Lucas pulled a hand across his chin, the rasping sound of his palm hitting unshaven skin made her nerve endings tingle. She didn’t want to want him. But she did.
“It’s a worry. And one I’m not sure we have the ability, or the time, to deal with. There are so many acute cases, none of us have spare minutes to sit with Victoria or offer the counselling she needs.” He searched the room as though someone would appear that could do the job. “It’s so frustrating that most of the aid charities are sending in boxes of food as though that’s the only thing we need. Our medical supplies won’t last much longer and neither will the generator.”
“What’s the answer?”
“I wish I knew,” he responded gruffly. “But I know what I’d do.”
“You have a plan?”
“I have a vision,” he corrected. “Though now I sound pompous and stuck up.”
“What’s your vision?” Frankie swayed slightly as she spoke, even though the swaddled baby showed no signs of waking. For a moment Frankie thought he wasn’t going to answer. He’d looked fired up, a little arrogant, and a lot passionate. Now he looked hesitant. It wasn’t the Lucas she’d become accustomed to dealing with.
“I want to have my own aid charity. I know what’s needed. I’d like to put together teams of medics, teams of builders who can help a stricken country put together temporary shelters, shore up shattered buildings, but mostly ensure the stuff that’s really needed gets through first. We have so many boxes of food and energy bars we’ve run out of places to store them.”
“I think that’s a very worthy goal. How far have you got with that?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot. Planned out a lot, but I’m missing the most important component.”
“What would that be?”
“I don’t have the contacts to get something like this off the ground. Or the finances, of course.”
A deep roar sounded from far away, like standing on a train platform as a fast train sped through. Lucas paused for a moment before rolling Frankie onto the ground.
“Get down, everyone! Aftershock!”
He pushed her under Victoria’s bed, taking care she remained on her side so the baby wasn’t squashed. Positioning himself at the outer edge of the bed, facing Frankie, he grabbed her hands and squeezed them.
Too astonished to feel anything, she squeezed back, so glad he was there. The ground shook beneath them, making her teeth chatter. She was more than aware that this could be it for them. The hospital had been so badly damaged in the first earthquake that this could cause what was left to fall down around them.
As abruptly as it started, the aftershock finished. Lucas slid out from under the bed and pushed himself to his feet. Frankie could hear him shouting orders and asking if everyone was okay. She took a minute longer before she got out.
Still on her knees, not trusting her shaky legs to support her weight, she looked at Victoria. Tears coursed down the other woman’s cheeks.
“Victoria, are you hurt?”
Victoria shook her head. “Nothing can hurt me anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Frankie got to her feet, her eyes quickly travelling the length of Victoria’s body, searching for a reason for her words.
“I’ve lost my family. I don’t have anyone in the world to care for me. No parents, no husband, no home. Nothing.” Her words were stiff and emotionless—completely at odds with the moisture on her face.
Tears burned behind Frankie’s eyes. Each time she didn’t think she could bear hearing about another tragedy wrought by this disaster, she did. And her own selfishness, her own preoccupation with herself, was shown to be exactly what it was—a First World problem that deserved no mourning, no more tears.
“Victoria, I’m so sorry. Maybe if you held your baby, fed him, it would give you some comfort?”
Victoria turned away from Frankie. “I have nothing to offer him, nothing left to give. Soon do-gooders will swoop in wanting to adopt our orphans. Let someone who has a home have my child. Let them love him.”
“Frankie, we need to leave!” Lucas called across the room to her.
She stared between Lucas and Victoria, holding her hand up to Lucas to signify she needed a moment. “Victoria, I have to go. I’ll be back to check on you later. But please, your baby needs you. You’re his mama. He’s not an orphan.”
Not yet he wasn’t.
She followed Lucas out of the hospital, knowing the aftershock would have created even more casualties, more devastation, and more work for them to do. But she couldn’t shake the feeling she’d left someone behind at the hospital she may have been able to help.
#
Lucas helped Henry load the jeep up with supplies while Frankie ran back into the hospital for something she said she couldn’t leave without. She looked so different that day, and it wasn’t simply because of what they’d shared the night before. Neither was it because she had a baby strapped to her. It was so much more than that.
She emerged from the hospital with a pale blue cap covering the baby’s head.