She hoped Oliver had fared better.
Rubbing her face, she groaned and checked the time.Mid-afternoon.She wanted to visit Oliver, and she needed to track down Andrew’s notes before Lucas claimed his things, but first she needed to eat.She exited her office and glanced around the vacant station.Pierre had taken Kristy and Steven Hamilton to Carnarvon gaol, which left her as the only officer in Retribution Bay.She prayed for a quiet few days.Head Office was sending more officers but couldn’t tell her exactly when.
On her way to the hospital, she swung by the cafe to grab a cream doughnut.Not the healthiest of lunches, but she needed the comfort.
Lucas Fitton had checked out of his resort accommodation that morning, which wasn’t surprising.Stonefish had a way of disappearing.Though she might have to head to the ranges and investigate the dust plume she’d seen earlier.
Right now she wanted to visit Oliver.
They’d gone from having a moment only last night, to chasing criminals and being kidnapped.Not a great start to a new relationship.
If that was what this was.Oliver might have second thoughts after everything that had happened.
Nerves coalesced in her stomach as she greeted the nurse at the nurses’ station.
“I think he’s just gone to sleep,” the woman said.
Disappointment filled Dot.“Mind if I poke my head in to check?”
“Go ahead.”
He’d been put into a room with two beds, but the other bed was empty.She poked her head around the curtain to find him lying with his eyes closed, an IV still in his arm.Her heart clenched.A little colour had returned to his face, but he was still paler than normal.
She didn’t want to wake him.Rodney had probably grilled him, and he needed rest, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave.She slipped into the chair by his bed and put the pastry she’d bought for him on the tray table, before carefully removing her cream doughnut from its wrapper.At the crackle of the paper she paused, but the noise wasn’t loud enough to wake him.
Dot consumed the treat while she watched him.
What was she going to do?He’d spoken about trying again, but was that even possible?She wasn’t sure where she would be when this whole mess with Stonefish ended.Would she be considered a failure for not realising two of her team had been compromised, or would she be applauded for ending what was left of Stonefish?She only had Andrew’s and Martin’s word Lucas was involved, and both were dead.She needed proof.Rodney said he hadn’t heard Martin mention Lucas, and Dot couldn’t remember if he’d been there, or with Kristy by the car when it had happened.
Then there was Martin’s confession and Rodney killing him.There’d been no reason to shoot to kill, though Rodney had portrayed it as the only option to their supervisors.
And from the tone of her conversation with head office, she was treading on thin ice.Rodney had voiced all of his complaints about her behaviour towards him.
What would she do if she couldn’t be a police officer?
The idea was terrifying.She’d worked so hard for it.She loved what she did, even when people drove her crazy sometimes.
She glanced at the man who had recaptured her heart.His fringe hung low, touching his eyelashes and she clenched her hands to stop herself from brushing it off his face.He’d always worn it long, more because he didn’t have time for haircuts than any stylistic choice.
She used to love running her fingers through his hair in the evening when it was just the two of them hanging out.
They would talk for hours about everything.
Where would they be now if they hadn’t broken up?
Stupid to think about what if.She should be thinking what could be.
If it was just her and Oliver and nothing else counted, she would want a relationship with him.She’d never stopped loving him.She could admit it now.
But life was more complicated.
There were careers and obligations to consider.They had to agree on a location to live, and deal with families.She was worried about seeing his parents again, though his father had been kind over the phone when she’d called them to tell them about Oliver’s accident.They were catching the morning plane to Retribution Bay.
Something to worry about tomorrow.
She yawned, exhausted beyond belief, and stretched her legs out.Her eyes grew heavy, and she leaned against the bed.
She would just rest here for a moment.
