Do Opposites Attract? (Kathryn Freeman’s Irresistible Romcom Collection #5)

Chapter Thirty

Following her visit to Catherine, Brianna had a troubled night’s sleep. She kept picturing a fourteen-year-old Mitch, lost and alone. A child who’d had to resort to squatting in strangers’ houses and fending for himself. Her heart ached at the thought. At least it helped explain his fierce independence, his reluctance to share his life with anybody else.

The next morning, when she’d finally given up on getting any more sleep, she tried to phone Mitch. Frustratingly his mobile was turned off, and his home phone just rang and rang with no reply. Where was the man when she needed to talk to him? It was so early in the morning she had to conclude he was either a very heavy sleeper, which she knew he wasn’t, or he wasn’t at home. Jealousy ripped through her, sharp and painful. Of course there could be any number of explanations for him not being at home. Being with another woman was only one of them, but it was the one that kept her mind occupied throughout her journey to work.

‘Sally, do you know where Mitch might be?’ Brianna asked the office manager as soon as she arrived in the office. She wondered if the other woman knew about their relationship, or lack of it, and felt slightly foolish. ‘I’ve tried his mobile and his home phone but not had a response from either.’

‘Didn’t we tell you yesterday? The team were called out again. There’s been an earthquake in Indonesia. I expect he’s knee deep in casualties at the moment.’

‘Damn.’ The words were out before she could stop them.

‘Is there a problem?’

Brianna smiled, recovering her poise. ‘No, no problem. I just wanted to follow up with him on this proposal with the army.’

With apparent casualness, Brianna walked slowly back to her desk. So Mitch was away again. Her first selfish thought was at least he wasn’t with another woman. Then she remembered Catherine, who would at this moment be waiting for a call from her surrogate son. Sadly she’d have to let her know it would be a while before that happened.

Turning her mind to work, she mused that she’d never realised how therapeutic it could be. She’d always considered work a chore, something she didn’t have to do but thought she should. Since joining Medic SOS, all that had changed. She still didn’t have to work, but now she wanted to. It was a huge difference.

The next few hours flew by as she immersed herself in proposals for the next fund-raising ball. So great was her concentration she almost jumped out of her skin when her phone sprang into life.

‘Hi, Brie. It’s Melanie. I wondered if you fancied meeting me for lunch? I know what you working girls are like. I promise I won’t take up more than an hour, and you can stick to sparkling water.’

Wondering where the time had gone, Brianna rubbed at the back of her neck, tight from staring at a computer screen. ‘That sounds like exactly what I need. I’ll meet you at the Italian place in half an hour.’

Three quarters of an hour later, for she knew Melanie always ran late, Brianna sauntered into their usual haunt and found herself a table by the window.

‘Brie, darling. Sorry I got held up.’ Melanie finally arrived, a further five minutes later, gushing with all the usual apologies.

‘You always do,’ Brianna replied dryly, but gave her friend a warm hug.

‘How have you been? Did you go and see Catherine?’

‘Yes.’

Her friend’s eyes widened in delight. ‘So, what did you find out? Is Mitch a nasty scheming gold-digger after all?’

Melanie was smiling so wickedly, Brianna had to chuckle. ‘You know he’s not.’

‘Well?’

‘Let’s order first, then I’ll tell you everything.’

For the next half an hour, they talked and ate. And talked some more.

‘Well, how dramatic. Fancy being left orphaned, running away from the authorities and then being looked after by the person in whose house you’d been squatting. No wonder there’s such an air of mystery about the man. He’s had one heck of a life.’

‘And that’s just what we know from the age of fourteen. I dread to think what happened before that. Catherine wouldn’t say. I’m not sure if she knows the full story.’

Melanie finished off her salad and placed her knife and fork carefully back on her plate. ‘No wonder he found it so hard to mix in our world. It must be hard for him, coming from nothing. When I think of how Henry treated him, it makes me sick.’

Brianna sighed and pushed away the rest of her sandwich. ‘Well, I just hope he won’t be too cross with me when he finds out I went to see her.’

‘I had my reservations, as you know, but hearing what you’ve just said, you’ve done him a huge favour. He clearly cared for Catherine. When he knows she didn’t send the letter, they can find each other again. It’s a gooey, soppy, happy ending.’

Brianna wondered if the dour, intensely private Mitch would see it that way.

* * *

The afternoon sailed past. Brianna followed up on the leads she had with potential sponsors, and felt a real sense of achievement when one of them promised to donate regular amounts of money in return for a mention on their website. Work-wise, her life was going well. Donations were already up and the team were in the happy position of deciding how to manage the new level of investment. Even Margaret was smiling at her. If only her love life was going down a similar smooth road, life would be perfect.

‘Oh my God.’ Looking up sharply, she saw Sally’s tortured expression. ‘How badly is he injured?’

Brianna’s heart flew into her mouth. It had to be one of the team. He narrowed it down to a male. There were only three males she was aware of out there. A one in three chance it was Mitch. The odds were in the right direction.

‘Keep us posted, won’t you? Yes, I’ll tell the office. Look after him, Tessa. I don’t need to tell you, he’s rather special.’

When Sally came off the phone, they all surrounded her. ‘Mitch was trying to rescue a man when the building collapsed on him. They managed to get him out, but he’s been badly injured.’

Brianna felt the blood rushing from her head. The room started to spin and she staggered back towards her chair, just managing to grab hold of it before everything went black.

‘Brianna, wake up.’ Coming to, her eyes focused on Margaret’s face. ‘Are you back with us?’

Brianna nodded her head, trying to get up from the floor where she was currently lying.

‘Hey, careful, we don’t want you blacking out on us again.’ Margaret helped to ease Brianna to her feet and onto her chair.

‘Sorry,’ Brianna mumbled, trying to clear the muzzy feeling from her brain. ‘I don’t know what happened. One minute I was fine. The next—’

‘You were rather gracefully collapsing onto the floor,’ Sally interjected.

The fog cleared. ‘Oh God, it was Mitch. You were telling us he’d been injured.’

Margaret took Brianna’s hand and rubbed it, clearly trying to get some warmth into her clammy circulation. ‘Yes, it sounds like he has. Why don’t you come into my office for a bit and get yourself together?’

With a sensitivity Brianna didn’t realise Margaret was capable of, she was helped into the office, sat down with a coat to warm her up and given a hot tea. ‘How bad is he, Margaret?’

Margaret moved to the chair opposite her. ‘From what I can gather, he’s got the usual broken bones and bruises, but it’s his head they’re worried about. He’s unconscious and has fractured his skull. They think he’ll need an operation to remove bits of the skull from his brain.’

Brianna threw a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh God.’

‘Sorry, that sounded more gruesome than I’d intended.’ Margaret glanced at her sharply. ‘You’re not going to black out on me again, are you?’

Brianna tried to shake her head, but she felt so dizzy she had to stop. ‘What can I do? How can I increase his chances? Can he be airlifted home?’ The words tumbled out of her.

‘Honestly? If he can be moved, then yes, he’d have a much better chance of pulling through if he’s treated in a specialist centre.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll do.’ Brianna leapt to her feet, grabbing at the back of the chair when the floor seemed to move slightly. ‘I’ll arrange for him to be flown back here to a centre specialising in brain injuries.’

Margaret held up her hand. ‘Hold on a minute. There are a couple of issues here. Firstly, we need to check with the team whether he’s okay to fly. And secondly, arranging for the flight, if you want it done quickly, would have to be done privately, which means enormous cost. We are insured, but that could take time—’

‘Time he doesn’t have. The money is no problem. I’ll sort it.’ Brianna’s hands tightened on the chair. ‘He can’t die, Margaret,’ she said quietly. ‘He’s too important.’

Margaret gave her an understanding smile. ‘And I think you don’t just mean in terms of his work here.’

Brianna flushed. ‘No, I don’t. He’s important to me.’

‘I can see that. I’ll give the guys a call; see if he can be moved. You sort out the transport and receiving hospital.’ Brianna was almost out of the door when Margaret spoke again. ‘He’s tough, Brianna. I can’t see Mitch letting a brain injury stop him, can you?’

It was wobbly, but Brianna managed a smile. ‘I hope not.’

* * *

Brianna didn’t know how she got home. When she opened her front door, she glanced back over her shoulder to see her car parked outside. She must have driven, but she had no recollection of the journey. She was functioning on automatic pilot, going through the motions of everyday life, but her mind was with her heart. In Indonesia.

Mitch had been given the okay to be moved. Now the ball was in her court.

‘Mum, Dad,’ she shouted, knowing they were in the house somewhere, as they’d promised to meet her here.

‘Brianna, darling, what is it? Your message on the phone sounded so urgent.’ They were waiting for her in their sitting room.

She rushed over to them and for a few seconds allowed herself to take comfort from their tight, loving embrace. Then she pulled away. ‘It’s Mitch. He’s been hurt and it’s serious. He’s got a brain injury. We need to get him back to England quickly, so he can be treated by specialists.’

Her father took one look at her face and simply drew his arms around her tighter. ‘Do whatever it takes Brianna. I’ll find the money.’

The floodgates opened and tears streamed down her face. ‘Oh, Dad, thank you, thank you.’ She took a moment to absorb the strength and love from her parents. How good it felt to know she was loved, to know they would do anything for her, without hesitation, without question. She thought of Mitch, alone in a makeshift hospital bed somewhere. Had he ever experienced that sort of love? She didn’t think so.

‘I’ve got to go and sort it all out . . .’ She broke away, desperate to get things moving, to get Mitch back where he belonged.

‘Darling, calm down,’ her father took her hand. ‘I’ll call my personal assistant and get him to make the arrangements. You need to rest a while. You’ll be no use to anyone in this frazzled state. I take it you want to fly out with the plane, to fetch him?’ Brianna nodded. ‘Right then, wait here with your mother while I make a call.’

* * *

With amazing speed, a few hours later Brianna was climbing up the steps into a private medical plane.

‘Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?’ her father asked for the hundredth time. Bless his heart, he’d not only made sure of the arrangements, he’d also insisted on seeing her off.

‘You’ve got a business to run and besides, I’m a big girl now.’

‘I know, but to me you’ll always be my darling child.’

She brushed at her eyes. ‘Crikey, Dad, don’t go getting mushy on me. My emotions are all over the place as it is.’

Gently he kissed her forehead. ‘You love him, don’t you?’

She felt so choked she could barely speak. ‘Yes.’

‘Then he’s going to be fine. With you looking out for him, how could he be anything else?’

Biting her lip, she tried to smile. ‘You mean I’m a stubborn cow who won’t let him die.’

‘Well, I would have put it more delicately. You have a determined streak in you. If something is important enough to you, you’ve always found a way to achieve it.’

‘Let’s hope Mitch’s survival isn’t going to be any different.’

He lifted her chin and made her look at him. ‘You’ll phone as soon as you get the chance, won’t you? Don’t worry about the time differences. Just let us know how things are going.’

‘I promise.’

A few moments later the pilot signalled they were ready. Her dad climbed back down the stairs and the door closed.

She waved at him from the tiny window. How her life had changed. Until a few months ago the only plane trips she’d ever taken were for holidays. Now she was off to her second disaster zone in as many months.

And this time she was dreading what she’d find even more than the last time.