Rescue Nights

by Nina Hamilton

  ‘Choosing to be a paramedic over becoming a doctor was the full extent of my teenage rebellion,’ said Kate. ‘It never fails to amaze me, though, how quickly the male mind can jump to potential nakedness.’

  Andrew didn’t feel the need to enlighten her that it hadn’t taken more than a few minutes of acquaintance before he had imagined her bare skin. The only difference was that now he had seen her in a swimsuit, those pictures had become more frequent, and he liked to think, more accurately vivid.

  ‘Well it did seem more interesting than asking you about your Pilates class,’ he quipped.

  Kate made her way back to the blue floor mat, and sat down, tucking her legs under her. ‘For that I should tell you a very long story about how yoga classes changed my life.’

  ‘Did yoga really change you?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘Hate the thing,’ she smiled. ‘The classes last too long and quietening the mind just isn’t my bag. But the only thing more boring than yoga is hearing about it, and you almost deserve that punishment.’

  ‘You could have told me about some recreational pole dancing,’ said Andrew, as he started his warm down. He began by stretching his quads. ‘Because I did hear you Cairns girls were wild and now I’m disappointed.’

  ‘That is obviously where you did go wrong,’ Kate replied, her green eyes sparkling. ‘I’m not from Cairns and you can’t take the conservative private school out of the girl. But I’m sure the boys can give you some clues about the Cairns nightlife that will allow you to ease your sad disappointment.’

  Andrew chuckled in reply. For a few minutes, Andrew and Kate each concentrated on doing their stretches.

  ‘So you didn’t need a second job to get through university?’ he asked, as if the conversation had never halted.

  ‘No. Me being a paramedic might have been disappointing to them but they aren’t the types to cut me off.’ She lifted her face and he could see real engagement there. ‘So did you have an easy road into medicine?’

  ‘As easy as any road into medicine can be,’ Andrew replied. ‘Barely a social life at school, and university was the hard slog that only became harder with residency.’

  ‘Lucky for you, the world and women only seem too happy to make exemptions for doctors,’ Kate said.

  With her words, any goodwill they had tentatively created immediately drained from the room.

  The charming tease in her voice had disappeared into a hard bitterness, and Andrew could hear the underlying belief she had in her words. All of the jibes she had made about his profession came flooding back.

  Andrew was only too glad when Kate stood and said, ‘That first shower is calling me.’

  He could tell by her breezy coolness that he certainly wouldn’t be welcome even as close as the next stall. Lucky for her sensibilities, he was all too happy to forsake her company.

  Andrew didn’t even bother to respond, and kept his focus on the wall. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kate hesitate before leaving.

  ‘Don’t say anything about my parents not liking my job to the others,’ she asked. ‘I would hate to disrespect the people we work with by implying that being a paramedic is a second rate choice.’

  Turning to her, Andrew could see that there was a softness, a vulnerability that he hadn’t seen before, but he couldn’t help the words that blurted from his mouth. ‘Just because you couldn’t cut the pace, there isn’t any reason for me to make the others feel bad. Don’t worry, little girl, I will keep your secret.’

  ‘It must be that professional discretion that all you doctors are so good at practising,’ she replied.

  Any fragility about Kate’s expression had hardened so quickly, as she walked from the room, Andrew could almost convince himself that it had never existed.

  Chapter Six

  After her shower, Kate sipped her energy drink in the lounge and pushed her spine back into her chair, wishing it would mercifully transport her to a day shift with another crew. Hell, she would even settle for remaining here, if only fate would bestow another doctor upon her.

  The buzz of the telephone brought her back to the present. ‘Emergency helicopter base Cairns,’ she recited as she picked up the receiver.

  The words spoken on the other end of the phone by the dispatcher had her hitting the upstairs alarm to summon the rest of the crew. All three men appeared at the door by the time she had collected all the necessary intel.

  ‘Single vehicle accident. Car versus tree, approximately one hundred kilometres west of Port Douglas,’ said Kate, even as she began pulling drugs out of the medicine safe. ‘A police officer at the scene reported unknown injuries to the conscious seventy-three year old man who is still trapped in the car. The child who was restrained in the back seat is in severe shock and they have not been able to ascertain the extent of any injuries. Local ambulance crews are at least forty-five minutes away.’

  Kate turned to Joe, who had plotted the GPS coordinates she had handed over into his handheld. ‘How long can I tell them?’ she asked.

  ‘Seven minutes until take off and approximately twenty minutes of flying time,’ he replied.

  Ben and Joe headed out for the flight prep, while Kate and Andrew checked off any extra equipment they might need for their two patients. After they had their kits prepped, Kate picked up the last pieces of necessary gear.

  ‘Night work on the road, we will need our florescent yellows,’ she said, as she threw an almost matching jacket to Andrew. Like their normal uniforms, it declared their rescue roles on their backs. Paramedic and doctor were proclaimed in bold.

  Flying through the dark night over bush was something that Kate had never been able to get fully used to. If the night was like tonight with the stars and moon out, she could at least make out the horizon and feel some security in knowing which was up and which was down. Otherwise, without lights cast from settlement or sky, there had to be faith in the pilot and even more faith in his instruments.

  Kate focused out the window on the oddly beautiful vista spread before them, rather than give any of her attention to the man sitting beside her. Usually, she would be steeling her nerves with chat, in preparation for the chaos that might greet them when they arrived at the scene. However, tonight, after her conversation with Andrew had gone so awry, she was the newly crowned advocate of silence.

  ‘Five minutes, guys,’ was the warning from Joe through their headphones.

  Looking to her right, Kate could see the glow of lights that clearly marked the accident scene.

  ‘Let’s get landed safely,’ said Joe.

  They all hated night landings on unfamiliar sites. Everyone knew it was the most dangerous part of any mission, with hazards such as electrical lines posing a real threat. Luckily, once they hovered directly over the site they could see lights, which had been laid in the field next to the accident scene, to help guarantee their safety.

  As Joe brought the chopper down, Kate got a glimpse of the organized chaos that characterised all accident scenes. ‘At least we aren’t here too late,’ she said to Andrew, as they waited for the moment they could open the chopper doors and get out onto the scene.

  ‘How can you tell from in here? Do you guys have a secret signal?’ he asked, his disbelief clear, even through the faint crackle of the headphones.

  ‘Look at everyone’s faces and bodies,’ Kate replied, pointing to the rescue workers who were moving quickly around the wrecked car. ‘They are moving as if there is someone still to save. Believe me; out here you quickly come to recognise the blank faces that we see every time we arrive at a fatality.’

  A beep notified them that Joe had released the helicopter’s external locking and immediately Andrew began to move, with Kate close behind him. Scanning the people who were around, Kate could see that they had beaten the local ambulance in arriving but both the police and SES were present.

  The police had rigged bright lights above the wreck and work was still frantic to free the occupant. A child wrapped in
a space blanket was next to the road, held in the arms of an SES volunteer.

  ‘You take the kid and I’ll evaluate the elderly driver, then we’ll triage,’ Andrew ordered. ‘Don’t miss anything in your examination, because the last thing we need is a seven year old flat-lining here in the middle of nowhere.’

  Kate could only add his words to her tally of tonight’s insults. Anywhere else, she would have taken him on about his lack of trust, but even from fifteen metres away, she could already see the look of terror in the distant child’s eyes.

  ‘Just remember that until I join you, you’ll have to keep your own records,’ she said as they separated.

  Knowing how frightened the child had to be, Kate gentled her movements as she approached.

  ‘Hey there,’ Kate crooned softly to the child, and the middle-aged rescue worker who was holding him. ‘Who have we got there?’

  The uniformed SES volunteer couldn’t hide his stark relief, but to give him his due he didn’t release his secure hold on the boy. ‘The little man finally told us that his name is Billy, but that is about all we know at the moment.’

  ‘Hi Billy,’ said Kate, as she cast about for somewhere to examine him. ‘We are going to jump in the back of the police car and I’m going to take a look at those cuts I can see. But the good news is that Keith here is going to stay with us and help.’

  Billy’s eyes remained glassy and unfocused, so Kate wasn’t sure how much he had taken in. However, he didn’t start screaming when they moved towards the police four-wheel-drive, so that was probably all she could ask for.

  Once in the car, Kate ran through as full a physical as she could in the cramped conditions. Any other patient, she would have had him on a stretcher by now. However, she knew comforting the child was as important a consideration as anything else, and spinal trauma looked unlikely. That didn’t mean that she didn’t slip a soft neck brace onto him. The still shivering child had been in a car that had impacted at eighty kilometres an hour.

  After confirming with Keith that he wasn’t going anywhere, Kate stepped out of the car and made her way to the twisted hull of metal that no longer resembled any kind of motor vehicle. In fact, the closer she got, the more miraculous any survival appeared at all.

  Andrew stood from where he was kneeling, and the time for any thought independent of work disappeared. ‘The rescue boys have asked us to stay away while they try to cut his legs free,’ he said. ‘How is the boy?’

  ‘Severe shock, so I’m unable to get much response,’ said Kate. ‘Closed fracture to the wrist which I’ve temporarily splinted, and I’ll be happier when we can get some tests that completely rule out any internal injuries. Otherwise, he is a lucky boy, and whoever restrained in him the back of the car in a proper booster seat and a child’s seat belt probably saved his life.’

  ‘I’ll look at him myself later,’ said Andrew, as he continued to prepare the stretcher.

  Kate took over the drip prep. ‘What are we looking at with the driver?’ She had already seen enough to know the news wasn’t likely to be good.

  ‘I’m already pushing through the second bag of Hartman’s and he is as full of morphine as I’m happy to let him be. He has severe crush injuries to his lower legs, almost certainly internal bleeding and he has lost consciousness in the last five minutes.’

  ‘We are in!’ came the call from the rescue boys.

  Both Kate and Andrew immediately surged forward. With the door completely removed, there was enough room for them both to work side by side. The elderly man’s legs were a mess, but Andrew had done good work, and any major bleeds looked to have been bandaged.

  ‘There is nothing more we can do here,’ Andrew declared, before organising all available hands to lift their patient onto a stretcher.

  Kate radioed the chopper and within seconds, she could hear the rotor blades start to move.

  Andrew turned to her, and spoke over the rest of the crowd, ‘The police told me that the regional hospital isn’t particularly well equipped so the kid is going to have to travel with us. ‘

  Kate had come to the same conclusion. She only hoped the boy’s grandfather was going to remain stable through the flight. The child had been through enough traumas, without having to see his grandfather resuscitated in the close confined space of the helicopter cabin.

  Leaving Andrew to supervise the loading of their patient, Kate ran to where Keith was still sitting with the little boy.

  ‘The police used the car’s licence plate to get on to Billy’s parents,’ Keith explained. ‘He was on holiday here, so they are about a six hour drive away.’

  Kate couldn’t even imagine getting that call, knowing you were too far away to provide comfort for your child. While he had been talking, Keith had been, with some difficulty, removing the child’s arms from around his neck. Billy was not best pleased at this development and Kate suddenly inherited an armful of a kicking four year old. There was no time for gentle farewells, so holding the child as best as she could, Kate made her way to the chopper. The heft of Billy’s wriggling weight was almost enough to distract her from the rush of protectiveness she felt as she noticed the delicacy of his bones.

  Andrew closed the door behind her and Ben handed over her headset as well as their child-sized extra.

  ‘I’m going to put Billy on channel sixteen so you guys don’t have to put up with the kiddie talk,’ Kate said, while Billy’s intercom still hadn’t been switched on. ‘Andrew, buzz me if you need to tell me anything and I’ll switch him out. The kid really doesn’t need to know if his grandfather is failing.’

  While Kate was communicating her instructions, she was securing Billy right next to her, keeping her arm around him. The proximity wasn’t just to comfort the child, it was also about monitoring. A child of four just didn’t have the ability to articulate all changes in his condition. It was up to her to be able to interpret the verbal and non-verbal cues.

  ‘Billy, you’ll get to the see the lights when we get closer to Cairns. Have you been there before?’ Kate was so pleased at his slight nod in response that she almost missed the click that told her some else had switched on to their channel.

  ‘He is my responsibility too,’ Andrew said, in response to her raised eyebrow.

  Five hours later, Kate finished her final checklist before the end of her shift. The adrenaline that had come with their midnight rescue had faded and what was left in its place was the extra tiredness that always came on the first night of nightshifts.

  Andrew had remained at the hospital and they weren’t expecting him back as morning was now breaking.

  As soon as she had been able to prise herself from Billy’s grasp, she had been in the way on the floor of the ER. The doctors and nurses had taken over her caregiving role and there was no reason not to go back to base. On the other hand, Andrew had been in his element and Kate couldn’t help a bit of resentment creeping into that observation. Out in the field she was a valuable pair of hands, but put her in a hospital and she was outranked by even the most junior nurse.

  ‘Six more days to go, so I’d get home if I were you,’ Joe called, as he and Ben left the building. Before Kate joined them in the walk to the car park, she picked up Billy’s plastic wallet.

  ‘Bed 14A,’ was the nurse’s response to Kate’s enquiry about Billy’s location.

  As Kate pulled back the curtain around Billy’s bed she gave a start of surprise seeing Andrew slumped by him.

  ‘I thought you would have gone home by now,’ she said.

  However, now the smile on the night nurse’s face made sense. Even weary, rumpled and wearing someone else’s scrubs, Andrew was startlingly handsome.

  Tilting his head to talk to her, he replied, in hushed tones, ‘I knew you guys would call me if another emergency came in. And, after dealing with his grandfather for a few hours, I thought Billy might be able to use some company.’

  ‘Well,’ said Kate. ‘Now the day shift have replaced us we are free for the next el
even hours and forty-five minutes.’

  ‘Good news. What is that you’ve got there?’ he asked, pointing to the item she had forgotten she was holding.

  She passed the plastic child-sized wallet over to him, and explained, ‘It was shoved down the back seat of the helicopter. I guess he forgot it in the rush. I’m guessing everything else in that car is going to be a long time coming back so I didn’t want him to be missing any more possessions.’

  Kate walked to the end of Billy’s bed and picked up his chart. Strictly speaking, as a non-hospital staff member with no treatment privileges, looking at his records was against the rules. However, she doubted that anyone was going to call her out on it, especially as she was in the presence of a doctor. It went against the grain to have to use Andrew’s position to satisfy her curiosity, but as she had spent the twenty-plus minute flight focusing all her attention on Billy’s body and running the worst-case scenarios through her brain, she had earned to right to know his status.

  His file read with news that was as positive as could be expected.

  ‘Glad someone was here to put a permanent cast on his arm,’ she said.

  ‘You were right with the diagnosis,’ Andrew said. ‘Maybe you should think about retraining and becoming a doctor.’

  Andrew’s words were light but Kate’s spine stiffened and her lungs could only draw a half breath. Another typical bloody doctor who thought their profession was the only one with any merit.

  ‘You know diagnosing injuries comes in pretty handy as a rescue paramedic as well,’ she said.

  Kate could see by the look on his face that he would like to back-pedal his words. However, it really was too late for that.

  When Kate spoke again, her tone was sharper and prickly. ‘You are obviously the only one properly qualified to offer anything to Billy, so I’ll leave you to your work.’

  Not waiting to hear a response, Kate turned and marched towards the door of the ward. Her face muscles were so frozen that she couldn’t even respond to the polite smiles from members of the hospital staff.