Crisis at Katoomba Hospital

by Lucy Clark

  ‘No. He’s dead.’ Nicolette glanced at her watch. ‘Seventeen-fifty.’ She turned and clambered back the way she’d come. Before she got out, she searched the truck for a first-aid kit or other things she could use and came up trumps. In the glove compartment was a small first-aid kit, which was better than nothing.

  ‘What are you going to do? You can’t just leave him there.’ The man followed her down to the ground.

  ‘There’s nothing I can do for him and the police and forensic department need to deal with him. Get a piece of paper and pen for me, please.’ She went to the rear of the truck again and peered over the edge to the devastation below, her gaze searching for Stephen. She couldn’t see him. The man returned and she wrote down the details of what she’d found with the truck driver and the time. ‘Stay up here and keep things under control,’ she told the man. ‘Don’t let anyone except emergency crews near the coal truck, and when the police arrive, give them this.’ She handed over the piece of paper. ‘Thanks.’

  Nicolette raced along the road to the edge of the guardrail and then carefully slid down the embankment. She headed back towards the train station, calling Stephen on his phone as she went. ‘Where are you?’ she asked when he answered.

  ‘At the head of the train. The driver’s dead. Killed on impact.’

  ‘Truck driver’s dead also. Not sure why. What’s happening with triage?’

  ‘I’ve put the stationmaster in charge. She wasn’t too impressed but she’ll do fine. I need you.’

  ‘I’m on my way.’ Nicolette disconnected the call but a second later the phone rang.

  ‘Nic, it’s Steph. What’s going on?’

  Nicolette gave Stephanie a brief update. ‘Go to the bus first. Stephen’s in the train, which is where I’m headed.’

  ‘OK.’

  Nicolette hung up and continued through the scattered debris to the train station. There, she found it hard to walk past people who needed help, but Stephen obviously had a situation that required her expertise as well as his.

  ‘Stephen?’ she called when she neared the head of the train.

  ‘Nicolette?’ He didn’t sound far away and she kept searching. She found him in the first carriage, the one directly behind the engine. The metal was twisted but the doors had been prised open. Although there were several people still inside, others were helping them out.

  ‘Where are you?’ she asked as she stepped onto the train.

  ‘Over here.’ He was lying flat on his stomach, his legs sticking out from beneath a part of the metal which had collapsed almost to the floor. ‘Be careful. The seats aren’t stable so don’t lean on them.’

  ‘Acknowledged.’

  ‘Right. Lie down next to me.’

  Nicolette made her way carefully towards him and knelt down, placing the first-aid kit on the floor beside her before she removed her jacket. Stephen’s medical bag was next to him and she quickly pulled on a pair of gloves before lying flat and sliding under the piece of metal beside him. ‘What have we got?’ she asked as she lifted her head. The roof hadn’t collapsed as far here and she could actually lift her head and shoulders, leaning on her elbows. The only light came from a torch Stephen had jammed in between some fallen metal. She glanced at the patient in front of them, who was trapped and unconscious.

  ‘Approximately fifteen-year-old boy, both legs jammed.’ Stephen indicated to where they had been crushed by a seat which had broken away from its mounting. Blood pressure is dropping.’ Stephen’s portable sphymomanometer cuff was deflated but still wound around the boy’s right arm.

  Nicolette took the boy’s pulse. ‘No, not good.’ She took Stephen’s medical torch and checked the boy’s pupils—equal and reacting to light. Good. ‘Can you hear me?’ No response.

  ‘How long until the first ambulance arrives?’

  ‘Your guess is as good as mine. They have to get through any traffic first.’

  ‘I’m going to need oxygen, plasma and those emergency crews with their handy gadgets to cut him out.’

  ‘What about his legs? His femoral artery might be damaged and that’s where he’s probably losing the blood. It could take hours to cut him out, Stephen, and he may not have hours,’ Nicolette said softly.

  ‘Agreed. This boy’s the worst in this carriage, which took the brunt of the impact. The carriage behind isn’t internally damaged from what I can see.’

  ‘Right.’ She looked back at the boy. ‘Do you think we can lift that part of the seat off his legs? That way, you could get a look at them.’

  ‘We’re not in a good position to lift. I’ve tried and I can move it but not lift it.’

  ‘Just a second.’ She backed out, shuffling along the floor until she was sure she wouldn’t hit her head, then turned around and went in feet first. ‘Guide me,’ she called, and listened to Stephen’s instructions. ‘If I can get close enough, I can lift it off with my feet then you can shift him over so you can treat him.’

  ‘Brilliant. Right, come closer, closer.’ Stephen guided Nicolette until her feet could reach the seat. ‘All right, now shift around towards me, keep your feet in place and bend your knees. Good. Comfortable?’

  ‘Oh, just great,’ she mumbled as she concentrated. The twisted roof was only a hair’s breadth from her nose. She closed her eyes, which helped, forming a mental picture of what she was doing. With her knees bent and her feet firmly beneath the seat, she pressed her hands palms down onto the floor to help her when she needed to push. ‘Am I in position?’

  ‘Almost. A little more to the right. Good. Stop. Ready?’

  ‘Ready.’

  ‘OK. Just let me shift a little so I can reach him more easily.’ Nicolette waited for Stephen to be ready. They might only get one chance at this and it needed to work. ‘Right. Let’s do this. Three, two, one—lift.’

  Nicolette dragged in a breath and pushed with all her might. She felt the seat move.

  ‘More, more,’ Stephen urged. ‘That’s it. It’s working. A little more. Good. Hold it there.’

  Nicolette concentrated on keeping her legs in place, already beginning to feel the muscles burning. She breathed in and out, trying to control the urge to rest. ‘Stephen,’ she called urgently when she felt she couldn’t hold it any longer.

  ‘Almost there. You’re amazing. Doing a brilliant job,’ he encouraged as he stretched to finish moving the boy’s legs. It was harder than he’d thought because as he’d stretched he’d also become stuck between the floor and the roof, giving him little room to manoeuvre. ‘OK. Five…four…’ He knew he had to work fast. She was going to collapse soon. ‘Three…two…’ There, he’d freed the second leg, the boy’s jeans ripping as he finally manoeuvred the leg out. ‘One. Let it down gently. Easy.’

  Nicolette gave a strangled cry as she eased up on the pressure, the burning sensation tearing through her. Finally, her legs were on the floor and it was only then she realised she was shaking all over.

  ‘Did you get him?’

  ‘Yes. Just rest.’

  Nicolette did as he’d suggested but a minute later her phone rang. She wriggled her backside and then worked her way backwards until finally she was out. Tired and exhausted, she lay there and reached into her trousers pocket for her phone.

  ‘Nic?’

  ‘Stephanie,’ she breathed. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Oliver wanted me to let you know the paramedics have taken over the triage on the station platform and the health resort down the road has agreed to act as a base for cases until we can get reinforcements here from Springwood. Is Stephen all right?’ There was a warning tone in Stephanie’s voice and it immediately caused a prickle of apprehension to wash over Nicolette.

  ‘I think so. Stephen,’ she called. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine. Jammed but fine.’

  ‘He’s jammed but fine.’

  ‘That’s why I’ve been feeling as though walls were closing in.’

  ‘Listen, we have a boy here with possible
ruptured femoral artery. Stephen’s taking a look now.’ Nicolette gave their location.

  ‘I’ll send equipment and personnel down to you.’

  ‘Thanks.’ She disconnected the call and lay there, her body still trembling.

  ‘You all right?’ Stephen called.

  ‘I just need one more minute.’

  ‘You did an amazing job. Femoral artery is ruptured. I need sutures. Check my medical bag and see if I have some.’

  Nicolette grabbed some energy from somewhere and shifted around to check his bag. ‘No. You don’t have any. Wait a second,’ she said as she saw a blur of a white shirt through the cracked window. ‘I think the cavalry’s arrived.’ Nicolette managed to sit up as paramedics came in. ‘We’re glad to see you, boys.’

  ‘What do you need, Nic?’

  ‘A fresh set of gloves and sutures for a start. Oh, and a pair of scissors wouldn’t go astray. I’ll go back under and you can pass the equipment to me.’ She took the gloves and sutures and lay on her stomach once more. ‘Here we go again,’ she muttered. ‘Are you still jammed, Stephen?’

  ‘Yes, so be careful coming through.’

  ‘Maybe I can shift you over.’

  ‘I’m fine for now and, besides, it’s not as though I have anywhere to go.’

  Nicolette handed him the sutures and cut away the fabric, which was practically soaked with blood. Stephen was having a close look at the wound sites.

  ‘How bad is it?’

  ‘The right leg is worse. Retract,’ he said, and Nicolette used her gloved hands to hold the skin and muscles out of the way so Stephen could do what he needed to do. ‘Got it,’ he said a moment later.

  ‘Nice going. Let me guess, you’ve done this before.’ Their gazes met and held for a second before Stephen focused on his work.

  ‘You could say that.’

  ‘Lost count of how many busted legs you’ve fixed?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Me, too. Right, I need to shift to the other side of you so I can do his obs and get the oxygen and drip on him.’ Again she wriggled back.

  Within another five minutes Nicolette had placed an oxygen mask over the patient’s nose and mouth, the long tube reaching back to where the paramedics were. ‘Give me a long tube on the IV line as well,’ she called. ‘I’ve got nowhere to hang it here.’

  Nicolette and Stephen kept calling to their patient but received no response. Nicolette inserted a saline drip into their patient’s right arm and splinted the IV line in place. Stephen bandaged the boy’s legs as best he could, given the state of the fractures, but at least the bleeding had stopped. ‘BP?’ she asked as Stephen deflated the cuff once more.

  ‘Better.’

  ‘Good.’ Nicolette checked the reading on the oximeter. ‘Oxygen sats up to 94 per cent.’

  ‘That’s what we want to hear. Now you’re in with a fighting chance, lad,’ Stephen told their still unconscious patient. ‘Pass me the medical torch and I’ll do his obs again.’

  Nicolette did as he asked then called to the paramedics. ‘How long do the emergency crews think it will take to get him out?’

  ‘About another two hours.’

  Stephen nodded. ‘That’s what I thought. Get a bag of plasma ready in case he goes into shock—which, given the circumstances, is on the cards.’

  ‘Will do,’ the paramedic called back.

  ‘Can you move or are you still jammed?’ Nicolette asked.

  ‘I’m still jammed and it’s starting to become annoying.’

  ‘Let’s get you unstuck, then. I take it your hips are jammed?’

  ‘Yes. If I can just wriggle to the left and down that should do it, but I’ll need a bit of a shove.’

  ‘I need to be on the other side of you.’ Nicolette sighed and began shifting backwards. ‘You know, I was once stuck in a cave similar to this for about six hours. Enemy fire outside and two dead soldiers for company. It wasn’t fun.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound like it. Thank goodness you’re not claustrophobic.’

  ‘Well, I wasn’t after that experience.’

  Stephen chuckled then frowned. Nicolette was amazing, and the more he got to know her the more he liked her. He’d stayed away from her for the past two weeks for that simple reason—he honestly didn’t have any room for anything new in his life right now. It was full enough.

  Now that their patient was stable and the immediate danger had disappeared, this time when she slid in beside him he was acutely aware of exactly how close she was.

  ‘All right. I’m in position. What do you want, boss?’

  ‘Boss? I like the sound of that.’

  It was Nicolette’s turn to laugh. ‘Just give me instructions, you dope.’

  ‘OK. You’re going to need to give me a bit of a shove from my waist. Push down and to the side.’

  ‘Gotcha. Ready?’

  ‘Yes.’ He counted down and they moved together, Stephen becoming unstuck instantly. ‘Thank you.’ He cleared his throat, his skin burning with pleasure from where Nicolette had touched him.

  ‘You’re most welcome. Right. How’s the patient?’

  ‘I’ll do the obs, but if he’s stable we can leave him to the paramedics and get back to work.’ A minute later both Stephen and Nicolette were finally out from beneath the twisted roof. He helped her to her feet and dropped her hands as soon as she was standing. ‘How are your legs?’

  ‘Better. Not as wobbly.’

  ‘Good. I was concerned you’d hurt yourself but thankfully you didn’t.’ Stephen gave the paramedics instructions before reaching for his phone. ‘Steph. What’s happening?’

  ‘Your patient stable?’ Stephanie asked, and Stephen frowned a little. Something wasn’t completely right with his sister, but he wasn’t sure what. She felt…different somehow. He put it down to the stressful situation they were all in.

  ‘For now. Where do you need us?’

  ‘Oliver and I are in the bus. The driver has been taken out and is hopefully being airlifted to Sydney as we speak. Three people are dead and another is trapped—between two of the deceased. She’s stable for now and the emergency crews are in the process of cutting her out.’

  Stephen relayed the information to Nicolette. ‘Head to the health resort?’

  ‘Yes. I’ll catch up with you soon.’

  Stephen disconnected the call and collected his medical bag, putting into it the first-aid kit Nicolette had grabbed. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Who’s Oliver?’ Nicolette asked as they headed up the platform.

  ‘I have no idea, but you can bet I’ll be finding out.’

  ‘You have that protective big-brother attitude about you,’ she remarked with a chuckle.

  Stephen stopped still and stared at her in astonishment. ‘How do you do that?’

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Read me so easily.’ He started walking again, knowing they should be focusing on their work but it was hard when she unnerved him like that. The only woman he was used to having inside his head was his sister. He didn’t know if he could deal with another one.

  Nicolette shrugged as she fell into step beside him. ‘I guess we’re on the same wavelength.’

  It mirrored his own thoughts of a couple of weeks ago and where he’d thought keeping his distance would help give a clearer perspective on the situation with Nicolette, he realised now he had been wrong. It only served to heighten everything he felt for her, and that would never do.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  WHEN they arrived at the health resort, Nicolette looked around at the people gathered there. Taking a breath, she headed into the throng, working through patients one by one.

  She hardly saw Stephen for the next few hours but when she stopped for a much-needed cup of coffee, he came over. ‘Our trapped boy has been freed,’ he told her.

  ‘Excellent. Are they taking him to Sydney?’

  ‘Yes. The urgent cases have all been taken there as the hospitals are better equipped to deal with them.’<
br />
  ‘I hope he pulls through. He seemed like a fighter.’ She drained her cup.

  ‘Yes, he did.’

  ‘I guess we’d better get back to the patients, although things seem to be settling down now. Katoomba hospital will be bursting at the seams with people needing X-rays or casts. I’ve lost track of the number of suspected broken bones I’ve looked at.’

  Stephen nodded his agreement. ‘At least we’re not surrounded by sniper-fire,’ he pointed out and Nicolette smiled.

  ‘Ah, the silver lining. I knew there was one here somewhere. Hey, have you met Oliver yet? Quite a dish, if you ask me.’

  Stephen’s frown was instant. ‘Not you, too.’ Why did he feel a stabbing sensation around his heart? He pushed it away, desperate to keep his comments light. ‘Half the nurses here are swooning over him.’

  ‘Understandable. What about Steph? Is she swooning, too?’

  ‘She can’t seem to stand him.’

  Nicolette raised her eyebrows. ‘Interesting.’ She smiled before leaving him with his thoughts. Did this mean Nicolette wasn’t interested in the new A and E director? He certainly hoped so.

  ‘Stephen, isn’t it?’ Oliver Bowan came up beside him.

  ‘Yes.’ Stephen looked the man over—dark hair, blue eyes. Nothing he could see that was extraordinary. Was it true his sister couldn’t stand him or was she simply trying to mask her emotions? Things had been too hectic for him to figure out exactly what Stephanie was feeling. He cleared his throat, slipping instantly into protective big-brother mode.

  ‘If you and Nicolette head back to the hospital and get things sorted out there, that would be good. I can wrap things up here.’

  ‘What about Steph?’

  ‘Stephanie?’ Oliver frowned as though trying to figure out who Stephanie was. Surely he knew who she was and if he’d forgotten Stephanie so quickly, why had he remembered Nicolette’s name so easily? Was the new A and E director interested in Nicolette? The protective big-brother mode was pushed aside to make way for pure green jealousy.

  ‘Stephanie Brooks. The woman who’s been filling in for you?’ Stephen said between gritted teeth.

  ‘I know who she is. Yes, she’ll be staying to help me finish up.’