Leah Martyn - Wedding at Sunday Creek

Darcie looked up from inserting the cannula to receive the drip. ‘Say hello to Dr Jack Cassidy, guys.’ Relief was zinging through her and she gave rein to a muted smile. ‘He’s the new boss at the hospital—only been here a few hours.’

‘And already saved a life, by the look of it. Zach Bayliss.’ The senior paramedic held out his hand. ‘My partner, Brett Carew.’

A flurry of handshakes ensued.

Nathan was loaded quickly. ‘We’ll see you across at the hospital, then, Doc?’ Zach confirmed.

‘We’ll be over directly.’ Jack turned to Warren. ‘You should disconnect all power until it’s been checked by the electrical authority. You might have other dodgy gear about the place.’

‘Will do, Doc. Hell, I don’t ever want to see a repetition of this...’

Jack looked around the kitchen. ‘This will stuff up your meal preparation. Do you have a contingency plan?’

‘We do. As it happens, we’d planned to put wood-fired pizzas on the menu tomorrow so we started up the brick oven for a trial run this afternoon. It’s still going strong. We’ll have a line of pizzas going in no time.’

Jack gave a rueful grin. ‘You couldn’t send a couple across to the residence, could you, mate? We still haven’t have had dinner.’

‘Yeah, absolutely. No worries.’ Warren flicked a hand in compliance. ‘On the house, of course. And thanks, Doc. Mighty job with Nathan.’

Jack waved away the thanks and they walked out together.

‘Right to go, then?’ Darcie had tidied up the medical debris and was waiting on the veranda.

Jack nodded and they went across to her car.

‘Nathan didn’t appear to have any fractures,’ she said. ‘But he must have landed with an almighty thump.’

‘I’ll check him thoroughly in Resus. Do you know if he has family to be notified?’

‘Not sure. But Warren will have got onto that.’

Jack sent her a quick, narrow look. ‘He said it was your initiative to have both the defib and oxygen located at the pub. Well done, Dr Drummond.’

‘I was just being proactive.’ Darcie shrugged away his praise. ‘There’s always a crowd in the pub at the weekends. Accidents happen. The odd nasty punch-up. Even a couple of heart attacks while I’ve been here. Having the defibrillator and the oxygen on site seemed a no-brainer. And the staff at the pub all have first-aid knowledge.’

‘Down to you as well?’ Jack asked.

‘And our nurse manager, Maggie Neville. You haven’t met her yet.’ Darcie gave a small chuckle. ‘I think she could run the place if it came to it.’

‘Good.’ Jack stretched his legs out as far as they would go. ‘Nice to have backup.’

A beat of silence.

‘I was very glad to have your backup this evening, Jack.’

Jack felt an expectant throb in his veins. What was this? A tick of approval from the very reserved English doctor? And unless he was mistaken, her husky little compliment had come straight from her heart.

CHAPTER THREE

WHEN THEY PULLED into the hospital car park, Jack said, ‘I can take over from here, Darcie. Go home. I’m sure you’ve more than earned a night off.’

She made a small face. ‘If you’re sure?’

‘More than sure. I’m pulling rank, Doctor. You’re officially off duty.’

‘Thanks, then.’ Darcie felt the weight of responsibility drop from her. ‘I’d actually kill for a leisurely bath.’

‘And dinner’s on its way,’ Jack confirmed, as he swung out of the car. ‘Warren’s sending over pizzas.’

* * *

Lauren stood with Jack as he made notations on Nathan’s chart. ‘How’s he doing?’ she asked quietly.

‘He has entry and exit burns on his left hand and right foot. It’s obviously been a serious shock. We’ll need him on a heart monitor for the next little while.’

‘He’s coming round.’ Lauren looked down at her watch to check the young man’s pulse. ‘You’re in hospital, Nathan,’ she said as Nathan’s eyes opened. ‘You’ve had an electric shock. This is Dr Cassidy.’

‘Take it easy, Nathan.’ Jack was calmly reassuring. ‘This contraption here is helping you breathe.’

Nathan’s eyes squeezed shut and then opened.

‘Pulse is fine,’ Lauren reported.

‘In that case, I think we can extubate.’ Jack explained to their patient what he was about to do. ‘You’re recovering well, Nathan, and there’s an excellent chance you’ll be able to breathe on your own.’ He turned to Lauren. ‘Stand by with the oxygen, please, but let’s hope he won’t need it.’

Lauren noticed the surgeon’s hands were gentle. Mentally, she gave him a vote of approval. In her time she’d seen extubations carried out with all the finesse of pulling nails with a claw hammer.

‘I want you to cough now, Nathan,’ Jack said as the tube was fully removed. ‘Go for it,’ he added, as Nathan looked confused. ‘You won’t damage anything.’

Nathan coughed obligingly.

‘OK, let’s have a listen to your chest now.’ Jack dipped his head, his face impassive in concentration. ‘Good lad.’ He gave a guarded smile. ‘You’re breathing well.

‘Thanks, Doc.’ Nathan’s voice was rusty. ‘Guess I’ve been lucky. When can I get out of here?’

‘Not so fast, mate.’ Jack raised a staying hand. ‘You’ve had a hell of a whack to every part of your body. We’ll need to monitor you for a couple of days.’

Nathan looked anxious. ‘My job—’

‘Is safe,’ Jack said firmly. ‘Warren will be in to see you about that tomorrow. In the meantime, I want you to just rest and let the nurses take care of you.’

‘And we do that very well.’ Lauren gave the young man a cheeky smile. ‘Fluids as a matter of course, Doctor?’

‘Please.’ Jack continued writing on Nathan’s chart. ‘Call if there’s a problem, Lauren. I’ll be right over.’

‘Will do. Good to have you on board, Jack,’ Lauren said as they walked out.

Jack pocketed his pen and then turned to the nurse. ‘What time do the shops come alive here in the mornings?’

‘Depends what you need.’ A small evocative smile nipped Lauren’s mouth. ‘There’s a truckers’ café that opens about five-thirty, supermarket and bakery about six, everything else around eight-thirty-ish.’

‘Thanks for the heads-up.’ Jack acknowledged the information with a curt nod and strode off.

* * *

‘This is fantastic!’ They were eating pizza straight from the box and Jack pulled out a long curl of melted cheese and began eating it with exaggerated relish. ‘Why the look, Dr Drummond?’ He gave a folded-in grin. ‘You didn’t expect us to stand on ceremony and set the table for dinner, did you?’

Darcie took her time answering, obviously enjoying her own slice of the delicious wood-fired pizza. ‘I thought the present state of the fridge would have proved I’m no domestic goddess.’

‘Who needs them?’ Jack wound out another curl of cheese. ‘Do you want the last piece?’

Darcie waved his offer away and got to her feet. ‘I found some raspberry ripple ice cream in the freezer. Fancy some?’

Jack shook his head. ‘No, thanks.’

‘Cup of tea, then?’

‘Any decent coffee going, by any chance?’

‘There’s some good instant. Near as we get can to the real stuff out here.’

‘Perfect.’ Jack got up from the table and moved across to the sink to wash his hands. Drying them on a length of paper towel, he moved closer to look over her shoulder as she reached up to get mugs from the top cupboard. ‘Turned out all right, then, didn’t it?’ His voice had a gruff quality. ‘Our impromptu dinner, I mean.’

He was very close and Darcie felt warning signals clang all over her body. The zig-zag of awareness startled her, unnerved her. With her breathing shallower than usual, she said, ‘It was great.’ She took her time, placing the mugs carefully on the countertop as though they were fine china, instead of the cheerful, chunky variety from the supermarket.