One Desert Night - By Maggie Cox Page 0,60

at having her offer of help again so bluntly refused. 'Well...' She twisted her hands in front of her and shrugged. 'If you change your mind at any time I just want you to know that I'll be here for you...that's all.'

'Hmm...' His distant gaze withdrew from her even before he turned and continued down the corridor.

Frozen into a statue, Gina stood staring after him.

Every time Zahir came into contact with her after that morning he deliberately kept their exchanges to the minimum, then made himself absent as soon as possible. After the high hopes of his homecoming dinner, it was a painful knock-back.

He was travelling back and forth to the hospital to visit Masoud on a regular basis. One day the news was good, the next not so good. Frequently his expression bordered on the haunted.

Gina had tried to reach him with words, with warmth, with an understanding look, but his self-protective shutters had definitely slammed down as hard as a heavy portcullis, and nothing seemed to make an impact. She had no choice but to bide her time. Even now, when he seemed so distant and the possibility of them being together seemed ever more remote and impossible, she vowed she would not give up on her love from him.

Masoud becoming ill had shaken him to his core—she knew that. She also knew that he feared losing his friend as he had lost his parents and then his brother-in-law. He feared the pain that it would bring. Farida's plea that he should not spend his life dreading the loss of those he loved had apparently been forgotten.

'Do not despair,' the other woman had consoled her. 'Masoud's health will return, and so will Zahir's belief in love.'

Not allowing herself too much time in which to speculate on what would happen if Masoud didn't recover, Gina kept her gloomy thoughts at bay by working on the inventory. But underlying everything she did was her hope and prayer that Zahir would come back to himself and her soon.

Five nights after Zahir had left his homecoming dinner to rush off to his friend's bedside, they learned that Masoud was emerging from the nightmare of his illness with flying colours. The medical staff had removed the drips, and he had even had his first taste of solid food for days. Zahir was in much higher spirits, even seeking Gina out in one of the galleries where she was working to speak with her.

'I am off to the hospital again. I feel like I'm taking up residence there, if you want to know the truth.'

His smile still looked tired, Gina thought as she studied him, but the haunted expression was thankfully gone. She was very moved that he would be so dedicated to the care of a friend that he would put him before everything else...even duty...yet inside she was wrestling with the agonising idea that he didn't want to be with her at all. That she was, as he had said, just an unnecessary distraction.

'When I return later tonight I want to see you,' he declared. 'I want to tell you things—' He broke off to arch a rueful eyebrow. 'I have not been the best host or the kindest and most understanding friend to you in the past few days, Gina... But I promise I will make it up to you.'

'You don't owe me anything, Zahir—honestly. I'm just very glad that your friend is getting better and that consequently you won't be so worried.'

'Yet still I feel I have neglected you.'

'I assure you, you have not. Like you. I'm not "some needy child" who needs constant attention or fussing over. At the end of the day I merely came here to do a job. When that job is ended I'll go back home again, and you won't have to give me another thought.' Her throat swelled and tightened as she finished speaking, and hot despairing tears weren't far away.

'You think I would never give you another thought if you should return home?' The tanned brow furrowed in not just concern, but confusion and annoyance, too. 'Have I been so remiss in my care of you that you would leave and dismiss me as if my feelings were of no account whatsoever?' he demanded.

'Forget what I said, Zahir.' Having great difficulty in containing her spiralling emotions, Gina forced a smile to her lips. 'You need to focus on your friend, and I understand that—I really do. When you return I'll still be here,