She ran through to the sitting room and dropped to her knees in front of the wheelchair. ‘Edward—’ she caught his flaying arms gently— ‘the fire’s getting close to the farm. Roy’s out with the fire crew at another fire in East Jindabyne. He doesn’t know the farm is under threat. We need to get you out of here. I have a ranger with me. Dan and I will get you to the hospital in Jindabyne.’ She paused. ‘Can you understand what I am saying?’
Edward’s head drooped. The muscles of his neck twitched and twisted. A cross between a groan and a wail rent through him. Sheva realised that he understood. Leaving the farm meant he may not be able to keep his condition a secret. She leant closer. ‘Edward, we don’t need to tell anyone in Jindabyne who you are. You will be just another patient in the medical centre. Will you trust me?’
He gave a contorted nod and let out a stuttered sound, which she interpreted as his agreement.
Samson came in with a bag full of clothes. ‘I think he’s saying he trusts you, Doc.’
Soon Edward was strapped in the back seat of the Subaru with his bag, his wheelchair in the boot. Sheva jumped in the back with Edward.
‘His medication, Doc.’ Samson handed her a plastic case. ‘There are typed instructions on the schedule.’
Dan pulled out of the driveway and drove towards Mowamba Drive. Samson sprinted away from the house as they drove away.
The air was now thick with grey smoke, ash and burnt leaves. The sky behind them had a hellish glow.
Even with the air-conditioning on full, they could feel the heat of the fire.
Chapter 35
A ping indicated an incoming message. Dan kept his right hand on the wheel and reached into his pocket with his left. Sheva, seated in the back seat and holding Edward’s hands in hers, saw his regular phone on the passenger seat beside him. This other phone must be his official line.
He listened for a minute, then snapped the phone shut and slipped it back in his pocket. The Subaru picked up speed. ‘Sheva,’ he called over his shoulder, ‘We need to get back to Jindabyne quick fast. Hang on. And keep Edward as calm as you possibly can.’
They flew past oncoming Fire and Rescue vehicles and an occasional farm truck. Sheva held on to Edward’s hands, relieved that he was calm and quiet, seemingly resigned, with only an occasional twist and jerk of his body.
They left the glow of the fire behind them.
Soon, they were on Kosciuszko Road and nearing Jindabyne. The sky in the east now glowed red and orange. The East Jindabyne fire was still burning.
Suddenly the stutter of approaching helicopters filled the air. ‘Good,’ Dan muttered, ‘back-up.’ Sheva looked out of the window. Two large black helicopters emerged through the red and orange haze. These didn’t look like fire or rescue helicopters, and they weren’t water bombers either. They circled and slid down towards the edge of town.
Dan pulled up outside Sheva’s house. He leapt out and wrenched the back door open. ‘I don’t want you going back to the clinic right now. Rosie has been instructed to close the clinic. She will deal with any emergencies. You’ll have to put Edward here in your house.’ He reached in to lift Edward out of the car. Peter dashed across from the clinic.
Sheva opened the front door of the cottage. ‘We can put him in the downstairs bedroom.’ She turned to Peter. ‘This gentleman has Huntington’s Disease. He needs help.’
Peter nodded. He pulled the wheelchair from the boot and assembled it. He reached into the back seat and helped Edward into the wheelchair. ‘I understand Sheva, I’ll go settle him in. You look bushed. Go to your kitchen and have the coffee you missed earlier.’ He picked up Edward’s bag from the boot and wheeled Edward into the house.
Sheva stood at the front door, watching the two black helicopters hover and land in the playing field at the edge of town. Dan had called them “back-up”. Surely, this wasn’t part of a regular fire and rescue operation.
Suddenly, Dan was in front of her and shielding her from view as he slammed shut the door.
‘You are a sitting duck at the open door, Sheva,’ he said through gritted teeth as he left her to walk back into the lounge room.
Surprised at the anger in his voice, she swung around to face him. ‘Dan, I want to know what is going on—now.’
Dan dropped on the couch. Sheva sat down beside him and turned to face him. ‘I’m sorry, Sheva.’ He drew a deep, shuddering breath. ‘Somehow, things didn’t go as we planned. I am not sure if we screwed up, or there is something more happening here.’ He paused and frowned. ‘Remember that I told you he—Sunil—was being tailed to Canberra?’
‘Yes,’ a tentacle of icy fear gripped her heart.
‘Well it turned out he wasn’t exactly heading to Canberra. Our tails reported to us when he overshot Canberra and headed towards Berridale and Cooma.’
Sheva dropped her head in her hands. The tentacles of fear reached through her body and up to her throat. They threatened to choke her. ‘He’s heading here, isn’t he? This is what I feared. Somehow, he knows I’m in Jindabyne. How could he have found me? After everything you guys did?’
Dan rubbed her back. ‘I can’t tell you that, but you are safe. The helicopters you saw, they are the armed response group of the Australian Federal Police. We have full cover.’
‘Two helicopters for one man?’
He moved his hand away and leant back. ‘There are two cars. I am not sure how many there are in each. Some of them may be Sri Lankan or Indian. Others are probably local heavies.’
‘What if Sunil or one of the others gets here?’
He shrugged. ‘I’m prepared, as is Peter. Rosie’s keeping a watch out. Our team will cut Sunil and his friends off at the bridge over the dam. The trackers are excellent. Sunil and his thugs have no idea they are being followed. They’ll drive right into the ambush.’
His phone pinged and he pulled it out of his pocket. ‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Yes, she’s with me.’ He listened and nodded. ‘Yes, Peter’s here too.’ He grinned. ‘I’ll tell her. It will help her understand everything a little better.’ He snapped the phone shut.
‘Tell me what?’
‘I have news which will make you feel better,’ he said as he put the phone back. ‘Our people in Sydney raided the house where Sunil stopped on his way from the airport. The guys they arrested there talked. We’ve since taken down two more places in Ashfield and Newtown—both posing as student dorms.’ He folded her hands in his and forced her to look at him. ‘They saved sixteen girls. The computers they picked up have enough information to bust the rings in Australia and Sri Lanka wide open. You did the right thing, Sheva.’
‘Sunil. He’s still free, isn’t he? He could turn up here at any moment.’
‘Not for long. They’ll cut him off at the bridge over the dam. He doesn’t have a chance.’
‘I need to check on Edward.’ Sheva shook her hands free. She had to keep busy. Keep her mind from wondering about Sunil and his plans, or Roy and his safety.
Peter had settled Edward in his wheelchair. He turned as Sheva walked into the room. ‘Sheva, I guess you know I am more than just your clinic aide.’
Sheva nodded.
‘Please understand that our main concern was keeping you safe.’
Sheva sighed and collapsed onto the edge of the bed. ‘I know, but it’s a lot to get my head around.’
‘Why not stay here and spend some time with your patient? I’ll go join Dan.’ He checked the locks on the windows and pulled the curtains closed before leaving the room.
She sat on the edge of the bed. Edward reached his hand towards her, it flailed and hit the arm of the wheelchair. The stifled staccato grunt expressed his frustration.
Sheva wheeled Edward closer to the bed and sat cross-legged opposite him. She grasped both of Edward’s hands in hers. His lips twisted in a smile.
‘Edwar
d, my father died when I was eighteen. He was a neuromuscular specialist and surgeon, the best in Sri Lanka. I was an only child. I felt the weight of expectation,’ she paused as Edward vocalised a few broken words. ‘Yes, I think it must be what Roy feels too.’
Starting from her days as a teenager in Colombo, Sheva poured out her life story to Edward. She told him how Sunil and she had grown up together in the tea plantation. She told him how hard it had been to go to the police with the pictures she had taken in Sunil’s flat. How even now, knowing what she did about Sunil and his activities, aware he would probably kill her if he got to her, she felt a deep sense of betrayal of her childhood friendship.
The wasted fingers she was holding contracted on hers spasmodically. The broken sounds coming from his tortured larynx made her believe that he understood and empathised with her feelings.
Finally, Sheva sank to her knees before the wheelchair. She brought Edward’s hand to her face. She couldn’t hold back the tears. ‘I’m so scared. I’m frightened for what might happen if Sunil gets here and I’m so terrified for Roy. I don’t want him to get hurt in the bushfire.’ Her tears wet the wasted fingers.
One twisting arm moved toward her head, the trembling hand rested on her hair. It was a blessing. His mouth twisted, struggled.
The words stuttered out: ‘It … will … work … out …’
Chapter 36
The wail of ambulance sirens tore through the silence.
Sheva leapt to her feet.
Dan stood at the door of the bedroom. ‘Rosie called. They are bringing in a badly burnt male patient.’
She breathed in deep and squared her shoulders. ‘What if it’s Roy?’
‘I don’t think it is one of the firemen. Even if it is Roy, you’re the only one here capable of treating him.’ Dan glanced at Edward, who was visibly agitated, his hands flaying as he keened his concern. ‘I have Rosie’s older sister Melanie here. She’s also a trained nurse and will stay with your patient. Peter and I need to be with you. Let’s get you to the clinic.’
With Peter and Dan on either side, Sheva jogged across the road.
She stepped into the clinic. Yes, she was a professional. Whoever the patient was, and whatever his condition, she was qualified and competent to deal with it. She took another deep breath. ‘Rosie,’ she called out. ‘Get an intravenous ready, a cut down set also. Saline, Dextrose, pull out what we have. Check what intravenous antibiotics are in the cupboard. Morphine—’ She thought a moment, what else would she need— ‘Peter, locate the tracheostomy equipment. I’ve seen it in the theatre cupboard—’ she looked around— ‘keep the ECG monitor and defibrillator on standby.’
The ambulance sirens grew louder and closer. Sheva shrugged on her surgical coat and slipped on a pair of sterile latex gloves.
Brakes screeched outside, and there was a loud clang as the ambulance doors crashed open.
Peter flung open the door to the clinic. ‘Are you okay?’ Dan’s hand was firm on her shoulder.
She was calm and in control. She shrugged. ‘I can deal with it, I’m a professional. This is my job. And whoever it is – I have a patient to treat.’
Two paramedics rushed in, their blue overalls brown with ash and soot and flecked with blood. One of them spoke as they carried the gurney between them, ‘Two men turned their car at the bridge to avoid the police and drove back right into the fire. The fire had jumped Kosciuszko Road by the time they got back to East Jindabyne. The car was engulfed in a fireball.’ Loud rasping groans came from the patient under the white sheet. An oxygen mask covered his face. ‘One of the firemen got this one out alive—barely. The other’s dead. Incinerated.’ The acrid stomach-turning smell of burnt flesh filled the clinic. Peter and the ambulance officers lifted the struggling man onto the examination couch.
They slid the patient from the stretcher to the couch and Sheva stepped up as the paramedic continued, ‘We couldn’t get into a vein to set up fluids, and didn’t have the apparatus to do a cut down. So, gave him oxygen and rushed him here.’ He moved to give her access to the patient.
The patient’s right arm slipped out from under the blanket. Raw red third-degree burns covered most of the surface exposed. But the skin on the back of the hand and fingers was unburnt, and dark brown in colour.
It wasn’t Roy on the stretcher. She let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding and looked at the man’s hand again. This must be one of Sunil’s group. She shifted her eyes to his face and froze.
The curly black hair she had playfully tugged when they had sat on the Mount-Lavinia beach in Sri Lanka just a few weeks ago was charred almost to the scalp. The lower right side of his face was a reddened mass. The right eye was swollen and partially shut, but the left side of his face was barely singed.
The walls of the room shrank in on her. She wanted to scream, to run away from the clinic, leave it to someone else to treat this man who had said he loved her and then betrayed her in the most horrible manner possible.
Her teeth clenched as she drew on every fibre of strength and professionalism she had.
This was a seriously injured patient.
Who he was shouldn’t matter to her.
His eyes fixed on her. ‘Annie,’ Sunil croaked. Raising his arm, he jerked the oxygen mask off. ‘Go away—get help,’ he spoke in Sinhalese. His body convulsed as he struggled to breathe.
‘Sunil—’ she struggled to keep her voice soft and calm— ‘I am the doctor here. I need to assess how badly you are burned, and then I can help you,’ she responded also in Sinhalese. Replacing the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, she peeled back the sheet covering him, making an assessment of the burn area as she went. ‘Rosie, patient has lower chest, abdomen, groin and right lower limb third degree burns, covering about fifty percent of his body.’
‘No,’ Sunil stuttered in Sinhalese, pushing the oxygen mask off, ‘get the police. Get protection. The other guys are armed. They want to kill you.’
Dan moved to stand by Sheva. ‘Sheva, did you call the man Sunil?’
‘Yes, I did,’ she replied. ‘This is Sunil. Right now, it doesn’t matter who he is. He is a patient who needs urgent resuscitation, so let me get on with my work.’
‘We need to get him under arrest.’
‘Police,’ Sunil screeched brokenly. ‘Get the police.’
Dan stepped up to Sunil, ‘I am the police Mr Sunil Dantanarayane. You are under arrest for—’
Another spasm wrenched through Sunil’s body. ‘I can’t die—’ he gasped— ‘before I talk to Annie.’
Sheva pushed between Dan and the couch. She leant close to Sunil, ignoring the smell of burning flesh that made her want to gag. ‘Sunil, you are seriously burnt and I am, firstly, a doctor. Despite everything, I am going to try to save your life. We will give you something for the pain and set up an intravenous to get fluid into you.’ She placed her gloved fingers on his unburnt hand. ‘Try not to fight it, Sunil.’
She turned to Rosie. ‘Get the cut down, Rosie. There’s no way we’ll get an intravenous into a vein. And give him a fifteen morphine.’
‘No—’ Sunil struggled against her restraining hand— ‘no morphine until I talk,’
Dan stepped up and bent close to Sunil. ‘Okay, Sunil, I am Dan Cooper, a Special Forces operative with the Federal Police. You can talk to me. Let Sheva—Annie—continue with the treatment.
‘No morphine until I talk.’
‘Rosie—’ Dan turned to Rosie standing ready with the syringe— ‘hold the morphine.’
‘He’ll be in excruciating pain,’ Sheva snapped. ‘You don’t overrule me in the clinic, Dan. Rosie, give him the morphine.
Dan gestured at Rosie to move away from Sunil. He looked at Sheva, ‘Let me talk to him first. You can set up the intravenous fluid.’
Sheva shook her head, furious at Dan, as she peeled back th
e sheet to expose Sunil’s feet. The right ankle was red and scorched, with no skin, but the left looked relatively unscathed. She located the medial malleolus and landmarked the saphenous vein. Picking up the scalpel, she made a horizontal incision. There was hardly any bleeding, so it was imperative she get the fluid into his body soon.
Placing the syringe with morphine on the treatment trolley, Rosie moved over to stand by Sheva. She sponged away the few drops of blood on the incision Sheva had made, and handed Sheva the forceps. Soon, the cannula was inserted into the vein and the saline flowing. Stepping back, Sheva peeled off her gloves. ‘Get the IV antibiotics into the tube, Rosie.’
Dan was bent over Sunil with a small object in the palm of his hand. He was recording the conversation.
She heard the muted stutter of Sunil’s voice, interrupted by tortured breathing, gasps of pain and what could only be muffled sobs.
‘So, you turned police informant.’ Dan’s voice was low and insistent.
‘Yes, when Annie was gone, Inspector HJ told me what to do.’ Sunil gasped in English. ‘I followed—followed what he said.’
‘Sunil, please—’ Sheva moved to the top of the couch— ‘I am going to give you the morphine.’
Dan reached close to Sunil’s mouth with the recorder.
‘Annie,’ he whispered, reaching out his arm, ‘I have always loved you. I am sorry, so sorry. I had no money—none—needed to save the estate—the business—look after Amma and Thatha–I sold my soul to the devil, Palitha—’ his voice dulled and faded— ‘they looked after—paid for—loans. I did—did—dirty work. You were the ticket to—to get—Australia. When you left—couldn’t do it.’ A sob wrenched through his body. ‘Forced me to come—to kill you to prove—prove my—my loyalty.’ He moaned. ‘I—I planned to take the bullet. Sorry—sorry.’ Tears left clean trails down his ash-stained, fire-reddened cheeks.
Sheva held his hand in hers. ‘Sunil, why didn’t you talk to me? I would have helped you—no, it doesn’t matter now.’
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