or would you prefer to do it?’
Liam shook his head. ‘I don’t have a problem with you signing it out. So long as it’s accounted for then it doesn’t matter which one of us completes the paperwork.’
‘Fine.’ She quickly filled out the necessary form then relocked the cupboard door. She handed him the keys, along with two ampoules of morphine, then took a couple of syringes out of a box on the shelf and gave them to him as well.
Liam nodded his thanks as he stowed them in his case. ‘Don’t forget the saline.’
‘I won’t.’ She quickly found the bags of saline and passed them to him. ‘Is that everything now?’
‘Hopefully.’ He snapped the locks on the case and stood up. ‘I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to find. All I know is that one man has been stabbed and that the other isn’t as badly injured.’
‘We could be dealing with anything, then,’ she observed as she followed him from the clinic. ‘I wonder what the fight was about?’
‘I didn’t ask. I was more concerned about what we would have to deal with.’ He smiled wryly as he locked the clinic door. ‘I was looking forward to a complete change of scene when I took this job, too. I had visions of treating patients with nothing more serious than sea-sickness. I should have known better!’
Sophie laughed. ‘You should! It was tempting fate to hope for an easy ride, although I certainly didn’t expect anything like this to happen.’ She looked at him curiously. ‘What did you mean about a complete change of scene, though?’
Liam sighed as he elbowed his way through the swing doors. ‘I was working for a foreign aid agency in Africa until last month. The area I was working in is on the edge of a war zone so stabbings and shootings are pretty much an everyday occurrence there. It was a real culture shock at first, although I soon got used to it.’
‘Why on earth did you take a job like that?’ she exclaimed.
‘Because I wanted to make a real difference to people’s lives.’ He led the way to the stairs, wondering if that had sounded as ridiculously idealistic to her as it had to him, even though it was the truth.
‘And did you? Make a difference to people’s lives, I mean?’ she asked quietly.
‘I like to think I did, but who can say for sure? The people I dealt with are so poor that death is an everyday occurrence. If they don’t get shot or stabbed then more often than not they die from malnutrition.’
‘It must have been difficult, working in conditions like those. I had no idea…’
She stopped and Liam saw a shadow cross her face. His heart ached because he knew immediately what had caused it. Once upon a time they’d been so close that each had known what the other had been thinking, and it hurt to realise how far apart they’d grown.
‘There’s no reason why you should have known where I was working, Sophie,’ he said gently.
‘No, I don’t suppose there was.’ She summoned a smile. ‘I must confess that I’m rather surprised, though, because you never mentioned that you were interested in doing aid work.’
‘It was only after we split up that I decided to find a new direction for my life,’ he explained. ‘It helped to put my own problems into perspective when I saw the difficulties other people have to contend with on a daily basis.’
‘And does Julia work for the aid agency as well? You said that you’d met her when you were both working overseas.’
‘She’s done aid work ever since she qualified,’ he explained flatly, wondering why he felt so uncomfortable talking about Julia. He forced a little more enthusiasm into his voice.
‘She’s a superb doctor and completely devoted to her work. It’s thanks to her that the agency has managed to establish a base in the region, in fact.’
‘I see. So does that mean you’ll be returning there to work after you’re married?’
Liam shrugged, not wanting to admit that he and Julia hadn’t reached a decision about where they would live. Julia was keen to continue her work but he wasn’t sure if it was what he wanted to do on a long-term basis. One of the reasons why he’d returned to England when his contract with the aid agency had ended had been because he’d hoped it would help him make up his mind. He needed to be sure before he committed himself to working overseas permanently, although how Julia would react if he decided against it was another matter.
‘I’m not sure yet,’ he said, hurriedly dismissing the thought because it was pointless worrying when there might be no need. It could turn out that his inability to make a decision was all tied in with the fact that he needed to resolve things with Sophie. In which case, all his problems would be resolved at once.
‘We’re still very much at the planning stage—’ he began, then broke off when one of the ship’s officers came hurrying to meet them as they reached the lower deck.
‘Dr Kennedy?’
‘Yes. I’m Liam Kennedy and this is Sophie Patterson, the ship’s nurse.’
‘I’m glad to meet you, Dr Kennedy. You, too, Miss Patterson.’
The man shook hands then quickly led them along a corridor. ‘I’m Mike Soames, the chief petty officer. I’m still trying to establish exactly what happened but, basically, two of the crew started fighting and one guy pulled out a knife and stabbed the other fellow.’
‘Whereabouts did the knife penetrate?’ Liam asked, wanting some idea of what they could be dealing with.
‘In the chest,’ Mike informed him. He opened a door and stepped back. ‘Alexei—that’s the chap who’s been stabbed—is in here, but I thought it would be best to separate them so I’ve put Grigorio in the next cabin. The men who would normally use these cabins are bunking down in the crew’s lounge for the night.’
‘Good. I was hoping we wouldn’t have an audience,’ Liam said gratefully, turning to Sophie. ‘Will you check out the chap next door while I see to this fellow? If you’re happy that he’s not too badly injured then you can come back and help me.’
‘Of course.’
‘I’ll go with you, Miss Patterson,’ Mike Soames said hurriedly.
Liam went into the cabin as the chief petty officer accompanied Sophie next door. The patient was lying on one of the lower bunks and Charlie Henshaw—the steward who’d shown Liam to his cabin when he’d arrived—was with him. He looked relieved when Liam appeared.
‘I’m glad you’re here, Doc. I’ve done a bit of first aid in my time but this is way out of my league.’
‘Let’s take a look, then.’
Liam crouched down beside the bunk. He could tell immediately that the man was in a very bad way. His pupils were fixed and dilated and his breathing was extremely laboured.
He quickly removed the blood-soaked towel from the man’s chest and whistled when he saw the knife wound. Although it was fairly small, it was obviously deep. ‘That doesn’t look so good. How many times was he stabbed, d’you know?’
‘Just the once. One of the other guys managed to break up the fight.’ Charlie shook his head. ‘It all happened in a flash. One minute they were arguing and the next second Grigorio had pulled out a knife and stabbed Alexei.’
‘Well, it’s certainly gone in deep. There could be all sorts of damage to the major organs.’ Liam glanced round when the door opened and Sophie appeared. ‘How’s the other fellow doing?’
‘A few bruises and a bump on the back of his head but he’ll live.’ She glanced at the man on the bunk and pulled a face. ‘He doesn’t look too good, though.’
‘He doesn’t. Can you check his blood pressure while