Chapter Ten
Zac
On Saturday afternoon, Zac heard the satisfying clunk of the undercarriage not long after the aircraft’s wheels rose from the Alice Springs tarmac. As the plane’s acceleration pushed him back into the seat, his mood lifted with the cabin. He’d missed Ava like a limb, even though she’d only been gone for three days.
Since Ava had left Alice Springs for Uluru, a journey that would take him fifty-five minutes to fly instead of hours by car, he’d had plenty of time to think. And act. And, after she finished work today, they’d have two nights and a day together. He had plans. Not just fly-down-and-see-her plans, but outrageous plans. Him-staying-here-forever plans.
Zac had bought something he hadn’t intended when he’d gone to buy Ava flowers this morning. Strangely, the impulsive purchase had eased an odd, disquieting feeling of impending doom that he’d finished night shift with today.
It was nothing to do with the business of the emergency department, so maybe it had just been that he wanted to be with Ava now and not have to wait until this afternoon. Either way, he’d bought something so special, he couldn’t believe his desire to put himself right out there at the end of a very long tree limb and declare how he felt.
Hopefully, his idea would hold its weight. He could have been fuzzy from lack of sleep on his shopping trip, because while Ava had been gone, his work had been hectic and he’d had trouble sleeping in his silent bed. The apartment had sighed with an emptiness he couldn’t fill.
The four days prior with Ava – well, they’d used up a lot of hours not just making love. They’d laughed at the television together, swum in the hotel pool, and spent hours telling their life stories on the comfy lounge as they’d sat by the window looking over the scrubby distance. They’d fit some wild and woolly night shifts in there, too, saving the world together. It had been perfect, as if he’d found his soulmate. Did the culmination of all that explain the bizarreness of his purchase? Like how the item had shouted to him through a shop window in diamond speak that nobody else could understand, like the snake in Harry Potter? Drawing him to the glass to peer at it and marvel.
Yep, something like that. A ring all by itself on a stand with a backdrop of a pink Central Australian sunrise.
The perfect engagement ring for Ava.
It was a big decision, and a big pink diamond, but he consoled himself that if he looked like a fool, at least he’d dared to dream. He’d certainly made the jeweller happy, and the weight of the velvet box in his pocket made his heart rate settle and his vague worry recede a little. He’d stopped drumming his fingers. They would have a long engagement, he decided. There was no need to rush her into a wedding. There were so many things to discuss, people to see – parents, family – and decisions to make. But just knowing he’d found the right symbol of how he felt was enough.
The aircraft bumped through some turbulence and brought him back to the present. He glanced down to where he’d slipped the box into his bag. It was safe, and he resisted the urge to look at it again to confirm the rightness of the design. It was simple. Bold. Beautiful. Like Ava.
And he’d made the right choice with colour. It was the exact shade of the sunrise that had shone on their bed that first morning as he’d watched her wake up, and the colour of her cheeks as she’d met his gaze so bravely that first day. The diamond glowed with a blushing, rosy pink, the colour he wanted to see on her hand and cheeks as he woke with Ava beside him every single morning for the rest of his life.
He had no doubts about that. He’d realised it this morning, when he’d simply nodded his head and bought the ring. Not because she would lust after a big diamond – he’d learned possessions wouldn’t sway Ava – but because the strength of the stone’s pull reminded him of her. Irresistible. One-off. And he was taking a giant leap of faith.
Because he loved her.
Zac felt the ramifications of that statement race along his veins. He’d loved Roslyn, his childhood friend, his society wife, and mourned her loss. He would always hold her memories dear, but this was a different love.
He’d never wanted anyone more than he wanted Ava. Did that make him a bad person? It wasn’t just lust – though bucketloads of that clouded everything. It was the unexpected pleasure in her company, the need to be a better man for her, the desire to make her smile and see her happy. And since she’d been gone, he’d seen that where and how they were together truly wasn’t important. They could figure out the details later.
But so soon? So fast?
Yep.
This was assuming biblical proportions, and strangely, he wasn’t feeling the need to run. The outrageously unexpected purchase of the ring in his pocket attested to that. He wanted to take away all her worries and sit her in front of that big red rock she loved so much and hear her passion for her work and laugh and tease her. He wanted to meet her friends and family, and reassure them that he was worthy.
He’d listened to Ava’s love of the majesty and mysticism of Uluru. As he stared out the window, searching into the distance for the resplendent structure, he thought, It’s the perfect place to propose. He was having some pivotal moments in aeroplanes lately.
Zac heard the engine note change as Ayers Rock Airport swung into view, and the window tilted as the aircraft swung in over the low scrub of the iridescent rust-coloured desert to land.
Now he could see Uluru in the shimmering distance, impassive, mystic, rising from the desert like a long, low pyramid. Even from this distance, it impressed with its magnitude, and he couldn’t wait to see it up close. Actually, he couldn’t wait for Ava to show him up close.
Because this timeless, enduring monolith would become a symbol of their future.
Chapter Eleven
Ava
Zac was coming! He was due to arrive after lunch, and Ava glanced around the clinic and decided it wasn’t too untidy to show off. The patient load was calming down now that the half a dozen seats in the waiting room had nearly emptied. She methodically completed her assessment of a child with asthma and was relieved to see the wheeze Zoe had shown yesterday had lessened, as they’d thought it would. ‘You did well with your puffers, and your chest sounds much better,’ she told Zoe with a smile, then turned to the mother. ‘Keep following the asthma plan and ring the helpline if you get worried.’
‘Thanks, Ava. Will do. Come on, Zoe.’
Ava washed her hands and moved on to the elderly diabetic gentleman from the community whose ulcer was also improving, and then dealt with an elderly lady with a scraped knee and a twisted ankle.
‘I’ve wanted to come here to Uluru for years,’ the lady was saying, ‘and I fall over and twist my foot on the first day.’
‘It’s a shame but all is not lost,’ Ava reassured her as she bandaged her leg. ‘If you put your feet up today, you should be feeling even better tomorrow. You can take the bandage off for your shower in the morning, but put it back on for walking, as support.’
‘Yes, Nurse.’ The woman looked doubtfully down at her foot. ‘You sure it will be fine?’
‘You can take your weight on it now, but it will only get better if you rest it. Watch the sunset from your room and pop your feet up on the outdoor table. It’s a beautiful afternoon.’
Yes it was, she thought as she helped the woman to the door. And Zac would be here soon. She gazed through the window at the dark sapphire of the sky. The colours seemed deeper, the birdsong louder, everything brighter and crisper, despite the warning that they might be in for a dust storm later. But not before Zac touched down.
By two pm, she knew Zac’s plane would have landed. She pictured his big frame on the bus from the airport to Yulara, but she kept her head down as she carefully cleaned the gravel from another scraped leg.
By the time it was done, her stomach jittered with tiny twitches of excitement and her mouth kept smiling at the clock as if she had a new friend in the ticking hands. For the last three days in her staff accommodation, in the back of her mind, s
he’d been planning Zac’s introduction to Uluru, the park, the base walk, the cultural centre, Denise and her husband. All the places to watch the sun rise and set. And other things …
She needed to calm down. Anyone would think she’d fallen in love with a guy she’d known for a week. Had she been that foolish?
Her mind skittered back to Zac. He’d jumped on her suggestion to book a rock-view room at the Yulara resort, so they could step out onto their own verandah in dawn’s light and know exactly where they were. It was impossible to miss what stood on the horizon from that vantage point, and she wanted him to see it too.
Surely he’d drop in here as soon as he’d unpacked. They only had tonight and tomorrow and then he’d go back to work and she’d go on to her family’s station.
The clinic door opened and suddenly he was there, watching her, hand still on the doorhandle as if frozen by the sight of her, checking her out with a warmth in his eyes that made her skin heat and her delight bounce in her chest.
‘Hello,’ he said, his voice deep and familiar like a much-loved song. The door closed behind him and the room felt as though it had shrunk to the size of a telephone box.
They grinned at each other like loons and she crossed to him and held out her hands because, really, she wanted to launch herself into his arms, and it just wasn’t professional to do so at work. He took both of her hands in his and searched her face as if he wanted to memorise every feature, and yep, her belly flipped and flopped. She was alone in the clinic as the other nurse had dashed to the supermarket to pick up milk for tomorrow.
‘Perfect timing. We’re just closing.’
‘Beautiful,’ he said. And if she heard that right, so much more was being whispered underneath. Whether he meant her or the circumstances, she didn’t care. Both boded well for the night and the coming days.
That was until the hubbub of noise erupted outside and the screen door scraped open in a hurry. Denise ushered Jessamine into the room and the mood flew away like a startled lorikeet. Zac stood back to allow the women to push past into the clinic area and Ava knew they’d just taken a raincheck on their reunion.
‘Jessamine’s waters have broken,’ Denise blurted out.
Jessamine’s face screwed up in pain. ‘Baby’s coming.’ Judging by the grunt that followed, she was spot-on.
Well, then. Ava’s eyes met Zac’s, and she thought, Just like in Alice! Did drama always follow this guy, or was it her?
She snapped out of that thought as Jessamine took a step back when she noticed Zac. Ava kept her voice low and tranquil, as if it was a lovely coincidence that the women had visited. ‘Jessamine. This is Dr Zac. He’s an emergency doctor from Alice Springs. I worked with him when Kareena had her baby and he was a big help. Do you know Kareena?’
Jessamine nodded reluctantly.
‘It’s so lucky, really.’ Ava drew her in further. ‘If your baby’s coming, he’ll be here to help us. It’s good to have a doctor around. I’ll look after you and he’ll look after baby.’ Ava glanced at her friend. ‘Denise will stay too, of course.’ Denise’s relief at finding the clinic still open was evident and Ava smiled at her. ‘Good job.’
Denise shook her head. ‘I found her walking in from the community. I’m happy to see you still here.’
Jessamine’s fingers were white on the internal clinic doorframe. Then another contraction began to build and her breathing sped up. Her eyes darted around the room as if there was somewhere she could hide from the pain in her belly.
Ava saw the edge of panic and rested her hand very lightly on the young woman’s shoulder, sharing her calmness through touch as older, wiser midwives had shown Ava in the past. In response, Jessamine dug her fingers into Ava’s hand and squeezed as she bore down. ‘Don’t you let go,’ she ground out and Ava smiled.
‘You’re safe. Just breathe slowly and let the tightness roll over you like a wave.’
The outside door opened again. ‘And now we have Nurse Jill –’ the short, grey-haired nurse raised her brows at Ava in question – ‘who is back from the shop, so there are plenty of hands to look after you.’
By the time they’d helped Jessamine into the treatment room, another contraction had pushed a small rivulet of pink fluid to drip onto the floor, confirming Denise’s warning about broken waters. At least the colour of the liquid was reassuring, Ava thought, as she began to run through what she needed to do for an imminent delivery. The nurse grabbed a towel and dropped it on the puddle before someone slipped.
‘I can’t lie down.’ Jessamine leaned forward over the day bed the clinic used for critical patients, and with a nod from Ava, Denise moved around the other side to gently take the young woman’s hands in hers for comfort. Denise began to murmur soothing Pitjantjatjara words that dipped and hung quietly around her.
Relaxed a little by Denise’s crooning, Jessamine rocked and swayed, almost in a dance. Jessamine’s dusty footprints began to form a circle like a painting around the towel on the cream vinyl of the floor where she stood. She rocked and stepped through the escalating contraction, and Ava imagined the young mother was creating her own circle of safety. She liked the idea. They’d take all the help they could because she doubted any RFDS plane would make it in time for this baby.
Ava didn’t want to interrupt that instinctive response to her body that Jessamine had found to direct her labour. They wouldn’t have to wait long for another change that would indicate the labour had reached the point where Ava would have to look.
Jessamine made a strangled noise and Ava exchanged a glance with Zac that said, Right now.
‘Can we lift your dress, Jessamine, and see if the baby’s coming?’ Ava asked.
‘You’d better,’ Jessamine said with a groan as she shimmied out of her wet underwear, which plopped onto the floor. ‘’Cause somethin’s happenin’.’
When they lifted the damp skirt up to her back, a much thinner back than Ava expected, they could see the roundness of a tiny baby’s buttock.
‘Breech,’ Ava breathed as she caught Zac’s eye, and Zac frowned worriedly at her. Be calm, she told him with her eyes. ‘All the spontaneous ones I’ve seen had no complications, so let’s keep it like that,’ she said softly. Zac’s eyes still held concern, though, so she said quietly in an aside, ‘Good thing I did a refresher in Sydney. Allow the presence of trust,’ she said, repeating the mantra they’d pushed at the course and smiling at him. To Jill she said, ‘We’ll let mum and baby do the work, but get ready for a baby, Jill.’
Nurse Jill’s fingers shook, but she handed Ava and Zac a pair of gloves each from the pack beside the day bed. ‘I’ll phone for the RFDS.’
‘No.’ Jessamine shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. The young woman turned her head to look at Ava. ‘I shoulda come yesterday.’ Ava had been to see Jessamine again yesterday, but hadn’t been able to cajole her into allowing an examination.
‘We talked,’ Ava soothed her. ‘You and Denise did well coming here today. And Jill will call the RFDS to pick you up so they can make sure you and baby stay okay.’
Jessamine shook her head and glanced at the door as if she was going to run away. ‘You can ring ’em. But we’re not goin’ on that plane.’
Ava guessed something had happened to Jessamine or one of her family to cause this fear of hospitals or aircraft, but they didn’t have time to find out now. They needed to be calm for the next stage. ‘I hear you. We won’t worry about that yet.’ Ava met Jessamine’s eyes and said quietly, ‘Nurse Jill has to ring so they know we might need help. I understand you don’t want to leave country. We’ll talk later when you’re not so busy.’
Zac peered around the now crowded room. ‘How did you get here, Jessamine?’
‘I walked. That’s how I saw Denise.’
‘It’s a good thing to walk,’ Ava said gently. ‘Most breech babies curl themselves into a ball and sort themselves out. Movement helps that.’ She turned to Denise. ‘What about her man’s mum? She not here wi
th you?’
This time Jessamine narrowed her eyes. ‘I didn’t tell anyone. She’ll be mad I didn’t come in after you left yesterday. We don’t get on too good.’
Better she’s not here, then, Ava thought philosophically. Emotional friction didn’t go with birth. She repeated, ‘Walking through labour is good. Really good because your baby is almost here.’
Jessamine nodded and swallowed. ‘I can’t stand. I wanna kneel down on the floor.’ With that the girl pushed off the couch and awkwardly knelt down until she’d buried her head between her elbows and then into a pillow Denise hurriedly dragged off the nearest bed. Nurse Jill was like a sprite dragging towels from cupboards, helping Ava put protection under Jessamine’s knees and body to shield against discomfort and cold, then tossing a thin blanket over her back.
Even Zac, who hadn’t done a lot of obstetrics, didn’t look surprised that a strongly labouring woman wanted to throw herself into the best position. Ava knew Jessamine had listened to her body telling her the most useful way to use gravity.
Ava saw that Zac had found a stethoscope for the baby and was making a space on a nearby bed to examine or resuscitate the infant if he needed a work surface, a task Ava was glad wouldn’t fall to her.
As Jessamine knelt down, Zac used his foot to slide a little footstool for Ava to sit on so she could hover close by and help if needed. In the background, she picked up the quiet rumble of the tumble drier. Jill must have switched it on to warm towels and a blanket for the baby on her way to the phone. This wasn’t the first time a child had been born in the clinic, but it was certainly unusual. Everything had better work out well because there was no backup aside from those present.
The Desert Midwife Page 7