I hadn't intended to write about the BVI trip until MHC1987 and some other nice folks suggested it. So I decided to have Laura and Franco take the trip and see what happened.
BVI Trip Part I
Laura and Franco were on a plane headed to Puerto Rico where they would get a connecting flight to Tortola, Capital Island of the British Virgin Islands. Franco was a frequent flier, travelling often for business, and usually slept when the plane was in the air. Laura looked over at him, thinking about what a quiet sleeper he was, making no noise to bother any of the other passengers. She was too nervous to sleep, wondering what she was thinking, planning a trip to the island where Robbie Lewis had gone to make a start at getting over the death of his wife. As far as she knew Franco never thought about Robbie again after that night one year ago when they had helped him home from the pub. They never spoke about that night or Robbie. Laura hadn't told Franco why she wanted to go to the British Virgin Islands and he never asked. He must have thought it would be a good place to spend a week in the winter. Was it fair to Franco, being with him while she had unexplored feelings for Robbie? She and Franco had an easy, open relationship. They didn't place a lot of demands on each other, got together when it suited both of them but also had time apart. Laura didn't mind that Franco travelled a lot for his job and he understood Laura's demanding schedule. While she cared about him, she didn't feel that he was the one she was meant to be with forever. Laura hoped that she wasn't the love of his life because if so, someday he would surely be disappointed. She created a fantasy scenario in her head where Franco had an unobtainable love somewhere else and found Laura to be an agreeable substitute. Somehow that made it easier for her to justify being with him while she had this one-sided emotional affair with Robbie Lewis.
Laura had no intention of seeing Robbie while they were there. She just felt the need to be in the same physical location as him, breath the same air, see the same views. Why? She didn't understand this fascination she had with Robbie. They had been colleagues for several years, respected each other for their work ethic, bantered back and forth, and supported each other at crime scenes. She never thought of him as more than that until after his wife died. She liked, but wasn't attracted to, the Robbie that was married to Val. She was attracted to the Robbie who grieved for Val. He lost his innocence, became enigmatic and introspective. Laura knew that Robbie was not ready for an intimate relationship and maybe never would be. She did know that he needed a good friend and she resolved to be there for him. Even that would take time, and she would be patient with him. She was in essence having a relationship with him, one that she didn't think he knew about.
Laura and Franco checked into their hotel on the island of Tortola. She had done some research and found that there were eleven police stations in the British Virgin Islands, seven of them on the island of Tortola, so chances were that's where Robbie was stationed. Still not sure that this trip was a good idea, but unable to consider cancelling it at any point, she was about to run into an insurmountable obstacle. As they headed to their room, Laura saw newly retired Chief Superintendent Strange and his wife going the other way down the hall. What were they doing here? Laura thought back to his retirement party earlier in the week and remembered someone saying his wife was going to surprise Strange with a trip the next day to somewhere warm, where he could play golf and she could go to the beach. Why did it not occur to her that he would be coming here, and almost surely planning to visit Robbie? She certainly didn't want Strange telling Robbie she was here. She quickly calculated that the Stranges would have two days left of their weeklong trip. How was she going to avoid them? Well, she didn't play golf so wouldn't be seen by the Chief Superintendent on the links, but Mrs. Strange would likely recognize her on the beach.
Laura and Franco spent the next two days in their room until darkness fell each night, and then went out for an evening supper and a moonlit walk on the beach. Franco managed to avoid any business interruptions for those two days. On the second night, he told Laura that although he certainly didn't mind spending all day in the hotel room with her, they probably ought to get out some during the day and enjoy the sun. She agreed and said that the next day they would get up early and go to the beach. Before going to sleep that night Laura looked out from their balcony and saw a faraway lighthouse on the island of St. Thomas. The flashing yellow light in the distance was a symbol of hope, signifying that someday everything would work out the way it was supposed to. She was drawn to the safe harbor of that light each night for the rest of the trip.
Shortly after dawn the next morning, and much earlier than she hoped Mrs. Strange would be up, Laura and Franco headed for the beach. They walked for several minutes taking them much farther than Mrs. Strange would likely go, to find the right spot to spend the morning. While they enjoyed the warmth of the sun, Laura read a book, and Franco caught up on some work. Around noon when Franco walked down to the water for a swim, Laura took out her phone and called the hotel asking to be put through to Mrs. Strange. She was told that there was no longer anyone by that name staying there. Satisfied that she correctly calculated when the Stranges would leave, Laura breathed a sigh of relief.
The rest of that day and the next Laura and Franco took in some local sights and spent more time on the beach. Laura tried to forget about Robbie and concentrate on her relationship with Franco. They were having a nice dinner out when Franco apologized in advance, warning Laura that he was expecting a conference call later and it would disrupt their evening. She didn't mind, work interruptions were to be expected.
Before that happened though, there was a disruption of a different kind. A woman at a nearby table called out for help, her husband had become unresponsive right after complaining of severe chest pain. Laura immediately went to their table and quickly diagnosed that the man was having a heart attack. His wife had already called for an ambulance. Laura began CPR. After resuscitating him Laura stayed with him until the emergency medical team loaded him into the ambulance. A police officer had arrived at the same time as the ambulance and started asking questions about the incident. Laura could hear Franco telling the officer that his girlfriend was a doctor, a pathologist from Oxford, England. Before Franco could divulge more details she heard his phone ring with that business call. Franco stepped away from the officer, pointing at Laura saying she would be able to tell him what he needed to know.
The officer told Laura he would need a few more details for his report. She gave him the medical explanation of what happened, the man's symptoms and what she did. He said thank-you, there was just one more thing, and could he please have her name. Laura said she did not want any publicity; she was just glad the man was going to be all right. The officer said he would need her name for his report. He looked pleadingly at her, said he was a new recruit, still on probation, and the inspector in charge of training would not be very pleased with him if he neglected to get her name. Laura did not want the young man to get in trouble and she was fairly certain that his inspector would recognize her name. She took a deep breath, crossed her fingers and said, "Russell, Dr. Grayling Russell".
