Blazing Fear

by Leisl Leighton

  ‘Hello? Doctor Brennan, are you there? I’m afraid I’ve burned myself again.’

  Bugger it. Now she was never going to get to the patient files. But she could hardly not help a patient when they were on her doorstep. Forcing a smile on her face, she opened the door.

  Max Smith stood there, holding his arm, a large red welt glistening there.

  ‘Ooh, ouch.’

  ‘I ran it under cold water for twenty minutes, but it didn’t get better.’

  ‘No wonder. I’m going to need to clean and dress it. Come on.’ She led him down to the treatment room and got him to sit on the bed, then angled a light so she could get a good look at it. It was a partial thickness burn that ran along his arm from wrist to halfway towards his elbow. Most of it was superficial with redness and blistering, but there was one area that was red mottled with white slough and low capillary return. Thankfully, she’d just got some low-adherent silver dressings in, because she was going to need it for this one. ‘How did you do this?’ she asked as she set about irrigating it with saline. ‘It looks worse than a wax burn.’

  He looked away from her, swinging his legs, looking nothing so much as a naughty boy caught in the act of doing something he shouldn’t. ‘I wasn’t even making candles. I was making myself some chips and wasn’t watching and the oil caught and I did this while putting it out.’ He looked up, then down, his face burning. ‘I feel pretty stupid.’

  She patted the wound dry and got the silver dressing. ‘It happens more often than you’d realise, so don’t feel too bad. But maybe you should take more care while cooking chips in future.’

  He stared into her eyes and smiled. ‘Thank you, Doctor Brennan. I will.’

  She glanced away. Damn. She really was going to have to do something about his crush. It was kind of sweet, but she just wasn’t interested in anything, with anyone, even a nice bloke like Max. But now wasn’t a good time with him being in pain to deal with it, so she concentrated on dressing the wound and tried to be as coldly professional as possible. ‘There. Now, let’s talk painkillers and after care.’ She gave him instructions and gave him a referral to a burn’s specialist at the hospital.

  ‘Surely it’s not that bad.’

  ‘You’ve burned one section here pretty badly. The burn specialists have a lot of skin therapies now that can help with wound recovery and lessening of scars. I would really prefer you go and see one.’

  ‘If you think that would be best, Doctor Brennan.’

  ‘I do.’

  He smiled shyly at her, holding her gaze and she had the distinct impression he was about to ask her out. Oh crap! No. No.

  ‘Mum!’ Carter’s bellow rang down the hall, making her jump. ‘Mum, where are you?’ Thumping footsteps running down the hall forestalled her need to answer. Carter appeared in the doorway a moment later. ‘Come on, we’ve got to go.’

  ‘I’m just finishing up with a patient, Carter. I’ll be with you in a moment.’

  ‘Did you burn yourself again, Mr Smith? You’re a bit clumsy, aren’t you?’

  ‘Carter, that’s rude. Apologise.’

  ‘No, it’s okay.’ Max slid off the bed, brushing his dark hair from his forehead in a gesture that was oddly familiar, although she couldn’t place why. Probably she’d seen him do it before. ‘He’s right. I do need to be more careful. Hey, what do you know, you’ve got different coloured eyes? I didn’t notice when we met at the party.’

  Prita stiffened as Carter looked down and away. He was super sensitive about his eyes. He’d even got into a fight at school when a kid had teased him about them and she’d been called into the principal’s office to deal with the issue of bullying and his reaction to it. ‘It’s called heterochromia iridium.’ She put her hand around Carter’s shoulders. ‘We think it’s lovely.’

  Max glanced between them then stammered. ‘S-sorry, I didn’t mean to make a thing of it. It’s just, you don’t see it often and it … reminds me of a friend who had eyes like that.’

  Carter’s head snapped up. ‘You know someone like me?’

  ‘Yeah. He was so cool. He always said it made him different from everyone else and it was good to be different.’

  A slow smile spread over Carter’s face as he straightened his shoulders. ‘Yeah. It does.’ He looked at his mum. ‘Can Max come with us to the barbie?’

  ‘Carter. You can’t invite someone to someone else’s house.’

  ‘But Reid and Nat wouldn’t mind. And it’s for your birthday.’

  ‘Oh, is it your birthday?’ Max asked.

  ‘Yesterday, but we’re just going over to CoalCliff for a little celebration. They insisted. I don’t usually do anything for my birthday.’

  ‘Well, then, thanks for taking the time to patch me up, but I think I should get out of your hair and let you get to your party. Bye, Carter.’

  ‘Bye, Mr Smith. Hurry, Mum.’

  ‘Go get your things.’ He turned and ran out of the room, his feet thumping on the wood floors.

  She walked Max to the front door and opened it but he didn’t walk out, just hovered for a moment, hands in his pockets. ‘Umm, how should I pay you?’

  ‘Just see Cherry on Monday. She’ll take care of the account for you.’

  ‘Oh, okay. I’ll do that. Will I need to see you again in the next few days? You know. For a check-up.’

  ‘Perhaps. But go down to the hospital and see the specialist I referred you to and see what she says. If she’s happy for you to stay under my care, call and book in an appointment in a few days so I can check the dressing. In the meantime, keep up with the painkillers. And no more cooking chips.’ She flashed him a smile.

  ‘No, of course. Perhaps I can thank you by cooking you dinner one time?’

  Her smile felt stiff on her face as she met his gaze. She really was going to have to set him straight but that conversation would take longer than she had. ‘Yes. Maybe. A dinner party could be good—invite some of the neighbours so you get to know them better.’

  ‘Umm, yes, that sounds good,’ he said, his smile faltering. ‘Although, I was thinking of just the two of us.’

  Damn it. She really didn’t want to deal with this now. ‘I’m sorry, Max, but I’m not interested in seeing anyone in more than a friendly capacity right now. With my new business and Carter—I’m sure you understand.’

  ‘Yes, yes, of course. Me too.’ He stuttered over the words, shaking his head. ‘I’ll see you around.’ The door closed with a quick snip behind him.

  She leaned her head against the closed door. ‘Damn.’ She hated dealing with that kind of thing. He could have been a good friend and he’d been nice with Carter about his eyes and the last thing she needed right now was another awkward relationship with someone in the area. It was ridiculous really. For years she hadn’t had to worry about this kind of thing at all and now, within the space of a month, two awkward encounters with two men. The only positive was that she wouldn’t be woken in the night by memories of letting down Max like she was woken by memories of Kissmaggedon.

  Banishing those images from her mind with teeth gritting determination, she pushed away from the door and went to clean up the treatment room, looking longingly at her office door as she passed. The clinic notes would just have to wait until tomorrow. She didn’t have time for them now. She had to get ready, make sure Carter had all his things, grab her doctor’s bag and get to CoalCliff to see Aaron and chat to Barb and Flynn about a program of activities for Aaron over the next few weeks.

  She headed upstairs, pulling her ponytail tight and wondering if she should put some more make-up on and change her top when her phone began to ring, the theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer pumping out, making her jump. ‘Reid!’ He must have grabbed her phone yesterday when he’d been in for his check-up and changed the ring tone. Again. She’d have to get him to change it back—although, she did like this one. Much better than the Metallica song he’d chosen last time.

  Head bobbing to the drum beat, she pu
lled her phone from her pocket and answered as she walked into her bedroom. ‘Hello, this is Doctor Brennan.’

  Silence greeted her.

  ‘Hello?’

  Still nothing. No, there wasn’t nothing. She was certain she could hear someone breathing. A fast-paced breathing, as if they’d been running—or maybe injured. ‘Are you hurt? Are you in pain?’ A slight shuffle of sound answered her. ‘Try to let me know where you are so I can come help you.’ A hitch of breath and then more silence. ‘If you don’t want me to come, I can call an ambulance. Do you need an ambulance?’ The breathing was definitely faster now, heavier. ‘What can I do to help you?’

  ‘You can die, bitch.’

  ‘What …?’ Her words died off as she realised the person had hung up. Her neck prickled and a shiver ran over her. She stared at her phone. Had she imagined that?

  You can die, bitch.

  The words played over in her mind again. Nope. She definitely hadn’t imagined that. The caller had definitely upped the ante this time. Not just nebulous inferences to something she’d done that he wouldn’t let her get away with. This time he’d actually threatened her. She needed to log the call. The log was downstairs next to the office phone. What a pain. She was already running late and now she’d need to run down to the office to log the—

  The heavy breather hadn’t rung the office number. It hadn’t been her work mobile that had rung either. He’d called her personal mobile.

  How had he got her personal mobile number?

  She opened the recent calls log on her phone. All it said was ‘no call info’. Shit. Shit. Shit. She needed to report this to the police.

  She dialled the number for the local police station in Rawson and waited.

  ‘Rawson Police Station. Constable Mason. How can I help you?’

  Constable Mason? She hadn’t met him. He must be new to the rotation. Damn. She really wanted to speak to Constable Bruce. He knew all about her prank caller. Although, it didn’t feel much like a prank now.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Sorry.’ She pulled her thoughts together and explained who she was and what had happened. ‘Constable Bruce has been handling the case.’

  ‘I’m sorry you have been dealing with that. You say there was no number logged?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did the caller say anything else?’

  ‘No. Just “you can die, bitch”.’

  ‘Did you recognise the voice?’

  ‘If I did, I think I would have mentioned that already.’

  ‘I understand you’re upset, Doctor Brennan, but I do need to ask these questions.’

  ‘Yes. I know. Sorry. I’m just a little thrown. He’s never made a direct threat before.’

  ‘You’re certain it’s a man?’

  ‘Yes. It was most definitely a man’s voice. Cherry Hopkins would confirm that too.’

  ‘You’re certain it was the same person who’s been calling you on the office number?’

  She was about to answer yes, but then stopped. Was she certain? It was difficult to voice match from heavy breathing and a few whispered phrases. But, ‘Who else would it be?’ It wasn’t likely she had two people trying to scare her. ‘Cherry said she thought it might be Bob Thompson, but that’s just speculation. I couldn’t say for certain it was him or not.’

  ‘But he’s threatened you before.’

  ‘Yes. Flynn Findlay was witness to it.’

  ‘And Constable Bruce has all this on file?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then I’ll look into it. Are you able to come to the police station now so I can look at your phone and see if I can get any further information from it?’

  ‘I’m due at CoalCliff to check on Aaron Findlay and then have dinner and I’m already late. I also don’t want my son to know about this.’ Carter didn’t need the worry. Not to mention she didn’t want to drag him to the police station. He’d spent too much time in police stations when he was little and he always got very nervous around them as a result. Police equalled pain and bad memories.

  ‘I can come to you at CoalCliff if you wish.’

  ‘No. No. I don’t want to bother them with this.’ Reid and Flynn would probably want to do the whole riding to her rescue thing, and she most definitely didn’t need or want that. She had spent years seeking independence from overbearing male relatives. She especially didn’t want Flynn going all caveman again on Bob Thompson, because they’d been lucky last time the bully hadn’t pressed charges, but if Flynn hit him again, it was likely that luck would run out. ‘Can I bring it into you later? It’s not like you can do anything tonight given there’s no number to follow up on.’

  ‘I want to make sure you’re safe, Doctor Brennan.’

  ‘This was the first real threat. It’s unlikely he would act on it now, right?’

  ‘I wouldn’t want to say no for a certainty, Doctor Brennan.’

  She ran her hand over her hair, fingers snagging in her ponytail. She pulled the band free and worried it in her fingers. ‘Are you saying we’re not safe here?’

  ‘That’s not what I’m saying, but I would just caution you to be careful for the next few days. Try not to be alone. It’s good you’re going to CoalCliff tonight. Can you stay there?’

  ‘Carter can.’ He loved to stay over. She’d have to check with Nat when they got there if that it was okay, but didn’t think it would be a problem—it never had been before. She wouldn’t even need to pack him a bag. She always kept his backpack stocked in the car in case she had call outs and had to drop him at CoalCliff or with Lisa. Him staying at CoalCliff tonight had the added benefit of freeing her up to go to the police station without anyone knowing.

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘No.’ There was no way she was going to be chased out of her own home just because some arsehat with a superiority complex had made a phone call. ‘I’ll make sure all the doors and windows are locked when I come back tonight.’

  He tried to talk her out of staying there alone, but she wouldn’t budge, so he finally gave up and confirmed that she would drop by the station later in the evening and that she would call if there was any further contact from the caller.

  She bit her lip as she put down her phone.

  ‘Mum?’

  She turned to see Carter swinging into the doorway, his cap backward on his head.

  She took a deep breath and plastering a smile on her face, said, ‘That won’t keep the sun off you at all if you wear it that way.’

  ‘I’m not in the sun right now. Come on. Are you ready?’

  ‘Sure.’ She would have liked to change her top and redo her make-up but they were seriously late now. ‘Have you fed Maccy?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Make sure the cat flap is locked? We can’t have him roaming and killing more birds.’

  ‘I know. He’s in my room.’

  ‘Could you grab the bowl of salad and then head out to the car? I’ll just grab my doctor’s bag and be right out.’

  ‘Okay.’

  She took a breath and steadied her shaking hands and looked at herself in the mirror. ‘It’s fine. It’s nothing. Bob Thompson’s an old airbag and a bully. He wouldn’t do anything more than threaten.’ It sounded good in principle. But she just couldn’t shake the tingle from chasing over the back of her neck as the voice echoed in her mind again. You can die, bitch.

  Chapter 10

  ‘Mum! Come on!’

  Carter’s plaintive call echoed up the stairs. ‘Coming.’ She had to pull herself together. Letting the arsehat get to her this way was just playing into his hands. She wasn’t going to play his stupid game. Clenching her fists at her sides, she gave herself a determined nod in the mirror, then grabbing her bag, ran down the stairs to the office to get her doctor’s kit and then went out to the car.

  It wasn’t until she’d pulled out of the drive and onto the road, that she remembered she was about to see Flynn again.

  Well, one good thing you could say ab
out phone threats from arsehat bullies—they took your mind off other things you didn’t particularly want to think about. But now she was thinking about it, her muscles began to clench, her grip tightening on the steering wheel as Carter chatted away about what he was going to do with Tilly and Aaron. She stretched out her fingers and tried to relax. This was ridiculous. It had been fine seeing him yesterday. And talking to him on the phone earlier. A little stilted, sure, but not as bad as she’d thought it might be. So, you see, there was no need to be so uptight over one failed kiss. Well, two kisses when you remembered they’d kissed again in her bedroom. Which she was trying not to do. Remember, that is.

  ‘… don’t you think, Mum?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You weren’t listening.’

  ‘I was.’ Out of the corner of her eye she saw him give her the look. The ‘I’m calling you on your adult lie’ look. ‘Sorry. My mind wandered for a moment.’

  ‘Where you thinking about Flynn?’

  She choked back the ‘no!’ that clamoured to fly out of her mouth, aware that for a kid as sensitive as Carter, that shouted ‘no!’ would be as bad as a slap. ‘Why do you think I was thinking about Flynn?’

  ‘Because I heard Nat and Barb say you’ve been avoiding each other.’

  ‘Well, you shouldn’t believe everything you hear other people saying.’ And she was going to have to have a chat to her friends about looking out for big little ears.

  ‘So, you’re not avoiding each other?’

  ‘Of course not. We’re friends. We’ve just both been super busy this last month.’ She smiled, hoping he swallowed that half-lie as she pulled up outside the house. ‘We’re here. Let me hold that while you get out.’ She held her hands out for the bowl of salad.

  ‘I can do it.’ He opened the door and managed to get out while holding the big bowl and then stood grinning at her as she came around to join him. ‘See?’

  ‘When did you get so big and strong?’

  His grin widened. ‘I don’t know. I think the rock climbing is helping.’

  ‘I think so too.’

  They walked towards the door and she was about to knock when it opened. Prita sucked in a breath, ready for the punch that seeing Flynn always brought.