Christmas in the Outback Read online

  ‘Yes, well, we’ve seen a few of those,’ Liam agreed bluntly. ‘But let’s give this young guy A for effort. He took off to get help but became disorientated so he waited until nightfall, hoping there’d be some lights somewhere to guide him. He finally made it to a farmhouse—the Simpsons’, actually. Danny rang the police.’

  ‘We’d better get out there, then.’ Nikki’s professional instincts flew into overdrive.

  He frowned. ‘You don’t have to, Nikki. I’ll manage.’

  ‘I’m coming with you, Liam.’

  ‘OK.’ He spread his hands in compliance. ‘I’m not about to knock back another pair of experienced hands.’

  ‘Good.’ Nikki swept a teatowel off the rack and covered the tray of dirty dishes. ‘Just give me a couple of minutes to change out of my party gear.’

  ‘Pity…’ Leaning over, he brushed her lips with his. ‘Will you wear it for me again?’ he asked softly. ‘Soon?’

  She hesitated just a second, then with a slight shake of her head she turned and tore down the hallway to her bedroom.

  So what did that little shake mean? Perhaps? Get real? Get lost? Liam swung his medical case up on to the table, snapping open the locks to check its contents. His mouth pulled tight. Why had he done all that grandstanding six years ago and walked out on their marriage?

  Fool.

  He felt a huge lump form in his throat and swallowed convulsively. He wanted his wife back in his bed, real and warmly giving. Not just the memory of her lips and the way her body called to his, taunting him through the lonely nights…

  Armed with a trauma kit from the hospital, they travelled in Liam’s Land Rover. ‘The arrangement is we meet at the Simpsons’ and go from there.’ Liam gunned the motor along the straight stretch of country road.

  ‘So, apart from the ambulance, who’s in on this jaunt?’ Nikki wanted to know.

  ‘Brett, of course. He heads up the local state emergency team. Their vehicle with the rescue gear is kept at the police station, which is a plus. But he’ll have to try and get a team together, which could be difficult. Danny’s a member so he’ll be an asset. He’s lived here all his life. Let’s hope he’ll have a fair idea where this old well is located.’

  ‘Do we have any idea what injuries our patient has?’

  ‘We’ll have to wait and see, I guess.’ Liam placed his hand on her jeans-clad thigh and squeezed. ‘Good to have you along, Nik.’

  ‘Sure.’ She inhaled deeply, recognising the flutter of uncertainty in her stomach. Despite her experience with MSF, delivering medicine on the trot like this still unnerved her. ‘How does one fall into a well in broad daylight, though, Liam?’

  He grunted. ‘Easier than you might think. Obviously it hasn’t been used for years so back when it was decided to close it, some attempt would have been made to cover it over.’

  ‘How?’ She glanced at him sharply. ‘With logs and things?’

  ‘Mmm. And with time they’ll have become overgrown with weeds and stuff, which will have only served to camouflage the rotting wood beneath. And there you have an accident waiting to happen.’

  Nikki gnawed gently on her bottom lip. ‘I, um, guess the hole will be fairly deep.’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘And are we looking at a biggish area?’

  Liam lifted a shoulder. ‘Six by six perhaps, in the old measurement.’

  ‘The size of a small room,’ she considered. ‘That will at least give us space to work on our patient.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Liam sounded sceptical. ‘More likely there’ll be rubble at the base of it. And I mean anything from rocks to old furniture. Usually some effort is extended to part-fill the hole to make it less of a hazard before it’s covered over. Small animals can find their way in as well. Rats, especially.’

  Charming. Nikki suppressed a shudder. She only hoped they were dead ones, their remains long gone.

  ‘Here’s the entry to the Simpsons’ place now.’ Liam swung the Land Rover through the farm gates, the big tyres rattling over the metal grid. ‘Farmhouse up there on the hill.’

  Nikki peered out at the pinprick of light. For the uninitiated there was no place as lonely as the bush at night, she thought grimly. And for the man trapped down the well it must be doubly frightening.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ‘THIS is Joel.’ Brett Gilroy cast a swift glance at the faces assembled around the Simpson’s kitchen table. ‘The young fella who’s come to get help for his mate.’

  ‘Thanks, everyone, for turning out—’ Joel scooped a hand through his long fair hair. ‘Nathan and I are archaeology students. We’d heard of some good finds hereabouts. We left our car and went off on a reccy. Didn’t realise we’d got so far off course. We were still trying to decide which way to go when Nate fell down the hole.’

  Nikki tilted her head towards the student. ‘Do you know if he’s injured?’

  ‘He made a hell of a racket when he fell in.’ Joel’s throat worked as he swallowed uncomfortably. ‘I yelled out to him. He kind of groaned and then…then there was nothing.’ He turned anguished eyes on the gathering. ‘I took off to get help.’

  ‘Was he carrying water?’ Liam asked.

  ‘He had a backpack.’

  Liam’s mouth drew in. If the youngster had been caught on something or injured, he might not have been able to access it. Well, they’d worry about that when they got there.

  Brett cleared his throat. ‘Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to gather up a full team. The two guys I was depending on were at the pub and no use for anything,’ he lamented.

  ‘Probably would’ve ended up in the hole as well.’ Danny Simpson gave a laconic grin. ‘What about Roz and Janice?’

  The sergeant looked at Nikki. ‘They’re our only two women volunteers but they can’t leave their kids at night while their menfolk are working away from home.’

  ‘Sign of the times, I guess.’ Baz Inall chimed in for the first time. ‘I’m on my own in the ambulance as well. Couldn’t rustle up a partner.’

  Nikki wanted to scream. While they sat about chatting, there was a man lying injured somewhere. She opened her mouth and snapped it shut at the warning press of Liam’s thigh against hers under the table. Leave it to me, his direct look clearly said, before he turned to Danny Simpson. ‘So, mate, you have a fair idea of the location of the well?’

  ‘Yep, no worries, Doc. I’ll go with Brett in the SES truck. The rest of you follow, OK? Oh, Michelle left a couple of Thermos flasks and some sandwiches for us before she went to work. I’ll bring those along. We could be a while.’

  ‘Right, everyone,’ Brett launched himself upright. ‘Let’s go! Ah, Baz, would you mind taking Joel with you?’

  The whole meeting had taken only a few minutes but to Nikki it had felt more like hours. ‘I’m sure rockets have been launched in less time,’ she fumed to Liam as they climbed back into the Land Rover.

  ‘Settle down, Nikki.’ Liam stated the engine and fell into convoy behind the ambulance. ‘These guys don’t react with the speed of a casualty department but every move they make is calculated and with very good reason. At an accident scene they have to take everyone’s safety on board. Personally, I’d trust any one of them with my life.’

  ‘Point taken.’ Nikki sighed and sank back against the headrest. ‘I just want to get there and get the job done, that’s all.’

  ‘And we will,’ Liam pointed out. ‘But rushing in like a bull at a gate and possibly getting injured ourselves isn’t going to help our patient, is it?’

  ‘No.’

  The truth of Liam’s statement was borne out. And much more swiftly than Nikki could have imagined.

  Danny had led them unerringly to the site of the old well, and within minutes he and Brett had erected a tripod arrangement over the top and positioned high-powered torches to aid the rescue.

  ‘OK, who’s going down?’ Brett held out the sturdy safety belt, his question tracking between the two medics.

  ‘We’ll
both go,’ Liam said brusquely. ‘Do you have another belt, Brett?’

  The sergeant dug into his box of gear. ‘Got a dozen of ’em,’ he replied calmly.

  ‘Right, Nikki.’ Liam swung the trauma pack onto his back. ‘Let’s do it, shall we?’

  Nikki’s heart quickened. The gaping hole where Nathan had plunged through looked like an indistinct grey shadow. And very uninviting. ‘I take it we’re hooked up to this pulley thing and get lowered in.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Liam seemed to be taking all the time in the world to reassure her. ‘I’ll drop in first and the guys will retrieve the rope and send you down. And after we’ve done all we can for our patient, we’ll yell for Baz to be lowered with the retrieval stretcher. Understood?’

  ‘Fine…’

  It seemed only seconds later that she found herself swinging down, giving a little gasp as she landed unevenly on a pile of rocks. Unhooking herself from the guide rope, she wrapped her arms around her midriff and took in a controlling breath. There was certainly an odour in the cavity but nothing she couldn’t handle. Raising her head, she called, ‘Liam?’

  ‘Over here.’ Liam was several metres away, holding a torch, the powerful light illuminating their patient.

  ‘What do we have?’ Nikki picked her way carefully towards him.

  ‘Don’t know yet. But it looks like he’s coming round. It’s OK, Nathan.’ Liam’s manner was calmly reassuring. ‘I’m Liam and this is Nikki. We’re doctors.’

  The youngster sucked air in through trembling lips. ‘Thought I was a gonner. Leg…’ he groaned. ‘Pain’s awesome.’

  Nikki felt her heart lurch, seeing the irregularity of the lad’s left leg. From the position in which he was lying it was obvious he’d struck a boulder jutting from the side of the well as he’d fallen. The pain he must be in. She looked a question at Liam. ‘Fractured neck of femur?’

  ‘Looks like it. Take it easy now, son.’ Liam gently lifted Nathan’s head and applied the oxygen mask.

  ‘I’ll check his breath sounds.’ Nikki slid open a section of the medical kit and took out a stethoscope. She flicked it over Nathan’s chest. ‘Not too bad,’ she murmured, laying the stethoscope aside. Then, carefully, she began palpating his stomach.

  Liam nodded in approval. They both knew the possibility of internal bleeding could not be ignored. ‘I’ll get a line in,’ he said whipping a tourniquet around Nathan’s arm. ‘Blood’s a bit slow…’ He began tapping urgently to prompt a vein to the surface. ‘OK—I’ve got it.’ He slid a cannula into the vein.

  ‘He needs pain relief, urgently.’ Nikki kept a watchful eye on their patient. ‘But I’d prefer to under-prescribe. He’s a rather slight build.’

  ‘Let’s go with morphine, five milligrams, and ten of Maxolon. We don’t want him throwing up everywhere. We’ll follow with fifty of pethidine. That should get him through transportation to the hospital.’

  Nikki began preparing the painkiller and antiemetic. ‘Are you allergic to anything you know of, Nathan?’

  Eyes dulled with pain, the young man shook his head.

  ‘Hang in there, mate.’ Liam touched his hand to Nathan’s dark crewcut. He glanced at Nikki. ‘Ready?’

  She nodded, quickly swabbing the cannula and shooting the first two drugs home, praying the injection would work—and soon.

  ‘Right.’ Liam’s voice was clipped. ‘Let’s start splinting. The sooner we get him out of here the better.’

  ‘His breathing’s easier.’ Nikki watched Liam place the supportive splints between the young man’s legs. ‘Bandages now?’

  ‘Nice thick ones.’

  ‘So, we send him out by CareFlight, do we?’ Nikki surmised, working quickly to bind Nathan’s injured leg to his good one.

  ‘They’ve been alerted.’ Liam glanced at his watch. ‘Our ambulance will meet them at the airstrip. It’s a clear night for flying. They shouldn’t have a problem. We’ll send him to the Royal.’ He looked down at Nathan’s still form. ‘I should think you could administer that shot of pethidine now, Nikki. I’m just going to give the guys a shout. We’re ready for the stretcher.’

  ‘OK.’ As Liam moved away from her peripheral vision, Nikki felt the cave-like atmosphere close in on her. She listened, fixing on each tiny sound, suppressing a shudder as a piece of debris, insignificant in size, hissed eerily as it fell and then faded into silence.

  Oh, lord…She had to get herself together. She had a job to do. Give Nathan the drug. About to draw up the dose, she stopped and froze. Something was wrong here.

  Dreadfully wrong.

  ‘Li-am!’ Her anguished cry echoed off the earthen walls.

  Nathan was gulping, his eyes rolling back in his head, his colour a ghastly grey. Nikki made a little sound of distress in her throat. If she didn’t act, they’d have a tragedy on their hands. In one swift movement she ripped Nathan’s shirt open and began chest compressions.

  Liam’s shadow fell beside her. ‘What’s happened?’ he barked.

  ‘He’s throwing a PE!’

  Liam’s expletive scorched the air. A pulmonary embolism. He grabbed for the lifesaving equipment. He would have to intubate. Damn it to hell. Where was second sight when you needed it? All the components for a PE were there. A serious fracture. Fat escaping from the break gumming up the arteries. Damn, damn and double damn!

  Liam’s jaw was clamped tight. Skilfully, he passed the tube down Nathan’s trachea, attaching it to the oxygen. ‘Breathe!’ he grated. ‘Come on!’

  With mounting dread, Nikki swung her gaze and watched Liam check and recheck the carotid pulse in Nathan’s neck. He shook his head.

  ‘Time’s running out. We’ll have to zap him. I’ll get the life-pack. We’re not losing him, Nikki.’ Liam’s voice roughened. ‘I’m counting on you.’

  Nikki’s face was intense. Every compression meant life for Nathan. Her heart began to pound against her ribs, her pulse thumping in her wrists and throat. She began feeling light-headed, perspiration patching wetly across her forehead and in the small of her back. ‘Liam, hurry…’ She found herself trying to breathe for the boy.

  ‘This is a bloody nightmare.’ Liam got into position. ‘Be ready to take over the bag when I defibrillate,’ he snapped.

  Nikki found added strength from somewhere. Nathan’s life could depend on their teamwork now.

  ‘OK, do it!’

  Almost in slow motion she reached out and took over the Air Viva bag.

  ‘And clear!’

  Nikki dropped the bag and spun back, praying the volts of electricity would do their work and kick-start the heart’s rhythm.

  ‘Zilch…’ Liam hissed the word between clenched teeth. ‘Let’s go to two hundred. Clear!’

  Nikki strove to keep her panic at bay, aware only of its grip in her abdomen and the slow slide of sweat between her breasts. She swung her gaze to the monitor. The trace was still flat.

  ‘Start compressions again, Nikki.’ Liam looked haunted. ‘I’m giving him adrenalin.’

  Nikki gasped, ‘We’re running out of options.’

  Liam’s mouth clenched into a thin line. His fingers curled around the mini-jet, already prepared with the lifesaving drug. ‘Come on, baby—work!’ he implored, sending the long needle neatly between Nathan’s ribs and into his heart.

  ‘Clear!’ He activated the charge and their combined gazes swivelled to the monitor. The trace bleeped and then staggered into a rhythm. ‘Yes!’ Liam roared. ‘We’ve done it, Nik! You beauty!’

  ‘Oh…’ Nikki felt tears of reaction coursing down her cheeks. Hastily, she blinked them away, holding the heels of her hands against her eyes, gathering her composure.

  ‘Hey, Nik.’ Liam’s arm came round her shoulders, hugging her. ‘Lighten up, hmm? We’ve got him back.’

  ‘Oh, thank God…’ she said huskily, turning her face into his shoulder.

  ‘He’s waking up.’ Liam gave her a little shake. ‘Look!’

  Their patient was indeed w
aking up, fear and confusion clouding his eyes.

  ‘It’s OK, Nate.’ Nikki beat back the last of the tears and swallowed. ‘You’ll be fine.’ She took his hand and squeezed. ‘We’ve managed a small miracle.’

  ‘Right.’ Liam cleared the lump from his throat. ‘Think a shot of midazolam is called for here?’

  ‘Yes.’ Nikki drew in a deep breath. She felt hollowed out. ‘Would you do it, please?’ The drug would act as a light anaesthetic and ease Nathan over the trauma of the next couple of hours. Added to that, its amnesic properties would help to stave off post-traumatic shock.

  Baz loomed out of the shadow, towing the collapsible stretcher. ‘Nice work, folks,’ he said quietly. ‘Could have been a whole different story, couldn’t it?’

  Nikki felt as though she’d been to hell and back.

  Swallowing hard on the tightness in her throat, she pulled herself upright. ‘He’s ready to move now, Baz. We’ve got him back in sinus rhythm but we’re going to have to watch him.’

  ‘Understood, Doc.’ Baz was no novice to the job. He knew well the battle that had been fought here and for the moment won. ‘Right, let’s get this youngster on his way, then. If you’re ready, Liam, on my count.’

  In unison they gently rolled Nathan first on one side and then the other, sliding each section of the supporting plinth under him and snapping the pieces together. A sturdy rope was attached to each end of the stretcher and soon it was being winched safely to the top.

  With Baz departing as well, Liam stared down at Nikki, his gaze warm. ‘Well done, you.’

  ‘Oh, Liam…’ To her disgust she folded like a wet tissue. She went to him and hugged him, beating back a new avalanche of tears. ‘I hate this part of being a doctor.’

  ‘I know. It’s rough.’ He rubbed his chin on the top of her head. ‘We’d better make tracks, though. Nathan has to be our main priority until we hand him over to the CareFlight crew.’ He bent and hitched up the trauma pack. ‘I’m parched. Let’s hope there’s some tea left in one of those flasks.’