Blood Brothers

by Charles Beagley

  “Where have you been, Kate?” Martin said, in his drowsy state.

  She turned in her seat and reached over to him, “Sorry sweetheart. I had to speak to Miss Gerry the teacher before we left.”

  “Teacher?” Martin said, puzzled.

  “Don’t concern yourself, Martin. I’ll tell you all about it on the plane.”

  “What plane? Not one of those Cessnas, I hope?”

  Kate gritted her teeth and turned back towards the open area where the plane stood. She just had to mention that word. It had just slipped out without her realising. It soon became silent again as Martin slipped back into his dreams. She crossed her fingers and hoped he would stay that way.

  Apparently the pilot of the Piper Navajo must have conceded to Marge’s request to drive her car right up to the side of the plane so that Martin only had to walk a short distance. It was just as well. A large crowd had gathered on the edge of the runway and only parted to let Marge get through before quickly closing the gap again.

  One of the pilots stood by the door ready to assist Chris and the doctor when they guided Martin towards the steps. Then just as Martin’s foot was placed onto the first step, Willy broke through the crowd and ran to his side with a big smile on his face and all three helped Martin into the plane.

  “There you are, mate,” he said, taking hold of his good arm.

  “Is that you, Willy?” Martin said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  Willy turned to leave. It was his first time inside a plane and he felt shut in. As he stepped down from the steps, Kate caught his shoulder as he passed. “Thank you so much, Willy, for saving Martin’s life. He won’t forget his promise to you.”

  A smiling Willy put his hat on his head and stepped back as Marge stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Kate. They were both crying by now and Kate could hardly speak. Even Marge was tongue-tied for once.

  “Oh Marge, I don’t know how to thank you and Jeff,” Kate blurted out. “Or everyone on the station come to that.”

  Marge wiped her eyes and laughed to break the tension. “Come on now; you don’t want Martin to see you like this.”

  Kate dried her eyes and tried to smile. “I mean it, Marge. You’re all wonderful people…I’m going to miss you.”

  “We’ll be talking before you know it on the radio. Now come on…you’re holding up the plane. Have a good flight…and good luck,” Marge said, as she led Kate towards the open door. For an outback woman who had braved many tense situations, this event was too much for her and she returned to her car.

  Willy was still standing by the steps and she took hold of his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “You better get a move on, Missus,” he said, with a grin.

  She climbed the steps into the plane. Chris and the doctor were preparing to give Martin another injection. She moved in close. “What’s this one for?” she asked.

  Dr Fitzpatrick looked up. “His mild tranquiliser is wearing off now, so I’m giving him the sedative I told you about. That should keep him calm until you reach the hospital. He swabbed his arm and inserted the needle. It was only a slight prick; Kate felt it more than he did. The doctor returned the syringe to his bag and closing it, he stood up to say goodbye to Kate and Chris.

  He took hold of her hand and held it for a moment. “I hope everything goes well for Martin in the hospital. He’ll be in the right place.”

  “Thank you, Dr Fitzpatrick,” Kate said, “Despite what you said, I think you did a marvellous job. I don’t think Martin would have survived otherwise.”

  He let go of Kate’s hand and glanced back to Chris sitting in the seat beside the bed they had prepared. “He’s in your good hands now, young man,” he said, and made his way past the pilot at the door and down the steps.

  The pilot closed the door and returned to the cockpit. Kate moved over to a window seat so that she could wave to everyone when the plane left. The crowd moved back from the edge of the runway as the engines started up. A cloud of dust rose into the air, but Kate could still see them. By now the crowd was largely made up of Aborigines waving as passionately as they could. Their excitement was probably focused on the plane rather than Kate and Martin leaving, but that did not matter – it was still a magnificent send-off.

  Marge, the doctor and Miss Gerry were in the Land Rover by now. Kate could not see them, but she knew they were, as it kept pace with the plane just as Jeff had done that morning when it landed. This time Kate was more occupied with the car trying to keep up to the plane than her fear of take-offs. She waved frantically, not knowing if they could see her, as it pulled to a stop at the end of the runway and rapidly dropped away as the plane climbed into the air.

  Kate sat back in the seat with a satisfied smile on her face. She’d had no idea how she was going to say goodbye to all those wonderful people, but she had done it. It was a more fulfilling end to her stay at the Galene Cattle Station than she could have hoped for. She chuckled to herself. In all that excitement she had not realised that everything had taken place in a subdued orange light. She had been so conscious of the sunrise and sunset to get her bearings but this morning it had passed her by until now.

  Kate sat and watched the sunlight follow the windows all the way around to just behind her as the plane banked steadily towards the north-west.

  Kate undid her safety belt and checked her watch. The pilot was on schedule; he’d said he wanted to leave by six o’clock and it was five past. She moved across the aisle and sat in the seat opposite Chris, alongside the bed set up for Martin. Chris smiled a confident smile; everything had gone to plan and he was satisfied.

  “That was your first airborne pick-up,” Kate said. “You did well.”

  “Thank you, although I have to acknowledge Dr Fitzpatrick’s role.”

  “Nonetheless, you were the coordinator.”

  “Let’s hope the landing and ambulance pick-up goes as well.”

  “I’ve been so busy I didn’t think of another ride in an ambulance,” Kate said.

  “I must admit I was a little concerned, so I radioed Philip yesterday and he said he would organise that when the pilot gave him his ETA.”

  A frown crossed Kate’s face. “Oh dear,” she uttered. “You’ve just reminded me that landing in Broome is not the end of our journey. It’s just the start for Martin, and we only have a week until Christmas.”

  “Is it that close?” he said.

  CHAPTER 26

  The relief that they were finaly on their way had a soporific effect on both of them. Apart from the low whine of the engines and Martin’s disturbed, although sedated state, all was still. Chris looked as if he was attempting to catch up on his early start and Kate felt her heavy eyelids closing. She opened her eyes again and checked Martin. He was somewhere other than in the plane. His eyes were twitching under his eyelids; darting left and right. He was fighting his demons again.

  Kate reached over his chest and stroked his brow. The man she always looked up to for guidance and strength looked so frail and helpless. She wondered what the children would think; only Jennifer had seen the state he was in after his car crash. Now they both had to face the fact that this was not their father. Her touch was all he needed. His eyes stopped rolling and his body relaxed.

  Kate woke with a sudden jolt as if she had rolled off her seat, but she was still sitting upright, her shoulders pushed back into the cushion and both arms lying casually on her lap. She opened her eyes. The seat opposite was empty and glancing around the cabin she wondered if Chris was talking to the pilots. Then she heard running water behind her, the click of a bolt being drawn back and he appeared in the aisle.

  “You’re awake, I see. You’ve had a good hour,” he said, reaching for his bag.

  Kate glanced at her watch, “I think we were both tired.”

  Chris placed the bag on his seat, unzipped it and brought out his notebook, stethoscope and his thermometer case. Kate was watching every move when he rolled back the blanket the doctor had used to cov
er Martin. Her eyes opened wide. Martin was dressed in a new pair of jeans and a grey-chequered shirt. She had forgotten her appointment with Mini at the general store to select a fresh set of clothes for his journey home.

  “Good gracious,” she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. “I forgot all about going with Mini to the store for Martin’s new clothes. She must have done it for me, bless her.”

  Chris laughed. “Actually she asked me to go with her while you were at the homestead. She thought you would be too flustered in the morning.”

  “She was right. All I could think about was learning how to use the radio.”

  “He doesn’t look so bad,” Chris said, taking Martin’s pulse.

  “Good job he can’t see himself. He hates jeans,” Kate continued. “By the way, do I owe you any money?”

  “No…AMINCO will take care of all the expenses. It’s all here in my notebook. All the drugs they used, the cost of the use of the ward, Dr Fitzpatrick and even the nurse, Mini. Everything will be charged to their insurance, including whatever it costs to get Martin right in the hospital.”

  “My goodness, they are efficient.”

  Placing the book on Martin’s chest and jotting down his pulse, he then continued to check his heart rate and temperature; continuing to make notes of the result. He looked satisfied and returned everything to his bag.

  “I gather everything’s all right?” Kate asked. “That’s a turnaround from the other day when the doctor was fighting Martin’s infection.”

  Chris nodded his head. “Yes. I called in on him last night before I turned in and everything was back to normal. The antibiotics did their job; one less complication for the hospital to worry about.”

  “Does that mean, apart from his fractured wrist healing and this disorientation sorting itself out, he’s out of the woods?”

  “Oh, I’m not qualified to answer that question. I mean we won’t know what he’s really like until he comes out of the effect of the sedative. For all I know his mental problem might just be related to his blood poisoning, the residual effects of being without food and water all those days and the trauma of the crash.”

  “But what about Joe? He still thinks he’s alive.”

  “That was when he was fighting the infection. But I can’t really say, Kate; only a physician can answer that question.”

  “Yes, I know. It’s just that you’ve done so well, thank you.”

  “I’ve just done my job,” he replied, returning to his bag. “Well, I never,” he uttered, bringing out a small brown paper parcel. “I forgot all about this. Marge gave it to me when you arrived at the office; she told me to give it to you on the plane.”

  Kate was just as surprised as he was until she opened it and saw an assortment of sandwiches inside. She laughed. “Oh dear Marge. When she tried to force a huge breakfast down me this morning, I refused, asking her to make some sandwiches for the flight. I forgot all about them.”

  “Well, let’s see what we’ve got in here,” Chris said, peeling back one corner.

  The smell was still strong. Kate could pick out the roast beef from last night, pickles and that delicious goat’s cheese Mini had brought in to the ward.

  “I must admit they smell nice,” Kate said.

  “It’s been three hours since my breakfast,” he commented. “What say we have a couple now? There’s a hot water jug in the galley. I’ll switch it on.”

  As Kate sorted out which she liked, Chris dashed off to make some drinks. He soon popped his head back around the corner. “There’s only coffee, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s okay… Make it with two sugars, please.”

  Kate went for the cheese and tomato, while Chris stuck to the beef. When they were finished there was still a lot left.

  “Do you think you’ll want any more before we land?” he asked her.

  Kate shook her head, still trying to finish the last one. “I think those will keep me going for a while. It’s not so much the filling, it’s the bread.”

  “I know what you mean,” Chris acknowledged, tearing the brown paper in half. He then wrapped two sandwiches up for later and standing up he said, “I’ll see if the lads want the rest of these. Wrapping them up, he made his way up the aisle, opened the door after knocking and stepped into the cockpit.

  When he returned Chris started examining what he had written in his notebook. He checked Martin’s pulse again and continued writing.

  “Have you been checking him all the time?” Kate asked.

  “Only on this flight… All the previous notations I copied from the clinic charts. Although I’ve brought those with me for the hospital, I still need the AMINCO copies for the record. That’s what I’m doing now.”

  “It seems a lot of extra work to me.”

  “I suppose it does, but that’s what the Americans want.”

  Kate left him to it; her lack of sleep was catching up on her. She checked Martin once more; he seemed settled now and she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She tried to think of meeting the kids again and telling them she was back. She even began thinking about Christmas. It was only a week away and other than Adam putting the tree up, nothing was ready. He had forced her to go shopping; that was something, but it wouldn’t be the same without Martin.

  The jolt that woke Kate this time was not her body waking up; it was the plane’s tyres bouncing on the AMINCO airstrip. By the time she had realised what was happening they were taxying slowly past the wooden buildings. Chris was already standing by the locker lifting down the bags. He noticed she was awake and pointed out of the window to the waiting ambulance.

  He looked ecstatic. “It’s here. Philip managed to get the ambulance.”

  “Yes, I can see,” Kate said.

  The plane taxied onto the concrete apron opposite the embarkation lounge where Philip was waiting. The young pilot was already opening the door and lowering the steps. Two dark blue-uniformed paramedics entered the small opening carrying a folded-up stretcher. They examined Martin yet again as that was the accepted procedure.

  Chris slung his medical bag over his shoulder, took hold of the bags and left the plane. Kate stood back out of the way and waited for the men to transfer Martin from the plane to the ambulance, which they did with great dexterity.

  A waiting Philip walked over to Kate, hugged her, asking if the trip had gone well and how Martin had travelled. “He’s still sedated…and, yes, everything went marvellously, thank you.”

  “That’s good. Now get into the ambulance; everything’s been arranged for Martin at the hospital. Give me a call tomorrow.”

  Kate wanted to talk to Philip – she had so many questions – but seeing to Martin was more important. “Okay…thank you, Philip. I’ll call you. Bye.”

  She kissed him on the cheek and walked over to the back of the ambulance. With Chris in the front passenger seat next to one paramedic and Kate and the other paramedic in the back with Martin, the ambulance moved off.

  Kate was too concerned with what the paramedic was doing with Martin to notice the journey back into the centre of Broome. He was placing a needle into a vein in Martin’s arm, to which he attached a small plastic junction and then he covered it with a gauze swab. He explained that he was prepping Martin now for any medical tests in Emergency.

  “Why are we going to Emergency? I’ve been expecting that he will go straight to the appropriate ward.”

  “Until he’s been thoroughly checked out and his treatment decided, we don’t know where he’s going.”

  Kate accepted this and it wasn’t long before the ambulance arrived and Martin’s stretcher was wheeled into Emergency.

  It had been three years since Kate had walked through the flapping plastic doors, as she had done that wet morning, following the paramedics wheeling Martin into the General Hospital Emergency Department. By the time they had cut Martin out of the wreckage, she had already been on the scene.

  As she followed them into a side cubicle the pe
rvading hospital mixture of carbolic and a variety of drugs caught her sinuses. By now Martin was coming round and he looked around all the faces and curtains. Kate stepped forward and took hold of his hand to reassure him.

  “It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re back in Broome. You slept right through the plane journey,” Kate said, as a nurse placed a syringe into one of the connections in his arm. By the time he realised what was happening, she had finished.

  Kate looked around to see if she could see Chris anywhere. He was standing by a small desk talking to a young woman with a stethoscope around her neck. He had his medical bag open and was handing her the notebook.

  “I won’t be a moment,” she said to Martin. “I just want to have a word with the doctor.” She kissed his cheek and walked over to them.

  Chris turned when he saw her. “I’m just giving Dr Loxley here Martin’s record,” he said, as the doctor started to read the notes.

  She looked up at Kate. “I’ll need to talk to you about his past medical history; you know, his local GP, any allergies…that sort of thing.”

  “Yes, of course,” Kate said, confused. “I thought Martin was going to a private hospital? You must have a file on him. He was in this hospital about three years ago…Dr Grossman treated him. Is he still here?”

  “He will be in a private wing, Kate,” Chris informed her.

  Dr Loxley was suddenly alert. Her eyes opened wide as soon as Kate mentioned his name. He was teaching at the time. Maybe she was one of his interns.