Rescue Nights

by Nina Hamilton

  Chapter Seven

  Andrew opened the gate to the resort’s adult only pool, and swore in disgust. Was the blasted woman deliberately haunting him?

  Manning up, Andrew squared his shoulders and kept on moving, over the deck to the soft white sunbeds. Just because she was angry and bitter didn’t mean she had the right to ruin his last few hours before they were rostered on.

  ‘Hiya,’ he said, as he took the sunlounge two down from her. Considering they were the only people in the pool area, it might have been unforgivably rude to choose to sit on the other side. Sunlight bathed Kate as she lay in an oversized sundress with sunglasses covering her eyes.

  At the sound of his words, Kate took off her designer branded eyeshades and acknowledged his presence. ‘Getting some sun really is the only way to get through night duty,’ she said. Her tone was not exactly warm but it wasn’t bitingly angry like this morning.

  ‘Seven days of vampire time isn’t anyone’s idea of a healthy life. In England the worst of it always was, that by the time you’d had your catch up on sleep, the sun had already gone down.’ Andrew gestured to the perfect blue sky above. ‘This here is nice.’

  There wasn’t much to complain about in his immediate surrounds, except maybe the company. Thirty metres of salt-water pool stretched in front of them and his villa was only a gentle stroll away. A timber deck reflected some of the heat of the day and the sun nearing the horizon meant that it was possible to sit here without feeling too overly warm. Even the timber sun lounge was perfectly crafted. The one he had chosen had soft cream cotton pillows and was long enough for even his oversized frame.

  ‘Swimming too much effort today?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m comfortable and warm now, nothing is going to persuade me to do anything more,’ Kate replied, lazily turning her face towards him.

  Feeling they had exhausted all polite avenues of conversation and not wanting to delve into the world of work, Andrew looked down at the reading material he had brought along. He didn’t get further than a few pages in before Kate’s voice had him raising his head.

  ‘Not a sailing magazine?’ Kate said, pointing at his reading material. ‘Could that be any more of an indulged white guy’s hobby?’

  Really. She was going to challenge him on this as well. No-one could say he hadn’t tried playing it nice.

  ‘Sorry, Kate, I didn’t know that my recreational choices had to be approved through you.’

  Kate shrugged theatrically, as she angled her body towards his lounge. ‘Of course you can choose your own hobbies. It’s just when you choose sailing, it screams boy who wore a boater to high school.’

  With deliberate slowness, partly to restrain himself from throwing the magazine at her, Andrew put the offending publication down by his side.

  ‘Kate,’ he said, hearing the steel in his voice, ‘people whose parents weren’t able to afford a private school education probably don’t know what a bloody boater is. So don’t play the working class heroine with me.’

  ‘OK, so sue me for having wealthy parents too. But that doesn’t mean I’m not just trying to help you fit into a new community.’

  ‘What do you suggest are appropriate activities that fit your non-spoilt boy standard?’ Andrew asked. Even sarcastically, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear her input.

  ‘Well you can try snorkelling, or diving on the reef.’

  ‘Not exactly a world away from sailing,’ Andrew interrupted.

  ‘Or you could come and join the local SES branch,’ Kate suggested. ‘You must know a man with your qualifications will always be welcome at an organization like that.’

  ‘Uh huh,’ said Andrew, triumphant at finding her angle. ‘Now we are getting to it. You are just trying to recruit another volunteer for your beloved rescue group.’

  ‘No, I was really genuinely also trying to save you from your wanker tendencies,’ said Kate. ‘Getting you to do something for the community was an added bonus.’

  ‘I guess I’m just surprised that you are interested in having me in your life any more than possible. You didn’t seem too infatuated with my company this morning.’

  With her earlier angry walk away, he was quite frankly surprised they were even talking now. And she wasn’t the only one capable of holding a grudge.

  Kate waved her hand vaguely in the air. ‘It looks like you are destined to annoy me for your whole Cairns stay. This way, at least, someone other than whatever evil spirit brought you here as a joke will benefit.’

  Evil spirit, sent to annoy her for eternity. That was definitely a unique description of his company.

  ‘The boy’s parents said to thank the entire crew when they arrived this morning,’ said Andrew, breaking his earlier vow not to mention work.

  There was an extra alertness in Kate’s eyes when she asked, ‘How long after I left did they get there?’

  ‘About forty minutes,’ Andrew replied. ‘They were shaken up, especially Billy’s mum, who had to go visit her father too. But at least the news wasn’t all bad. Both look like they will eventually recover, even if the road for the old man will be hard.’

  ‘You did good work there,’ said Kate, surprising him with a compliment that didn’t even contain a backhanded twist. She rose as if to leave.

  Andrew knew he should just let her walk away while they were still on a good standing. But he couldn’t resist one final jab. ‘I think we might have defeated the whole purpose of having a child free area with our arguing.’

  Andrew wasn’t prepared by the vibrancy of the smile he received in reply.

  ‘You obviously haven’t spent much time with a screaming toddler. Any disagreement we might have is extremely civilized in comparison.’

  Looking at her now, her eyes alight with humour, Andrew could only agree. Strikingly pretty and animated, she looked like a companion who any man would desire. It was hard to reconcile this suddenly charming creature with the painful prickliness that had ruined his job satisfaction this morning.

  Andrew gave Kate a five-minute head start back to the bungalow. Claustrophobia was starting to set in and it wouldn’t be helped by them being attached at the hip. He couldn’t bring himself to pick up his sailing magazine, thanks to Kate for ruining that particular fantasy, so he stared unseeing at the water.

  Deciding enough time had passed, Andrew made the short walk to the villa door. His stay at the resort hadn’t jaded him enough not to enjoy the ambience of the beautifully maintained gardens as he walked.

  Andrew left his shoes scattered on the front veranda. A flash from his phone told him that at least one new email had arrived. Clicking open the message, Andrew saw the name of one of his best friends, a colleague from his London hospital.

  ‘Hope Australia is as good as promised,’ the message said. ‘I can’t believe you are over there with the sun, surf and Australian women, while I’m stuck watching the new lovers take over the surgeons’ lounge.’

  Andrew rubbed his hand across his suddenly throbbing temples. The thought of his ex-fiancé Bianca was enough to bring on any number of headaches. At least he hadn’t been around for the final humiliation, watching her flaunt her affair-turned-public-relationship.

  ‘If you start shagging anyone spectacular, I want photos. In fact, I promise I’ll leave them on my desktop and start off a gossip tidal wave.’

  Andrew couldn’t resist a chuckle at John’s suggestion. He could imagine him doing just that, probably along with dropping massive hints of Andrew’s exploits. In fact, if Andrew wasn’t careful, he would end up going back to London with a reputation as a massive shagger. Ironic, considering he hadn’t touched a woman since he landed.

  Music started playing in the next room. Andrew couldn’t decide if he liked or was vastly annoyed by the intimacy of hearing Kate go through her pre-work routine. To be fair, the rooms were quite well sound proofed, and you didn’t hear much beyond the occasional bit of muffled white noise. However, the knowledge of her closeness was never far away, and
hearing things like her shower going on and off was making the nights relatively uncomfortable.

  Three days into the night shift roster, at nine-thirty in the morning, and instead of dreaming the dreams of the righteous in a king-sized bed, Andrew was making his way across a dingy community hall.

  Last night, Kate had handed him a leaflet and told him that her local SES chapter were looking forward to meeting him. Like a lemming, here he was.

  ‘So Kate tells us you are a doctor.’ The woman who was making the observation was in her fifties, wearing the Deputy Commander badge. ‘We can always use a hand with the first aid. Nothing like a fire or cyclone clean-up for minor injuries for our members.’

  A surgeon whose consults used to be booked four months out, and she was telling him he could help out with the band aids. He wasn’t sure that this wasn’t a massive cosmic joke.

  ‘He also has his rescue certification.’ A voice from behind told Andrew that Kate had finally joined them. When he had arrived, all he had received was a vague wave. ‘He can be part of any search and rescue team without any extra training.’

  After making non-committal noises to the woman with a clipboard, Andrew joined Kate as they made their way across the crowded room, where desks were being set up for registrations. Today she had replaced her paramedic uniform with her SES one; her status as volunteer this time was clearly marked on the back. Lucky for her, long legs and a shapely body gave definition to a very ordinary look.

  ‘Don’t you get enough of this sort of thing at work?’ he hissed, out of general earshot.

  ‘Yeah. I do.’ Kate looked at him quizzically, in a way that implied he had missed the point. ‘But professional rescue is only a tiny part of what needs to be done out here. Come on, you’ve seen that half the rescue sites we get called in for have volunteers on the scene first. Our police and rescue paramedics are great but there are massive distances out here and only so many staff.’

  ‘But isn’t the purpose of volunteering for people who don’t have to do it every day of the week?’

  ‘Well that is why I don’t do motor vehicle rescue. Car wrecks can’t be part of both my work and leisure time,’ Kate said. Then she laughed, ‘Don’t look at me like that. I’m not asking you to give up a kidney, or even every weekend. I just think that you might like to come and hang out with a nice bunch of people and do some reasonably interesting work.’

  For years, Andrew had counted as reasonably interesting the idea of sitting down with new medical journals and examining the new techniques in micro-surgery. Spending the day hanging out with a dowdy older crowd, who were in the main part discussing the best way to raise enough money to buy another rescue vehicle, was not his idea of intellectual stimulation.

  Well, it was only five months before he was heading back to England and if worst came to worst he could always find an excuse to drop this. Anyway, with Kate looking at him with a judging expression in her eyes, it certainly didn’t feel like the best time to say no.

  ‘I suppose you had better get me some of those damned forms, they probably need me to say that I won’t sue them if a tree falls on my head.’

  That was Andrew…gracious to the last. Kate didn’t know what she was doing inviting Andrew to this part of her life. God, it really did come close to being compulsive, the amount of time he seemed to be around. They had survived two nights of night duty together, with each keeping their distance.

  ‘Happy?’ Andrew asked, as he signed the registration form with a flourish.

  ‘Thrilled,’ Kate smiled, restraining herself from rolling her eyes along with it. ‘You do know there is a door there and I’m sure that you can snatch that form back, right out of my hands.’

  Standing there, slightly sulky, in faded jeans and a pullover, Andrew didn’t look like the buttoned up medical professional he was. At least, until he opened his mouth and the well-modulated plummy tones were apparent.

  ‘Katie!’ An enthusiastic shout had her turning around in anticipation. A ball of energy in the shape of a four year old came barrelling toward her. Kate crouched down and opened her arms.

  ‘Hey gorgeous, your daddy promised you’d be here,’ she said to the little girl as she hugged her. ‘Are you about to head off to pre-school?’

  Kate smiled at Ben, who was following his daughter. ‘Night shift and kiddy duty. Lucky you love them or otherwise I’d have to feel sorry for you.’

  In the moment that Kate and Ben had been interacting, Jane’s attention had been caught by a smiling Andrew.

  ‘Who are you?’ Jane’s imperious young voice demanded.

  ‘I work with your dad,’ Andrew answered, even as he looked slightly lost at being confronted by such a precocious child.

  ‘Why weren’t you there last time we visited?’ Jane stuck out her hip in a gesture that was pure toddler theatrics.

  ‘I have only been working at the helicopter base a short time.’

  Kate intervened in the interrogation by picking up Jane and swinging her around. ‘Sweetie, I haven’t even told Dr. Andrew your name.’ She winked at him. ‘This gorgeous lady is Janie by the way.’

  Andrew held out a formal hand. ‘Lovely to meet you, my lady.’ He got a giggling nod from the already charmed child.

  ‘She’s your youngest, isn’t she?’ he asked Ben. ‘Are the boys here too?’

  Kate was amazed that he knew even that much. Childless men didn’t tend to take much interest in the makeup of their co-workers’ families.

  ‘No, they are thankfully at school,’ Ben replied. ‘Three hours sleep wouldn’t be enough for me to survive the entire clan.’

  He reached over and plucked his little girl out of Kate’s arms. ‘This one is about to go off too, but I promised that I would bring her to visit her Aunt Katie, while I put the other nominations on paper.’

  The registration information booth would run all day at the community hall. It wasn’t strictly necessary for either Kate or Ben to turn up, but both liked to show their support and make an appearance.

  Ben made his goodbyes, leaving Jane with Kate for a final extravagant noisy kiss.

  ‘Cute kid,’ Andrew said, after the father and daughter team made their exit.

  ‘Yeah she definitely is something special.’ Kate said, slightly wistful. ‘And Ben and Lydia do such a good job bringing up those kids. After some of the shifts we do, I don’t know how he turns around and manages to show up and parent.’

  ‘Yeah three days in and already night shift is killing me. I’m almost delirious wanting some sleep. I don’t know how I used to do twenty-two hour shifts into my surgical residency.’

  Kate wasn’t as pissed off with his impatience as normal. For a start, she shared his sentiment.

  ‘I’ve got to make nice and do the rounds, but you’ve done your bit so you can make your move,’ she offered.

  Kate wasn’t sure what it said when she felt relief at his reply. ‘No, I’ve got to gee myself up for the drive home. I’ll keep you company for a while yet.’

  They made their way to collect their obligatory tea from the kindly Country Women’s Association volunteer.

  ‘Make sure you leave your uniform measurements with us before you go, Andrew,’ the Deputy Commander reminded him.

  ‘Certainly,’ he said. He waited until they were out of earshot, before he tugged on Kate’s sleeve. She felt a small thrill in her stomach at the feel of his hand on her arm.

  ‘I can’t believe that I managed to avoid all official poly cotton uniforms up until this point into my career,’ Andrew exclaimed. ‘In the past month I’ve managed to pick up two different kinds.’

  ‘You just want to go back to rocking your scrubs,’ Kate laughed.

  ‘I radiate authority in those clothes,’ Andrew returned, his amusement evident. ‘Even our rescue uniforms aren’t bad, but florescent yellow just isn’t a colour I think I could pull off.’

  Kate didn’t think it would be good for his ego if she told him that it would be hard to make him l
ook any less of an alpha male. As he stood there, towering over most of the men in the room, with his strong mouth twisted into a smile, it was easy to forget that anyone else existed.

  As they had been talking, they’d been gradually drifting towards the back door of the hall. Stepping out, the fresh air was a welcome relief. The hall was definitely from an unfortunate period in 1950s architecture, but a low brick block wall provided an ugly if convenient place to put down their tea mugs.

  ‘Do you miss being in England?’ Kate asked, suddenly.

  What surprised her was how intently she was interested in his answer. This had quickly become no casual inquiry on her behalf.

  ‘Yeah I miss the work. Nothing against here, but there is something special at being the best at what you do,’ he replied, and the honesty in his tone was apparent.

  Kate could see his point about excellence, but she wanted to protest in favour of rescue work. However, she kept her mouth shut and with her silence encouraged him to continue.

  ‘I’m not that close to my parents, they live in the country a few hours away. But there is something about knowing that you don’t have the option of driving down for a visit to provide a little bit of nostalgia.’

  Kate could share that sentiment. ‘Yeah. That will probably pass, especially if they make a visit and drive you mental.’ They shared a rueful smile. ‘What made you decide to come here?’

  ‘I came to a personal cross-roads and I wanted a break for a period. I also didn’t get a promotion and someone suggested that diversifying my resume might make me a more valuable management candidate.’

  Kate was disappointed at the clinical evaluation of a branch of medicine that she was passionate about. However, it didn’t surprise her that his career had something to do with it. Everything about Andrew screamed a determined path of ambition.

  ‘Well six months isn’t that long until you’ll be going back to doing what you love,’ she commiserated, the hardness in her tone not belaying the odd jolt in her stomach at the idea of him leaving.