‘I don’t think you should do this challenge,’ she said quickly. ‘There’s a strong possibility of getting cuts, bites or scrapes. Any break to the skin is a risk of infection and your immunity will already be low right now. There’s no telling what the infection risks are from the unknown creatures or the dirty water.’
Darius shot her his famous soap star smile as he realised what her words meant. ‘Lighten up, Rach. I’ve won the public vote? Fantastic.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m not worried about the tunnels. Why should you be?’ He glanced over her shoulder. She could already tell that Nathan had closed in and was listening to their conversation. ‘You can check me over for broken skin when I come out.’ Darius gave her a wink and walked back to the bench with the other celebrities.
The producer hurried over to her, hissing in her ear. ‘What are you doing? You’ll spoil everything. This is supposed to be a surprise.’
She spun around. ‘My job. That’s what I’m doing. And what are you worried about—didn’t you know Darius is one of the most famous soap stars in Australia? I’m sure he can act surprised.’
She stomped away back to the television screens. Darius was more concerned about his screen time and popularity than his health. It was maddening.
Nathan appeared at her side. ‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on?’
She gritted her teeth. ‘I can’t.’
He turned without another word and walked away.
After shooting her a few glares, the TV hosts smiled right on cue for their live broadcast. Darius was suitably surprised when he found out he’d been voted for the challenge. He smiled all through the televised safety briefing, then dived head first into the tunnels. Some of them were a tight fit. There was no way the sportsman could have forced his way through these tunnels. If Darius had been at his normal weight he probably wouldn’t have fitted either. He must have lost a little weight during chemotherapy. In the end he completed the challenge in a few minutes and emerged wet and muddy with his rewards in his hands. There was a large gash on one leg and a few nips on the other from some baby alligators.
She waited impatiently for the filming to finish. ‘In the Jeep,’ she said as the cameras stopped.
Darius flinched and rubbed at the open wound. ‘I think we’re supposed to go back directly to camp.’
Nathan appeared at his back. ‘Do what the good lady says. You won’t like her when she’s angry.’
There it was. That little hint to Darius that he actually knew her a whole lot better than Darius did. She could see the instant recognition on Darius’s face as they eyed each other suspiciously. It was ridiculous—like pistols at dawn. She was irritated enough already and this wasn’t helping.
Ron appeared, sweating as always, and smiling. ‘Back to the medical centre then, folks?’
All three climbed wordlessly into the Jeep. The journey back seemed so much longer. Ron talked merrily as if he hadn’t noticed the atmosphere in the car, dropping them all at the path leading down to the medical centre.
Rachel strode ahead, flinging open the door and pulling things from cupboards. She gestured towards the examination trolley. ‘Climb up there.’
She was so angry with them both right now she couldn’t even look at them. Darius for being so stupid and Nathan for being so stubborn. Part of her knew that Nathan was right. Any other doctor would want to know the patient’s history too.
But any other doctor wouldn’t get under her skin and grate like Nathan could.
He was like a permanent itch. Part of her still felt guilty around him. Part of her felt angry. Irrational? Yes, of course. She was the one who had walked away. She had left him and Charlie and put herself first.
Even if she could turn back the clock she wouldn’t change that—no matter how much it had hurt them both. Her outcome could have been so different. She was one of the lucky ones; she knew that. She’d had her treatment and reached the five-year magic survival milestone. That was good; that was positive.
But this whole place had just thrown her into turmoil. She’d distanced herself from Darius these last few years. He needed to find others to rely on. Coming here had been a mistake.
As for the sizzle in the air whenever she and Nathan were in the same room? She really couldn’t have predicted it. If anyone had asked her, she would have sworn it would never exist again. But it did exist. Every time she looked at him her skin tingled. Every time he stood close enough, all the little hairs on her body stood on end, almost willing him to come into contact. She couldn’t control her body’s responses. And it was driving her nuts.
She washed her hands and opened the sterile dressing pack. Nathan had angled a lamp over Darius’s leg, even though he hadn’t touched it. He seemed to sense it was wise to stay out of her way.
She slipped on her gloves and leaned over to get a good look at the wound. It was around four inches long and ragged, with a few tiny pieces of debris. She took a deep breath and irrigated with saline, removing the debris with tweezers. ‘It’s not deep enough to stitch. I’ll close it with paper stitches. But it does give a route of entry for infection. Who knows what was in that mud or those tunnels? You’re going to need this dressed and observed every day.’
Darius sighed. ‘That seems like overkill. This place is miles away from the campsite. I don’t want to have to come here every day. The rest of the celebrities will think I’m getting special treatment—either that or they’ll think something is wrong.’
Nathan cleared his throat loudly. ‘Actually, Darius, Rachel’s right. And it isn’t overkill. Since Rachel has highlighted you’re susceptible to infection, I think it would be wise to put you on antibiotics. It’s pretty much a given you’re going to get some kind of infection in that wound.’
Rachel was surprised to hear Nathan back her so quickly. She finished cleaning the wound and applied some antiseptic cream and a dressing.
‘It might be easier all round if either I or Rachel come up to the campsite every day to dress the wound. We can bring supplies with us and it should only take a few minutes. That way, it’s pretty obvious why you’re being seen. It’s not special treatment. It’s wound care.’
Darius nodded. He seemed oblivious to the fact she was mad at him. But of course the world revolved around Darius. At least his world did. What made her more curious was the way Nathan was actually giving him some leeway. She hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected it at all.
‘That sounds great. Thanks for that.’ He slid his legs from the examination couch while she got rid of the waste and Nathan dispensed some antibiotics. He held them out for Darius. ‘You do realise I’ll tell the producer you can’t be eligible for tomorrow’s challenge?’
‘What?’ He had Darius’s instant attention. ‘But it sounds like one of the best ones!’
‘You can’t go swimming and diving with a potentially infected leg. No way.’
Nathan was still holding onto the antibiotics. All credit to him. He knew exactly how to deal with Darius.
‘But it’ll look as if I’m using it as an excuse not to take part.’
Nathan shrugged. ‘The producer and director have to abide by our recommendations. Feel free to say on camera that the docs have refused to let you take part. Feel free to let the world know you’ve got a potentially life-threatening infection in your leg.’
Rachel could almost see the headlines running through Darius’s head. He gave a little nod. ‘Thanks for this.’ He took the antibiotics and a bottle of water from Nathan. ‘I’ll see you both tomorrow.’
He exited the medical centre and disappeared down the path to where Ron was waiting to drive him back to camp.
Rachel folded her arms and leaned against the wall.