She hated that she still cared. She’d been telling herself for years that she didn’t and yet she knew that was the lie she’d repeated in her head in order to move forwards with her life.
She wiped the tears that formed unbidden and began to topple. But she wasn’t quick enough to do it before Archie came over to her.
He came to her side, rested his back against the wall too and she was reminded of the way his body had felt against hers as young adults, students, the times they’d had fun, other times they’d been intimate. They hadn’t been seeing each other as boyfriend and girlfriend for very long before she got pregnant and it was so much to cope with at a young age. When she lost the baby, they lost their way with each other, but she’d thought they’d always stay the best of friends. Except they hadn’t. Everything had changed when Monica had stomped on in and taken that away from her older sister.
‘Giles talked about you two falling out,’ said Archie.
‘What does he know?’
‘Not much – we’ve kept it that way. All he really knows is that you had an argument a long time ago. I didn’t think he’d be able to process the ins and outs; even I struggle to do that sometimes. But he says he understands.’
‘How so?’ She thought of the little boy who looked so much like Monica, it hurt.
‘A month ago, he had a falling out with a friend at playgroup. All very high-drama stuff over aStar Warstoy but he didn’t speak to the friend for a whole three days.’
She’d forgotten Archie and his ability to lift a situation even when it was dire. He’d always done that, but she’d left behind the memory as well as the person.
Neither of them spoke for almost a minute.
‘Do you think you’ll find her?’ Nadia asked eventually. ‘Do you think she’ll just show up or come home perhaps?’
‘She loves her son; she loves her baby. She loves me.’ He croaked the last part as though this might hurt Nadia the most. ‘I’m hoping we get news soon. I thought the police would laugh me out of the station but when I said she was pregnant and that the baby left here could be hers, they were a bit more serious. I told them about her history of mental illness – that’s what it was, Nadia; it wasn’t just her being your annoying little sister – she faced some real demons.’
‘I know.’
He grunted. ‘I apologise. I shouldn’t be lecturing you.’
‘You’re not.’ She stood up straight from the wall. ‘We should check on Giles.’ She led the way through the hangar and out near the helipad where Vik was showing Giles the cockpit.
‘Dad, this is awesome!’ her nephew cried out. ‘I want to fly one day!’
‘We’ll see about that. Come on, time we left these guys to it.’
Giles predictably complained but good-naturedly. Whoever her sister was these days, Monica had raised a wonderful little boy. And Nadia had missed all of it. Without children of her own, the fact hit her with an unexpected wave of pain.
Giles needed the toilet before they left so back inside the airbase, Nadia pointed him in the right direction.
Outside the bathroom, Archie faced her. ‘I can’t leave England until I’ve found her.’
‘I wouldn’t expect you to.’
‘She’s really changed. I wish you could see it for yourself. We are your family.’
And yet she still resisted. ‘Archie,thisis my family.’ Her arms gesticulated to their surroundings. ‘My family is The Skylarks, the team here.’
Archie looked at her as though the bottom of his world might well have fallen out. He’d come here expecting his wife to have made contact. And now it seemed he didn’t know which way to turn.
Giles emerged from the bathroom at the same time as Vik came along the corridor from the office. ‘Thank you, Vik!’ he called out.
‘You’re welcome, buddy.’ He high-fived the little boy and Nadia swallowed down another wave of emotion. He was just like her sister had been at his age – bubbly, full of confidence, willing to talk to anyone no matter who they were. She’d been a beautiful kid until her teenage years when something in her seemed to have changed. Nadia had never seen it coming and she felt responsible for that in some way, like she should have.
The phones blared out their alert to another job and from where they were standing, they could see into the office where Kate was answering the call. Nadia explained to Giles what was happening when he slipped his little hand into hers. The sense of emergency must be frightening if he wasn’t used to it and the feel of his skin on hers broke down a few more of her defences.
Vik was all business and went outside to start up the helicopter. Kate was scribbling down details of the job. Brad passed them in the doorway to get the drugs and the bloods. Nadia explained it all to Giles in a low voice so as not to interrupt operations going on around them.
‘Collision between a car and a pedestrian,’ Kate informed Nadia quietly enough that Giles wouldn’t hear much.
Giles’s hand still in hers, Nadia followed Kate into the hangar. ‘How bad is it?’ she asked. Giles was mesmerised looking around, too enthralled with the helicopter starting up to listen to them.
