‘Hey Doc,’ called the team leader. ‘Thought you’d like to know that the dive team have excluded the lake.’
Something in Andrew unclenched. He hated the idea of a drowned child and was certainly horrified at the idea of Kate finding juvenile remains. In medicine, he constantly dealt with death or dying, but out here today, a missing child felt visceral without the professional protocols of medicine to provide distance.
Each break, Andrew found out more about the makeup of the search team. In his group of eight, there was a teacher, an electrician, and two stay-at-home mums. All of them must have reorganized their day’s plans but there was no clock watching.
It was five long hours into the search and Andrew was sitting on the rocks eating the lunch provided by yet another volunteer.
‘Hey solider,’ came a familiar voice from behind. Kate was standing there when he turned. She was bundled in her weatherproof jacket with wet hair scraped off her face. ‘We didn’t find anything, thank god, so I’ll join the triangulated search.’
‘There is a whiff of the lake still about you,’ Andrew said, probably not expressing his admiration in a suitable manner.
Luckily, Kate laughed, seemingly a little drunk on the relief of not finding a body. ‘I’d kill for a shower, but wasting forty minutes on a drive home probably isn’t an option. So we are both putting up with the smell.’
Andrew pulled apart his sandwich and handed half to her as she hunkered down beside him.
As they got up to go to join the rest of the team, a murmur of noise carried through the group. ‘Guys, we can stand down now, they’ve got him.’
Andrew and Kate immediately headed to Todd, the radio operator, to find out more and offer their medical expertise.
‘He broke his leg, so he would have spent an uncomfortable night,’ Todd explained. ‘But they are closer to the northern end of the National park, where the paramedics were waiting, so they’ll go straight to hospital from there.’
Andrew found himself shaking hands with all the other searchers around them, relief and joy etched on all their faces. After he had shaken the last hand, he turned to Kate and found himself being embraced by her. She stood on tiptoe and her arms tightly gripped him. When finally she pulled away, he could see a film of moisture on her eyes.
‘It’s OK, that is the best outcome,’ he said, comforting the tough girl for once.
For a moment, the group of people around them seemed to disappear. But sooner than he liked, Kate was clasped on the shoulder. ‘Good job with the diving,’ said one of the police officers who he had seen her team up with earlier.
Now that his concern for Kate had been vanquished, he realized that the ranking officer was a fit looking man in his thirties, and it was more than admiration Andrew could see in his expression. It wasn’t the cold shoulder that Kate was giving him either as she happily chatted about the next step in their diving training regime.
‘We better grab your gear. It’s probably time for us to head home,’ Andrew interrupted. Without thinking about it, Andrew had put the emphasis on ‘us’ knowing that it would make them appear very together.
He must have succeeded as the police officer took an actual step back. ‘Bye then, Kate. We’ll have to stop meeting like this one day.’
Andrew himself seemed to only merit a nod. The look Kate shot him was one of suspicion but Andrew just shrugged and made his way towards her pile of gear.
Walking across the clearing, though, was more time consuming than he had imagined, with people asking her questions and expressing the joy of a job that had ended so positively.
Most of the time Andrew stood passively, until a distinctly middle-aged woman actually clasped his arm.
‘I’m glad I’ve caught you,’ she said. ‘I’m Norm’s Rafferty’s wife and I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to thank you for helping him that day.’
She had a husband in hospital while still helping with the search provisions, they obviously made them tough up here in Cairns.
‘My pleasure,’ Andrew said. Dealing with patients’ families had long been part of his job. ‘Kate here was also a great assistant.’
‘I know,’ she replied. ‘But I’ve already given Kate a phone call. Norm’s doing OK,’ Mrs Rafferty continued at his urging. ‘Unfortunately, they had to send him to Townsville because of the shortage of specialists here.’
Andrew was horrified at the very idea. Wasn’t Townsville almost a four hour drive away? What happened to all the great cardiology facilities the hospital director had told him about?
He didn’t express any of that to the older women, but when he got Kate alone he asked the question.
‘It’s rural Australia,’ Kate replied. ‘Funding we have, but it’s a hard task getting the doctors. Why do you think you so easily got a job out here, without an emergency speciality?’
The woman did so easily put him in his place. However, as she was storing her diving equipment after a genuinely tasking day he didn’t have the heart to start the argument.
He confiscated the keys from her as he insisted on making the drive home. Watching her curl her legs under her as he drove, he was glad he had.
With no conversation, her expression had turned contemplative. Andrew didn’t quite understand his compulsion to cheer her up as he said, ‘Surely, considering I contributed to finding the kid qualifies me for a little under-the-bra action tonight.’
Making a prat of himself was worth it, as he watched her mouth quirk with amusement.
‘You do know, hero,’ she said, ‘you weren’t the actual searcher to find the boy?’
‘I’m glad they don’t put you in charge of searchers’ morale. Weren’t all of us part of the outcome? Anyway, seeing as I am not an SES member yet, I think I get extra credit.’
‘The fact you haven’t sent those forms in won’t get you any glory in my book. And doing good is supposed to be its own reward.’
Andrew might have mocked the sentiment but he knew there was truth in what she had said.
Today, he had felt part of the community. He wasn’t there because of a job or ambition. The solidarity with people outside of his social circle had been a genuine connection. Since being in Australia, Andrew had spent more time with people with jobs outside of medicine, or people who didn’t fit in his social circle, and contrary to his prejudices, that actually wasn’t a complaint.
As they made the final walk towards the villa, Andrew grabbed Kate’s hand and it held it in his own.
‘Are you sure that you want to get this close to the lake smell?’ she asked, although she didn’t pull her hand away.
‘Putting in the groundwork,’ Andrew replied.
The rest of the reason he wasn’t ready to share but there was something painfully admirable about what she had done today.
‘A movie at mine tonight,’ he suggested, not wanting to give up her hand until she had promised, another, more personal time together.
‘I’m picking the movie.’
He wouldn’t expect anything else.
However, as she got to the door her expression softened. ‘Thanks for today.’
The shower next door ran much longer than normal and Andrew guessed it wasn’t because Kate was giving herself a helping hand. He couldn’t help but worry about the strain he had noticed on her face earlier. Planning his night ahead, he grabbed his keys and headed out for some preparation.
Two hours later, Andrew was letting Kate in the front door. Her hair was out and let down and for the first time, he could see the way it was naturally streaked through with different shades of brown and blond that skimmed her shoulders. A dark camisole under a masculine white shirt and tight jeans, along with bare feet with toenails painted red, completed the picture.
‘Hey, we match,’ he said, pointing to his own denim bottoms and open collared while shirt. ‘Though it does look much better on you.’
‘Thankfully we aren’t going out. Otherwise you can be assured that I would make you ch
ange.’
Andrew could see a hesitation as she decided whether to kiss him on the cheek. Obviously, the odds weren’t in his favour as instead she handed him a bottle of shiraz and kept her distance.
‘Please tell me we aren’t going out?’ she asked. ‘I don’t think I could even face the resort dining room tonight.’
He felt pleased that she regarded being with him as a safe place. That was enough to give her some space as he went to the fridge for champagne. ‘I thought you might prefer a different kitchen tonight, so I begged Fins for a takeaway.’
‘Don’t tell me a three hatted restaurant actually did something as common as takeaway,’ said Kate, as she accepted the flute of bubbly.
‘It didn’t hurt that one of their waiters had been out on the search today.’ Andrew had been surprised by the community feeling when a twenty-something boy had hailed him and shared stories of the search.
‘I set the table all on my own,’ he said, gesturing to his outdoor setting.
Luckily, the villa’s kitchen cupboards had been well stocked, even providing the white linen napkins. Frankly, for that amount of effort, he felt he should be getting a round of applause.
‘Candles too. Should I be running for the hills?’
Pulling out the intricate prawn and smoked salmon platter as appetizer, he settled in to enjoy the meal. Kate might have been tired from the early morning start, but as the meal went on her cheeks coloured to reflect her animated conversation.
Andrew served the crème caramel desert in cut glass bowls that he had had to promise to return to the restaurant. He wondered about the compulsion to try to obtain perfection for this woman. Something about her serene acceptance of this treatment just made him try harder. As a doctor, with all the right moving pieces and social graces, he realistically shouldn’t have to try this hard.
As she settled on his couch for the movie, he was almost embarrassed to pull out the Persian fairy floss. Shoving it on the coffee table, he thought complaining about the romantic comedy was absolutely necessary to gaining back some self-respect.
‘The only way I’m watching this is if you come sit here,’ Andrew said, sitting in the single armchair where her only option would be to settle hip to hip.
Kate tilted her head, as she seemed to contemplate the logistics. ‘I’m not a teeny tiny girl, so you may regret the offer. On the other hand, I do really like this movie.’
When she came to sit down, Andrew made sure she was curled up on her good side. Six-foot-two of him, and five-foot-eleven of woman, did make for a tight fit but as he wrapped his arm around her, his only concern was for the torture of arousal. With the lights dimmed around them, he got to appreciate the weight of her breast against his chest.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, Andrew started playing with her hair. Silky strands slipped through his fingers as he traced a delicate pattern on her neck. Twenty-five minutes from the beginning, he was making the same design on the outer curve of her breast.
Thirty-four minutes into the movie, Kate declared, ‘I’ve already seen the ending,’ as she put her mouth to his.
The sweetness that she tasted of made him appreciate the thirty dollars he had spent on pink spun sugar.
For a minute, he experienced the sharp disappointment of her pulling away. Then he had the elation of her straddling his hips, creating some much needed friction against the erection that had been prodding his zipper for too long.
‘I heard somewhere that you should never wear denim on denim,’ he said, breaking away from her mouth long enough to gesture to where their bodies strained together through the thick material.
‘That’s cute, darling, but my pants are staying on.’ Kate took the moment to place lingering kisses on his neck.
‘Well, the dress code here is really strict, so if you want to keep the pants you are going to have to sacrifice something else.’
The words had been a sally that brought unexpected reward, as Kate reached down and pulled off her camisole and linen shirt in one go. No bra had her sitting on his lap with perfect c-cup breasts exposed. Andrew held perfectly still for a moment, as he watched her in the flickering illumination provided by the movie that he had long since forgotten. Then he reached for her and felt imprinted by the smooth weight of her against his hands.
Kate arched against him as her mouth again took his. Her body began to rock against his, with such an ancient rhythm that it made him worry that his body was going to explode with teenage excitement.
‘You know how I feel about equality,’ Kate broke away from kissing him long enough to wrestle with his shirt. Andrew let her concentrate on his buttons, while he appreciated an uninterrupted view.
The only thing marring her body was the ugliness of the bruise across her abdomen. Andrew didn’t like the way the aesthetics reminded him of the risks she took and her stubbornness. However, as annoyed as it made him, he also wanted to soothe.
As she finally freed his arms from the white cotton, he lifted her to his mouth and laid a gentle kiss on her stomach, on the edge of the discolouration. He surprised even himself with the tenderness of his action, so he moved the action on, hoping they would both forget.
Kate gasped as he filled his mouth with her breast. Her hands left his bare shoulders and she tugged his head closer to her body. No matter her pleasure, Andrew knew that she was only going to let him go so far tonight, so he took his time and got a full appreciation of the destination as her nipple pebbled under the scrape of his teeth.
He loved hearing the appreciative murmur from her lips and added to it by moving his hand from her hips to the juncture of her thighs. With the firm pressure needed to impact through the denim, he pressed until he felt the quiver.
He thought Kate had switched off and surrendered to the pleasure; however, even with her body moments away from release she pushed herself from his body.
‘I’m not going to come without you, but I really don’t think I should be coming with you.’ Kate’s breathing was heavy enough that Andrew didn’t think he would have to push her much more, if he wanted to see her face in orgasm.
‘That is part of the thrill,’ said Andrew, as he reached for her again.
‘No, this is me done for the night.’ Kate got to her feet, a little unsteady but with a determined jut to her jaw.
Andrew definitely wasn’t a man who had to whine for sexual favours. So he leant back and enjoyed the view, as, in the interests of expediency, she tucked her camisole into her jean pocket and buttoned up the transparent white shirt.
She shrugged, ‘Not likely to run into anyone in the two metres between here and mine.’
Chapter Thirteen
Kate had thought that nothing today could have distracted her from the claustrophobic memories of the dirty water, but the ache between her thighs begged to differ. Walking out tonight had been hell on her libido but she wasn’t ready for the immersion that a sexual relationship with Andrew would bring.
The man had only four months left before he went back on England. Kate had no intention of being left behind, broken hearted. Him holding her as she came would have been a trust given and an experience which would have left her open. Maybe tomorrow, being back in a professional environment would provide her with the distance she needed. However, now that she knew how big, blond stupidly handsome Andrew’s mouth felt on her breast, how much peace of mind was likely?
The next day, the distance thing was holding, sort of, as Kate found busy jobs that had her far away from Andrew. However, the alarm for a new mission meant that avoidance was quickly going to be a memory.
The team made their way to the dispatch room. Margo finished her call before she began the update. ‘Multiple reports have come in of a manic man in his twenties who started swimming straight out to sea. He abused and injured one passer-by who tried to find out if he was OK.’
Great — a drugged up violent man was definitely not on her list of favourite passengers. ‘I’ll need to get into my wet gear. Are you
able to get the med bags?’ she asked Andrew
Kate barely waited for Andrew’s nod of confirmation before she headed up to the locker room. Luckily, long practice had her zipping up the back of her wetsuit in under three minutes. She grabbed the rest of her pack. Flippers and facemask could go on in the chopper.
The rotors were turning, even as she hit the helipad tarmac.
Ten minutes later, they were hovering over the now sluggishly swimming man. In the twenty-five minutes he had been swimming out to sea he had managed to get four hundred metres off the coast and didn’t seem to be likely to turn himself around.
‘How far away is the nearest jet-boat?’ Kate asked, not optimistic about the answer.
‘Another twenty minutes at least, they don’t have the full crew gathered yet.’
‘Well it looks like I’m going to have to go for a swim,’ Kate said, wryly.
No rescue was harder than someone who didn’t want to be saved. She could only hope that the exhaustion of the exercise had changed the man’s mind about swimming to his death.
‘That’s the absolute last case scenario,’ said Joe.
First, minimal intervention protocol had to be tried.
Ben reached for the loudspeaker attached to the bottom of the helicopter carriage. ‘We are dropping a flotation device, please place it under your arms. A rescue boat will be here shortly.’
Judging the angle of the wind, Ben directed the helicopter to a point where Kate would be able to drop the lifebuoy down within metres of the swimmer. Her accuracy upon releasing the buoy was spot on, but so far, they weren’t getting any response from the possibly suicidal man.
Ben kept on making attempts to hail the man. However, even as the man flailed in the water, he wasn’t looking interested in either communicating with his potential rescuers or reaching out for the equipment that would save his life.
Rescue Nights Page 12