Love Islands: Summer Kisses. Joanna Neil

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СКАЧАТЬ target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#u45ae6473-8120-5e9b-ad80-64cc1fff2ebb">CHAPTER SIX

      RACHEL STRETCHED OUT on the sun lounger and wiggled her toes, the only part of her currently in the sun. The last few days had been odd. After the hiccup on the first day and Darius’s minor injuries on the challenge, things had pretty much been how Lewis had promised. A few hours’ work every day followed by hours and hours to kill. That would be fine if they were staying at a luxury resort, or in the middle of a city. Instead, they were on an island with a distinct lack of facilities and where the only entertainment was the Z-list celebrities. The days seemed longer than ever.

      The challenges had been going well. Frank, the sportsman, had aced the diving challenge around the coral reef without managing to do himself any damage. The next challenge had been to scale a thirty-foot tree to reach a fake bird’s-nest. Billy X, the rapper, had proved surprisingly agile but Darius had obviously been annoyed that he’d not been voted for by the public.

      His wound was gradually healing and the antibiotics seemed to have warded off any sign of infection. He still wasn’t looking any better though and Rachel had started to wonder if they should be monitoring his weight. The celebrities had to prepare and cook their own food over a campfire and, even though there weren’t excessive amounts of food, there was still enough to keep them sustained. Maybe Nathan was right—maybe there was something else to worry about?

      She shifted uncomfortably on the sun lounger. If Darius’s non-Hodgkin’s relapsed he would be in big trouble. He had already relapsed twice. Each treatment plan had been more intense than the one before. She knew firsthand exactly what these treatment plans involved. He wouldn’t be able to keep his illness a secret much longer.

      She heard muffled voices up in the trees around her. The crew were gossiping again. She smiled. They were a great bunch but sometimes it was like being trapped on an island with a bunch of teenage girls.

      Thankfully, no one seemed to have picked up on the tension between her and Nathan. Or, if they had, she hadn’t heard anyone mention it.

      Ron caught her eye as he walked slowly towards the medical centre. Rachel had asked him to come in twice in as many days and she was glad he’d finally showed up. Nathan was on duty and would check him over.

      As he reached out his hand towards the door he winced. His face was bright red. He almost looked as though he could burst.

      She hesitated for a few seconds. Nathan was an experienced A & E doctor. He could handle this—she knew he could. If she went in now, he might be resentful of her interference.

      But the expression on Ron’s face couldn’t let her sit there much longer. She sat up and dug her toes into the sand for a second as she reached underneath the lounger for her sandals. She wasn’t getting much of a tan anyway. She was too worried that if she took her sundress off and just wore her bikini people might ask questions about her scar.

      She wasn’t normally self-conscious and if Nathan hadn’t been on the island she would have worn her bikini without a second thought. But suddenly she was wishing she had a schoolgirl-style swimsuit in her backpack—one that covered all parts of her back and front. It might not be stylish but would stop any awkward questions.

      She shook the sand from her feet and pushed them into her sandals. Ron. That was who she needed to concentrate on now. It was time to stop fretting about the future and put her professional head back into place.

      Nathan was feeling restless. The last few nights he hadn’t been able to sleep. Lying in a cabin with only two thin walls separating him and Rachel was driving him crazy. Every time he heard the shower running he imagined her soaping her smooth skin under the spluttering water. He imagined the water running in rivulets down her straight spine, in long lines down to her painted pink toes.

      The pink toes had been haunting him. It was practically the only part of her skin that could freely be seen. Unlike the rest of the crew on the island, Rachel had kept herself well covered up. T-shirts and long shorts coupled with socks and hiking boots were the flavour of the day. Even in the evening she wore long pants and long-sleeved T-shirts. The only part visible were her toes.

      All his memories of nights with Rachel had revolved around short satin nightdresses and shoestring straps. There certainly hadn’t been a lack of skin.

      And it certainly wasn’t helping his male libido. His imagination was currently working overtime. He needed to find himself a distraction, a hobby. But finding something else to do on this island was proving harder than he’d thought.

      He’d put a call through to Len to see what his plans were for later. Maybe a hike around the island would help him think about other things.

      Nathan was just replacing his phone when the door opened. Ron walked in, panting heavily, with a strange expression on his face and his signature sweat marks on his grey T-shirt.

      He really didn’t look great. His face was highly coloured with beads of sweat on his brow. Nathan stood up quickly and helped him over to the examination trolley, lifting his legs up onto it and helping him to rest back.

      He could hear Ron rasping for breath so he switched on the monitoring equipment, connected it and pulled an oxygen mask over Ron’s face.

      ‘How long have you been feeling unwell?’

      ‘Just … today,’ Ron wheezed.

      The blood pressure cuff started to inflate. ‘Ron, are you having any chest pain?’

      Ron frowned. ‘Not really. Well … maybe a little.’

      Great. He’d suspected Ron wasn’t feeling great but he hadn’t responded to any of Nathan’s invitations to be checked over. Right now, he had heart attack written all over him.

      Nathan looked at the reading on the monitor and opened the drug cabinet, taking out an aspirin. First line treatment for an MI. Actually—the only treatment they had on this island. Not ideal. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. ‘Here, take this.’ He handed Ron the tablet and a glass of water.

      ‘Not really pain.’ Ron continued. ‘Just indigestion.’

      ‘Indigestion? How often?’

      Ron thumped the glass of water back down; even taking a sip had been an effort. ‘Every day,’ he gasped.

      Nathan raised his eyebrows. ‘Ever had problems with your blood pressure?’

      Ron gave a nod.

      ‘Does your indigestion come on when you’re working?’

      Another nod.

      ‘Does it ever go down your arm?’

      Ron’s high colour started to pale. The oxygen was finally getting into his system and his heart rate was starting to steady.

      ‘How bad is your indigestion today?’

      ‘B … bad.’

      ‘Feels like something is pressing on your chest?’

      Nathan stood at the side of the examination trolley. He watched the monitor closely. It gave a clear tracing of Ron’s heart rate. The PQRS waves were all visible. No ST elevation. ‘The good news is you’re not having a heart attack. The bad news is СКАЧАТЬ