The Outback Doctor

by Lucy Clark

  ‘Trust me, Rosie. I won’t let you down.’

  He gazed down into her eyes and she realised he wasn’t just talking about the retrieval.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE entire time Rose was abseiling down into the dark hole, caving helmet with a light secured firmly to her head, all she concentrated on was the sound of Dave’s voice. He was constantly encouraging her, telling her it was only a little bit further, and before she knew it, she stretched her foot and felt the ground beneath her.

  She sagged with relief.

  ‘Well done. Right,’ Dave said into his walkie-talkie. ‘Send Penny down next and then the stretcher.’ He turned to look at her, keeping the light from his helmet out of her eyes. ‘Unhook your rope, like I showed you, then come carefully this way,’ he instructed. He shuffled to the left and as Rose turned her head to survey the cavern, she was surprised to find it bigger than she’d expected.

  ‘Quite large, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He knelt down beside their patients who were both currently unconscious. ‘That’s why I told everyone to clear the area above us. The last thing we need is another cave-in.’

  Rose shuddered at his words.

  ‘Don’t think about it. We’ll be fine.’

  There it was again. That reassuring tone she was coming to know so well.

  ‘I’ve done a quick check. Shenae, who is fourteen, has fractured both her legs and possibly her pelvis. It looks as though she was first down.’

  ‘You know these people?’ Rose asked in amazement.

  ‘Of course. This part of the country may be large in area, but as far as the population goes we’re actually quite small. Her brother, Ian, is sixteen, and it looks as though he might have fallen on top of her when he came down, which is why I’m concerned about her pelvis. Penny will probably want to take both of them back to Adelaide with her but let’s get them stabilised first.’

  ‘Right.’ Rose checked Shenae’s pulse and blood pressure before roughly calculating her height and weight. Dave was doing the rest of the observations, constantly calling to both patients, hoping they’d soon regain consciousness.

  ‘I don’t like Shenae’s blood pressure,’ Dave said. ‘If her pelvis is fractured, like I suspect, then she could have a multitude of internal injuries.’

  ‘I’ll put an IV line in and start the saline going.’

  ‘Good.’ They worked well together and with the arrival of Penny, the small cavern started to feel crowded. Rose forced herself to relax and concentrate on the patients.

  ‘You know what they say,’ Penny joked. ‘Three’s a crowd.’ She laughed but her hands were busy the entire time, feeling bones and making diagnoses. ‘Shenae’s pelvis doesn’t feel too good.’

  Rose watched as Penny looked at Dave. They exchanged a glance that was full of meaning. Rose had seen it before—a concerned look often passed between surgeons who were worried about their patients. It made her wonder how long Penny and Dave had been working together. She knew Penny lived in Adelaide and only came to Broken Hill once a week for an orthopaedic clinic and operating session, but there seemed to be…something more between them. She’d noted that Penny didn’t wear any rings on her fingers but, then, she’d only seen Penny in Theatre prior to this. She wondered whether the pretty orthopaedic surgeon had designs on Dave. Rose felt her stomach twist and it had nothing to do with the confines of the space they were in.

  Rose had finished inserting the IV lines in both patients, and shortly after she’d done Ian’s he started to moan.

  ‘Ian?’ Dave called. ‘It’s Dave. Everything’s going to be all right, mate.’

  ‘Ow.’ Ian continued to moan and Rose didn’t blame him. The poor kid had been through the wringer.

  ‘Take it easy,’ Dave continued. ‘We’re going to give you something for the pain.’ He nodded at Rose who took her cue. She drew up an injection of morphine and administered it. Ian’s face relaxed within seconds.

  ‘He’s fractured his left femur, left tib and fib,’ Penny rattled off. ‘Right tib and fib and I don’t like the look of his right olecranon. Does he need anything else, Rose, or will the morphine be enough for me to straighten out that elbow?’

  ‘He should be fine.’

  ‘Ian?’ Penny said, and explained what she was about to do. Rose had used Ian’s left arm for the IV, noting that the right elbow was at an odd angle. Thank goodness Penny had still been around when this call had come in.

  Once Ian’s elbow was back in a more normal position, Rose and Penny manoeuvred him onto the stretcher and secured him with the straps. He’d need to be taken out vertically but the stretchers were well equipped to hold the patient firmly so he didn’t sustain further injuries in the process.

  ‘Ready to move,’ Penny said into the walkie-talkie, after Dave had quickly checked the ropes and knots. ‘I’ve only done this sort of thing a few times,’ Penny confided to Rose. ‘Dave here seems to do it all the time.’

  Dave was now crouching back by Shenae’s side. ‘Part of being an outback surgeon,’ he replied. ‘Penny, I’m not at all happy with Shenae’s situation.’ All three of them crowded around the patient. ‘Her blood pressure still isn’t good, despite the saline.’

  ‘Open?’ Penny asked.

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Midazolam,’ Rose responded, and administered the short-acting sedative. She hooked a stethoscope on so she could monitor Shenae’s heartbeat. Without all of her usual equipment, Rose knew she was going to have to do things the old-fashioned way.

  Penny and Dave prepared Shenae for an abdominal incision. They’d pulled on sterile surgical attire and draped Shenae as best they could.

  ‘I’m just going to find the offending artery and suture it off,’ Dave mumbled from beneath his mask. ‘Then we’ll get her out of here. If we don’t…’ He raised his head, his gaze meeting Rose’s. She knew what he’d been about to say. They all did. This young girl was not in a good state. ‘Ready, Rosie?’

  ‘Ready,’ she replied, and watched as Dave made a neat incision into Shenae’s abdomen. Rose concentrated hard on her job for the duration of the operation. The seconds passed, ticking into minutes. Five minutes, ten minutes.

  ‘That’s the one,’ Dave said as he and Penny worked closely together. Due to the lack of light, it had taken longer than normal but, still, they’d found it. ‘All right. Let’s close her up and get a dressing on this wound so we can get out of here. How’s she doing, Rosie?’

  Rose performed the neurological and neurovascular obs. ‘Picking up nicely.’

  ‘That’s what I want to hear,’ he mumbled as he concentrated on what he was doing. ‘Rosie always tells me what I want to hear.’ His tone was laced with humour and right now all three of them could use some.

  ‘Is that so?’ Penny queried with interest, her eyes gleaming with laughter as she glanced at Rose.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Rose agreed. ‘I say things like, “Patient is anaesthetised, Doctor,” and, “Patient is stabilised.”’

  Penny laughed. ‘Those are the types of words I like to hear from my anaesthetists as well.’

  ‘Must be a surgeon thing, then,’ Rose said and Dave’s rich laughter filled the cavern.

  As they continued preparing Shenae for the stretcher, Rose decided grudgingly that she liked Penny. So what if the other woman was interested in Dave? Dave was nothing to Rose—except a colleague. She glanced at him and felt her stomach twist into knots again. A colleague she found attractive, she amended honestly.

  They waited until Shenae had been transferred to the surface before a rope ladder was hung over the opening of the hole and lowered down to them.

  Some dirt and small rocks tumbled down the hole as well and Rose gasped in fright, flattening herself against the wall. ‘It’s all right, Rosie,’ Dave crooned as he quickly went to her side. He placed his arm around her shoulder, but as more small rocks and dirt started to fall, she buried her head into his shoulder, knocking her helmet
off.

  Dave grabbed the walkie-talkie with his free hand. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked.

  No response.

  He waited before calling again. ‘Keep away from the opening.’

  More rocks started to come down and they were getting bigger. Dave pulled himself away from Rose as he helped Penny finish packing up their equipment. Rose whimpered but couldn’t move. The tears, the fears—they were all starting to threaten her resolve. She could hear Dave’s muffled tones as he spoke on the walkie-talkie but she couldn’t listen any more.

  She shut her eyes and put her fingers in her ears, trying to block out the loud pounding noise, and only belatedly realised it was her own heartbeat. The smell of the dirt filled her nostrils. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she drew her legs even closer to her chest, her body trembling with fear.

  ‘Rosie?’ Dave’s arms were back around her, holding her. Cradling her. His hand stroked her hair, comforting. The sobs started to rack her body, her breath coming in gasps.

  ‘Paper bag?’ he said to Penny. ‘She’s hyperventilating.’

  ‘Claustrophobia?’ Penny queried as she searched through the medical kits. ‘I’ve got sutures, IV lines, saline, drugs, but no paper bag!’

  Dave processed this information before turning his attention to Rose. ‘Rosie? Sweetheart? You need to take some deep breaths. Come on, you can do it.’ Dave demonstrated by taking deep breaths himself. ‘You need to slow it down.’ He felt Rose move beneath his arms. ‘That’s it, sweetheart, and another one. Nice and big. That’s right. Keep going.’

  Rose blocked out everything—everything except the sound of Dave’s voice and the strength of his arms securely around her.

  ‘Fantastic. You’re doing a fantastic job.’ He kissed the top of her head as she took another deep breath. She slowly lifted her head to look at him, her frightened blue eyes telling him how hard this was for her to do. ‘And another. That’s it.’ He brushed his lips across hers. ‘You did it. You did it.’

  Rose heaved a heavy sigh and collapsed against him. ‘Penny, see how the opening looks now,’ he instructed. ‘We need to get Rosie out of here.’

  ‘It’s stopped.’

  ‘Check the ladder.’

  ‘Feels strong.’

  Dave spoke into the walkie-talkie. ‘How’s things up there now?’

  ‘Stabilised.’

  ‘Beauty. Rosie’s coming up.’

  ‘No.’ Rose shook her head.

  ‘Yes, sweetheart.’ Dave bent and helped her over to the opening, placing her helmet back on her head. ‘You can do it. The sooner you get out, the better you’re going to feel. Just concentrate on where you’re putting your feet and your hands on the ladder. That’s what you need to focus on, Rosie. Can you do that for me?’ While he’d been speaking, he’d hooked her abseiling rope back to the D-clamp attached to her harness.

  He was nodding encouragingly and she copied it. ‘That a girl.’ He placed her hands onto the ladder. ‘Up you go, Rosie. You’ve done an incredible job and all you need to do now is carefully climb your way out. Nothing to it,’ he said more softly in her ear.

  She could feel the warmth of his chest pressing into her back. ‘Take a deep breath and let it out, nice and slow. You can do this, Rosie.’ Rose was glad he felt so positive because right now she wondered how on earth she was supposed to find the strength to even move, let alone climb a swinging, unstable rope ladder.

  She nodded, knowing her vocal cords would definitely fail her should she attempt speech. Doing as he’d said, she took a firm grip on the ladder with both hands and hauled herself up. The slight swaying sensation made her feel ill and for a second all thought was gone. The fears started to swamp her again and she wondered how she would ever get out of this tiny hole when she could barely see the light at the top.

  ‘You can do it, Rosie.’ Dave’s encouraging words broke through her haze and she forced her body to carry out the instructions her brain was sending. After what seemed like an eternity, she was at the top and being helped up the last bit by two of the rescue party.

  ‘Well done, Doc,’ one of the men said.

  Rose managed to control her shaking legs until she’d checked on the status of her patients before crumbling to the ground in relief. A few sobs worked their way up and she let them bubble over. She’d done it. It was over. She sat forward and stuck her head between her knees, hoping the light-headedness would pass quickly. She needed to be in control. She had patients to attend to but the feeling that she’d been spun around and shot into space refused to leave her.

  She supposed she should be extremely proud of what she’d done. She’d flown in a light aircraft and had been in a very confined space. Part of her wanted to jump for joy at what she’d accomplished but she seriously lacked the energy.

  The other part wanted to close her eyes and wake to find it had all been a horrible nightmare but, then, Dave’s kisses could never be classified as a nightmare. A dream? A hope? Oh, yes, but never a nightmare. Even though she told herself she didn’t really like him, even though they had next to nothing in common, he was a fantastic kisser and she couldn’t deny it.

  How long she sat there, she wasn’t sure. When she raised her head, it was to see Penny climbing out of the hole. Most of the medical equipment had been sent back up and the two patients were being closely monitored by the trained staff.

  Slowly, Dave materialised not long after Penny, and Rose watched as the orthopaedic surgeon spoke animatedly with him. She could hear the excitement in Penny’s voice but couldn’t decipher exactly what she was saying. In the next instant, Penny had flung her arms around Dave’s neck and pressed her lips to his.

  Rose felt as though she’d been physically hit.

  Bile rose in her throat and her head started to spin again. Did Dave go around kissing all the women he worked with? Disgust, not only with him but with herself, came hard on the heels of jealousy. She should have known better. Anyone who kissed as well as he did, who could make a woman forget everything around her, didn’t get to be that good without a lot of practice.

  As Penny disengaged herself from him and headed over to the patients, Dave turned his head and met Rose’s gaze across the crowded patch of land. Even though it was now well into the evening, the stars that were out and the half-moon giving them some light, Rose knew his gaze was boring into her soul.

  Finally, after long seconds, he broke away. He mumbled something to someone before heading in her direction.

  ‘Hey, how are you feeling?’ His voice was soft and caring, and Rose clenched her jaw, determined not to succumb to his charms any more.

  ‘Fine.’

  He stared at her for a moment, his gaze narrowing slightly at her clipped tone. ‘Good. Glad to hear it.’ He reached out a hand to rest it on her forehead but Rose jerked away from him. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing.’ She stood as though to prove her point, hoping her legs didn’t let her down. ‘I presume we’ll be heading back a.s.a.p.?’

  ‘Uh, yeah.’ Dave frowned at her. ‘You sure everything’s all right?’

  ‘Fine.’ With that, she headed back to the patients. ‘Status?’ she asked, and received a full report from the nurses. It was a few seconds before she realised Dave had followed her and was listening intently to everything that was being said. Rose was having a hard time controlling her unwanted emotions towards him. He stood close beside her and she could feel the warmth emanating from his body. She was cross with herself for being so aware of him. It wasn’t fair, especially when Penny moved to stand on the other side of him.

  ‘Something wrong, Rose?’ Carrie asked.

  Rose was stunned for a moment. ‘No. No everything’s fine.’

  ‘You were just frowning so hard at what I was saying I thought something must be wrong.’

  ‘No. Just tired,’ Rose offered quickly. ‘It’s been a very…stressful night.’

  ‘Then let’s head back to the hospital,’ Dave directed. Each of the utes
had a patient in the back tray. ‘Rosie and I will go with Shenae. Penny, you and Carrie go with Ian.’

  ‘Right,’ Penny and Carrie replied.

  ‘See you at the airstrip,’ Dave called with a wave as he climbed in the ute next to Shenae. ‘Up you get, Rosie. This part of the journey isn’t so bad.’

  Rose merely nodded and set about checking Shenae’s vital signs and the saline drip. Once they were on their way and both were satisfied with Shenae’s condition, Dave sat down next to the stretcher, resting one arm along the side of the ute.

  ‘You’ve done such a wonderful job,’ he told her.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You sure you’re feeling all right? You’re acting really weird.’

  ‘Tired,’ Rose corrected.

  ‘So do you always speak in monosyllables when you’re tired?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I see.’ There wasn’t much he could say to that and for a while neither of them spoke. Both concentrated on Shenae until they were closer to the airstrip. ‘How do you think you’ll do, going back in the plane?’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Well, if you want to hold my hand or lean on my shoulder, just let me know,’ he said with a forced smile.

  ‘Thanks.’ Again her tone was clipped and she couldn’t look at him when she spoke. She was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up her anger when he was being so darned charming and considerate. He’s not your type, he’s not your type, she kept repeating to herself.

  ‘Rosie…’ The ute came to a gentle stop. ‘Take a deep breath and you’ll be fine.’

  Rose knew it was going to take more than a deep breath to wash away the feelings of his betrayal. It was quite ridiculous when she thought about it. He’d never indicated they were an item or anything special. All he’d done was to kiss her a few times—that was all. Why couldn’t she get past this?

  ‘Thanks.’

  She concentrated on getting the patients transferred to the plane, ignoring the sickening sensation as she climbed aboard. Knowing she could focus on the patients helped dramatically and that was precisely what she did, never once looking directly into Dave’s eyes and only speaking to him when absolutely necessary.