The Australian's Bride. Alison Roberts
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conversation in the room died down. Late arrivals found spare seats.
Miranda sat beside Susie, who noticed that Nick— the father of one of Miranda’s young asthma patients— was accompanying her. The look and smile the couple exchanged as they settled hurriedly into their seats made it very clear they were together in more than a professional sense. Goodness, when had that happened? It was enough to prompt Susie to scan the rest of the room more carefully.
Where was Alex?
He’d gone back to the cabin to shower and change and had been planning to have breakfast with Stella. Had he not got the message about the meeting?
Yes!
Susie missed the first words Charles spoke because the side door opened again to admit Alex, and a wave of sensation rippled through her body with unexpected ferocity.
Just the glimpse of his hand as he pushed the door shut behind him was enough to make her skin tingle with the memory of his touch. As he turned, her glance went to his face and she could see he had shaved recently but that dark shadow outlining his jaw would always be there. Would always remind her of the deliciously rough sensation that stubble had given her last night. On her breasts. On her thighs…
A small sound must have escaped her because Susie earned a quick, surprised glance from Miranda.
‘Are you OK?’ she whispered.
‘I’m fine,’ Susie whispered back.
‘Fine’. Such an innocuous word. It could be a cover for not feeling good at all. Or, in this case, a cop-out from an inappropriate attempt to search for a word that could encompass feeling this good.
Was Alex feeling good?
Susie hadn’t expected to find the surgeon staring in her direction. For a moment, across all the heads turned in Charles’s direction, her gaze locked with Alex’s and the connection was enough to make her toes curl and that ripple of sensation kick back in.
‘Angus Stuart,’ Charles was saying in the background. ‘An epidemiologist who’s here for a conference. Angus has a particular interest in pandemics and has been involved in government think-tanks set up in the wake of the bird-flu scare we all heard so much about a couple of years ago.’
Stuart? The name finally sank in and Susie dragged her gaze away from Alex. She wasn’t the only person to search out Beth, who was now sitting in the front row of seats. Were they related? She took another look at the man beside Charles. He was quite proper looking. Distinguished even. Very serious and unsmiling at the moment, which made him seem an unlikely relative for the friendly and outgoing Beth but, then, how much did she really know about Beth?
‘As you will all be aware,’ Charles continued, ‘we’re having an outbreak of an influenza-type illness here on the island. Currently we have two adults from the resort and three children from the camp as inpatients in our medical centre. None of them are critically ill but we’re monitoring them carefully. Influenza is never something to be taken lightly and we have the additional concern of having a large group of children here, some of whom are already compromised healthwise.’
Susie stole another glance at Alex but he was totally focused on Charles and he was frowning. As though he had assimilated something that hadn’t yet been verbalised and he either did not like or disagreed with the information.
‘Dr Stuart’s opinion was sought because an unusual number of dead birds have been discovered on the island over the last few days.’
Everybody was focused now. Silent and still.
‘One of our inpatients is known to have been in direct contact with one of those birds last Tuesday. She started showing the first symptoms of her illness on Friday.’
‘Lily…’ Susie murmured. ‘Oh, my God!’ This was possibly worse than a suspected diagnosis of meningitis. ‘Bird flu?’
‘Shh,’ Miranda cautioned.
‘One of our rangers who collected birds from the shoreline on Friday afternoon is also showing the first signs of a viral infection, with a raised temperature, headache, photophobia and arthralgia.’
The audience was not so silent now. Whispered conversations were breaking out. Alex stood silently, still frowning at Charles, his arms now folded. Someone else raised their hand.
‘How many others are sick? That haven’t been admitted yet?’
The ‘yet’struck a note that increased tension. Already they were assuming that the viral infection was going to be a serious illness for everybody who caught it.
‘Unknown,’ Charles responded. ‘That information is something we’re going to ask all of you to help collate today. We want you to check the groups of children you’re responsible for and report any symptoms, however mild they may be at present.’
The nurse who had accompanied the cancer children stood up to voice the fear everyone was now sharing. She had to raise her voice to be heard.
‘Are you saying we’ve got an outbreak of bird flu on Wallaby Island?’
‘No.’ It was Angus Stuart who answered. ‘And that’s something we need to make clear to everybody. There’s no cause for panic. What we are saying is that the coincidence of finding dead birds with an influenza outbreak means that further investigation is prudent.’
‘What kind of investigation?’ Miranda asked. ‘Are you wanting us to collect blood or sputum samples?’
‘We’ve started that with our inpatients. A series of specimens is needed over several days if we are going to rule out an infection with H5N1.’
‘H5N1?’ Susie whispered to Miranda.
‘Avian Influenza A,’ she responded quietly. ‘A specific strain of bird flu.’
‘At the moment we just need to get a handle on how many potential cases we might be dealing with,’ Angus continued. ‘And get an idea of demographics. Parts of the island these people have visited. Whether they’ve touched or seen any dead birds.’
‘Everybody needs to be warned not to touch any and to report any sightings,’ Charles added.
‘But we’re on an island,’ someone said. ‘We’re a world away from any known cases.’
‘We have migratory birds that travel long distances. The fact that this is an island is to our advantage. In the worst-case scenario, it means we can isolate this virus.’
‘As of now,’ Charles said clearly, ‘Wallaby Island is quarantined. Until we know what we’re dealing with, nobody will be allowed to leave.’
‘What?’ The single word broke from Alex into the stunned silence. ‘That’s impossible. I’ve got a full operating list waiting for me in Sydney with a 7:00 a.m. start time tomorrow. I have to be off this island today.’
Susie had known that he was due to leave this afternoon. She had known all along that last night had been a one-off, never-to-be-repeated experience. Still, it was disturbing how hollow it made her feel to have it confirmed so vehemently. And a bit humiliating to see that Alex couldn’t wait to get away.
‘I’m sorry,’ Charles said firmly. ‘It’s now out of my hands. Angus has been in touch with the appropriate authorities and the quarantine has been notified. Disease investigation and control experts are coming in to take over but no one is going to leave. There will be no exceptions.’
‘But people have already left,’ someone objected. ‘I saw the seaplane taking off early this morning.’
‘Steps have been taken to intercept those people. And to contact everybody else who’s been on the island in the last week. They will be kept under observation and isolation, if necessary, in their homes. Guests at the resort will be receiving