Free Tempestuous Eden by Heather Graham Page A

get set for any severely wounded. Blair—” His eyes lit upon her.
    “I’ll go with Juan and Kate,” she volunteered in interruption. “I know the children the best—”
    “No!” His command, even for the situation, was startling. The yellow of his eyes had never seemed more brilliant, more like a dangerous blaze that could sweep out of control. Then the fire was hidden so quickly that it might not have been. His voice softened. “You need to be here, Blair, with Tom in the med tent. If any of the kids come in hurt …”
    Blair wasn’t given a chance to agree to or to refute his command. His voice went on for a second with further, all-encompassing instructions, and then, like a football huddle, they broke, all running off in separate directions to carry out their assignments.
    Into a night that seemed to go on forever.
    First on order for those remaining in the compound was the reconstruction of the tents. Craig, as usual, had matters well in hand. He asked for assistance to reorganize the med tent first so that Doc and Blair could get going with preparations. The rest of the reconstruction he could handle himself. Working alongside him briskly as the med tent was restored was the last Blair was to see of him at close quarters for quite some time.
    The night and the days that followed were insane. The devastating action of the earth had been only a tremor, but in the village the destruction had been great. Flimsy walls had fallen; many had been left homeless.
    But thankfully, no casualties had occurred. Blair treated a multitude of cuts and bruises, wincing each time an injury was so severe that stitches had to be sewn into young flesh, but the worst injury that had befallen anyone was a set of broken toes on a young lad, snapped by a falling shelf. Dr. Hardy was able to patch him up fine. The tremor had been far more violent farther north, near the base of a long-dormant volcano. Any extra help received in the country would not come their way; it too would go to the north.
    It took them two and a half days of almost round-the-clock work to get back on even footing. And then, when things were caught up, they were disoriented.
    It was always hard to understand the resiliency of the people. One day their homes had been in shambles—the earth itself had heaped ravishment upon what the war had left them. But they merely picked up the pieces as they had so many times before. They accepted help, they said thank you with sincere appreciation, and then they forgot and went on.
    It was nightfall of their third day of whirlwind confusion when Juan returned from the village with news that the last hut had been rebuilt.
    And Blair’s last little patient had been released that afternoon. New supplies had arrived; all were stocked away.
    It was incredible to suddenly have nothing to do. Nothing but go back to their usual schedule that was once so grueling, now so easy. Three hours a day for leisure now seemed like a fabulous vacation.
    “It’s as if it never was,” Blair told Tom with disbelief, shoving back a lock of damp hair as they finished up in the med tent at almost five o’clock. She glanced past the raised tent flap, knowing she would see Craig at work lifting, hauling, or building in the compound. He was always close. She was never without the warm feeling of his presence, his energy, close to her. Yet he might as well have been miles away for all the chance they had to talk.
    She caught sight of him carrying food cartons, still tirelessly busy. Frowning, she turned back to Doc. “I don’t know what to do with myself,” she told him lamely.
    “Take a bath,” he advised with a chuckle as he surveyed her wilted form. “And hurry! I want to get down there myself.”
    Kate, Blair discovered, had already been to the stream and was happily reclined before the fire with a book, cigarette, and cup of coffee. Loathe to disturb her, Blair hurried along on her own, enjoying the water, but still bathing quickly. With