Challenging Dr. Blake

by Rebecca Lang

  ‘What exactly is your role here on the island?’ she said, thinking it was time to shift attention away from herself, knowing that she sounded at least mildly belligerent. Determined not to show that his words had hurt her, after all she had been through, she stared blankly ahead. Obviously the scene in Africa, one of many for him, she suspected, hadn’t rung any particular bells in his memory, while for her it dominated her life. ‘Are you involved in the training course?’

  ‘Yes. I also work in some of the small community hospitals and clinics in some of the outlying areas, partly on a consultant basis, partly routine,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘It’s a hectic life. I sometimes take you, the nurses, with me. Mainly my role is to show you what it’s like to work in small communities that are isolated, or more or less so. The information you pick up is of help when you go on assignments. You learn to plan ahead in great detail, to rely on your own devices.’

  ‘I did learn that in Africa,’ she pointed out.

  He gave her a quick glance and said nothing, while she chalked up one point to herself. He was being a bit over-bearing.

  ‘Are you a surgeon?’ she said.

  ‘I have done surgery,’ he said, ‘mainly trauma. Then I trained in obstetrics. I find myself doing a bit of everything, whatever’s needed. It became very obvious on my assignments abroad, in emergency and disaster situations, that there was a great need for someone to take care of pregnant women.’

  Signy nodded, somewhat surprised, not having taken him for an obstetrician. Really, she didn’t know what to make of him. One minute Dan seemed overbearing, then the next he gave out glimpses of something else, a surprising sensitivity. Anyway, she made up her mind to be wary of him.

  ‘Can you fly a plane or drive a motorboat?’ he asked, peering ahead where the headlights of the car cast a yellow glow on the green gloom. Here and there shafts of sunlight slanted through tall trees, some of which appeared to be very old, tall and massive, with moss clinging to their trunks.

  ‘No,’ she said, beginning to feel a little alarmed again that this man might find her wanting in his estimation, perhaps useless in the training that lay ahead. She knew that fear was part of her problem, part of her need to rest, to be in a tranquil place. One doctor had told her that she was suffering from survivor’s guilt. ‘Do I need to?’

  ‘Not specifically. What can you do? Apart from your work, that is.’ He asked with what seemed to her subtle sarcasm.

  ‘I can swim,’ she said, ‘row or sail a small boat, drive a car, truck or tractor, ride a horse. I have ridden a motorbike.’ If only he knew about that last bit, she thought succinctly, some of her old confidence coming back. Well, she would save that for some other time, for when she needed to assert herself. That image of herself riding through scrubland on a motorbike with an injured man on the back, who clung to her like a dead weight, never left her. Yes, she would clobber Dan Blake with that when the need arose.

  He turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised. ‘Can you ski?’ he said.

  ‘I have been skiing,’ she said carefully, ‘but I wouldn’t really say that I can ski. It seemed a pointless exercise at the time.’

  ‘Mmm.’

  It appeared to Signy again, sensitive to criticism, that there was a wealth of meaning in that usually noncommittal sound—a meaning that was negative.

  ‘There were no planes or motorboats where I was in Somalia,’ she said tartly. ‘It was subsistence living…if you could call it living. Mostly it was starvation. And there was no snow.’ She added the last bit emphatically.

  The words were out before she could help herself, because his questioning irritated her when she felt herself to be a seasoned person in the field. At the same time she knew that this man would be in a position to judge her throughout the training course. He would be one of the people to make pronouncements at the end. ‘I would have done almost anything for a bit of snow,’ she said.

  He turned to her and laughed. ‘Point taken,’ he said.

  Signy felt disarmed by his grin, also contrarily annoyed, conscious that she had been holding herself stiffly away from him, careful not to let her arm brush against his as the vehicle swayed and bounced over some of the rougher parts of the road. The amusement on his face made him look so much younger, attractive…

  She looked away. ‘One thing I can do, Dr Blake,’ she said, ‘is take care of myself. I can also see a job through. I’ve done a lot. Now I’m mainly here because I need a rest.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said softly, agreeing. ‘I didn’t mean to goad you, Signy.’

  ‘Funny,’ she said, not particularly caring what he thought of her at that moment, ‘I could have sworn you did.’

  ‘Just want to know what you’re all about. There isn’t much time.’

  ‘All right,’ she said. ‘So long as it’s a two-way street. Some people like to ask a lot of personal questions, but they’re not so good at disclosing personal information about themselves. That always strikes me as being a bit flaky, as though knowing all the answers puts them in a one-up position. Are you one of those, Dr Blake?’

  ‘I like to think not,’ he said quietly. ‘I do need to know something about you…and if there’s anything you want to know about me, just ask away.’

  ‘All right,’ she said. ‘Well, to let you know more about me…let me see…I can respond to a crisis appropriately, I can hold together. In fact, I think I work better that way, which is probably why I like operating theatre and emergency work. People are different in a crisis.’ She was forcing herself to be polite, feeling as though she was making small-talk, when her sense of shock at seeing his name was still dominating her emotions.

  ‘Right,’ he said. ‘They show their true selves.’

  They went on for a while in silence.

  ‘And how did you break your nose?’ she asked, out of the blue, since he was being very inquisitive. ‘I think I could picture you in a fight.’ That much was true. There was a hardness about him that contrasted with the suspected sensitivity, which made her sure that he would be able to make a decision quickly in a crisis and stick to it. Hadn’t he done that with Dominic?

  Again he smiled. ‘Fell out of a tree,’ he said.

  ‘That mundane!’ Signy was disarmed.

  ‘Mmm. When I was sixteen. We were out in some remote place, a small group of us, hiking out here, when I was on holiday from England.’

  ‘And you never got it fixed?’ Signy said, looking sideways at his enigmatic profile. The Jeep bounced and swayed over more potholes.

  ‘There happened to be a doctor on hand to give me first aid,’ he said. ‘It hurt like hell, I was bleeding all over the place and I fainted. When we got back to civilization I didn’t bother to get further treatment, even though my mother was horrified and said it would ruin my beauty.’ Dan grinned. ‘I was too much of a coward.’

  An odd sort of truce, if one could call it that when there wasn’t really a declared war, had occurred between them. It was a delicate balance. For purposes of his own he had been sounding her out. So far, she wasn’t ready to talk about details or divulge that she’d recognized his name.

  They drove on without speaking for quite a while, the road taking them farther into the central part of the island. Beyond the military camp the road would continue to the other side of the island where there were some of the sandy beaches that he had mentioned earlier.

  ‘The camp is quite civilized,’ Dan said. ‘The barracks have been divided up into individual rooms. There are plenty of communal areas as well, even a bar.’

  ‘Sounds all right,’ she said.

  At last they were there, coming out suddenly from the shade of the trees into a very large, cleared site, with narrow roads and paths crisscrossing between several single-storey buildings. From what Signy could see, it all looked very well tended and not too spartan at all.

  ‘There are no trees in the camp,’ Signy observed.

  ‘That’s right. It’s to guard against the effects of fo
rest fires, so they can’t spread into the camp via trees, one hopes. Once in a while a tree is struck by lightning, and that can start a fire if everything’s dry, although here we usually get a fair amount of rain in the summer. Also, one less thing to fall on top of a building, or person, if there’s an earthquake.’

  ‘Earthquake?’ Signy said, looking at him in alarm. ‘Are you joking?’

  ‘No,’ he said lightly. ‘They seldom happen, but this is an earthquake zone. Don’t worry about it.’

  Just as Signy was wondering how he could come out with something like that, then tell her not to worry about it, he brought the Jeep to a halt outside a small wooden building with a shingled roof, so she swallowed the questions that she wanted to ask. A sign stated RECEPTION: ALL VISITORS MUST REPORT HERE.

  ‘We’ll find out where your room is,’ Dan said. ‘That’s the mess building over there. That’s where they serve lunch.’ He indicated a building in the centre of the base.

  Inside Reception they were greeted by a young woman with short hair, wearing military-style khaki shorts with many pockets, a shirt of the same colour with tabs on the shoulders and rolled-up sleeves. A sign on the desk indicated that she was called Sabrina.

  ‘Hi, Dan,’ she said.

  ‘Hi, Sabrina,’ he said.

  ‘Hi,’ she said to Signy. ‘What name?’

  ‘Signy Clover.’

  ‘Clover…’ She ran her finger down a list. ‘You’re in Moose Head.’

  ‘Um…’ Signy said uncertainly. Beside her she could feel rather than see Dan’s amusement.

  ‘That’s the name of the hut you’re in,’ he said lightly. ‘Don’t be put off by the name, it’s a comfortable place. Come on, I’ll help you with the bags.’

  Outside Reception there were some luggage trolleys, one of which Dan grabbed to load their bags onto. ‘I’m over that way,’ he pointed. ‘I have a little hut to myself called Holly Berry. Feel free to call on me if you need anything.’

  ‘Is Sabrina one of us? I mean, one of the World Aid nurses?’

  ‘No, she works in the camp,’ he said. ‘Her domain is Kelp Island. There are twelve nurses—if they’ve all shown up. I’ve flown some of them here.’

  The door was open to Moose Head, a long, squat building that had clearly been a barracks, and Terri was at the door. ‘Hello,’ she greeted them. ‘This place is absolutely wonderful. Not what I imagined at all. We’re in the same building.’

  ‘That’s great,’ Signy said, pleased, and they lugged her bags to her room. When Dan left she felt oddly relieved, so much so that she let out a sigh.

  The room was painted in a pale yellow, with dark pink woodwork around the window, the door and the baseboards, making the whole place look charming, so that Signy found herself smiling. There were bright coloured curtains and a thick duvet with a cover in the same pattern on the bed, over blankets. The room was fully furnished, in a simple style, with all the basics that she could possibly need.

  ‘This is lovely,’ she said, looking round her. ‘Not quite what I expected.’

  ‘Hello!’ a masculine voice called from the main doorway, bringing them both out of Signy’s room.

  The man who stood inside the threshold—in a small sitting-room area, which had a kitchenette off it—was tall, muscular, dark-haired, blue-eyed and very handsome. Terri and Signy stood looking at him silently. Even though he was casually dressed, he looked somehow out of place. There was a certain elegance and sophistication about him that didn’t seem to go well with a hut named Moose Head and the picture of a cartoon moose that someone had tacked to the inside wall just above the door.

  ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to meet you, to introduce myself.’ He held out a hand. ‘I’m Max Seaton. The plan is that we’ll all meet for lunch in the mess at twelve-thirty, then afterwards I want to talk to you all about what to expect from the programme here.’

  When he took Signy’s hand and held onto it a fraction longer than was strictly appropriate for a simple handshake, she uncharacteristically found herself melting, her mouth stretching into a warm smile. ‘How do you do?’ she said, the first thing that came into her head.

  ‘Ms Clover,’ he said, ‘I’m very much looking forward to getting to know you. And you, Ms Carpenter.’ When he turned his charm on Terri, holding out his hand, she stood with her mouth slightly open, looking at him. ‘See you in a short while.’

  ‘Now, he,’ Terri said, gazing after him from the open door as he strode away, ‘isn’t quite what I expected!’

  CHAPTER TWO

  LUNCH in the mess hut was a casual self-service affair, and the food was good. Each nurse wore a name tag, while Sabrina was there to make sure that they were introduced to one another.

  The twelve nurses were of varying ages, some appearing to be in their twenties, some in their thirties, while two were older than the others, perhaps early forties, Signy guessed. It was good to see such an age spread, with obviously a great deal of experience among them all. One of the older women was named Connie, and Signy found herself sitting between her and Terri at a long refectory-type table. Dan and Max Seaton were also there. Signy couldn’t help noticing that Terri’s eyes strayed to Dr Seaton very frequently, as did those of some of the other women. In some ways he seemed out of context, more suited to a film set, perhaps, in front of the cameras.

  After the meal Dr Seaton rose to his feet and went to the head of the room where there was a slightly raised platform and a makeshift lectern.

  ‘I think I’ve met you all,’ he said with a smile, his voice a low drawl. ‘In case there are one or two I’ve missed, I’m Max Seaton. For some of the time I will be here on the island to talk to you about medicine under difficult circumstances, medicine in remote and semi-remote places. Dr Dan Blake will also be working in that capacity, among other things. Between the two of us, we shall invite you to observe us at work.’ He paused to smile around at his rapt, silent audience. Signy found herself staring with the rest.

  ‘You’ve all been asked to obtain registration in this province. That is so you have the right to enter a hospital, accompanied by one of us, to observe procedures there, and so that you can go to outlying places to help the doctors and nurses. You will find that it is the nurses who service many of these places, who deliver many of the babies, make diagnoses. I for one never under-estimate the value of nurses, or under-appreciate the work they do. Where a doctor may be a rarity, there is a nursing station to serve a remote community. Assignments will be given to you, which you will find posted on the noticeboard here in the mess.’

  When Max had finished speaking, Dan got up.

  ‘The remainder of this weekend,’ he said, his unassuming manner contrasting with the charm of the previous man, ‘will be given over to rest, relaxation and orientation to this camp and to the island in general. Some of you have come a very long way, so we appreciate that you need to sleep. Get to know one another. In the future with the organization, some of you may well be working together. This is a retreat, as well as a training base. One of my jobs is to give counselling if it’s needed. You have only to ask. Nothing is forced upon you.’

  Signy wondered whether she could unburden herself to this man about her work in Africa…about Simon, about Dominic…and she smiled wryly to herself, trying to imagine his reaction if she wanted to talk about the men she had loved.

  ‘For the next two weeks,’ he was saying, ‘you will remain on the island, have lectures and informal talks and get orientated. You will also learn how to find your way around in places like this.’

  Signy was listening, yet part of her mind was detached. What would this man’s reaction be when—or if—she confronted him about her time in Africa and his order that had evacuated their medical station and left Dominic unaccounted for? Her mind wandered as she stared unseeingly into space, concentrating on the past. Would she find the courage to confront him?

  Dan went on talking for some time, then he said, ‘One thing I must ask, for your safe
ty, is that if you go for a walk from the camp, please, sign out in the logbook that is on the desk in Reception, stating the time you leave the camp, the precise details of where you are going and the expected time of your return to the camp.’ He paused, his eyes roving over the small assembled group of nurses. Unlike Max, he didn’t smile. There was something about his manner that underscored the seriousness of what he was saying.

  ‘This is so that we can look for you if, for some reason, you are late getting back. There are maps at the desk so, please, take one with you at all times. It’s easy to get lost on the trails through the forest, especially at dusk, even though each trail is named and signposted. Although this is a relatively small island, it is densely forested, and all trails tend to look the same, especially at dusk,’ he went on. ‘Don’t deviate from the route you’ve stated you’ll be on. Fortunately, there are no grizzly or black bears on this island, no cougars or coyotes, no wolves. There are bears in other areas of this province, as there are all those other animals that I mentioned, although not all together, generally, in the same place. How to deal with wild animals will be covered in a separate talk at a later date by an expert on bears. Bears can and do kill humans.’

  There was a rapport in the room. At least half the nurses present had been on work assignments to places where there were crises, that weren’t safe for workers. As they listened they were, Signy suspected, thinking back to those places, as she was herself. There was sometimes a very thin line between being safe and not being safe, between life and death. And the reality of having survived, having been on the right side of that very fine line, left its own trauma. There was an empathy and camaraderie in their small group of professional women; Signy could feel it, because it was there in her, together with a strange kind of gratitude and humility for having survived.

  Dan’s eyes went over them again, pausing to make eye contact with each woman as he spoke. ‘The weather can change dramatically and suddenly. Darkness can come down quickly with that change, as can mist and fog. There is a lot of persistent, heavy rain. That’s why you’ve been asked to bring a powerful flashlight with you, a whistle and an alarm, plus a cellphone—that will work in most places here, but you still have to know where you are. Always carry them with you when you leave the camp, and wear appropriate clothing and footwear at all times for cold and rain. Although you may walk here for pleasure and to get yourselves orientated, that is also part of your basic training. Be aware of what’s going on around you at all times. There will be times when you are in places less safe, when the rules of safe conduct may save your life and the lives of your colleagues.’