by Lucy Clark
‘You know, Joss, I’ve been thinking that maybe we should take a few steps back for a while.’
‘Why?’
Melissa shrugged. She’d been thinking about it since the other night, and was still uncertain of exactly how to explain to him what she was feeling. Joss was more than happy to hold her, to kiss her, to be seen in public with her—but she wanted more. She’d been in a relationship where only certain aspects had been satisfied and she didn’t want to enter into another one.
If Joss was only attracted to her on a physical level, if he only needed her for his clinic, then she wasn’t interested. She loved him, and it pained her to say what she was about to, but she’d made a promise to herself never to settle for anything but absolute perfection in a relationship, and at the moment she simply wasn’t getting that.
‘Why?’ She sighed heavily. ‘Good question. I guess I’m feeling a little disconcerted, a little disjointed. You know, things haven’t really worked out the way I planned when I initially made the decision to come to Didja. I had no idea that Dex didn’t know he was adopted, and it makes me realise that he needs a lot more space then he’s getting. Me being here is a constant reminder of that, and it can’t be easy for him to deal with.’
Joss eased back in his chair, nodding slowly. ‘You’re thinking about leaving?’
Melissa closed her eyes for a moment, trying to say the words she needed to say but not wanting to hurt him at the same time. It was then she realised that if she didn’t say what was on her heart she’d risk hurting herself a lot more. Looking at him again, she swallowed. ‘There’s a great attraction between us, Joss. Has been from the first moment we saw each other. We’ve both tried to fight it and it didn’t work; it only became stronger. I’m glad I was able to help you move through your pain about Christina, and I can’t thank you enough for trusting me with such intimate knowledge…’
‘But…?’ He folded his arms over his chest.
‘But I don’t know if I’ve sorted through my own past. I’ve told you I was in a relationship where things didn’t quite gel. I’ve put myself second in every relationship I’ve had, and now I’m doing it again with both you and Dex. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to survive another rejection.’
‘So you’re rejecting me first?’
‘I’m not rejecting you. I’m trying to protect myself.’
‘What are you saying? You want to leave?’
‘Can you give me a reason why I should stay?’ Her eyes were imploring. She knew he was attracted to her, she knew he liked talking to her, but what she was looking for was a stronger commitment. She loved him, and she needed to be loved in return. Was it too soon? Would he be able to give her what she needed?
‘You’re contracted until the end of the year.’
‘Anything else?’
‘What about Dex? He does need you, Melissa. More than you know. You’re the only one who can help him through what he’s going through. You’re the only one who really understands.’ There was a veiled hint of urgency in his tone. He’d just stepped forward into the light. He’d finally been able to leave the past where it needed to be and move into the future…a future he wanted with her. She was amazing. She was sexy. She was intelligent. He was sure he was on the way to falling in love with her. Never had he met a woman so incredible, so determined and so gutsy. She’d put up with him in all states of confusion, and he was grateful she hadn’t let him push her away.
‘I don’t need to be in Didja to help Dex.’
‘You have a gift for getting people to open up. To talk out their problems. You’re so great with the patients. This community needs you.’
‘They need a female doctor. That doesn’t necessarily mean they need me.’ She shrugged.
Joss stood from his chair, almost knocking it to the ground with utter frustration. He raked a hand through his hair, his agitation increasing. ‘What do you want from me? The town needs you.’
‘And?’ Her tone was urgent.
‘And Dex needs you.’
‘And?’ Melissa’s tone was almost pleading.
‘And I—’ He stopped. Could he do this? Could he confess to her how he really felt?
‘And what, Joss? What?’ Hope was surging wildly through her. Could it be that he felt more for her than she’d realised? ‘What?’ she pleaded again.
Joss swallowed. ‘I—’
‘Joss! Joss!’ Areva came running into the kitchen. ‘There’s been a bad accident at the mine. They’ve just called it through.’
Joss frowned. ‘Dex’s out there. Isn’t he there? Can’t he handle it?’
‘That’s just it. You don’t understand. Dex is the emergency.’
‘What?’ Both Melissa and Joss spoke in unison.
Joss looked over at Melissa and saw the blood drain from her face.
‘Is he all right? What happened?’ She was starting to shake, to hyperventilate, and Joss immediately pushed her head between her knees.
‘Breathe. Relax.’ His voice was quiet and reassuring. Melissa focused on it, needing his soothing, sultry tones to calm her. He looked to Areva. ‘What’s the information?’
‘Veronica called through to say there had been an accident in the workshop. Dex left his ute at the mine workshop because the guys there said they’d do an oil change for him, and when Dex was finished he went back to collect it. That’s when the accident happened. He got hurt because of some tyre thing exploding.’ Areva’s words were disjointed as she stumbled over what Veronica had reported.
‘Right. Areva, I need you to let Bub know what’s happened, so she can organise the operating theatre and call in whatever staff she needs. Also, if you wouldn’t mind cancelling the rest of our clinics, that would be great.’
‘Oh. Right. Sure.’ Areva headed off and Joss turned his full attention to Melissa, who was slowly sitting up.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘OK. A little dizzy, but OK.’
He had one hand on her arm, the other around her shoulders as he looked intently at her.
‘You have a little more colour. Just breathe deeply.’
‘We need to go and get Dex.’ Urgency and panic laced her voice within her tone.
‘And we will. But I need to know that you’ll be all right to handle whatever we find. I’m sure Dex isn’t too badly hurt, but even if he is we’ll help him. We’re his friends as well as his family. Trust me, Lis. Dex is just like another brother to me, and if there’s one thing I do and do well it’s look after my own.’ He stood, holding out a hand to help her to her feet. ‘Are you with me?’
Melissa took one last deep breath in and let it slowly out. The dizziness had settled. The panic was under control. Her brother—her only living relative—needed her now more than ever. With Joss, she would help Dex. They would be there for him. The two of them. Strong enough to pull him through whatever faced him. They would do this, and they were going to do it together. She placed her hand in his and slowly rose to her feet.
‘I’m ready.’
He’d watched as she’d mentally pulled herself together, marvelling at how incredible this woman was. She’d faced so many hardships in her life, and it was her strength which continued to get her through. He honestly felt her pain because he’d meant what he’d said—Dex was like another sibling to him—but what they needed most right now was to keep level-headed if they were going to be able to get Dex through.
His eyes were alight with pride. ‘You’re a strong woman, Melissa Clarkson. I love that about you.’ He gave her hand a little squeeze. ‘Let’s get to work.’
They both packed medical bags, Joss making sure the emergency kit was fully stocked. As they hadn’t yet received a more detailed report on specific injuries they were flying blind. They had saline and plasma, IV lines, morphine, bandages, neck braces and much more.
‘Do you want to go and quickly change?’ he asked as he packed everything into his ute. ‘Your clothes will get dirty at the mine.’
; She looked down at her navy trousers and red knit top. She didn’t care. They were just clothes. Getting to Dex was more important than what she was wearing. ‘I’m fine. Why don’t we have an ambulance?’
‘What use is an ambulance when I have the ute? The suspension is better than any ambulance, because as a general rule ambulances aren’t four-wheel drive. I have a firm mattress in the tray, blankets and rope—all perfect for transferring patients short distances.’ He looked across at her and then shook his head. ‘We do need one. I’ve applied for funding, but…unless the town gets bigger…’
‘Which it will. We have so many pregnant women at the moment.’ She climbed into the ute and looked across at him as they put on their seat-belts. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she nodded warmly. ‘You’ll get your ambulance, Joss. You’re an amazing man who has provided an incredibly high level of medical care for this community. You give and you give and you keep on giving. What a big heart you have, Josiah Lawson.’ She smiled at him and caressed his cheek. ‘I love that about you.’
It was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him, and sincerity was there in her eyes. She was quite a woman.
‘Dex…’ he murmured, and she dropped her hand back to her side.
‘Let’s go help our brother.’
When they arrived at the mine site they were met at the gate by Jeff.
‘Follow me. I’ll take you to the workshop. Switch your UHF to six.’ He walked ahead of them and climbed into his own ute. He drove down a large gravel road, leading the way further down into the enormous open cut mine. Even though Melissa was concerned for Dex, even though she was running through possible scenarios in her mind, she still couldn’t help being overwhelmed at the sheer size of everything.
The enormous dump trucks that made trips up and down the slopes all day long, hauling their loads, were like something from Giant Land. The wheels themselves were as tall as a house, the drivers needing to climb a ladder just to get into them.
‘You there?’ Jeff’s voice came over the UHF radio and Joss quickly lifted the handset and answered.
‘Go ahead.’ He replaced the handset and they both listened.
‘Dex is still in the workshop. We have two other men involved. They were fixing dual wheels, removing the outside one, when the energy in the inner tyre was violently released. One man is dead, the other critically injured. Dex was there, too. He was thrown back quite fiercely. I’ve been down to see the area and I have informed head office in Perth.’
Melissa grabbed the handset and tried to talk into it, but nothing happened.
‘Press the button,’ Joss instructed.
‘Oh.’ She did so. ‘What about Dex? When you saw him, was he OK?’
‘He was up. He confirmed Milko’s death. He was treating Vitchy when I left.’
‘He’s really OK?’ Melissa couldn’t believe the relief which coursed through her, and she sagged back against the seat.
‘I don’t know. He looked it. He has a few cuts and stuff. Here we are. Now, wait until I give the all-clear for you to get out of the car. OK?’ Jeff’s tone was stern. There had already been one fatality today, and he wasn’t taking any chances on anything else going wrong.
Jeff walked around, checking everything out, and Melissa thought her impatience was going to burst through the roof. Dex was inside the workshop. They were parked outside the workshop. So near, yet so far.
‘Relax.’ Joss put a hand on her knee. ‘I need you focused, remember? Deep breaths.’
‘Deep breaths. Right.’ She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated. ‘Right. Focused.’
‘That’s it.’ Joss watched her, unable to believe how incredibly beautiful she was. Did she have any idea? He felt her pain and he wanted to help in any way he could. He wanted to be there for her, to support her, to let her know she wasn’t all alone in this world.
He loved her. He still couldn’t believe it himself, but it was the truth—and it was a truth he wanted to shout to the world. Finally he’d been able to shrug off his past, to step into the future, and it was a future he wanted to spend with her. He loved her and he didn’t care who knew it! Being able to be here for her, to support her in a time of crisis, had helped him to realise the most powerful truth in the world—he loved her with all his heart.
For now, though, they needed to put their personal relationship aside and focus on this emergency. There would be time enough for declarations and plans later on.
Jeff knocked on the ute’s window and both of them nearly jumped out of their skins. ‘Ready,’ Jeff called, and with a calm eagerness Joss and Melissa exited the cabin, collected their medical kits from the back and followed Jeff inside.
She hadn’t been at all sure what to expect, but the sight of one of the enormous trucks startled her for a second. The ‘workshop’, as Jeff had called it, was more like an aeroplane hangar—it had to be to fit the dump trucks inside. It was just so enormous, and seeing one of the trucks up close, as opposed to driving around in the quarry, was quite overwhelming.
‘Around here,’ Jeff directed, and they carefully walked around the truck to the other side. The scene that met them there was one of total chaos. The explosion of the tyre had been so violent that the windows had shattered, tools and equipment had been blasted off shelves and debris littered the entire section.
Dex was half-sitting, half-reclining in the mess. He was lying next to a man she presumed was Vitchy, as the supine worker had a bandage around his arm and a pressure pad to his eye. Melissa rushed over to Dex, putting her medical kit down beside him.
‘Took your time,’ he muttered.
‘Well, you were a little difficult to find,’ Joss responded, coming to the other side of Vitchy. ‘What’s the diagnosis?’
‘Fractured right arm, fractured tibia, vision impaired.’ Dex stopped, his breathing heavy and laboured. ‘Uh…’ He closed his eyes to think, and Melissa immediately put her hand to his wrist, checking his pulse. His eyes snapped open at her touch. ‘I’m fine. You need to deal with Vitchy. Milko’s gone. He was too close to the tyre. It exploded. Shrapnel ripped through him.’
Melissa kept her thoughts focused. ‘Dex, your pulse is weak. Did you hit your head? Get thrown back?’ She was reaching for her stethoscope as she asked the questions.
‘I’m fine.’
‘Answer her,’ Joss ordered as he performed his own observations on Vitchy.
‘You always were bossy in an emergency.’ Dex tried to make light of the situation, but as he forced a laugh he groaned in pain.
‘Where does it hurt?’
‘I’m still mad at you,’ he murmured, looking up at Melissa. ‘My life was mine before you came into it. You…ruptured it.’
‘Understood,’ she said, acknowledging what he was saying. She couldn’t pretend his words didn’t hurt her, but at least he was saying them out loud. At least he was really communicating with her for the first time. ‘Now, tell me, where does it hurt?’
‘Hurts to breathe. Lots of lower abdominal pain.’
She listened to his chest. ‘You may have a small puncture to your lung.’ She then listened to his abdomen, moving the instrument around, listening carefully. ‘I can’t tell. I’ll need to ultrasound the area.’
‘Well, at least I’m not pregnant, right?’
Melissa continued to check him. ‘Not this time.’
‘So I’ll be fine. I’m just winded—and I think I might have eaten something bad at lunchtime. Wazza made cheese soufflé, and maybe the cheese part wasn’t—owww!’ He slapped at Melissa’s hand as she gently palpated his abdomen. ‘That hurts, Lis.’
‘Sorry.’
Joss looked at Melissa and met her gaze. Instinctively they both knew things weren’t right with Dex, and the sooner they got him back to the hospital the better. Joss called Jeff over. ‘Get another ute set up to take Vitchy to the hospital. We’ll need help loading the patients into the vehicles. Make sure the coroner knows about Milko, and arrange—’<
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‘I’ve just been informed that it’s all been taken care of.’ Jeff glanced across to where his deceased friend still lay, covered with a tarp. His jaw clenched, but he was a professional and he needed to behave as such.
Joss made a mental note to speak to the mine psychologist as Milko’s friends and family would need counselling over this incident.
‘Right. You’ll find the items you need to set up the other ute in the tray of mine. There’s a—’
‘I know the drill.’ Jeff turned and left the large workshop.
When Melissa checked Dex’s blood pressure, it was to find it rather low. She set up a saline drip and gave him an injection of morphine.
‘How is he?’ Joss asked as they stood to one side, where Dex couldn’t hear them.
‘Not good. I think he has an internal bleed. The lung seems to be holding, but, Joss…’ There was pain, panic and a penetrating urgency in her voice. ‘We need to get him back to the hospital, stat.’
‘Agreed. Vitchy will require surgery, but for now, thanks to Dex, he’s stable.’
‘How did he manage to care for Vitchy when he himself is so badly injured?’
‘Adrenaline. We’ll get him sorted out.’ He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer. The desire to protect her was now totally overwhelming. ‘I promise you.’
Melissa looked up at him and saw the truth of his statement in his eyes. ‘I believe you.’
And at that moment he realised she did. Not only did she believe him, he saw that she believed in him. She trusted him. He was struck with an incredible insight that if his world ever came crumbling down in a pile of rubble again, if she was the woman by his side she’d never desert him.
By the time Dex was back at the clinic his blood pressure was dropping quite rapidly, despite replacement fluids via an intravenous line.
‘I can’t wait for an ultrasound. I need to go in now, find the source of the bleed and get it clamped, stat.’ Joss’s tone was brisk.
Bub had everything organised, except for an anaesthetist. ‘Dex usually does anaesthetics,’ she pointed out to Joss.