The ground was hard and warm. Only the front half of the car gave some semblance of shade as the sun fought through the remaining smoke.
Gritting her teeth, she got to her knees and dragged him into the shade, putting him into the recovery position. She needed to clean him up, make sure his nose was clear of blood before getting the oxygen again.
She wouldn’t lose him now. Not now they’d survived the inferno.
There was a first aid kit behind the seats.
She was almost numb to the pain as she used the roo bar to get to her feet and around the car to fetch the kit, the BA and the small esky of water.
She wiped his face, gritting her teeth against the waves of nausea and then fitted him with the oxygen, monitoring his breathing as she waited for a call back.
Her phone finally rang. “What have you got?”
“The fire’s between you and the town,” Lincoln said. “We’ve got an ambulance coming from Mount Barker and we’re sending a PAWS vehicle to get you out.”
“What’s their ETA?”
“Twenty minutes.”
A lifetime. “Nicholas is unconscious again,” she said. “I can’t wake him up.” Her voice trembled.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Lincoln said. “He might have heat exhaustion, Mai. You know what to do.”
“Shane nearly beat him to death.”
Lincoln swore. “Keep safe. We’ll have you out of there soon.”
She hung up and examined Nicholas. “Nic, wake up.”
Not so much as a groan.
Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them back. She couldn’t fall apart, couldn’t think the worst. She had to get them to safety. She had to cool him down.
She undid his jacket and opened it wide. He was pale and his T-shirt was wet with sweat. She checked the temperature of the remaining water bottles and poured one over his chest. He stirred but didn’t wake.
Mai found the instant cold pack, activated it and shoved it under one of his armpits.
His jacket next.
She struggled to pull his arms out of his jacket, but eventually she managed it.
Her head pounded a steady, powerful thudding beat, and her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She clenched her teeth. She was fine. Nicholas was in worse condition than she was.
Grabbing another bottle of water, she took a few precious sips before tipping the rest over his chest. “Come on, Nicholas. Wake up.”
Nothing.
The breeze came in flurries, kicking up ash and whirling it around them.
Nicholas groaned.
“Nic. Talk to me.”
“Wet.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief. “Yeah, sweetie. You got a little warm and I needed to cool you down.” She squeezed his hand. “You need to stay with me this time. You’ve got to stop slacking off and sleeping. I’m doing all the work here.”
“Sorry.” His words were still slurred.
“Can you drink some water for me?” She removed the BA and helped raise his head enough so he could drink from the water bottle she held for him. “Just little sips,” she told him. “You don’t want to choke.”
He screwed up his nose. “Hot.”
His words were precious. “Yeah, but it’s the best I can do right now. We’ll get you something cooler when we get out of here.”
She prattled on, talking about anything and everything that came to her mind to keep him focused, asking him question after question so he had to answer.
Finally the beautiful sound of a car coming towards them reached her. “They’re here, Nicholas. We’re going to get you something cold.”
“’K.”
She waved as the white four wheel drive came into view. It pulled up and Will jumped out. He wore the khaki and bottle green uniform of Parks and Wildlife Service.
“Are you all right?” Will asked.
“I’m fine, but Nicholas isn’t so great. He was attacked and beaten, and I think he’s suffering heat exhaustion.”
Will knelt down and examined him. “There’s an ambulance waiting for us on the main road.” He helped Nicholas to his feet and mostly carried him to the car.
Nicholas was safe. They were going to the hospital.
She pulled herself up, and her head spun. She staggered forward into Will’s arms.
“Woah. I’ve got you.” He carried her to the car, put her in the front passenger seat and handed her a cold bottle of water. “Drink this slowly.”
Nicholas was in the back, his eyes open.
Mai closed her eyes as nausea swirled in her stomach. She had to get some fluids into herself, but the lid of the bottle was too tight. She didn’t have the strength left in her arms to untwist it.
She was tired, so tired.
“Hold on,” Will said. “I’ll get you out of here as fast as I can.”
Secure in the knowledge that someone else was looking after Nicholas, Mai let the darkness claim her.
Chapter 20
Nicholas woke slowly, his head cloudy, an overwhelming scent of smoke around him.
Smoke?
His eyes flew open, but his vision was restricted to a couple of small slits of light. He sat up, heart pounding, head spinning.
No fire.
But he couldn’t see properly. He reached up to touch his face and found a tube connected to his arm. He was in hospital.
“Nicholas!” The relief in his mother’s voice was clear.
He turned and found his parents sitting next to the bed, their expressions concerned.
What were they doing here? “Mum?” His voice was croaky and it hurt to speak.
His mother burst into tears and his father stroked her back. “It’s all right, Bronwyn, he’s going to be fine.”
Nausea rose up and he clapped a hand over his mouth. His father shoved a sick bag at him and he used it, his body heaving, his ribs screaming.
“The nurses said you might feel a little sick when you woke,” his father said.
A little? More like he’d been beaten with a sledge hammer. He closed his eyes. What had happened?
If he smelled like smoke, he must have been at a fire. He remembered the call out, remembered getting to the fire station, and then what?
It had something to do with Mai.
“Mai?”
“She’s in the bed next to you.” His father gestured towards the curtain.
His pulse raced. If Mai was in a bed, then she must be injured. “Is she all right?” Why couldn’t he remember?
A nurse entered the room and smiled at him. “Glad to see you awake, Nicholas.”
“How’s Mai?”
As she took his obs, she said, “She’s doing well. A little dehydrated, and her family is with her. I can open the curtain for you if you’d like. She’s been asking about you.”
“Please.” His throat ached to talk, but he couldn’t remember fighting a fire.
But he did remember driving in the fast attack vehicle, a bumpy road, a shack.
The memories flooded back.
Mai kidnapped. Shane threatening her. Fighting Shane. Losing.
Then what?
Heat. The most incredible heat he’d ever experienced.
And all the time Mai was there, talking to him, telling him things, asking him questions, telling him she loved him.
Had he imagined that?
The nurse spoke to someone behind the curtain and then opened it. Mai lay in bed, her family around her. The bruises on her face made him grit his teeth. Shane had done that.
He continued his scan. She was attached to an IV of fluids and one of her legs was raised with a bandage wrapped around it, but she was conscious and her smile lightened his heart, slowed his pulse rate.
“Nicholas, how are you?” She slowly swung her legs out of the bed and sat on the edge.
“Don’t get up.” His brain was working at half pace, but he was sure she shouldn’t be moving.
“I’m fine, just a sprained ankle and a bit of de
hydration, but they’re pumping me full now.” She gently lowered herself to the ground, taking the fluid bag off its hook, and Anh helped her move to his side.
“I’m more worried about you. How are your ribs?”
He frowned. Ribs? His whole body felt like it had been tossed into a cement mixer.
His mother said, “You broke your ribs, nose, have a concussion and heat exhaustion.”
He shifted to the side, making room next to him so Mai could sit on the bed, wincing as he did so. “Sore. What happened?”
“What do you remember?”
He took her hand, caressing it, needing to touch her. If even half of what he remembered was true, they were both lucky to be alive.
He wasn’t sure what to say though. He wanted to talk to Mai alone, make sure his memory was correct, find out what his parents had been told.
Detectives Bosch and Khan walked into the room.
“We heard you were awake,” Khan said. “How are you feeling?”
“Not great.”
Bosch nodded. “I’m sorry. Can you answer some questions for us?”
“He’s just woken up,” his mother snapped. “Give him time to recover.”
Nicholas winced as he smiled. “Mum, it’s fine. The quicker we get this resolved, the better. Why don’t you get a coffee?”
“I could do with a drink,” Bian said. She moved into his cubicle and smiled at his mother. “I’m Bian, Mai’s mother. Why don’t we go around the corner to the pub and get a drink? We could all use one after today’s excitement. We can come back in an hour or so?”
The last was directed at the detectives who nodded.
“All right,” his mother agreed.
The cubicle emptied and he was left with Mai and the detectives. “Did you catch Shane?”
“He was picked up on the highway heading back to Perth. He’s being taken to Albany station now,” Bosch said.
Nicholas relaxed a little. If Shane was in custody he couldn’t hurt Mai.
“Take us through today’s events,” Khan said.
Mai started the story, filling Nicholas in on how Shane had snatched her from the street and what had happened up until he had arrived. “Shane admitted he’d lit the fire on the Baldivis development,” Mai told them. “He needed money to pay off his drug dealers. He called one of them The Tiger.”
“We’ve got an alert out for him,” Khan said.
Nicholas then took over the story, letting the detectives know Shane had admitted to drugging Gordon. His throat was sore and he coughed, taking a sip from the glass of water Mai handed him. “I don’t remember much after being hit in the head a dozen times.”
Mai squeezed his hand and continued the tale. “While Nicholas was fighting Shane, I rolled out of the shack to find something to cut my ties. Shane came out, noticed the fire was close and took off.” She swallowed. “I managed to untie myself, get Nicholas into the fast attack vehicle and drive off, but the engine overheated and cut out. We were stuck in the burnover and then Will from PAWS got us out.”
Nicholas’s jaw dropped open and he winced. That explained the intense heat. They’d been in the middle of a bush fire. They’d been trapped, but Mai had saved his life. He kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He didn’t want to answer any more questions, he wanted time to be alone with Mai. He wanted to ask her about their conversation in the fast attack, wanted to find out if she really loved him. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand and she leaned into him.
“What’s the status with the fire?” Mai asked.
“Blackbridge is on a watch and act alert,” Khan said. “But it’s forecast to rain. If it does, they should be able to control it.”
In other words it was still a threat.
There was commotion outside the cubicle and Fleur, Jamie, Kit and Hannah burst in.
“You’re all right!” Kit yelled.
Nicholas winced at the shout.
Mai smiled. “We’re both fine.”
A nurse came into the room carrying another bag of fluid and shook her head at the sight of Mai on the bed with him. “You’re both supposed to be resting.” She exchanged the nearly empty fluid bag attached to Mai.
“We are,” she said. “We’re just being economical, letting someone else use the other bed.”
The nurse laughed and checked her obs. “I’ll get the doctor in to examine you after you’ve finished this bag. You should be right to go home this evening.”
“What about Nicholas?”
“We’ll need to keep him in at least overnight.”
As much as he ached, he wanted out of the hospital. He wanted to be alone with Mai.
“We brought you both some spare clothes.” Fleur held up a bag. She glanced at Nicholas. “You’re about the same size as Jamie.”
He squeezed Mai’s hand. They had thought of him as well.
Jamie grinned. “They’re not as stylish as your usual garb, but they’ll do until you get home.”
“Thanks, mate.”
Fleur and Kit perched on the end of his bed. “You’re done here, right?” Kit said to the detectives.
Nicholas swallowed his grin at their sucked lemon expressions.
Finally Khan nodded. “We’ll talk to you both again in the morning.”
As soon as they left, Hannah asked, “What happened?”
“Mai saved my life,” he said.
“Go, Mai.” Kit gave her a high five.
“Only after Nicholas saved mine.” Mai told the story again, calm and to the point.
“Weren’t you terrified?” Hannah asked.
Mai nodded. “I thought we were both going to die.”
His hands clenched. She’d made it sound like no big deal to the detectives. And he hadn’t been cognitive enough to truly understand what was going on.
The thought of Mai dying was physically painful. He nuzzled her cheek, not caring they had an audience. “I’m so glad you didn’t.”
Jamie cleared his throat. “I think these two need some time to themselves,” he said. “Let’s go get a coffee.” He smiled at them. “We’ll be in the cafeteria.”
A wave of gratitude and affection washed over him. “Thanks.”
Finally they were alone.
And Nicholas didn’t know what to say.
Mai reached for the bed adjuster and moved the back rest so they reclined a little more. Then she cautiously lay next to him, careful not to put any pressure on his chest. “You look like hell.”
He winced. “I feel like it too.” He shifted and a stabbing pain went through his chest. Ever so slowly he moved so he could put his arm over Mai.
He’d survived a beating and a bush fire, and yet admitting his feelings was far scarier. Maybe he’d hallucinated what he thought Mai had said. He took as deep a breath as he was able. “You talked a lot when we were waiting to be picked up.”
“I did,” she agreed. “I was trying to keep you conscious. I was so scared that your head injury was really bad.” There was still worry in her eyes.
He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure if some of what I remember is real or a dream.”
“What part?”
This was it. He would be brave. He would put his heart out there. Slipping his hand into hers, he entwined their fingers. “I thought you said you loved me.”
“I did.” Mai’s gaze was intense, her eyes on his.
The relief was instant, flooding him with joy and hope. She loved him. “Thank God.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You’re happy about that?”
“Of course.” Why would she even question it? “I love you too. Didn’t I say that?” It was part of the same memory.
She laughed. “It was more of a garbled murmur before you fell unconscious again.”
He hugged her tightly, and then gasped at the pain. He would have to be careful how he moved for the next few weeks. “Mai, you’re the most important person in the world to me. I don’
t want a life without you.”
She sighed. “That’s a relief.” She kissed him long and sweetly and all the pain disappeared for a moment.
When she moved back he said, “I want to move here permanently. I’ll sort out a job, and we can get a place together.”
She put a finger on his lips. “Slow down, Nicholas. We can work it all out later. Right now I want to hold you and reassure myself that you’re perfectly fine.”
He grinned. “Well then, let me see if I can prove it for you.”
He kissed the woman who had saved his life.
The woman who had shown him how to live.
The woman he couldn’t live without.
His Mai.
Epilogue
“Are those scones ready yet?” Kit called.
Mai glanced across Fleur’s kitchen table to her friend. “Should be.” Before she could stand, Nicholas gingerly got up and took the scones out of the oven, pricking them with a skewer to check they were done.
“Here, let me.” Fleur took the skewer from him and shooed him back to the table where the rest of their friends were gathered. “The pair of you are the walking wounded.”
It was only three days since he’d been discharged from hospital and his face was still an ugly shade of purple.
Mai smiled as Fleur placed the jam and cream on the table, followed by the steaming hot scones. The usual musketeer meeting had expanded to include Nicholas, Jamie, Ryan and Lincoln. They had gathered together to catch up on everything that had happened over the past few days.
“What’s the latest on Shane?” Nicholas asked Lincoln and Ryan.
“The forced detox hit him hard,” Lincoln said. “He confessed to breaking into your shed and the empty unit. He’d been angry and wanted to make you suffer and then he ran into the Tiger, who you know as Creepy Guy. He works for the drug cartel that Shane owed money to and they forced him to work for them. Shane gave Gordon the drug that caused the crash, and started both fires at the cafe and bakery.”
“No sign of the Tiger yet,” Ryan added. “Looks like he’s in hiding.”
Hannah passed Ryan a scone.
“Where are you with the insurance claim?” Jamie asked Mai.
Nothing to Gain Page 25
