He dressed her legs. She stayed silent throughout, which suited his mood. There were things that had to be said but he didn’t know where to start. Bathing her scratches, applying antiseptic and dressing the worst of them gave him time to think. It was as if he was getting used to her all over again.

She lay passively on an examination trolley while he worked. She stared straight ahead, seemingly oblivious when he had to scrub, though he must have hurt her. Then he took her to the mess tent, waved away anyone who would have talked to them, sat her down and watched as she mechanically ate the pasta he brought her, as she drank coffee, and as she pushed her mug away and rose and said, ‘Thank you very much, I need to go now.’

‘I’m coming with you.’

Unless there were new developments Ben wasn’t needed now in the hospital. The uprising had been quelled so fast that maybe they could have managed with less manpower. But the fact that they’d come fast and hard had maybe averted a greater tragedy, he thought.

But for now there were enough medics to cope with medical needs. There was no more organisation for Ben to do. He could stay by Lily’s side. For she intended to go back to the roadblock in front of the compound. He knew that without asking. That was where negotiations were taking place. If he had been Lily, that was where he’d want to be.

And it was where he wanted to be. For it was his son held hostage. The concept was so overpowering he didn’t know what to do with it, but all he knew was that he needed to go with her.

The roadblock was half a mile from the hospital, across the beach road. It was mid-afternoon and the heat was getting to him. Lily was lightly dressed but Ben was wearing fatigues, and he was feeling it.

‘Walk on the beach,’ he suggested, and Lily diverted her footsteps without saying a word.

Her silence was starting to scare him. This wasn’t the Lily he remembered. She’d been bright, bubbly, fun and startlingly intelligent. Her professors had described her as smart as paint, and more than one had said it was a shame she wasn’t staying in Australia to specialise. But Australia’s loss would be Kapua’s gain. They had all known that, and she’d never questioned her destiny.