Watching him swim away from the now drifting flotation device, Kate made up her mind about the course of action needed.
‘I’m going in but once I’m down there, you’ll have to whisk up the wire pretty quickly and I’ll have to wait it out for the jet-boat.’
As she expected, her option wasn’t popular among the rest of the crew.
‘If he’s violent, there is a good chance that he will lash out at you,’ said Joe. ‘I think we should deem it too high a risk and wait for a sea based rescue.’
‘Come on,’ said Kate. ‘He is looking exhausted now, another ten minutes he will be sinking underneath the waves and we’ll be lucky to find him.’
Kate knew that, strictly speaking, the helicopter rescue protocol would dictate against her going down to the water with a possibly violent man, but she truly believed that waiting could mean a probable loss of life.
‘Surely you can talk her out of this,’ said Andrew, his level of pissed-offness coming loud and clear through the radio.
Kate could have kicked him there in the helicopter interior. What was he doing, trying to undermine her discussions with the other men?
‘I’m rescue co-ordinator for these missions, Andrew,’ she said. ‘I get to choose what risks I think are acceptable and I’m doing this.’
She double-checked her waterproof earpiece and the accompanying transmitter. She would carry an extra lifebuoy as well as her personal torp.
‘You can’t make him take the buoy,’ Andrew said. ‘So all you can do is hand it over and get out of his way.’
She had to wait for the optimal moment to swing out of the helicopter, which left her with a few moments to glare her displeasure at the handsome doctor.
As she stepped off the chopper’s rail and the wire took her full weight, she had to admit to herself the sharp feeling of trepidation. All rescue protocols were designed against unpredictability, but a possibly drug crazed rescue victim was the very definition of a rogue scenario.
Her feet hit the water level and once appropriately submerged, she unplugged from her harness and gave the signal for the wire to be taken up. The metal clasps were heavy enough that letting them swing freely could be a danger to both her and the man she was trying to save.
She was only three metres away from him and his slowed swimming speed meant she could easily catch him. Pushing the lifebuoy ahead of her, she relied on her own torp for floatation. Kate was certain that the rescue victim had spotted her. If nothing else, the thunder of the chopper low above should have had him raising his head, but he still continued on regardless.
The boys had been maintaining radio silence as they were giving her enough time to assess the situation, but she could still clearly hear their warnings in her head.
Kate stayed out of arm’s length as she attempted to push the life buoy into the path of the swimmer, but again she didn’t get any response. Kate knew the protocol but she also knew that she didn’t want to be swimming within metres of a man drowning, so she made the only connection she could by getting closer and reaching out her hand to try and push the lifebuoy over his head.
For a second, the swimmer raised his head and she thought maybe that contact would be enough to potentially get him to seek the buoyancy device that would save him. However, looking into his eyes, pupils dilated, she soon knew she was wrong.
He reached out, but instead of going for the buoy he went for her. Kate had been trained to stay out of arm’s length of drowning victims because they sometimes clung and endangered the lifesaver. This was different, she realized, as she felt the sharp stab of pain of him hitting her with a closed fist.
The force of his blow wrenched back Kate’s head. It seemed like his anger had given him a new rush of energy. She struggled to swim backwards getting out of his grasp, but whatever drug he had ingested had given him enough strength to hang onto her arm.
His painful grip on her moved from her arm to her neck, as he shoved her face forward into the water. With the lifesaving torp providing some uplift, he couldn’t push her completely under, but he seemed intent on stopping her breathing. Face first in the water there wasn’t much she could do. Kate had enough medical training to know that it was possible to drown in just an inch of water. In this moment, that seemed to be her destiny.
Somehow, the waterproofed earpiece had stayed in her ear and she could hear Andrew scream at her, ‘Fuck it Kate, fight back, hang on.’
The pain was intense and, for some long moments, Kate panicked. She inhaled salt water and felt the ache as he struck her throat and the water choked her. Andrew’s words shocked her into action and she kicked out with all her strength. Her legs connected and thankfully must have done enough damage for the bastard to release her throat.
Gulping in the lifesaving air, Kate concentrated on getting away. A kick to her abdomen and scrape of nails across her face barely registered as she fought for her life.
Thankfully, she had the advantage of flippers that her attacker lacked. Long practice in the water got her first one metre, then two metres, away.
‘I’m coming down next to you,’ said Andrew, through her earpiece. ‘Try and be ready to reach for me.’
There was enough churning of the water around her that Kate struggled to get orientated. The fear that she would be dragged under the water again was a beast, but she had enough presence of mind to grasp her harness, ready to latch on.
‘I’ve got you,’ Andrew said, as his arms locked around her.
Kate turned into him, and felt the security as he clipped her in.
‘I’ve got you,’ he repeated.
The pull of the wire lifting her from the water had never felt so welcome. Kate could barely react even as Ben pulled her into the chopper’s doors.
Andrew manhandled her into the chopper’s stretcher. ‘How much water did you take in?’ he asked, even as he pushed her into a position where he could unzip her wetsuit.
Kate made an experimental sound in her throat, then controlled her voice enough to ask, ‘What can we do to save him?’
Andrew’s voice was brutal in reply. ‘He can try and keep his arse afloat for the next ten minutes until the jet-boat arrives. Maybe once his lungs start filling with fluid, he might decide to grab the buoy. What I’m concerned with now is how much bloody water did you take in?’
If Kate hadn’t been dazed in shock, she might have objected to the brutally efficient examination Andrew was making of her. Wrenching her wetsuit undone, he got the cold metal of the stethoscope to her chest.
‘Andrew, do we need to get her to hospital? I could drop a float that would allow the lifesavers to find him, dead or alive,’ asked Joe.
‘I’m here, I’m fine,’ said Kate, finally getting enough energy to brace herself upright.
Everyone seemed to ignore her statement as Andrew continued talking. ‘I don’t think she’s taken enough water to be an immediate risk of secondary drowning. I’ll put her on oxygen and we can wait.’
Andrew didn’t seem to be worried about her consent as he looped the oxygen mask onto her face. She could hear him curse as he stripped off the top of his own still dripping flight suit. He certainly hadn’t been appropriately attired to enter the water today.
‘Hold this over your eye,’ he said, giving her a wad of gauze. It was only then that Kate realized that some of the moisture running down her face was blood.
Her throat felt unbearably swollen and she had to concentrate on getting the breath to her lungs. That was probably why she didn’t see Andrew taking the scissors to her wetsuit until it was too late.
She moved her oxygen mask to one side. ‘Margo will get you for this. Do you know how much this wetsuit costs?’
If she wanted to get a smile out of Andrew, she was on a mission doomed to failure. ‘The only thing I want you to talk to me about right now is what hurts.’
Having freed her of her wetsuit, he gently prodded her abdomen, arms and hips. The pain was sharp but nothing seemed broken. Kate wa
s shivering as the adrenaline wore off. When she went to sit up, Andrew didn’t stop her, wrapping her in the silver space blanket. His jaw was set in harsh lines but his touch was gentle.
Over a separate radio channel, she could hear Joe communicating with the jet-boat, ‘If you get him in the boat, you’ll want to restrain him. He almost killed a member of my crew.’
Leaning her head against the chopper window, she could see the man they were circling. His strokes seemed listless, but he was holding his own with the waves. She could now see the jet-boat in the distance; he was probably going to live, whether he wanted to or not.
The helicopter stayed in place, like a sentinel, guiding in the lifesavers. However, as soon as the jet-boat arrived, Joe swung the chopper to chart a course to base.
Ben must have seen the light of protest in her eyes. ‘Nothing we can do with a patient like that,’ he argued. ‘No-one is going up or down the wire, no point in staying just to watch the show.’
Kate closed her eyes. That rescue had gone so wrong, so fast. She could hear over the radio that they were going to be on the tarmac in minutes. It was bad enough that her crew had seen her get so physically overpowered; she didn’t want to look the victim in front of the rest of her colleagues.
‘He is not dead. They got him in the boat,’ Ben communicated. ‘It did take three guys to hold him down though. Whatever drug he’s on, it is not pretty.’
In five minutes, the crew had accomplished their mission. Kate was surprised at her own ambivalence but she kept silent, needing to compose herself before they got to ground.
Looking out the window as they landed, Kate could see that this incident wasn’t going to pass quietly. Every member of staff on shift was there, waiting. She could sense Andrew contemplating the stretcher.
‘I’m walking out of here,’ she said.
In the end, walking would have been an overstatement. With Andrew and Ben on each side, they supported her weight when her legs went to jelly on the solid ground.
Andrew’s aura of command was such that everyone kept their distance as he manoeuvred her inside. Kate smiled for Margo and the team, seeing their concern, but Andrew didn’t even allow for any words of reassurance.
Putting her down in the med supply room, Andrew immediately demanded, ‘Everybody out, I’ve got an examination to do.’
With the door closed and alone with Andrew, Kate’s shaking increased.
Andrew’s face softened as he wrapped an arm around her, the solid strength of his body warming her. ‘You are safe now, I’ve got you.’
All too soon, Andrew pulled away. ‘You’ve got to lie down for me to get a proper look at you,’ he said, as he gently swung her legs onto the table.
As he pulled at the top of her swimmers, Kate joked, ‘I don’t think either of us thought the next time you were undressing me, it would be at work.’
Andrew did crack a wry smile but didn’t break his concentration as he, again, listened to her heart and lungs. His examination was thorough; Kate let herself drift away, responding absently to the light he shone in her eyes and his questions about levels of pain.
His hands were quick and professional; his mask as a doctor was definitely on. When he had come to the end of his examination, he said, ‘You won’t need stitches on that cut but we better get it cleaned up.’
Washing saline over the wound, he put butterfly clips in place, and made his report. ‘You’ve almost certainly got broken ribs, severe bruising on your abdomen, a dangerous level of bruising on your throat, and mild concussion. You are going to have to go to the hospital.’
Kate already had realized that was going to be the course of action. ‘Can you at least let me get dressed and drive me there? I don’t need every medical professional in Cairns hearing about this drama.’
‘That ship has probably already sailed but we can do without the ambulance.’ Andrew took the time to tuck the space blanket around her before he opened up the door. From the barrage of questions that sounded, Kate figured the whole staff had been waiting.
‘She is going to be OK,’ he said, and Kate couldn’t help but believe him.
It was probably the unexpected nature of her silence that dimmed the voices of the rest of the helicopter staff. The building pressure in her neck was an incentive to rasp out as little as possible.
It was quiet enough for her to hear the staff discussion from across the room.
‘Margo, grab some clothes that aren’t going to be too tight and hard for us to access. She’ll need my trackpants and then you can raid Kate’s locker. I want her in a warm comfortable sweater, so you might have to beg, borrow and steal from the locker room.’
Andrew turned back to Kate and asked, in a low-pitched voice, ‘Would you prefer Margo or I to dress you?’
Kate actually wanted Andrew’s capable hands and reassuring presence. However, for the sake of gossip, she agreed that Margo would be fine.
Lying there waiting, Kate put her hand to her hairline and encountered the stickiness of half-dried blood. Andrew was right; there would be no getting away without a lot of fuss.
When Margo came back with a bundle of clothes, she hurried everyone out of the room.
‘The boys assure me that all of these are clean,’ she said, as she helped Kate to sit up.
Kate had to be almost dressed like a child. The big fleece hoodie, recognisably from Ben’s locker, provided much needed warm. And she had to admit that Andrew’s oversized trackpants would certainly be more comfortable than her own heavy denim jeans.
Three hours later, lying in the Cairns Base Hospital Emergency Department, Kate looked over to where Andrew was sitting slumped in the visitor’s chair beside her hospital bed. ‘You should head back to base,’ she said. ‘The nurses will look after me here.’
The man hadn’t left her side, barely allowing the emergency room registrar to examine her. He had even remained present during her scans, overruling the radiologist and keeping himself busy with second-to-second primary updates of her results.
‘The guys at base know I’m not flying out for the rest of the day,’ Andrew replied. ‘To be honest, if I had left you here alone they might just beat my toffee-nosed face up.’
Kate would have managed a more genuine smile if the side of her face didn’t hurt so damn much.
‘Can you get me another water?’ she asked, as much to get a minute alone as for genuine thirst.
However, solitude didn’t look a viable option. Andrew had barely slipped away through the curtains when Reid put his head in.
‘Sorry sweetie,’ he said, visibly wincing at the state of her face. ‘The doctor said you might be OK to make a quick statement.’
Reid settled in the chair that Andrew had vacated. ‘Do you want me to call Lucy to bring you anything from home?’ he asked, as he pulled out his notebook.
However, before he could ask any questions, Andrew came back with an attitude that was terminally pissed off. ‘You have got to be kidding me. It is bad enough that the man who did this to her is being treated seven beds away. I can tell you what happened, a man tried to murder her while we watched.’
There was a crack in Andrew’s voice that she had never heard before.
Reid must have realized how close he was to the edge, as he put up his arm in a conciliatory gesture. ‘We’ve got two officers guarding him, so I can assure you that Kate is safe from any further harm. If I can have just a few minutes with Kate now, I won’t have to bother her for the next few days.’
‘It’s fine,’ Kate insisted. She had worked with district hospitals enough to realize the man who attacked her was probably being treated here as well. One incident, one town, one hospital. That was the rural Australian way and there was no getting around the practicalities of it.
After Reid left, with his basic questions answered, Kate asked the question that she had been too afraid to ask before. ‘What’s the patient’s status?’
She knew Andrew would have made it his business to know
and furthermore wouldn’t patronize her by refusing to disclose another patient’s medical state.
‘He is in much better shape than you. They sedated him in the ambulance and he has no major injuries. They will keep him here for a psych hold and figure out if it was drug-induced psychosis or if he is just a mean mad bastard. Whatever, the good news is they have handcuffed him to the bed, so he won’t be getting near you.’
There was really nothing much to reply. She was only glad that she didn’t have his death on her conscience.
Andrew stood to receive her test results when they came in. ‘Your lungs are mostly clear which almost completely rules out any chance of secondary drowning. No broken bones apart from those two ribs, mild concussion, but I’m still worried about your neck injuries swelling up further and obstructing your airway, so they will want to keep you in for observation.’
‘I’m going home,’ said Kate.
She was definite on that fact. Sympathy from her colleagues at her beaten up face and body was something she wasn’t interested in. Not when she’d worked so hard for their respect.
‘Didn’t you hear what I said? A bleed on the brain or losing the ability to breathe are pretty serious potential complications. It isn’t like there is a DIY treatment plan for patients at home.’
‘You know if I stay here, I’ll have so many people dropping in I’ll never get a moment to rest. Anyway I live next door to a doctor, you can check on me in the morning.’
‘If I agree to take you home, you can be sure I’ll be moving in, not dropping in for a check-up.’
Kate could see it in his face that her argument had already been won.
Chapter Fourteen
Andrew’s chest actually ached as he watched Kate’s bruised face turn towards the sun. Her eyes were closed, as she was sitting as a passenger in his four-wheel-drive.
He pulled out his mobile and put in a call to the resort. ‘We’ll be arriving in five.’
Pulling into the driveway, he was glad to see that Lucy had come prepared. Reid had broken the news of Kate’s accident to her and it had been all Andrew could do to insist that she didn’t make the trip to the hospital herself.
Rescue Nights Page 13
