Preston Child - Mystery of the Amber Room

With fury and fear, Nina raced towards Sam with her water bottle in her hand, trailed by three villagers sent to stop her. But she was too fast. When she reached Sam, she poured the water onto his face and head. Her shoulder dislocated as the village men tackled her, their momentum proving too strong for her small frame.

Sam's eyes closed under the drops of water running down his forehead. His chanting ceased instantly, and the native in front of him was delivered from his anguish. Exhausted and crying he rolled in the sand, crying out to his gods in thanked them for their mercy.

“Get off me!” Nina screamed, using her good arm to wallop one of the men. He slapped her hard across the face, sending her down on the sand.

“Take your evil prophet away from here!” Nina's attacker roared in a heavy accent, holding his fist up, but the chief stopped him from committing more violence. The other men got up from the ground at his command and left Nina and Sam alone, but not before spitting on the intruders as they passed.

“Sam? Sam!” Nina screamed. Her voice quivered in shock and rage as she held his face in her hands. Painfully she pressed her injured arm to her chest as she tried to pull a dazed Sam up to his feet. “Jesus Christ, Sam! Get up!”

For the first time, Sam blinked. He frowned as confusion overtook him.

“Nina?” he groaned. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“Listen, just get the fuck up and let's go before these people barbecue our pale asses for dinner, okay?” she said under her breath. “Please. Please, Sam!”

He looked up at his beautiful friend. She appeared to be rattled.

“What's that bruise on your face? Nina. Hey! Did someone…” he realized that they were in the middle of a rapidly growing crowd, “…did someone hit you ?”

“Don’t get all macho now. Let’s just get the fuck out of here. Now,” she whispered with firm urgency.

“Alright, alright,” he slurred, still thoroughly dazed. His eyes swam from side to side as he surveyed the spitting onlookers who were barking insults and motioned him and Nina away. “Christ, what is their problem?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll explain everything if we get out of here alive,” Nina panted in agony and panic as she dragged Sam’s unsteady body with her toward the top of the hill.

They moved as fast as they could, but Nina’s injury kept her from running.

“I can’t, Sam. You go ahead,” she cried.

“Absolutely not. Let me help you,” he replied, fumbling clumsily at her stomach.

“What are you doing?” she frowned.

“Trying to put my arm around your waist to that I can pull you along, love,” he huffed.

“You are not even close. I am right here in plain sight,” she moaned, but then something occurred to her. Waving an open hand in front of Sam’s face, Nina noticed that he did follow the movement. “Sam? Can you see?”

He blinked rapidly and looked frustrated. “Not much. I see you, but it's hard to tell distances. My depth perception is fucked, Nina.”

“Okay, okay, let's just get back to the holiday resort. Once we are safe in the room we can figure out what the hell happened to you,” she suggested sympathetically. Nina took Sam's hand and navigated for the both of them all the way back to the hotel. Amidst stares from guests and staff, Nina and Sam hurried to their room. When they got inside, she locked the door.

“Go lie down, Sam,” she said.

“Not until we get you a doctor for that nasty bruise,” he protested.

“How can you see the bruise on my face, then?” she inquired as she looked up a number in the hotel's phone directory.

“I can see you, Nina,” he sighed. “I just cannot tell how far things are away from me. I have to admit this is far more annoying than not being able to see if you can believe that.”

“Oh yeah. Of course,” she answered as she punched in the number for a taxi service. She booked a car to the nearest emergency room. “Take a quick shower, Sam. We have to figure out if your vision is damaged permanently — right after they pop this back into the rotator cuff, that is.”

“Your shoulder is out of the socket?” Sam asked.

“Aye,” she replied. “Came out when they tackled me to keep me away from you.”

“Why? What were you going to do that they wanted to protect me from you?” he half-smiled in amusement, but he could tell Nina was keeping the details from him.

“I was just going to wake you up, and they did not seem to want me to, that’s all,” she shrugged.

“That is what I want to know. Was I asleep? Was I out cold?” he asked sincerely, shifting to face her.

“I don’t know, Sam,” she said unconvincingly.

“Nina,” he tried to pry.

“You have less than,” she looked at the bedside clock, “twenty minutes to shower and get ready for our taxi.”

“Okay,” Sam yielded as he got up to get to the shower, slowly groping his way along the edge of the bed and the table. “But this is not over. When we come back, you are telling me everything, including whatever you are hiding from me.”

At the hospital, the on-duty medical professionals took care of Nina's shoulder.

“Do you want something to bite on?” the sharp-looking Indonesian doctor asked. He reminded Nina of one of those promising young hipster Hollywood directors with his dark-skinned features and wisecracking personality.

“Your nurse, perhaps?” Sam chipped in, leaving the unsuspecting nurse stunned.

“Ignore him. He can't help it,” Nina winked at the surprised nurse who was scarcely halfway through her twenties. With effort, the girl forced a smile, darting an uncertain eye towards the handsome man who had come to the ER with Nina. “And I only bite men.”

“Good to know,” the charming doctor smiled. “How did you do this? And don’t say you did heavy lifting.”

“I fell during a hike,” Nina replied without flinching.

“Okay, here we go. Ready?” the doctor asked.

“No,” she whined for a split second before the doctor pulled her arm with a powerful hold that sent her muscles into a cramp. Nina screamed in agony at the burning ligaments and stretched muscle fibers that sent a devastating jolt of pain through her shoulder. Sam jumped up to come to her side, but the nurse gently pushed him back.

“It's over! It's done,” the doctor comforted her. “It's back in, okay? It will burn for another day or two, but then it will be better. Keep it in the sling. Not too much movement for the next month, so no hiking.”

“Jesus! For a moment I thought you were ripping my fucking arm off!” Nina scowled. Her brow glistened with sweat, and her clammy skin felt cold to the touch when Sam came to hold her hand.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Aye, I'm golden,” she said, but her face told a different story. “We have to get your eyes checked now.”

“What is wrong with your eyes, sir?” the charismatic doctor asked.

“Well, that is the thing. I have no idea. I…,” he looked suspiciously at Nina for a moment, “fell asleep, you know, outside while getting a tan. And when I woke up I had trouble focusing on the distance of objects.”

The doctor stared at Sam, locking his eyes dead on Sam's as if he wasn't buying a word of what the tourist had just reported. He dug around in his coat pocket for his pen light as he nodded. “You say you fell asleep tanning. Do you tan with a shirt on? There is no tan line on your chest, and unless you reflect sunlight with your pale skin, my Scottish friend, there is little indication that your story is true.”

“I don't think it matters why he was sleeping, doc,” Nina defended.

He looked at the petite firecracker with the big dark eyes. “Actually, it makes all the difference, ma'am. Only if I know where he was and for how long, what he was exposed to, et cetera, will I be able to determine what may have caused the problem.”