It was a battle he wasn’t going to win at this moment. The RFDS plane was in the air now. ‘Let’s go, then.’
They were on the road within half an hour and Rory picked up the speed a bit because he had no patient to be bounced around in the back and Kate safely beside him in the front.
She hadn’t spoken a word since she’d buckled her seat belt and he had things to think about too. Like why she’d had such a crisis and been angry with him when he’d done nothing that he could see to cause her displeasure. He took a stab in the dark, which seemed appropriate because the sky had suddenly become grey with threatened rain.
‘Have you had a bad experience with a patient’s baby in the past, Kate?’ He glanced across at her and then back at the road. ‘Is that why you were upset at the homestead?’ It was all he could think of.
At first he thought she wasn’t going to answer but grudgingly the words came at the same time as a gust of wind rocked the truck. ‘You could say that.’
He tightened his hands on the wheel to keep the wheels in a straight line as he thought about her choice of words.
He knew all about bad cases at work. Emotional debris from other people’s lives and disasters. Especially the good people it seemed to happen to. Maybe this was what’d changed her. He could understand that. ‘Can you talk about it?’
She turned to look at him and he could see she’d erected a sheer wall like the steep-sided gorges that ran with water at the side of the road. The gorges had taken millions of years to form. He wondered how long that wall had taken to evolve in Kate.
She sighed and began, but her lack of expression was as eerie as the strange light they were driving through. ‘The baby’s mother had pregnancy induced hypertension the same as Lucy. Our dash with Lucy brought it all back to me.’
He nodded. ‘I can understand that. Want to tell me about it?’
‘No.’ She stared at the road in front and he bit back a sigh. And waited. After a few minutes’ silence he deliberately didn’t break she did begin. ‘They flew the mother out to Perth…’ her voice trailed off ‘…but it was too late for the baby in the end. The placenta separated, she bled and the baby died.’
Rory could tell she needed to talk about it. He’d learnt that over the years in his job. The hard way. ‘So did you go all the way with them? What happened to the mother?’
‘Oh, I was there.’ He thought for a moment she was going to cry and he had the urge to stop her from telling more. Protect her from the grief she’d bottled up, but maybe she’d never get over it if she didn’t speak about it now.
Maybe he was the only person she could tell. His voice was only loud enough so she could hear over the wind. ‘Go on if you can.’
‘She was young like Lucy and quite sick for the next week. You know what they did? They never showed her the baby. By the time she was well enough to realise what had happened it was too late and she never saw her baby. They told her to forget it ever happened.’
‘Monsters,’ he muttered, and Kate nodded and he realised he must have said it out loud.
‘You’d hate that happening to any patient,’ he said and tried to imagine the ramifications for the young mother. ‘No wonder you were upset.’
Kate nodded again and he saw the shine of tears in her eyes before she turned away. He’d bet there was more. The case had obviously affected Kate heavily. He knew ambulance personnel who’d had a series of similar cases that built up inside and then one last bad one could paralyse with grief and regret.
‘And that’s why you agreed to transfer Lucy? Because you were scared that would happen again?’
‘To make sure it didn’t happen again.’ She flicked a glance at him and he winced at the hunted expression in her eyes. ‘I don’t want to talk about it any more.’
He wasn’t satisfied but backed off and then they rounded a corner and suddenly the world intruded again. It seemed it had a habit of doing that.
They nearly ploughed into a long-wheelbase luxury camper that had skidded and come to rest diagonally across the road in front of them. With their side of the road blocked and reluctant to brake too heavily in the greasy conditions, Rory aimed for the gap on the other side of the road.
He steered between the rock of the mountain they were circling, careered past the vehicle before he could slow the truck enough to stop without skidding, then pulled back onto their side of the road and slid to a halt.
He looked across at Kate to make sure she was safe and for the first time in a long time there was an animated expression on her face.
‘Not bad, sir. Maybe I’m glad I’m not driving.’
‘High praise indeed from you.’ He grinned at her and she grinned back and the sudden rush of joy that blossomed inside him warned of danger and he tried to damp it down. Then the smile ran away from her face and he was sad to see it go because he’d felt as if they’d bonded briefly in that moment of relief.
Then again, that way lay pain and he’d have to stop putting himself out there for the hits. He looked away to the camper. ‘Let’s see if they’re okay.’
Kate slid from the truck onto the muddy roadside and it felt as if she’d just escaped from prison. She couldn’t believe she’d started to talk about her loss, even if she’d hidden behind her fictitious patient.
The mire sucked at her boots as she crossed the road and she realised the driver of the van was knee-deep in mud behind the bus. The rear wheels were buried as he tried to manoeuvre what looked like plastic planks down to drive out over. His face was covered in smears and stripes of red slimy soil, as were most of his clothes. He didn’t look too happy about it.
Kate mentally shrugged. He would have been more unhappy if they’d hit him. A little mud wouldn’t kill him.
‘I’m sorry,’ the man said. ‘I asked her to stand at the corner and wave people down but she was too busy telling me how stupid I am.’ He glared at the open door of the Winnebago before he looked back at them. ‘I can’t do anything with her.’
Kate turned to see a diminutive brunette, beautifully dressed and made-up, poke her head out of the door. The woman limped theatrically onto the top step with her red-tipped fingernails resting on her hips and waited for maximum effect before she stepped gingerly down another rung. Still safe above the layer of plebeian mud, she bestowed an overjoyed smile on Rory. ‘Well, if it isn’t Rory McIver.’
‘Oh, Lord.’ Kate heard Rory’s muttered comment as she turned to look at him but his face was bland. He avoided Kate’s unspoken question by looking at the other woman. ‘Hello, Sybil,’ he said.
Sybil’s appearance was so incongruous—she was dressed for a shopping expedition rather than a bush road trip—followed by Sybil’s tone of voice when she’d addressed Rory, that Kate couldn’t think of a thing to say. It shouldn’t matter that Rory knew this woman or that he wasn’t comfortable with meeting her here; what mattered was that some other vehicle didn’t career around the corner and collect the lot of them.
Kate shook her head at the delay. ‘We’ve hazard signs in the ambulance. I’ll put them out on each corner and hopefully nobody else will have to steer for their life.’
With a narrow look at Rory, which confirmed that he actually seemed relieved she was going, Kate squelched her way in disgust to the rear of their vehicle and opened the back. Now who the heck was Sybil? And just how well did she know Rory McIver?
Kate ground her teeth. Well, what did she expect? She hadn’t seen him since he’d left Jabiru ten years ago and just because she’d been miserable didn’t mean he had to be the same. As far as he was concerned, he hadn’t lost a baby and had to claw himself back to sanity.
Rory watched Kate yank the signs from the back of the truck and sighed. He turned back to the job at hand. The sooner they were out of here the better, for lots of reasons.
‘Why couldn’t you be sensible like that lady?’ the man said peevishly.
Sybil laughed. ‘Don’t be silly, Philip. Look at the cost. She’s filthy like you
already.’
Rory flicked a glance at Sybil before he made his way over to Philip. ‘Watch it, Sybil. Kate and I can easily drive away and leave you.’
‘But I need you to look at my ankle, and you wouldn’t do that, Rory. I know you.’ There was a world of meaning in her words and Rory couldn’t help glancing to see if Kate had heard. His heart sank when he saw her toss her hair as she stomped up the road with a sign. Yep. Explanations later, though.
Rory declined to answer Sybil and glanced at the dark sky. At least it had stopped raining for the moment. ‘So what’s your plan? Philip, is it? I’m Rory.’ Rory held out his hand and Philip wiped his palm on a reasonably clean piece of shirt and shook Rory’s hand ruefully.
‘I was going to use these board things I found in the back. Apparently they’re the best thing out for this, but if you’ve ideas I’m happy to listen. This whole trip—’ he glared at the door Sybil had disappeared through ‘—was a bad idea.’
‘Not your idea, I gather?’
‘We’re supposed to be going to the diamond mines. I wanted to fly but she wanted to drive through some town called Jabiru on the way. I was pretty happy up until an hour ago when she turned into a petulant witch.’
‘That’s Sybil for you.’ Rory turned and measured with a glance the distance to the other side of the road and the logistics of the ambulance simply pulling them out. ‘There isn’t enough room for us to pull you forward, though if we slew sideways we might leave you worse off. Your vehicle’s heavy.’
He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. ‘We’ll winch you forward from one of the trees across the road; that’s the safest. The problem is you’ll be facing the wrong way when we finish. You’ll have to turn around up the road if you want to come back this way.’
‘I’m happy to head back to Derby and Broome. I don’t suppose the road gets better this way?’
‘Only worse with river crossings.’
‘Let’s do what you suggest.’ Philip narrowed his eyes at the camper. ‘She’s not getting her pink diamond now, anyway.’
‘If you’ll take some advice, don’t tell her that until Broome or your trip will be hell.’
Phillip laughed. ‘You really do know her.’
Rory raised his eyebrows. ‘I’ve paid my dues.’
Kate came back and helped with the reversing and soon the whole road was churned by their efforts. Kate could feel her tenuous hold on her temper begin to slip. At the edge of her vision Sybil limped dramatically on the dry side of the road as she tried to distract Rory. Everything seemed to be taking forever.
Kate didn’t want a night beside the road with Rory, was terrified of it, in fact, yet the afternoon was slipping away.
Finally they managed to winch the vehicle free but by the time they were finished everyone, except Sybil, was covered in mud.
‘Now can you look at my ankle, Rory?’ Sybil’s plaintive voice broke into the feeling of accomplishment the workers were finally savouring.
Kate turned her back so she didn’t have to watch. She squashed down the ignoble voice that suggested she whisper to Rory not to wash his hands first. Why should she care about Rory looking after a woman from his past? She was glad he’d had a life. She should’ve had one herself.
Ten minutes later Rory and Kate were back on the road. ‘How was poor Sybil’s dreadful ankle?’ Kate said and she didn’t even care that her sarcasm made Rory raise his eyebrows.
‘Only slightly swollen.’
‘What a surprise.’ Kate was steaming. ‘And they’ve made us even later. It’s almost dark.’
Rory wondered if her irritation was even a little out of proportion to the crime. The thought made him smile. ‘We couldn’t leave them stranded.’
Kate shook her head in disgust. ‘She could have done something to help.’
‘Some people are purely decorative. That’s Sybil.’ His sanity-saving mistake from the past.
Kate stared as if she didn’t know him and she jammed one hand on her hip as she turned. ‘How handy for decorative people. Wish I’d thought to be purely decorative.’
‘You were pretty decorative ten years ago.’
She tossed her hair. ‘I’ve changed, thank goodness.’ She glared out of the front of the vehicle as they drove along. ‘So where do you know her from?’
‘Sybil? From Sydney, more than a few years ago. She helped me when I was having a bad time.’ Like not long after I’d been dumped by you. ‘I worked in a nightclub on my days off and she was going out with the owner. Then she looked me up again in Perth.’
‘How nice for both of you. Spending quality time together. Well, it seems she was going to look you up in Jabiru. You must have made an impression on her.’
Knowing Sybil, she was much more devious than that, he thought. What would Kate think when he told her? There was a lot at stake here and she didn’t see it. He’d been so in love with Kate he couldn’t contemplate a relationship with another woman. Had told Sybil so. And, being a woman, she’d dragged a few details out of him. She’d always had a knack for remembering the wrong things. What would Kate say? Especially as she seemed to have taken an instant dislike to the other woman.
‘Actually, I think she was looking for you.’
Kate turned a startled face towards him. ‘Why on earth would she do that?’
So Kate was still oblivious to the damage she’d caused him. It shouldn’t hurt after all this time but it did. He’d meant so little to her. He really didn’t want to have to spell it out.
He forced a smile and chose diversion in the ridiculous. ‘You’re not jealous, are you, Kate?’
Her lip practically curled. ‘Spare me.’
He really did have to laugh at her disgust. He’d known she wasn’t, of course, but no harm in wishing. He went on to explain. ‘When I first met Sybil I may have used you as the excuse for not being married already.’ To hell with it; he’d just say it. ‘I said I’d left my heart in Jabiru. I didn’t mention your name.’
He waited for her to comment on that, say she was sorry, even laugh at the idea, but she didn’t say anything and he wasn’t sure if that was good or bad so he concentrated on the road ahead and tried to forget he’d mentioned it.
After a few minutes when she still didn’t offer any comment he looked across briefly at this militant woman who bore so little resemblance to the young girl he’d left ten years ago. Consciously he moved on from his own neediness. ‘So what’s your excuse?’
Now she looked at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Why aren’t you married, Kate? Why are you still single and childless when obviously you were born to be a wife and mother?’
She didn’t even look at him. ‘I’m afraid that’s none of your business.’
He could have ground his teeth in frustration. How could she say that? Rory turned to look at her profile. ‘On the contrary, once it was very much my business.’
Unfortunately he’d had his eyes off the road far too long and when he glanced back he realised the evening shadows had hidden a muddy section deeply scored from previous vehicles.
He veered heavily to the left so that the ambulance swung towards the edge of the road and even climbed a little up the bank. For a moment he thought they were going to make it around the quagmire but the truck slid off the bank with a slurp, stabbed the thick tyre with a lethally pointed branch on the way and then the wheels inevitably slowed in the wet bull dust mire until the truck sank to the axles and stopped.
They wouldn’t get out of this in a hurry. Bloody hell.
‘Oh, that’s great,’ Kate said and crossed her arms with a pained sigh.
Strangely, her ill humour repaired his own. Actually, he’d done pretty well to avoid tipping the truck over. He looked at her for a moment and then said, ‘Thrilled about it, myself. Looks like you’ve got my company longer than you anticipated.’ Her behaviour reminded him of a much younger Kate and, despite her obvious irritation, the possibilities were in fact quite intriguing
now he thought about it.
‘Hmmph,’ Kate said. ‘You’re just lucky you’re not stuck here with Princess Sybil.’
‘I’d much rather be here with you,’ he said, tongue stuck firmly in cheek. Kate glared at him and opened her door and he watched her jump down and stomp off.
CHAPTER SIX
RORY climbed out and surveyed their predicament, then started to whistle just to annoy her. He’d been in worse spots and the old Kate had never sulked long. That was another of the things he’d loved about her.
The road was a challenge but, well-equipped as they were, it would only take time. Something they didn’t have much of before dark. He glanced around for a good place to camp.
A few minutes later Kate sidled up to him and she didn’t quite meet his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Rory. I’m a cow.’
He grinned down at her. He remembered this Kate. Always brave enough to say when she’d been wrong. ‘Well, Daisy,’ he drawled—Daisy had been the house cow’s name when they were kids—‘we’d best winch our way out of this and set up camp back off the road. I’ll change tyres in the morning.’
Kate smiled warily back and Rory felt the lightest he’d felt all day. Just one smile and she had him. He was as weak as water when it came to resisting Kate. Not much had changed.
They worked steadily for the next forty minutes as the light slipped away around them. Finally they’d extricated the truck and shifted onto higher ground on the bank so they wouldn’t endanger any of the infrequent night travellers.
‘You did well not to tip over when we hit the mud.’ Kate shook her head as she watched him open the door to get out. She glanced at the offending wheel. ‘And that’s one flat tyre.’
Rory jumped down. ‘Only on the bottom,’ he said facetiously and glanced around. ‘I’ll fix it tomorrow. Let’s wash up and get the camp sorted.’
‘I’ve set up a basin and the water bag on that log. If you want to wash I’ll grab some wood for a fire.’
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