Daredevil, Doctor...Husband?

by Alison Roberts

  ‘You happy for Zac to winch you?’ Monty’s query sounded casual but this was the first time they’d been in a situation like this. In rough weather like this. Yes, Zac was winch trained but Summer would be putting her life in his hands.

  She caught Zac’s gaze, and even through the muting effect of the visor on his helmet she could see—or maybe sense—the anticipation of her response and, in that instant, a seemingly casual query became so much bigger than being simply about the job they were all doing.

  Did she trust Zac?

  She wanted to. She had never wanted to trust anybody this much. Not with her life because she did that every time she took on a tricky winching job and she was used to putting that kind of trust in her colleagues.

  No. This was about trusting a man with her heart and she’d never really done that before. But she wanted to. With Zac…

  Monty was hovering over the area where the felling accident had occurred. An ambulance was bouncing along the rough track and stopped with a cloud of dust billowing from beneath its wheels.

  ‘Let’s wait and see what the crew thinks. We’ve only had the first aider’s story so far.’

  The small reprieve in decision-making gave Summer the chance to let her mind go further down that secret pathway.

  She was more than a little bit in love with Zac Mitchell. Maybe it had started that night he’d winked at her across his grandmother’s table last week. Or maybe it had started even before that—when he’d called that frightened elderly woman ‘sweetheart’ on that first job they’d ever done together.

  The point of ignition didn’t really matter now, anyway. What did matter was what happened next. She might want to take that next—huge—step of trusting him completely but it was debatable whether she was capable of it. Summer had no experience of going that far in a relationship but a lot of experience in pushing people away when she sensed any kind of a threat. She’d learned how to do that a very long time ago, when she’d only been a teenager. When she’d pushed her previously beloved father completely out of her life. She’d pushed other men away too, when they started to get too close.

  That excuse of her career being more important wasn’t really the truth at all, was it? She’d always had that whisper of warning that came in her mother’s voice.

  You can never trust a man. No matter how much you love them, it’s never enough. They’ll break your heart. Break you…

  She was even pushing her best friend out of her life at the moment. There was a call she hadn’t returned and a text message she’d brushed off with a breezy response that gave nothing away. Kate had no idea what was going on in Summer’s life—that she was so far down the track of falling in love with the ‘monster’ who she believed had ruined her sister’s life. Summer wasn’t about to tell her, either. It was bad enough having the whisper of warning that was the haunting legacy her mother had left. Imagine adding the kind of poison that Kate couldn’t help but administer, given her loyalty to Shelley? It would meld with that warning and she would have to start wondering if she was being as blind as her mother had been when she’d fallen in love so completely with her father.

  That whole business with Shelley was a subject that she and Zac had put behind them by tacit consent and maybe she didn’t want to hear what Kate had to say, anyway, because she wanted to trust Zac so much. She’d never met anyone remotely like him before and she instinctively knew that the odds of it happening again were non-existent.

  This was her chance of finding out what it might be like. To be truly, utterly in love. And instinct was telling her more than how unique this situation was. Summer was also aware, on some level, that all it would require for her to take that final step of trust was to know that Zac felt the same way.

  Telling Monty that she was prepared to put her life in Zac’s hands on the end of the winch would have sent an unspoken response to that anticipation she’d sensed. It would have probably taken their newly forged bond to the next level—one that might have made it the right time to open their hearts a little further—but it wasn’t going to happen today.

  Another slow circuit in the blustery conditions and new information was available. The ground crew were going to scoop the patient and take him to the clearing. The patient was status two and was in respiratory distress but it wasn’t a crush injury from the falling tree, as first reported.

  It was far safer to land and preferable clinically, given that this was a chest injury and Zac could do more than any paramedic, but Summer was aware of a flash of disappointment. Had she wanted to publicly demonstrate the level of trust she had in Zac? Wanted the deeper kind of bond that would come from tackling—and winning—a tough challenge like this?

  Never mind. It would no doubt come soon enough. And, in the meantime, they still had a challenge on their hands. A medical one.

  ‘It’s a penetrating wound,’ the paramedic shouted over the noise of the slowing rotors as Zac and Summer ran, still crouching, towards the ambulance. ‘The tree didn’t land on him but it looks like he got stabbed with a branch or something. He’s unresponsive. Now status one. Blood pressure’s crashed and he’s throwing off a lot of ectopics.’

  This was an immediately life-threatening injury and it sounded as if a cardiac arrest was imminent. They worked fast and closely together as Summer intubated the young forestry worker and got IV fluids running as Zac performed the procedure she’d seen him do in Emergency on her car accident victim with the tension pneumothorax. But opening the chest cavity wasn’t enough to allow the lungs to inflate, even when it had been done on both sides of the victim’s chest.

  ‘He’s arrested.’ Summer squeezed more oxygen in with the bag mask but this was looking hopeless. There was little point in starting external chest compressions when it was clear that there was some obstruction to the heart being able to fill and empty.

  ‘The wound’s within the nipple line on the left anterior chest.’ Zac sounded calm but his tone was grim. ‘It’s not a pleural obstruction so it has to be pericardial. I’m going to open the chest with a clam shell thoracotomy.’

  This was way beyond any procedure Summer could have performed. Beyond anything she’d seen in the emergency department, even. How confident would you have to be to actually open a chest in the field and expose a heart? But, if they didn’t do something drastic, this young man was about to die.

  Summer delegated the airway care to one of the ambulance paramedics so that she could work alongside Zac and pass him the necessary equipment. The sterilised strong scissors to extend the small opening that had been made in the hope of releasing trapped air or blood. The Gigli wire and forceps to cut through the breastbone. Rib spreaders to open the area and suction to clear it.

  And then she watched, in amazement, as Zac used two clips to raise a tent of the covering around the heart and then cut a tiny hole before extending it. He used his gloved hands to remove massive blood clots. They could see the heart but it was still quivering ineffectually rather than beating.

  Summer held her breath as Zac flicked the heart with his fingers. Once, then again, and she let her breath out in a sigh as she saw the heart contract. Fill and then contract again. She could feel the first effective beat as a pulse under her fingertips when she rested them on their patient’s neck and a beep on the monitor behind them confirmed that a rhythm had recommenced. A movement of the whole chest was a first attempt by their patient to take a breath of his own.

  Zac removed the rib spreaders and let the chest close.

  ‘We’ll put a sterile cover on this. We need to get him to Theatre stat.’

  It still seemed like too big an ask to get their patient to hospital alive but, by some miracle, that was exactly what they managed to do. And, thanks to that achievement, the young forestry worker emerged from Theatre several hours later to go into intensive care. Still alive and looking as though he was going to stay that way.

  It was all everyone could talk about, both in the emergency department of Auckland Genera
l and on the rescue helicopter base. It wasn’t the first time such a major procedure had been attempted out of hospital but it was the first time it had had a successful outcome. Summer had never felt so proud of the job she did. Proud of the service she worked for. Proud of Zac…

  ‘You’re amazing, you know that?’

  ‘So are you.’

  They were still on base. Being professional colleagues. Nobody had guessed how close they’d become out of work hours yet and they were happy to keep it that way so all they could do right now was to hold eye contact long enough to communicate that the mutual appreciation went a lot deeper than anything professional. They would go over every tiny detail of this case, probably later this evening, and discuss the pros and cons of every choice and try to identify anything they could have done better. Would do better, if they were ever faced with a similar situation. She loved that they shared a passion for the same work. Being able to debrief a case in detail with Zac was taking Summer’s clinical knowledge to a whole new level and she knew it was giving her an edge in her job that others were beginning to notice.

  Maybe that wasn’t the only thing that they were beginning to notice.

  ‘What about me?’ Monty sniffed. ‘It wasn’t exactly a ride in the park, flying in that weather, you know.’

  ‘We couldn’t have done it without you, mate.’ Zac gave the pilot’s shoulder a friendly thump as he went past. ‘You’re a legend.’

  ‘We’re all legends,’ Summer said. ‘How ‘bout a beer after work to celebrate?’

  ‘I’ve got a date already,’ Monty said. ‘You two go off on your own.’ He returned Zac’s friendly thump and grinned at Summer. ‘You know you want to.’

  ‘Um…’ Summer could feel her cheeks redden. ‘We just work well together.’

  ‘Yeah…right. So how come you suck all the oxygen out of the air for the rest of us when you stand around making sheep’s eyes at each other?’

  ‘Did he really say that we were making sheep’s eyes at each other?’

  ‘Mmm.’ Summer tilted her head to smile up at Zac. ‘I believe he did.’

  Zac grinned back and tightened his hold on Summer’s hand as he helped her over the boulders on the beach and back onto the track they were following. For a while, they were silent, enjoying the shade of the heavy canopy of native bush and the sounds of the bird-life they had come here to see.

  The journey itself had been a joy. Being on the road with Summer, seeing her bike in his rear-view mirror, taking the corners like a faithful shadow. Riding a bike on the open road was always a pleasure but it could feel lonely. Being out with someone else changed the experience.

  Being out with Summer Pearson changed everything. The sun seemed brighter. The smell of the sea as they stood outside on the ferry across to Tiritiri Matangi Island was fresher. Forgoing a guided tour so they could pretend they had the whole island to themselves had been a joint decision made with simply a heartbeat of eye contact. Walking hand in hand seemed like the most natural thing in the world. A pleasure shared being a pleasure doubled or something, maybe.

  ‘What, exactly, are sheep’s eyes?’

  ‘Oh…you know…looking at each other for a bit too long, I guess. Like there’s nobody else around.’

  ‘I’ve always thought sheep were not particularly intelligent creatures.’

  Summer laughed—a delicious ripple of sound that Zac immediately wanted to hear again.

  ‘Are we being stupid, do you think?’

  The glance he received was startled. ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘It’s not against the rules, is it? To get involved with a fellow crew member? A colleague?’

  Summer shook her head and her chuckle was rueful. ‘If it was, you’d all be in trouble in the emergency department, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘It’s a bit different on the choppers, though. Much tighter teams.’

  ‘We’re all adults. We get to make our own choices and deal with any consequences. The only trouble would be if you let something personal interfere with anything professional.’ Summer dropped his hand as she climbed up a set of narrow steps that was part of a boardwalk. ‘I’m surprised that anyone guessed about us so fast, though. I thought we were being really discreet.’

  ‘Apparently we suck all the oxygen out of the room.’ Zac’s tone was light but he knew exactly what Monty had been referring to. Sometimes, it felt that way when he was looking at Summer. As if he’d forgotten how to breathe or something. A weird sensation that he’d never experienced before.

  Good weird, though—he was pretty sure about that.

  ‘Do you think Ivy knows?’

  ‘Well…you know how you and Flint stayed around the other night, after we’d been out for that swim?’

  ‘Mmm?’ Something in her tone suggested that Summer was remembering how amazing the second time together had been. Any first time awkwardness had vanished and they had been ready to play. To get to know each other’s bodies and revel in the pleasure they knew they could both give and receive.

  ‘When I popped in to say good morning before I went to work the next day, she gave me a pile of new towels. Said that mine were old enough to feel like cardboard and they simply weren’t suitable for delicate skin. I don’t think she was referring to my skin.’

  ‘But I snuck out well before dawn. It was still dark by the time Flint and I had jogged back to the boat.’

  Zac threw a wry smile over his shoulder. ‘There’s not much that gets past Gravy. She’s had ninety plus years to hone her skills, after all.’

  ‘Oh…Do you think she disapproves?’

  ‘If she did, I don’t think she’d be supplying soft towels. She’d think that the cardboard variety would be a suitable penance. Oh…look at that.’

  They had come to one of the feeding stations on the island. Cleverly designed platforms supported bottles of sugar water. This station had attracted both bellbirds and tuis and, for several minutes, they both stood entranced, watching. The bellbirds were small and elegant, the tuis much larger and more confident—the white ruff on their necks being shown off as they reached to sip the water from the metal tubes.

  They saw stitchbirds and riflemen further along the track and then the highlight they would be talking about for days came when a group of takahe crossed their path. The huge flightless birds with their blue and green plumage and big red beaks were fascinating.

  ‘They thought they were extinct, you know. Like the moas. There’s only a few places you can see them now. This is a first for me.’

  ‘Me, too.’ Summer’s face was alight with pleasure. ‘This was such a good idea, Zac. And I thought we were just going for a bike ride.’

  ‘I’m full of good ideas.’ Zac caught her hand as they started walking again. ‘Stick around long enough and you’ll find out.’

  ‘I might just do that.’

  Her words stayed in the air as they walked on. Zac could still hear them when they finally sat on the grass near the lighthouse to eat the picnic they’d put together from the shop near the ferry terminal. They were hungry enough after all the walking to polish off the filled rolls and muffins and fruit and then they lay back in the long grass. They had some time to spare before walking back down the hill to catch the ferry back.

  It was inevitable that they started kissing. They were lying so close together, well away from any other visitors to the island. It was a gorgeous day and they had been having the best time in each other’s company. The kisses were sweet. Perfect. Was that why Zac was aware of a warning bell sounding?

  ‘It feels like we’re breaking the rules,’ he finally confessed.

  ‘But we only work together sometimes. It’s not like we’re even employed by the same people.’

  ‘I didn’t mean that.’ Zac propped himself up on one elbow but Summer had closed her eyes against the glare of the sun, a hand shading her face. ‘I mean my own rules.’

  Summer spread her fingers and peered up at him. ‘You have rules?’

&nb
sp; ‘Kind of.’

  ‘What kind of rules?’

  ‘Like not getting in too deep.’

  ‘Oh…’ She was really looking at him now but he couldn’t read her expression. If he had to guess, he might say she looked wary. Almost afraid?

  He had to kiss her again. To reassure her. Or maybe he was trying to reassure himself?

  ‘This feels different. Weird.’

  Her lips quirked with a tiny smile. ‘Good weird or bad weird?’

  ‘I think…good weird.’

  ‘But you don’t know?’

  Zac sucked in a breath. Had he ever been this honest with a woman before? ‘I do know. I’m just not sure I trust it. Because it’s…too good?’

  A single nod from Summer. She understood.

  ‘I’ve never had a good role model for what can be trusted,’ Zac said quietly. ‘My grandad died before I could remember him and my stepfather…well, I prefer not to remember him.’

  Summer nodded again. ‘My parents weren’t exactly a shining example to follow either.’ She sat up, as if even thinking about her family had disturbed her. Zac wanted to ask about what had gone so wrong but he didn’t want to spoil this moment because it felt important. A step forward.

  ‘But we’re adults,’ he said. ‘We get to make our own choices, don’t we? And live with the consequences.’

  ‘How do you know if you’re making the right choices, though?’

  ‘I guess you don’t. I think that maybe you have to do what feels right and then hope that you have made the right ones.’

  Did she understand what he was trying to say here, or was he being too clumsy? He didn’t want to scare her off completely.

  He didn’t seem to have done that. If it had been a declaration of sorts, then Summer seemed to be in complete agreement. She stretched out her arms and linked them around his neck, pulling him towards her for another kiss.

  ‘This feels right,’ she murmured. ‘Weird but good.’

  Better than good. It felt as if they had agreed to make this choice. That there was a potential to trust on both sides. Almost an unspoken promise that they would both do their best for whatever was happening between them not to become an emotional disaster.