Ruth grinned. ‘Squid says they’ll all be laughing on the other side of their faces soon enough.’
Abby shook her head. Even the larger of the two tremors had been pretty minor. Certainly not enough to make anyone take any more notice of what the island’s oldest fisherman, Squid Davies, had to say about it being a warning of the kind of quake his grandfather had experienced here. It had just been a bit of a rattle. The kind anyone who’d grown up in New Zealand was familiar with.
‘Jack said it was really fun at school the next day. They got to practise their “Drop, Cover and Hold” emergency drill. I think the kids all thought it was just as good as a game of sardines, squeezing in under their desks.’
She snapped off the top of an ampoule and put the needle of a tiny one-mil syringe in to suck up the contents.
‘Ahh....’ Ruth was nodding. ‘That’s what it is.’
‘What what is?’
‘Why you’re on edge and staring out the window so often.’
Abby raised her eyebrows. She was all set to give Daisy her shot now but she stood there for a moment, holding the kidney dish, waiting for Ruth to elaborate.
‘Jack’s only just started school and he’s your only child. I remember what that was like, wondering if anyone else could take care of your baby as well as you could.’
‘I’ve been working since Jack was three. He’s been in day care and play groups for half his life, just about.’
‘Yeah, but he’s off on the big junior school trip today, isn’t he? My Brooke and Amber have gone, too. The hike to the shipwreck this morning and then the visit to the old copper mines after the picnic?’
‘Mmm.’ Abby bit her lip. ‘I would have gone as parent help but I’d already organised this clinic and I couldn’t postpone it when I was out there trying to persuade everyone to come.’
Ruth was right. Anxiety about her precious little boy was undoubtedly the cause for her underlying sense of unease.
Abby’s sigh was part relief, part exasperation. Enough of this.
She could hear a child crying in the waiting room outside and had to hope people weren’t getting too impatient. It would be disappointing if some of them changed their minds about being here after all her hard work of talking to parents at the local schools and playgroups recently. Ben’s younger sister Hannah was in charge of keeping them all organised and entertained but there was only so much a seventeen-year-old could do to manage a room full of youngsters.
Ruth was exactly the kind of result Abby had wanted when she’d embarked on this project. Kaimotu Island, being so isolated from the mainland, attracted people who wanted to live an alternative lifestyle and Ruth and her husband Damien lived with their six children in a converted train carriage out on the edge of the bush. They supplemented their self-sufficient lifestyle by making pottery that they sold to the influx of visitors in the summer months.
Totally against the idea of vaccination, Ruth and Damien had had a huge fright last year when one of their older children had needed urgent evacuation to a large hospital after developing complications from measles.
Thank goodness they weren’t so isolated that evacuation wasn’t a viable option in emergencies. Abby had been in the early stages of pregnancy when she’d first arrived here and potential complications for herself or her baby had been a real worry, to put it mildly. Mix some medical knowledge in with the fervent imagination of a born worrier and obsession was well within grasp.
Reassurance had come from both the impressive skills of the doctor here, Ben McMahon, and how well the clinic was set up to either cope with a serious emergency or stabilise a patient for evacuation. And it wasn’t so far by small plane or helicopter. Only a couple of hours. There was usually an abundance of private aircraft available, too, in case the mainland rescue chopper was otherwise engaged.
Thanks to the stunning scenery and the facilities that some of the vineyards had developed, Kaimotu Island was becoming an increasingly sought-after venue for weddings and honeymoons.
Predictably, Daisy’s eyes widened in outrage at the prick of the needle and then she erupted into ear-splitting wails. Seeing Blake’s bottom lip wobbling, Abby sighed. Why hadn’t she done Blake’s vaccination first? Daisy wasn’t old enough to put two and two together and realise that the nurse was torturing small people in here.
Ruth was offering Daisy her breast in the hope of consoling her by finishing her interrupted feed. Abby took the jar of jelly snakes and put it on the edge of her desk.
‘Me?’ Blake asked hopefully.
‘Very soon,’ Abby promised.
‘No,’ Blake shouted. ‘Now.’
Abby managed a smile but the tension was skyrocketing. Heading for her desk to collect Blake’s file, her gaze snagged on the photo taking pride of place beside the phone.
Taken on the first day of school just a couple of months ago, Jack’s proud grin lit up his little face. A cheeky grin beneath mischievous dark brown eyes and a mop of soft, black curls. Something huge and warm welled up inside Abby and she felt some of the tension evaporate. It was always so grounding to be reminded of her love for her son. The reason she’d come here had been to keep him safe and give him the best possible start in life.
It was great that he was out having a real boy’s adventure today. The teachers and other parents would be looking after him. He wasn’t going to wander off and drown or topple into an abandoned mine shaft. It was ridiculous to even allow the fear of such scenarios to enter her head but they’d been there ever since Jack had started to get mobile and had crawled into his first spot of bother and revealed what a handful he was going to become.
She didn’t need the photograph to remind her of what hovered in the back of her mind every single day. It was more than looks. It was a whole personality.
Jack was the spitting image of his father.
The man she had loved so much.
The man she had chosen to lose.
* * *
‘Did you get put on the naughty step?’
‘Reckon it was worth it.’ Thomas Kendrick threw a lazy grin in his colleague’s direction as he headed for the comfortable armchair in the staff quarters of the mainland rescue base.
The most recent addition to the elite team of paramedics, Felicity, shook her head. ‘I’d heard you were a bit of a cowboy even before I applied for the job here, you know. Yesterday was the first time I’d actually seen you do something so reckless, though.’
Tom shrugged. Okay, the job had been a bit wild. And, yes, he’d taken a fair risk climbing under the unsecured car wreck at the bottom of a cliff as it had teetered on rocks, far too close to the boiling surf, but it had been the only way to get the unconscious driver out.
‘You were just as keen as I was, Fizz. You would have been the one to crawl inside if I’d let you.’
‘Yeah...’ Her grin was unrepentant. ‘It was awesome, wasn’t it? And we got her out. Alive.’
They had. But Tom had known there would be repercussions. Felicity had sustained a fairly major laceration to her arm in the process and was now stitched up and in a dressing that had to be kept dry. She was off active duty for a few days. And Tom had received a warning from an exasperated base manager.
‘Look, we both know you live for the adrenaline rush, Tank. And we both know you’re the best in the business. But there are limits, okay? Start taking notice of the boundaries or I’ll have to take this further than a verbal warning. You nearly broke one of the crew. That’s not on.’
Fair enough. It hadn’t been his fault that Fizz had got injured, though. She had simply refused to do what he’d told her and stay put, off the slippery rocks, until he’d retrieved their patient. She was too young. Too eager. And not just when it came to the job. The look she was giving him now was unambiguous.
‘I’m off active duty, Tank
. I’m...frustrated.’
Tom ignored the invitation in her eyes. It would be all too easy to start an affair with Felicity. The other guys on the base were probably taking bets on how long it would take this time. And they were probably getting a bit puzzled by the fact that Tom couldn’t seem to summon the interest.
Maybe the game of starting something he would only want to finish not so far down the track was finally getting old. Been there, done that. Too many times.
‘You could come and help me with a...a stocktake, maybe...’
Counting supplies in the storeroom was not what Felicity had in mind. Good grief...at work? Maybe he did push the boundaries when it came to saving lives out in the field but, dammit, he had some personal boundaries. Funny that the prospect of an illicit thrill wasn’t even enough to spark real desire, though.
He shook his head. ‘I’m going to hit the gym. Doubt if we’ll get another job before the shift’s over.’
He knew she was watching him as he left the room. He knew he could pretty much click his fingers and get her into his bed if he wanted. Was that the problem? That there was no challenge involved?
The rescue base pilot on duty, Moz, was running on the treadmill. He raised a water bottle in salute as Tom entered the small fitness centre. The paramedic standing in for Fizz was Frank and he was currently using the rowing machine.
That wasn’t the name his parents had given him, of course. It was short for Frankenstein and had been bestowed after an accident had given him an impressive facial laceration. The scar from the injury was virtually invisible, now, but the nickname had well and truly stuck.
Stripping off his overalls, Tom moved to the weight machine, wearing only a pair of shorts and a singlet. He flexed his muscles and started to warm up slowly. Keeping in shape was taking more effort these days but it was worth it. He’d earned his own nickname years ago due to his physique, along with his impressive height.
Thomas the Tank Engine. Unstoppable.
The weights on the machine rattled loudly and Tom narrowed his eyes as he watched them. The whole machine was rocking now and he wasn’t touching anything.
‘What the hell is that? An earthquake?’
‘Didn’t feel a thing.’ Moz was still pounding the treadmill at a good pace.
‘I felt it.’ Frank was looking interested rather than alarmed in any way.
An earthquake you were aware of was pretty unusual for Auckland, but not unheard of. They had minor tremors all over the country on a regular basis. If that was it, it was nothing to write home about.
Frank was already moving to his next activity. ‘Just a seismic burp,’ he said. ‘No biggie.’
‘Might be the tail end of something that was pretty big for someone else,’ Tom suggested.
Frank grinned. ‘That would make up for a quiet day, wouldn’t it?’
Moz mopped the sweat from his brown with a hand towel but didn’t slow down. ‘Dream on,’ he called.
Tom laughed. They would probably all do exactly that for the next few minutes. Good distraction from the pain of pushing yourself physically, anyway, imagining an event that could provide the kind of job they all dreamed of.
Tom took a deep breath and released it. He was feeling good now. Life was full of exciting possibilities. You just needed to be in the right place at the right time.
And keep yourself fit.
Tom added more weights and settled into his routine.
* * *
The tremor on Kaimotu Island started exactly the way the others had in the last few weeks. A sharp, unpleasant, jolting sensation.
But instead of fading away, this time the intensity built up with a speed too fast to process. It wasn’t until she was virtually thrown off balance and only stopped herself falling by catching the edge of her desk that Abby realised that something huge was happening. She watched the jar of jelly snakes float through the air and then smash into shards on the floor. The fridge door had opened and its contents were starting to spill out. The revolving filing system, filled with thousands of patient files, was rocking violently and spewing paper in all directions.
Even then, it was all happening too fast to feel any fear. Blake had been thrown off balance but was still on top of the examination couch. Any second now, though, he would be on the floor amongst the broken glass and whatever else was about to come loose. It felt like Abby was trying to move against the deck of a violently rolling ship as she lunged towards the toddler.
‘Under my desk,’ she shouted at Ruth. ‘Quick.’
She had to shout. It wasn’t just the crashing and banging of things falling around them, there was a peculiar roaring sound. As if a huge jet was trying to land on the narrow, unsealed road that led to this hilltop hospital.
Catching Blake in her arms, Abby made a dive for her desk. She felt something crunch under her knees but was oblivious to any pain. The shock of being narrowly missed by the computer monitor crashing off the desk beside her was more than enough distraction. The fridge had not only emptied its contents on the floor but now it was trying to walk through the debris, tilting ominously as it rocked from side to side.
Was the solid wood of the desktop going to be enough to protect them if the fridge fell over? Was the building going to stay upright? Vicious sounds of windows exploding and a scream from the waiting room gave Abby another surge of adrenaline, and it was then that the first shaft of pure fear sliced through her.
‘Hang on,’ she told Ruth. ‘It’s got to stop. It’ll be okay.’
Who was she trying to reassure? The terrified mother who was clutching her infant with one arm and hanging on to a leg of the desk with the other? The small boy in her own arms, who was rigid with terror?
Herself?
All of them. It felt like this was never going to stop. The floor was tilting beneath them and still things were coming off the walls and shelves above, like the framed certificates that showed the qualifications Abby had worked so hard for. Heavy medical textbooks and the plastic models of joints that she used for educational purposes. Her whole world seemed to be literally crashing down around her.
And then, finally, it began to fade. The shaking stopped. The roaring noise and the sound of things breaking stopped.
Even the sound of her own breathing stopped.
Abby had never heard a silence quite like this.
Heavy.
Dead.
The moment when the world changed irrevocably.
And that was the moment that real fear took hold. When it had all stopped but you couldn’t know if it was about to start again.
Or what had happened to everybody else.
Oh, God... Jack...
CHAPTER TWO
THE PILOT TOOK the rescue helicopter in a long, slow sweep over the length of Kaimotu as they made their final approach.
Most of the island appeared to be covered in native bush with little in the way of buildings. Housing was concentrated along the longest stretch of beach and the hills at one end. This was where the wharf was located and the community’s centre, which contained the public buildings, including schools and business premises.
It was also where the major damage from the earthquake had been focused according to the patchy reports that had been coming in for nearly two hours now. The tremor that Tom and his colleagues had felt had indeed been the tail end of something much bigger. A seven point four earthquake with its epicentre right beneath Kaimotu Island. Probably right beneath its most densely populated area at this time of day, unfortunately. Reports contained the information that there were a lot of people injured. Possibly trapped in collapsed buildings.
The landing coordinates were for the field close to the medical centre, which was often used for evacuations from the island. This was the first time Tom had ever been here but it was h
ard to appreciate the natural beauty of the isolated island with the amount of adrenaline he had coursing through his body. Exchanging a glance with Frank as they hovered over the centre of the tiny township, where the buildings had taken the brunt of the damage, he could see that his mate was as wired as he was.
Here they were, the first responders, quite possibly the only responders for some time, and they were facing what was probably going to be the biggest job of their careers.
‘There it is.’ The voice of Moz, the pilot, sounded deceptively calm. ‘The medical centre. Hang on to your hats, boys. Let’s get this baby on the ground.’
In their bright red overalls, still wearing their white helmets with the rescue service insignia on the front, hefting only their backpacks full of emergency gear, Tom and Frank ducked beneath the slowing rotors and ran for the steps leading up to the modern buildings attached to the old, wooden hospital. A sign indicated that this was the island’s medical centre—the place they’d been instructed to report to first.
Even before they got through the door they could see the place was crowded. There were people milling around inside and out and the veranda of the old hospital was packed.
It had been two hours since the quake had struck. The initial tsunami warning had been cancelled when it had become clear that the quake hadn’t been centred out at sea. Were people staying on higher ground anyway, just in case?
How many of the walking wounded had made it this far? How many had been carried here? Tom had no idea what was available in terms of medical staff and resources. He had to hope that somebody competent had taken charge and would be able to fill him in. Where would they be needed most? How on earth would they even begin to triage this situation?
The waiting room was packed to the gills. The sound of children crying and the sight of so many pale, frightened people galvanised Tom into action.
‘Who’s in charge here?’ he asked the person closest to the door, a middle-aged woman who was holding a bloodstained dressing against long grey hair that was matted with blood.
MIRACLE ON KAIMOTU ISLAND/ALWAYS THE HERO Page 18