campbell had been wary around me. He’d kept his distance and didn’t hold eye contact long.
I’d been stony with him. My voice curt and cold.
Our meeting had been awkward with far too much unsaid shit.
I was aware I owed him an apology after my temper when I’d demanded a second shot of Tritec. That I most likely owed him multiple apologies after he’d put his life on the line to heal me, administer a drug that killed me, and worked night and day to keep Jess alive.
But…he’d betrayed me. Our past was littered with duplicity, and something like that couldn’t just be erased. Can it? The thought of letting down my guard to give sincere thanks would take a lot longer to forgive and achieve.
That first week, along with rigorous physiotherapy to get my arms moving, my legs operating, and easing out the stagnant knots in my muscles from clenching in my coma, Eleanor and I entertained two guests.
Cal hung out during the hours that Jess slept, and he used the ATV to transport her to my villa when she was up to some company. That afternoon, Louise let me leave my god-awful bed, and Joe and Arbi carried me like a fucking invalid to sit on a deck chair overlooking Nirvana’s constant cascading symphony.