Chapter 9: The House on the Hill

We found Clayton on the jetty with half a cake in his lap.

It was the cake for Wanjiru's niece's christening, which had been in the pharmacy fridge for two days.

He was sitting with his legs hanging over the water and frosting on his chin.

"I couldn't sleep," he said. "I got hungry."

"It was a christening cake," Wanjiru said, behind me, in a voice that made him stop chewing.

"I'll buy another one."

"You will buy three."

"Three. Yes. Okay."

Marissa was already hurrying down the path with a blanket and a flask.

I turned and walked back up to the clinic, and I did not look at Alec, who was walking beside me.

We did not speak until we reached the porch.

"The rain's coming," he said.

I looked at the sky over the lake.

It had gone black over the water, and the first big drops were falling on the dust.

"The staff are in the dormitory till morning," Alec said. "Wanjiru's staying with her niece. The orderly is in the ward."

"And?"

"My house is up the hill."

"I know where your house is."

"The generator's off tonight, and I have a lamp."

"Are you asking me something, Doctor?"

"I'm saying it's going to rain," Alec said, "and I have a lamp."

I walked up the hill with him.

The rain came down on us halfway, so heavy that the path went to red mud under our feet.

By the time he got the door open we were both soaked through.

He lit the lamp and the room went gold.

It was a small house, with a table, a shelf of paperbacks and a narrow bed under the window, and everything in it was neat.

I stood on the mat, dripping.

"You have a rule," I said.

"I did."

"What happened to it?"

"You did."

He crossed the room in three steps.

I got my hands in his wet shirt and pulled it open, and the buttons went across the floor.

He kissed me against the doorframe, with both hands now, the bandage and all, and I forgot to be careful of the stitches.

"Your hand," I said.

"It's fine."

"I'm the nurse."

"Then I'll do what you tell me," Alec said, and lifted me.

He carried me across the room and set me down on the edge of the bed.

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