Nevertheless, Fliss’s expression was clearly determined as she pulled on the orange-coloured overalls with the insignia on the back that indicated the wearer was a doctor. ‘I need to check Michelle over, Callum.’

  ‘I’m aware of that.’ Callum dipped his head into the rear of the emergency vehicle and emerged with a pair of thick-soled boots. ‘Here, these look about your size. You take care of Michelle and I’ll do a wander and see what I can make of Errol’s condition. Agreed?’

  Fliss’s mouth pressed down in disapproval. Even with the insulated clothing, Callum’s safety couldn’t be guaranteed. She had no real idea but surely the downed lines had to be generating enough volts to flatten a rhinoceros—let alone a man. ‘Shouldn’t you be waiting until the power is cut?’

  ‘I’ll be safe enough,’ he said dismissively. ‘I’m guessing Errol will be scared witless, which will be exacerbating his pain. I intend to get treatment to him whatever way I can.’

  Fliss snorted rudely. ‘Heroes have a limited lifespan, Callum.’

  ‘Heroines, too, Felicity,’ he countered, his eyes glinting. ‘How the hell do you imagine I felt, seeing you taking off earlier?’

  ‘OK, OK.’ She held up her hands. ‘I’m suitably chastened. Just let’s get on with it.’

  Callum swung up one of the trauma kits and handed her the other one. ‘Try to get Michelle back down here to base. At least then you’ll be able to keep an eye on her for post-trauma signs. There’s no guarantee how long we’ll be here, so there’ll be food and hot drinks laid on for everyone.’ He turned as Steve Conroy approached.

  ‘If you’re ready, Callum, we’ll make tracks up to Errol.’

  ‘Right. In the meantime, Fliss is going to check Michelle. I’d like an escort for her, please.’

  ‘Jonno can go.’ Steve beckoned to a young man who was watching keenly from a short distance away. ‘He’s a local, one of our more experienced members. He tells me he went to school with Michelle. It might help her to see a friendly face.’

  As they moved off in different directions, Fliss felt an odd disconnectedness with the unfamiliar situation. Fleetingly she looked back at Callum, hoping to gain an added grain of reassurance in the form of a quick nod, a lift of his hand—even a bleak smile would have done. But he was already on his way, accompanied by Steve, and moving painstakingly over the rough ground towards the accident scene. A sudden anxiety for his welfare claimed centre stage in her mind. If anything happened to him…It didn’t bear thinking about. Please, keep him safe, she prayed silently.

  ‘We should be OK if we go this way,’ Jonno said. ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t start raining, eh, Doc? We’ll be in big strife if a storm breaks.’

  Fliss felt a prickle of unease. Water was a natural conductor of electricity. The possible scenario Jonno was painting sent the nerves of her stomach into a tight ball. Almost in defiance, she hitched her trauma pack higher and followed in her guide’s wake as he led them through bracken and coarse ferns to where the young mother-to-be stood like a small, silent statue.

  ‘Michelle…?’ Fliss was close enough to call gently. ‘I’m Fliss Wakefield. I’m a doctor at the hospital. Will you let me help you?’

  Michelle turned and stared blankly. Then her eye lids flickered. ‘I…need Brent to be here…’

  ‘Take it easy, Shell,’ Jonno said gently. ‘One of the guys has gone to get him. The Doc here just wants to make sure you’re OK.’

  Fliss lowered the trauma pack to the ground. ‘Jonno, would you get a space blanket out for me, please? Michelle looks frozen to the bone.’ Almost on reflex Fliss had taken Michelle’s hands and began rubbing heat into them, unobtrusively feeling for the young’s woman’s pulse. So far, so good, she decided.

  ‘Will Errol be all right?’ Michelle turned stricken eyes back up the hill towards the tractor.

  No one could know that for sure. Fliss and Jonno exchanged guarded looks. ‘Dr O’Byrne’s gone up there, Michelle.’ Fliss wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders in a comforting squeeze. ‘He’s very experienced. He’ll do whatever it takes to give medical help to your father-in-law.’

  Michelle’s hands fluttered to her tummy. ‘This is his first grandchild. We know it’s a boy and Errol’s been so excited…’ She paused and shook her head despairingly.

  ‘Chill out, Shell,’ Jonno said bracingly. ‘Errol’s a tough old coot. Bet your boots he’ll come out of this with a stupid grin on his face.’

  Michelle managed the ghost of a smile. ‘You reckon?’

  ‘Yep. For sure.’

  Jonno’s firm reassuring response won approval from Fliss. Perhaps now was the time to coax Michelle away from her lonely vigil and back down to the tent the SES had erected. At least she’d have more privacy there to examine her patient—that’s if Michelle would allow her to, of course.

  As if he’d read her thoughts, Jonno spoke again. ‘Come on, Shell, it’s freezing here. Let’s get you back down to base and the doc can look you over, OK?’

  * * *

  With Michelle more or less settled, Fliss asked Jonno if he would accompany her up the hill to Callum.

  Jonno looked uneasy. ‘I don’t think Callum would be too happy with that idea, Doc.’

  ‘If we follow the path they took, we should be all right,’ she insisted. ‘I just can’t hang about here, Jonno. And I might be of some help when they get Errol free.’

  Callum was aware of their approach. He took a breath, its rough expulsion laced with frustration. The whole rescue business was dragging on far longer than he’d anticipated. Eyes narrowed, he watched Steve pocket his mobile phone. ‘Any news?’

  ‘They’ve had a few hiccups, Doc. Still can’t give us an ETA.’

  ‘Get that insulating device you mentioned, then, Steve.’ Callum sounded very definite and full of authority. ‘I’m not waiting any longer.’

  ‘Callum—?’

  Twisting his head, he gave Fliss and then Jonno a questioning look. ‘What’s this, a deputation?’

  Fliss stood her ground. ‘Michelle is fretting about Errol. I told her I’d find out what’s happening.’

  ‘Precious little, as you can see. How’s Michelle doing?’

  ‘She’s still a bit shaky. No sign of contractions, thankfully. Brent’s with her now but she’s scared stiff for Errol.’

  ‘Aren’t we all?’ Callum drew in a long breath and let it go.

  ‘How does he seem?’ Fliss’s sharp look went to where the elderly man’s head was just a silver-grey blur through the splintered window of the tractor’s cabin.

  ‘I’ve managed a bit of sign language with him. Everything points to a dislocated shoulder. And he’s feeling ill. At this point the last thing he needs in his exhausted state is a bout of vomiting.’

  The scenario they were facing hit Fliss like a lead weight. ‘You’re going to try to give him pain relief orally, aren’t you?’

  Callum frowned. ‘Is there a choice? I don’t see one.’

  Fliss sent him a stricken look. ‘Surely the power people can’t be much longer?’

  ‘They’re somewhere on the way to us, that’s all we know.’ Callum hunkered down and began selecting the drugs from the trauma kit.

  Fliss felt her throat tighten. ‘What are you giving him?’

  ‘Morphine syrup, five milligrams. It’s a relatively light dose but we can’t risk upsetting his stomach any more than it is already.’

  So, he’d add an anti-emetic and hope to heaven it kept the morphine down. Fliss watched as he prepared the medication, securing it in a plastic container small enough to pass through the jagged opening in the tractor’s windshield yet simple enough for Errol to grasp and swallow the contents. As doctors, they both knew it was a gamble but, then, in the uncertainty of the conditions they were faced with, it was the only option available.

  Fliss’s eyes widened in disbelief when Steve handed Callum the insulating device—nothing more than a stick made of fibreglass. ‘And that it?’ She looked at the team leader, appalled.

  ‘Should do the job,’ Steve replied gruffly. ‘And I don’t like this any more than you do, Doc.’ Slowly and carefully, Steve’s broad fingers taped the little container of medication to one end of the stick. ‘Now, you know what to do, Callum,’ he reinforced, slicing the tape neatly.

  ‘I know what to do. And thanks for your co-operation here, Steve.’

  He was really going to do it. Fliss realised her heart was pounding and her breath felt tight, so tight. He was going to walk into that electrical minefield with minimum protection of his person and a stick to protect him from getting zapped. ‘I don’t think you should be doing this, Callum.’

  He ground out a harsh expletive. ‘I’m doing my job, Fliss. And if you can’t watch, go back down and keep Michelle company.’

  ‘Don’t patronise me!’ Her eyes sparked. ‘I’ll be here—in case you need rescuing.’

  His mouth dipped into a lopsided grin. ‘That thought’s cheered me up no end.’

  Stubborn man. Fliss’s breath spun out on a tight little sigh. It was useless telling herself Callum had taken every precaution. Anyone who spent any time in an emergency department knew that accidents could and did still happen as swiftly as taking a breath. ‘Just make sure you get back here in one piece,’ she threatened softly.

  Callum’s jaw tightened but he turned away without further comment.

  Fearing for him, praying for him, Fliss watched as Callum moved inch by careful inch closer to his target. And it seemed as if the world about her had shrunk, become muted, almost surreal.

  ‘Stop there!’ Steve’s snapped command sent Fliss’s hand to her mouth.

  And then it was done. Callum had made the transfer and Errol had swallowed his painkiller and Callum was reversing his steps, backing away from the crackling power lines with studied slowness. Until he was well away, striding to safety.

  Fliss’s arms ached to reach out to him, to hold him, but professionalism kept her arms stiffly at her sides, her fingers bunched tightly. ‘Well done,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Took guts, all right,’ Steve agreed, his mouth compressing.

  Now what? Emotions began clogging Fliss’s throat. So much had gone on here today and was still going on. And there was such a quiet dignity about these bush people, an inbuilt instinct to do the best for one another that they possibly could. And Callum was the centre of it. They depended on him. She’d even go so far as to say that in medical matters his word was law.

  A sudden warmth shot through her. Almost without her knowing, she’d become part of this community as well.

  And it felt good.

  * * *

  She had no time to become too introspective. At Callum’s request, she’d made her way back down to Michelle to reassure her about her father-in-law’s condition. And then, satisfied there was nothing more she could do for the moment, she retraced her steps to Callum.

  ‘What’s the word?’ He was carefully monitoring his watch, not looking up.

  ‘Things are OK for now. Brent seems a steadying influence. But the waiting is getting to everyone.’

  ‘Almost twenty minutes since Errol had his medication,’ Callum said with quiet triumph.

  ‘So far so good, then.’ Fliss looked up at the sky. The day was already drawing in and huge black clouds were hugging the tops of the mountains. Surely the men would get there soon…

  ‘The guys are here.’ Steve materialised quietly beside them. ‘They’re at the transformer now.’

  ‘So, any minute?’ Fliss’s voice rang with a kind of muted relief.

  ‘Stay calm,’ Callum said tightly.

  But calm was hard to manage. And it seemed word had already travelled that the power was about to be switched off and the area made safe. There was an expectation in the air, the whole atmosphere bristling with suspense, straining towards a climax.

  ‘There they go…’ Fliss’s hand went to her throat as the electrical sparks, bright and white, sputtered and died. ‘Oh.’ Out of the blue, she felt her mouth trembling uncontrollably, and tears of reaction spilled down her cheeks. Hastily, she blinked them away, holding her hands against her eyes, gathering her composure.

  ‘Fliss? Hey…’ Callum’s arm came round her shoulders hugging her. ‘No need for tears. We’re safe now.’

  ‘I—Yes, I know…It’s great,’ she said huskily, turning to meet his eyes briefly and then looking back at the scene before them.

  ‘Things will start happening quickly now,’ Callum said with quiet certainty.

  And he was right, Fliss realised with something like amazement. It was as if the starter had fired his pistol. A huge cheer rang out, echoing up and down the hillside. Engines were gunned into life and emergency vehicles fanned out and began racing to the accident scene.

  ‘Stand back.’ Callum placed a guiding arm at Fliss’s elbow as the crews thrust forward with wrecking bars. Within seconds the doors of the tractor’s cabin were sliced through and Errol was being lifted gently out and laid on to a stretcher.

  Callum’s examination of his patient was swift and sure.

  ‘What’s…the damage, Doc?’ Errol’s words were strained.

  ‘You’ll live, old mate. No more messing with machinery, though.’

  ‘Reckon not…’

  ‘Fliss, I’ll need you here, please.’ Callum motioned her to the top of the stretcher.

  ‘Now?’ Her eyes widened in query.

  ‘I don’t want to dope him any more than is necessary. So let’s give it one shot to pop that shoulder back in, shall we?’

  They worked instinctively, Fliss steadying the injured man while Callum repositioned the shoulder.

  ‘Ready?’

  Fliss nodded and braced herself for Errol’s pain-edged groan as the limb clicked back into place.

  ‘I’ll ride back in the ambulance with him,’ Fliss said briskly. ‘Michelle?’ She looked around for her other patient.

  ‘I’m here, Doctor…’

  Fliss’s heart contracted. The young mother-to-be looked pale again. The adrenaline rush that had come with the rescue of her father-in-law had subsided and she was beginning to exhibit all the signs of post-trauma exhaustion. ‘I’d like you to come back to the hospital and be checked over thoroughly, Michelle. Could you come in with Brent?’

  Michelle swallowed hard. ‘What about Errol? Shouldn’t one of us stay with him?’

  ‘I’ll travel back in the ambulance with him,’ Fliss said. ‘And I promise to take great care of him.’

  * * *

  ‘Everything OK from your end?’ Callum asked. It was nearly two hours after the hillside rescue.

  Fliss nodded. ‘The midwife checked Michelle over. She seems fine but they’ve decided to keep her overnight. How’s Errol?’

  Callum gave a hollow laugh. ‘Feeling pretty sorry for himself. I’m keeping him in. He needs to be perfectly stable before he goes home. Michelle doesn’t need extra work.’

  ‘Is there no Mrs Anderson, senior?’

  ‘He’s a widower,’ Callum said shortly. ‘He wanted to move out of the family home when the young people got married but they wouldn’t hear of it. He’s very fond of Michelle. Excited about the baby.’

  ‘Mmm, she mentioned that.’ Fliss’s look was soft. ‘Nice when families get on.’

  And marriages worked, Callum thought bitterly, but kept his mouth firmly shut on the subject. ‘What are you up to now?’ he asked instead.

  ‘I’m still on duty.’

  ‘No, you’re not. I worked for Simon last night. He’s happy to come in early and cover the last of your shift.’

  Fliss rolled her eyes. ‘Callum, I don’t need favours.’

  ‘Who mentioned favours?’ He lifted a broad shoulder dismissively. ‘It’s called being flexible.’

  ‘And that applies to all of us, I presume.’ Fliss fixed him with an innocent look. ‘So, if Simon’s on take, that means you and I are both off duty.’

  ‘So?’

  Fliss looked more keenly at him, taking in the lines of strain around his eyes, the almost grim set of his mouth and wondered how much of an ordeal the afternoon’s medical retrieval had been for him. He needed to relax. But whether or not he’d let her help him do just that was another matter entirely.

  But she had to try.

  ‘So why don’t you come over to my place and we’ll send out for a pizza? I might even find a nice bottle of merlot to go with it. Interested?’

  ‘Could be.’ His smile felt crooked. But he could no more resist her invitation than fly like Superman over the treetops. ‘But not without a shower.’

  Fliss’s sense of triumph faltered. Did that mean he’d have to go home and change? And if so, would he really want to come all the way back to town? She had to head him off at the pass. ‘Shower and change into scrubs, then. I don’t mind.’

  ‘Are you that desperate for my company, Dr Wakefield?’

  Oh, heck—had he read her mind? ‘Must be,’ she managed lightly, reaching out to touch his cheek, and her heart hiccupped. She reclaimed her hand quickly but not before the slight roughness of his stubble had shot her nerve endings to pieces, leaving them jangling and aware.

  ‘Not to worry.’ He reciprocated, stroking the back of his index finger gently over the curve of her cheek and across her chin. ‘I keep a change of clothes here. I can be with you in ten minutes.’

  ‘Fine,’ she countered weakly. ‘I’ll, um, scoot home and order the pizza, then.’

  ‘With all the toppings, please. I’m starving.’

  And not just for pizza, she’d bet. His body was very close, his mouth closer still. And there was such a need inside her…She tried to laugh but the laughter caught in her throat and she swallowed hard. ‘See you in ten,’ she managed huskily, before she swung on her heel and hurried away.

  * * *

  Fliss showered hastily, the butterflies in her stomach having a grand old time as they fluttered non-stop, as if debating whether to make her feel sick with anticipation or merely sick! Oh, for heaven’s sake, get a grip, she admonished herself. It was simply going to be an impromptu meal with a colleague and a glass of wine to wash down the pizza.

 

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