The Man Who Saved Me

But at times, she had wondered if there could be something more than just friendship there. Maybe she was just making too much of it, but she had noticed a few warm and lingering glances.

But Carlos was always protective of people he loved. That was probably all it was.

Probably.

Anyway, now was not the time, she told herself, and decided not to be distracted by how amazing he looked in that sleeveless T-shirt.

“I know. She’s had her brain addled thanks to all the hormones. At least, it seems like it. Anyway, we’re agreed that we can’t just let it go on, aren’t we? We need to call that annoying man and tell him what’s going on. We have to ask him just what his intentions are, and maybe have a shotgun wedding.”

Carlos looked alarmed.

“She’s pregnant?”

Malia started to shake her head, and then paused.

“I didn’t think of asking her that, but she would tell me that, wouldn’t she? She wouldn’t keep that from us. Would she?”

It hurt that Malia even had to wonder that now. Four months ago, there would’ve been no question of that at all. They had been close enough to know everything about each other.

Shonali had shut herself off far too much, and Malia was of a mind to blame the great doctor Adam Catten for it, damn him.

“I don’t know anymore, Mal. We have to hope not. But what will we say to him even if we finally get in touch with him?”

Malia shrugged.

“Threaten to kick him in the balls?”

Carlos grinned. Malia had a vicious streak that nobody could possibly guess by looking at her.

“I doubt that would make him come back. Well, we’ll see, won’t we? If he doesn’t want to be with Shon, we’ll ask him to stay out of her life. I think that’s fair. This is hurting our girl. If he cares at all, even a little bit, he should agree to that. If he does want to be with her, we’ll ask him to… I don’t know, tell Shon that he has feelings for her. Something or the other.”

Malia glared.

“We’ll tell him to stop saving the world and save Shon first!”

Carlos shook his head.

“We can’t tell him to do anything, Mal. We just have to see how it goes. But it can’t hurt more than this uncertainty. If we know that he doesn’t want to be with her, at least we can give her time and let her heal. She needs either closure or him. It’s up to him which she gets. That sound fair?”

Malia couldn’t have cared less about fair.

But Carlos did. So she nodded.

“I think that’s generous,” said Malia.

She took out her phone.

Carlos’s eyes nearly bugged out.

“Now?”

Malia shrugged.

“It’s about eight in the evening there now. I think he can manage. It’s a good time. I don’t want to put it off, Carlos. Come on, don’t be a wimp about it.”

Carlos looked frantically for a way out and found none before he looked resigned to fate and to Malia.

Since when had anybody ever been able to talk Malia out of something after she’d set her mind on it?

Never, of course, was the only answer to that.

He’d never stood a chance.

Malia had come prepared and was going to do it, and he was going to go along with it, as he always did.

One day, thought Carlos, he’d finally tell her how he felt. But that day would be a long time coming, because of all the people in the world, the only one that actually intimidated him was Malia.

Thinking of that did make him feel a bit better, though.

It could be worse.

He only had to talk to Adam Catten. He’d met him a couple of times and had found him to be perfectly nice, though a bit aloof.

It wasn’t like he was trying to talk Malia into doing something she didn’t want to do.

Yeah, it could definitely be worse.

He could handle this.

*****

Adam wasn’t feeling very happy.

He wasn’t happy that he wasn’t happy, either.

There was no getting away from it – he missed her.

He was here, doing the work he loved, and he felt like there was a hole inside him.

But she hadn’t tried to call him like he’d thought she would. She’d given him space, and was letting him go. When they did talk, she seemed distracted.

She seemed to be working a lot.

Adam kicked himself for getting into that position. She didn’t have any grand passion for him. They liked each other, and they enjoyed each other, but now that he was out of sight, she had moved on.

Why wouldn’t she? He hadn’t asked her to wait for him. He’d given her no indication that he had any grand passion for her, either.

He had made a point of not doing so.

But he hadn’t known, had he? He hadn’t known that in every minute he’d spent with her, he’d been putting down roots and letting himself be tied to her.

He’d imagined that he’d feel tied down by such a connection. But he didn’t. He felt tied down by the responsibility he had assumed.

The worst part was that he wasn’t even necessary. He hadn’t looked too deeply into the mission before going. Now, he could see that he had mostly been sent because he had experience and he was available.

He wasn’t helping, not really. He was wasting most of his skills.

His greatest triumphs had been in conflict zones. This wasn’t his expertise.

What they really needed was a general surgeon and a pediatrician. He didn’t excel as either.

Why was he there?

Why wasn’t he home, with Shonali?

Since when had he started thinking of Shonali as home?

When his phone rang, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d gotten used to not being able to connect to the world.

The surge of hope when he thought that it might be Shonali shocked him.

His need for her shocked him.

He…

Surely it wasn’t the big L word?

Maybe it was.

He did know that he’d never felt like that before, and he was not keen on ever feeling like that again.

But it wasn’t Shonali.

“Hello?”

“Oh, thank fu*k. I’ve been trying to reach you for an hour now. Is it too late there?”

Was it? He checked his watch and found that it was just nine in the evening.