Nobody But Him

by Victoria Purman

  Julia stilled. ‘Monday?’

  ‘Yes, they need to see us first thing next week.’

  Shit. Next week. And then she remembered. She had a flight booked the next day to go back to Melbourne. And then she would well and truly be back to her old life. The one she now felt so disconnected from. Since the accident she hadn’t thought once about reading a newspaper or listening to the radio news or going back to work or any single piece of her old life. Every minute had been consumed by the catastrophe of Dan’s accident, by being the glue that held his family and dear friends together. How could she leave them now?

  ‘A new client, huh?’

  ‘Yes, we’re due over at their company boardroom at seven-thirty a.m. so I thought I’d give you a heads up about the early start. You probably need some time to dust off the old home town and get back to the city.’

  I don’t know what I’ve done without you my whole life. Don’t go.

  Ry’s words had become like a recurring dream in her head. They hadn’t had the chance to talk in the days since he breathed the words into her ear but that didn’t mean she hadn’t pondered the same question a hundred times. Does he really want me to stay? They’d been in turmoil when he’d said them, just home from the hospital, the sight of Dan lying motionless firmly in their heads. He’d been upset, she rationalised, and said things he would probably take back if he could.

  But he hadn’t taken them back and she’d seen that same sentiment there in his searching eyes every time he’d looked at her since. Every quick look, every glance was laden with meaning, of intent, of waiting for an answer to the question that was hanging in the air between them.

  Julia had never believed in karma, thought instead that things happened because they happened. She didn’t believe either in grand plans or divine conspiracies. She’d always had to make her own luck, had to create her own life.

  The first time, it meant walking away from her home and from Ry. This time, it meant opening herself up to the possibilities of a new chapter, with Ry in it.

  Julia had never felt surer of anything in her life.

  The thought of going back to Melbourne, to her little cottage, to her acquaintances, to her self-involved clients, to the crazy hours and all-nighters, left a sick feeling in her stomach. And brought a steely resolve. She realised at that moment that she had nothing more to prove to anyone.

  There was only one answer to her boss’s question. And as she realised it, a smile blossomed from deep down in her gut and made it all the way to her pale lips, crinkling her eyes and almost blowing the top off her head with the sheer simplicity of it. She took a deep breath and knew there was no turning back.

  ‘Ivy, we need to talk.’

  CHAPTER

  26

  Ry sat with his mother at Dan’s bedside. They watched the patient intently, lulled by the sound of the alarms on the monitors and the noise from outside the cubicle, waiting for any sign of wakefulness. The nurse had just reported that his sedation was being slowly reduced. Once he came around there would be a battery of further tests and prodding and poking to investigate his injuries. As Ry took in every rise and fall of his chest, he wondered if Dan would wake up just like characters on TV did, with a dramatic fluttering of his eyes and a well-written gag. Cue laughs, sighs of relief from loved ones and cut to an ad-break. Crisis over.

  Dan would like that, he thought with a smile, and would probably demand that George Clooney play him in the film. He felt a chuckle and let it come out. For the first time in days, Ry felt a lightness, just a little, enter his head. Barbra squeezed her son’s hand and he squeezed it right back.

  ‘He must hurt like a son of a bitch.’

  ‘I’m sure he does, darling, and he will for a while yet. But the last word from the doctor was good.’

  ‘Looks like he’ll be moving out of Intensive Care pretty soon, maybe even today. As soon as he’s conscious, they’ll take the tube out and he should be able to talk.’

  ‘It’s hard to believe what’s happened, isn’t it?’ Barbra’s voice choked on a cry and Ry slipped his arm around his mother, pulling her closer.

  ‘I’ve been here everyday and I still can’t believe it. I keep imagining there’s another Dan out there somewhere in Adelaide, his evil twin, who’s drinking and partying and having all the fun while this Dan lies here unconscious.’

  ‘Two of him? There’s a thought.’ Barbra chuckled too, and then turned to her son, looked intently at him.

  ‘When were you last home, darling?’

  Ry could feel her eyes drilling into him as only a mother’s could.

  ‘You need some sleep. You look awful.’

  ‘You think?’

  ‘Why don’t you go home? Get some sleep and see your girl.’

  My girl. His mother was losing her touch. He was amazed it had taken so long for that subject to come up in conversation, stunned at her self-control. The last time she’d seen him with Julia, they’d marched out of the pub and onto the street to argue. Whatever it was they had going on then had been over before it had barely begun. And now, Julia was staying in his apartment, basically managing Team Dan. And his mother hadn’t asked a question up until now. This lack of interest in his love life was unprecedented.

  ‘My darling boy, why don’t you tell your mother what’s going on with you two?’

  ‘Well, I’m here and she’s organising all of us, including Lizzie and the pub. She’s been … amazing.’

  A smile curled at Barbra’s lips and a light flashed in her eyes. ‘I like her, Ry.’

  ‘I do too, Mum.’

  ‘So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to be a complete idiot and let her go? Again?’

  Ry smiled. ‘I stopped listening to you when I was sixteen years old. What makes you think I’ll listen now?’

  ‘I’m your mother. It’s my role in life to tell you what to do. And if you’re smart, which you usually are, you’ll listen to me. I know you, my darling. I know you’ve loved her since you were twenty years old.’

  ‘How the hell do you know that?’

  ‘Because I see the way you look at her. I know how heartbroken you were when she left all those years ago, even if you never talked about it to me. Boys. They think their mothers don’t know what they’re going through. And the other thing you have to know is that I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She loves you, my darling Ry. She’s just scared to give up everything she’s worked so hard for.’

  Ry raked a hand through his hair.

  ‘Shit, Mum, it’s complicated.’

  She squeezed his arm. ‘I’m not buying that. Look at Dan. That’s complicated.’ Ry looked at his friend and all the horrific possibilities of what might have happened flashed in his mind. Dan could have died in that smash or lived forever with the terrible after-effects. He knew how quickly his father’s life had ended. He knew how much his mother still missed him, every day a little less, but she still did. All this time he’d spent with Julia, seeing how much she’d supported him through this, made him absolutely sure he didn’t want to live without her. Was his mother right? Did Julia love him? Was there really a chance for the two of them?

  ‘I know what it’s like to lose the love of your life. Don’t waste this chance.’

  Ry watched her. ‘When did you get so smart?’

  ‘The older you get, the smarter I am, right?’ They managed to laugh. ‘You know what Dan would say to you right now?’

  Ry let himself laugh at the thought. ‘I can only imagine.’

  ‘He’d tell you to get your arse off the grass and go get her.’

  ‘Go get who?’ The cubicle curtain swished aside.

  Julia met Ry with a beaming smile and a fierce hug. He kissed the top of her hair and met her gaze, and was struck by a bright light in her caramel eyes that he hadn’t ever seen. Before he had a chance to ask what had happened, he noticed Bob and Joan right behind her, looking hesitant.

  ‘Hello you two,’ Barbra called to Dan’s
parents, holding them both in a warm embrace.

  ‘How is he today, Barb?’ The shock of the accident was still clearly etched in every line of Joan’s tanned face. Ry wondered if it was possible to get over such a shock, seeing your child, no matter how old, lying in a hospital bed unconscious.

  ‘His doctor was just here. She said the sedation is wearing off and they’re going to move him this afternoon.’ She grabbed Joan in another bear hug. ‘That’s good news.’

  ‘That’s good news, all right.’ Bob sniffed and gripped the bed railing with his big hands. ‘Can’t wait to say g’day to the little blighter.’

  Joan managed a laugh with a sob attached like an apostrophe. ‘He hasn’t been little since he was fourteen years old, Bob.’

  Ry took Julia’s hand in his, smiled down at her. There was that light again in her eyes. There was such care in her countenance, a kind-heartedness that seemed to radiate from the very centre of who she was. Everyone in the room could feel it, he was sure of that. She had reached out to every person, softened their grief, held their hands when they cried, shared their pain. His mother’s words repeated in his head. Don’t waste this chance. Julia was his missing puzzle piece.

  For the first time since Dan’s accident, Ry let himself hope.

  CHAPTER

  27

  The sundeck leading off the hospital’s cafeteria had a panoramic view over the city and Ry led Julia to the edge of it. It was a cloudless winter day, crisp and fresh, and a breeze swayed the limp branches of the gums in the distance. They looked down over gardens of Australian native shrubs and rolling green lawns, and Ry nudged her with his shoulder.

  ‘I was joking about coming out here to get a coffee, by the way. I knew you wouldn’t go near hospital coffee with a barge pole. It was my ruse to get you alone.’ He turned into her, resting an arm on either side of the rail, enclosing her with his body. She laced her fingers behind his neck, pulling him closer until her breasts were pressed up against him.

  Julia looked so lovely he could barely think straight. She was simply dressed in her jeans and boots, and since they’d been going to hospital every day, she’d taken to wearing some of his clothes. It was an incredible turn-on. Today, it was his navy knit jumper, the sleeves of which were pushed up her arms to ensure she wasn’t swamped in it. Her hair smelled of his pine-scented shampoo and was pulled back in a messy ponytail, curly tendrils escaped and tickling the pale skin on her neck, driving him crazy. He nuzzled his lips there, kissing a trail up to her ear.

  ‘God, I’ve missed you.’ He kissed her gently on the cheek and then her lips, full and soft.

  ‘I’ve missed you too,’ Julia murmured.

  Ry brought his lips down to hers again, gentle at first and when she parted hers to deepen the kiss, he moved into her, more insistent. She lost herself in the feeling of being so wanted, so desired by him. His kiss was fierce now, plundering her mouth with heat and desire so that she had to hold him tighter for fear of collapsing on her wobbly legs.

  He slowed and pulled back. Julia could see the desire in his eyes and felt it in her own. She knew what he was thinking. They hadn’t been together since the night of the accident. While they’d spent every night in the same bed, holding each other tightly as they fell into exhausted sleep, neither of them had the mental or physical energy for anything more.

  Until now.

  ‘Julia.’ He tasted the soft, cool skin of her neck.

  ‘Mmm?’

  ‘All I want to do …’ he kissed her ear, ‘… is go back to your house,’ he nipped her neck, ‘… and lie in that ridiculous single bed and make love to you.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Oh yeah. I really do.’ He kissed her again just to prove it. ‘I need to get my head out of this place and everything that’s happened. I need to get back to Middle Point.’

  Julia held him, found his eyes. ‘He’s going to be okay, Ry.’

  Ry sighed. ‘It’s getting easier to believe that now.’

  ‘Before you know it, he’ll be out of here and back at work. Well, maybe not straight away. But he’ll be back.’

  ‘I think you’re right.’

  ‘Oh and by the way, Lizzie called me before. She said everyone in town wants an update on Dan.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘You sound surprised that people care.’

  ‘That’s … nice.’

  ‘It’s what country people do, Ry. They look out for each other.’

  ‘Like you’ve done for me?’

  ‘You know what they say. You can take the girl out of Middle Point but you can’t take the Middle Point out of the girl.’

  ‘Thank God for that.’

  She kissed him this time, passionate and insistent. The breeze picked up and whipped her curls hair about her face. Ry tucked them behind her ear.

  ‘Ry, there’s something I need to say.’

  ‘Please tell me it’s about having sex. With me. At the first possible opportunity.’

  ‘I had a call from—’

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Ry startled and he grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket.

  ‘Mum, what is it?’ He listened for a few seconds and then a broad grin split his face.

  ‘We’ll be right there.’ He grabbed Julia’s hand and broke into a run. ‘He’s awake.’

  Bob, Joan, Barbra, Ry and Julia crowded around Dan’s bed. No one could take their eyes off him. The breathing tube had been removed and the kind nurse Louise and two doctors were watching intently, looking from Dan’s face to the monitors. When he slowly blinked and opened his eyes, there was a collective intake of breath from his family.

  After a nod from one of the doctors, Ry leaned close. ‘Dan, can you hear me?’

  Dan’s eyes moved slowly to Ry. ‘Bugger off,’ he whispered, his voice cracking and hoarse.

  The group broke into sobs and laughter. Bob was behind Joan, his hands on her shoulders, tears streaming down his weathered face. Joan clutched her handkerchief to her mouth and Barbra clapped her hands to her cheeks.

  ‘It’s me, Dan. We’re all here.’ Ry said with a choking voice. Dan’s eyes slowly wandered to each face, as if he was taking everyone in.

  ‘Elizabeth.’ His voice was barely there, faint, not even a whisper. Everyone looked at each other.

  ‘Mate, what did you say?’ Ry moved in closer.

  ‘Elizabeth,’ Dan swallowed, licked his lips in slow motion.

  ‘The pub.’

  Ry and Julia exchanged confused glances.

  Louise moved in to check his pulse and adjust the blanket. She leaned over the bed so she was in Dan’s line of sight.

  ‘Dan, you were in a car accident and you’re in hospital. Do you know these people?’

  He nodded and then his eyes fluttered shut once again.

  Louise turned to them. ‘We’re going to run some tests now that he’s conscious. I have to ask, does that mean anything to any of you? Elizabeth? The pub?’

  ‘He was in the pub just before the accident. My pub.’ Ry searched Julia’s face, grasping for a clue. ‘But Elizabeth?’

  Julia’s brow furrowed. ‘Elizabeth?’ Dan’s parents appeared as confused as she was.

  ‘Could it be Lizzie? But no one calls her Elizabeth. She hates it.’ Julia watched Ry’s face transform from confusion into a smiling understanding. He threw an arm around Joan’s shoulder and laughed.

  ‘Bob, Joan. I’m no doctor, but I get the feeling our boy is going to be just fine. It’s just like him to remember the last beautiful woman he talked to.’

  Once they’d seen for themselves that Dan was making progress, Ry and Julia left the hospital and drove back to Middle Point. Julia had to pack and they both wanted to check in with Lizzie, so their first stop was the pub.

  Julia spotted her behind the bar, taking part in an animated discussion with two grey-haired characters holding amber-filled glasses on the bar.

  Her voice could be heard over the crowd as they got closer.

 
‘Reg, stop you’re whinging. It will be incredible. Think of all those lonely widows who’ll be moving to Middle Point. You might finally find a partner for those dances at the Memorial Hall.’

  ‘I dunno,’ Reg replied, taking a swig of his beer, shaking his head.

  ‘It’s just not the way we do things here,’ his mate Shorty added.

  ‘And how do we do things here?’ Julia sidled up next to Reg and Shorty. She winked at Lizzie, who responded with a quick lift of her eyebrows.

  ‘Oh g’day Julia.’ Shorty turned and patted her arm. ‘We were just yabbering about those big new plans for the housing thingamabob.’

  Ry took his place next to Julia and extended a hand.

  ‘G’day fellas. I’m Ry Blackburn. I’m the man behind Windswept. If you’ve got any questions, fire away.’ Reg and Shorty shook hands with Ry, eyeing the outsider with concern.

  ‘Reg, Shorty.’ Julia started, and felt the comforting touch of Ry’s hand in the small of her back. ‘I was worried at first, too, I’ll admit it. But give him a fair hearing. Windswept will be beautiful.’ Ry’s hand moved to her waist and he gave it a squeeze, looking down at her with a heartbreaking smile.

  ‘Fellas, the drinks are on me. Why don’t we go and grab a table and you can ask me anything you want.’ The two old blokes would’ve sat talking about the finer points of Paris fashion if it meant free beers, so they followed Ry to a nearby table and began peppering him with questions.

  Julia leaned over the bar and Lizzie stretched over it for a hug.

  ‘Oh Julia, what’s the latest?’

  ‘It’s all good news. He’s conscious and the doctors say he’ll make a full recovery. Unfortunately for him, a long one. But he’s going to be fine … just fine.’

  Lizzie clapped her hands to her cheeks and tears welled in her eyes. ‘That’s … the best news.’

  ‘It’s such a relief. To Ry, to Dan’s parents. To Barbra. To everyone who loves him.’

  Julia watched with interest as Lizzie’s cheeks blossomed pink and hot. Which was interesting.