George had gone into work. As a result of what had passed between them, he'd received a call or he was due to go in anyway, made no difference. Harry just wanted him gone. A thought which if what he'd always told himself was true, that as long as Ruth was happy then nothing else mattered, meant what? Especially when it was George's house he was standing in. Brought on by an unfulfilled desire, where he would be the person who would be claiming that role. Telling her every day for the rest of their lives how much he loved her and dare he say, asking her to marry him. Shot to pieces by Mani, who had instigated this for his own gain and if he could bring himself to believe it, had also taken an innocent young child as a means to achieve it. What sort of man did that in pursuit of an impossible goal? If he, and more importantly Ros, who was proving her ability to think clearly in a crisis was far better than his, had her way. A crisis which in mitigation, did involve the woman he loved. All of which combined, had made Ros suggest that he packed, which was what he was doing.
Ros, who was fully aware of the inner battle that Harry was having with his conscience, was wondering why? It just didn't make sense. OK, so he'd backed off when she'd asked him to, despite what she'd always known and now to her astonishment had found out. Harry who was in love with Ruth and she who was clearly in love with him, had been together in Baghdad and nothing had happened? Other than he'd trusted her enough to tell her where the uranium had been hidden? Impossible in what must surely have been an adrenalin fuelled environment, miles from home. A warzone where hundreds of buildings had been reduced to rubble and with danger around every corner. Harry was a man who cared and he'd have kept Ruth close. Never out of his sight would be her guess. So what had they done after curfew in their so called 'separate' rooms, played I spy? No she just didn't buy it. Don't speculate, save it for later she told herself. Wait until you see them together again, then you'll have your answer. Because for now, without George in the way to muddy the waters and with lunch done and dusted, she had time to concentrate. On the fact that the clock was ticking far too rapidly in the wrong direction, towards what was the end of their second day. Except, and that was the other thing that was distracting her. George, the quiet doctor, had shown them another side to his character, so perhaps there was more to Ruth turning him down, than the feelings she had for Harry. People hung around for their kids didn't they, so maybe it was Nico that had kept Ruth here? Which if she was right, was going to make for one heartrending goodbye when the time came. Because come it would, she was determined about that. Which meant that she had to get Harry motivated in a positive way. To make a decision. One on which they could both agree, was the best way to bring this situation to a conclusion.
A decision that was made for them, when Malcolm called to say that the car that Ruth had been bundled into, had been picked up on a CCTV camera. Heading in a southerly direction, towards an area that was made up of small villages, tourist beaches and several large forested areas where the military and in particular the Special Forces, carried out regular training exercises. That he'd made some calls and the person that they needed to speak to was a Major Willis, the head of Special Ops who was based not far from the RAF station where they'd landed.
Major Willis who when they arrived and hour later, was well into his planning. The maps that were spread across a large table, enabling him to show them in minute detail, the terrain and the coastline that surrounded what was a large area. Whilst his colleague who he introduced as Sergeant Adams, was working in the background, in a way which suggested that he and Malcolm had been cut from the same cloth. His eyes glued to multiple screens, he was monitoring the main road where the car had last been seen and the traffic which was currently streaming along it. A busy road with several side roads exiting and entering. Some in the direction of the coast and others inland, including one that weaved its way towards the Troodos mountains. Which meant that for the moment they were faced with what amounted to a guessing game, unless the car was spotted again.
His assurance of, 'don't worry, we'll find it,' bringing his verbal input to an end. Although in terms of deserting his post in favour of a break, it looked unlikely.
Helicopters were also available, but the sound of the military scouring the sky in any sort of numbers, would they agreed with Major Willis, put pressure on Mani to either abandon whatever he had planned, or up-the-anti. Which was why the decision was made, based again on Major Willis insisting that he was best qualified to deal with this and with Harry accepting, as he recognised his former self during his time as an army officer, that the search should start on the western side of the island. With the added advantage that it wouldn't be seen to be unusual. Combined with help from the navy, who were standing by with small patrol boats. Again something that they did on a regular basis and along the same coastline, but in this case would go as close to the shoreline as was safe. Leaving Sergeant Adams and the police, to monitor the roads for any sightings of the car. A combination that they believed would achieve their objective, but without making it look as though there was a full-scale manhunt taking place. One which would alert the press and or scare the hundreds of holiday makers, into thinking that this was anything other than a regular military exercise.
Which only left crossing the i's and dotting the t's, which Harry and Ros were debating as they were escorted across to the other side of the barracks in the direction of the accommodation that had been arranged for them. Firstly, what was going to be their own input and in Ruth's case, how long was a piece of string in terms of her holding out?
.
George who of course was at work, because in the same way that Harry had wanted to be rid of him he'd felt the same, was looking at scans which told him that the patient he was treating, did have multiple fractures to his right leg. At the same time as he was trying to eliminate, as he had during the drive in, the reason that Harry and more importantly Ros, appeared to be taking this crisis in their stride. Shocked beyond words, that Ruth, who was gentle and kind, who loved Nico and he'd prayed would come to love him in a way that meant they'd be together for the rest of their lives, had been part of this other world. That she'd made the decision to keep this from him, was the hardest thing to take, because it felt as though the two years that they spent together had been a complete sham. A lie that despite him loving her, he didn't think he'd be able to forgive. He was a doctor and he knew that anger was a negative and destructive emotion, but anger was what he'd felt when he'd been standing in front of Harry. Reignited now, when he thought about Ros and the moment when she'd announced without any thought as to how he was feeling, that he knew Ruth didn't love him. Grinding his teeth, as he headed back into the side ward where his patient was waiting. Telling himself that his only real concern now had to be for Nico. That if there was a positive and he had to believe there was, it would be that Ruth would do anything to ensure that Nico wasn't physically hurt by all this. That the mental damage to his darling boy, was something that he'd have to deal with on his own, not helping.
.
Up until lunchtime, or what would have been lunchtime if Ruth had been at home and Nico had been at school, she'd been subjected to another wall of silence from Mani. Interrupted at regular intervals, by Nico who had said that he wanted to see his Dad or asking her why couldn't they go home? Intermingled with comments that his tummy hurt and that he felt sick. Until it had reached the point, where if she didn't intercede on Nico's behalf, she knew that Mani would. Mani who by comparison to how she felt and knew she looked, after almost two full days in this awful place, was behaving in a way to suggest, that he was more than happy to keep her guessing. Until now, when he marched back in and his expression had changed, causing Nico who up until now had clung to her every time that the door had opened, to scream.
Her. 'It's alright sweetheart,' doing nothing to stop Nico's pleas, while at the same time, her mind was racing to come up with something that would at least ensure that Mani didn't run out of patience and Nico be harmed as the result.
Her own words, even as she was saying them, condemning her to what she didn't want to think about, as Mani spoke for the first time in ages, in response to her saying, 'It's me you want not him, so please will you let him go.' Adding for good measure that Nico took regular medication, which of course he'd missed for the last couple of days, so dropping him off at the hospital rather than end up with a very sick child on his hands, would be a good idea.
'Why not?' from Mani, accompanied by a look of resignation and more worryingly satisfaction, was she thought, presumably because she'd saved Mani from deciding what to do with Nico and would have her all to himself? Her reasoning, what she had left of it, was that even if George wasn't on duty, Nico knew his way around the hospital, sufficient that he'd be able to find someone who would know who he was and would take care of him. More than that, there was also a chance, however slight, that Nico would be able to describe their location.
'Promise me you won't hurt him,' her last words, as Nico was ripped from her arms and manhandled out of the room.
The silence, even more defined without Nico's small frame for her to hold onto, heightened the fact that she was now well and truly on her own. Time which she intended using to concentrate on her own predicament. But before doing anything else, she forced herself to use what she'd decided to call the bathroom, because this was the only way she could bring herself to use it. The cracked mirror on the wall that you couldn't avoid looking in because the room was so small, telling her that she looked even more dishevelled than she'd imagined. That the track lines from the tears that she'd shed before Nico had woken up and Mani had come back, were still prominent. Had Mani seen them? Was this the reason that he'd done what she'd asked? If so, would he come back tonight as opposed to in the morning? If he did, she had about four hours on her own before what?
Leaving the bathroom, she opened a can of soup and lit the stove. Wondering if she'd end up with food poisoning or more likely some sort of dreadful infection due to the unsanitary conditions and the irony, if George was the one that had to treat her. Don't go there she told herself, climbing up onto the chair that was still standing below the window. The fresh air, which despite the temperature, she gulped in to clear her head. In the distance the large ships that were heading to where she had no idea and the smaller boats that were bobbing about on the sea directly below her, giving her, if only for a moment, some sense of normality. But the reality was that she was tired, cold and more frightened than ever. The blanket that smelt of Nico and gave her some sort of comfort, she wrapped around her shoulders and walked towards the door. Locked and bolted on the outside of course, but it was worth a try.
The only thing that she could console herself with, was that Nico had been spared from seeing what she was sure was coming her way. That George would find it in his heart to forgive her, was unlikely. Comfort what she had left of it, came from her thinking about Harry and how safe he had always made her feel. Harry who would be either on the grid or at home and she was quite sure would be getting that call. The call from Mani that would bring things to a head. What had Harry done during the intervening years and was he thinking about her now as she was him? Did he still remember that something wonderful and did it still apply? Were questions that as much as she was longing to see him again, had answers she might never hear.