Emergency Response

by Nicki Edwards

  “I’m so glad you came, Mackenzie.” Kate leaned across the table and spoke softly.

  “It would have been a lonely day on my own otherwise.”

  “What are your sisters doing today?”

  “They’re all having lunch with their respective in-laws. Tomorrow we will get together in Dubbo at Cameron’s house. Nathan’s coming with me. I’m actually looking forward to it. It will be the first Christmas we’ve had together in years.”

  “It’s been a big year for you,” Kate said sadly.

  “You can say that again. I just hope next year is better.”

  Kate smiled. “I can guarantee it will be. I’m so glad you accepted the job and moved into the farm.”

  “Me too.”

  After consuming massive amounts of food, everyone staggered from the table into the lounge room. Joel and Kate refused all offers to help clean up, insisting instead that everyone gather around the tree to exchange gifts. Mackenzie placed a small wrapped package under the tree with the other gifts. She hoped she’d chosen something appropriate. Nathan had told her they were going to play a special version of “greedy Santa” and all she needed to bring was a small gift to the value of fifty dollars. She’d purchased one of her favorite scented candles and a matching hand cream. She knew her present would garner a laugh if one of the men chose it.

  She glanced around at the gathered group. Michael and Elizabeth Kennedy glowed with love and pride as they looked at their children. Sean and Lorraine’s faces were mirror images. The two older couples got along well and there was a sense of family in the room that Mackenzie had never experienced, but always craved. Her throat constricted and she swallowed hard. Now was not the time to get over-emotional.

  When everyone was finally seated in a circle, some on couches, some on dining room chairs and others sprawled on the floor, Nathan stood and clapped to get everyone’s attention.

  “Don’t forget this!” Kate handed her brother a Santa hat.

  Everyone laughed as he pulled it over his head. When he had everyone quiet again, Nathan gathered all the presents from under the tree and placed them on the floor in the center of the circle. “Now,” he said, sounding very much like a teacher, “this is how this game works. One person chooses a present from the middle of the pile. You may not touch it, pick it up, shake it or smell it.” Everyone laughed. “You choose the present based on the packaging and then go back to your seat.”

  Mackenzie was already eyeing off one beautifully wrapped gift as he spoke, certain it contained the perfect present.

  “This is where the fun starts. The next person in the circle gets to choose a present. But,” Nathan paused for dramatic effect, “you can either choose from the gifts in the center of the pile, or you can choose a gift someone else is holding.”

  There were cries of “that’s not fair” and “this will be interesting” and lots of laughter.

  Nathan continued. “Now remember, just because they are wrapped in a certain way, don’t assume you know what’s inside.”

  There was more laughter. One present looked distinctly like a basketball.

  Nathan turned to Mackenzie and grinned. “And now you, my lovely lady, get to choose the first present.”

  Mackenzie blushed, partly with pleasure at his words, and partly because everyone was watching her. She decided to enter into the spirit of the occasion and took her time walking toward the presents and carefully deliberating which one to choose. People egged her on, encouraging her to choose their present. Eventually she made a big show of taking the one she’d had her eye on from the very beginning. There was a loud belly laugh from Sean O’Connor and for a moment she had second thoughts. Maybe she’d chosen the wrong present, but when she glanced at him, he smiled and winked at her and she relaxed.

  Elizabeth Kennedy sat next to her. She smiled sweetly at Mackenzie as she swiped the present from her lap. It happened so fast, Mackenzie hardly realized it had been snatched. She looked up in astonishment as everyone laughed.

  “Don’t look so worried, hon,” Nathan said, smiling in her direction. “That means you get to choose the final present.”

  Mackenzie sat back in her chair with a satisfied smile. Oh, this could be fun!

  The game continued quickly from then on, with presents swapped and exchanged. Finally, everyone had a present and all that remained was one large box in the center of the room. It had sat on the middle of the present pile and no one had even looked as though they wanted to touch it. Perhaps the poorly wrapped packaging had something to do with it. Mackenzie had decided it was probably from Liam, and knowing him, it would be something silly.

  She looked at Nathan. “So do I have to take that one?” she asked, pointing at it. “Or can I take one of the other gifts?”

  Nathan smiled and picked up the package. “This one is for you,” he said, handing it to her.

  It was lighter than she expected. Mackenzie tried to hide her disappointment. It was, after all, just a game.

  Nathan then stood and addressed everyone again. “Now the fun part! We get to open the presents. This time we go around the circle in the other direction. I’ll start and we’ll finish with Kenz.”

  There was a mixture of “oohs” and “aahs” and plenty of laughter as gifts were unwrapped and admired. A few people attempted to swap presents again when they saw what they’d unwrapped. When it got to Mackenzie, she sensed all eyes upon her. She’d received the largest gift, and judging by the other presents people had opened, the one in her hand could be anything.

  She carefully tore off the paper, noting the messy sticky tape and uneven edges to the wrapping paper. She inspected the large cardboard box. It was a Baxter box – the brand of IV solution they used at the hospital. The boxes made great packing boxes and she knew most nurses had used them at one time or another when moving house. She looked across at Kate – the present must be from her – but Kate gave nothing away. She was watching Mackenzie, her hands resting on her bulging belly.

  Mackenzie tore at the sticky tape and opened the box. Inside was a small parcel. She picked it up and read the card. She didn’t recognize the writing. She read it again, confused.

  “It says it’s a pass the parcel.” She saw everyone smiling at her. “We each have to unwrap one layer.”

  “I’ll start then,” Nathan said, grabbing the parcel from her and tearing off a layer. A small chocolate Santa fell from the packaging. “I’ll have that,” he said, picking it up from the floor and unwrapping it. He popped the chocolate into his mouth and grinned at Mackenzie before handing the present to his left, to Emma.

  Emma unwrapped a layer and found another chocolate. And so it continued. From Emma to Liam to Michael and onto Sean. Then to Lorraine, Joel, Kate and Elizabeth. Finally the package returned to Mackenzie. Everyone watched her expectantly. The package was tiny and she held it in the palm of her hand, confused as to what it might be.

  “Go on, open it,” Nathan urged.

  She opened the paper and beneath it found a layer of white tissue paper. Carefully unfolding the tissue paper, she gasped. She looked down at Nathan who had just dropped to one knee by her side.

  “Mackenzie Grace Jones. Will you marry me?”

  She looked from Nathan to the ring in her hand and back again to Nathan in a split second before launching herself at him. He struggled to stay upright as she hugged him tightly.

  “Is that a yes then?” he asked, his face muffled in her hair.

  Mackenzie nodded. “Yes, yes, YES!”

  There were cheers and shouts and everyone crowded in to congratulate them. Nathan looked at Mackenzie and held out his hand.

  “Let me put the ring on your finger then and make it official.”

  “I hope it fits,” Mackenzie said.

  “I measured one of your other rings. Trust me, it will fit,” Nathan laughed. He slid the diamond solitaire onto her finger and she grinned. He was right, as usual. It fit perfectly. “I hope you like it.” He looked worried for a m
oment.

  Mackenzie stared down at her finger. “I love it.” She gazed back up at him. “And I love you.”

  Chapter 31

  It was the second week of January and Mackenzie and Nathan were enjoying a lazy afternoon together at home. After working almost full-time over the hectic Christmas and New Year period, Mackenzie was glad for a few days’ break in her roster. Summer was always a busy time in the emergency department. The sun was shining and they were lounging outside in matching Adirondack chairs on the back veranda watching the dogs romp around the yard.

  They had spent Boxing Day in Dubbo with Mackenzie’s sisters and their families celebrating Christmas and Nathan and Mackenzie’s engagement. A week later Mackenzie had driven to Willandara to speak to a real estate agent about putting their dad’s house on the market. To everyone’s surprise, two days later it had sold. Cameron suggested Mackenzie take any of the furniture she wanted for her new home and the others had all readily agreed. There wasn’t much Mackenzie liked, but it was good to have something to start with as neither she nor Nathan had much to their own names.

  Both Mackenzie and Nathan had also been busy helping Kate and Joel pack up their belongings ready for the move to their new house out on the farm. As much as Mackenzie enjoyed sharing the little farmhouse with them, she couldn’t wait for when Cooinda became her own.

  “When are you going to move your stuff in?” Mackenzie asked after they watched Joel walk past carrying another box out to his car. They’d set a June date for their wedding but neither had broached the subject of moving in together. “It doesn’t make sense you staying at your mum and dad’s once Kate and Joel move out.”

  “Well, actually …” he started.

  Mackenzie’s heart stopped suddenly before racing again. She stared at him, trying to ignore the uncertainty gnawing away in her belly.

  “I need to talk to you about that.”

  She held her breath.

  He moved position in the chair and stared deep into her eyes. “I’m heading back to Iron Ridge for a bit.”

  He must have seen the look on her face. Reaching out, he touched her arm. “It’s only until the end of February. I’m sorry, Kenz, but I have no choice. I left in such a hurry last year and I need to go back and tidy up a few loose ends.”

  “What sort of loose ends?”

  “Oh, you know, my house and stuff,” Nathan answered.

  Something was niggling away at her but she didn’t know what it was. She trusted him didn’t she?

  “I hope this isn’t your way of trying to get out of marrying me.” She was only partly joking. The familiar self-doubts had risen up from deep within her, threatening to take over.

  “Kenz, don’t be silly.” He pulled her out of her chair and into a tight embrace. She felt the beating of his heart beneath his shirt. “When are you going to believe me when I keep telling you I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you?”

  She released her breath and chuckled, summoning a smile. “Probably the moment the minister says ‘you may now kiss the bride.’”

  “How about I kiss you now and see if that helps remind you?” His voice was husky, his breath warm in her ear.

  “I wouldn’t complain.”

  “Get a room, you two,” Joel called out as he walked past them again.

  They broke apart and laughed.

  “I’m sorry, Kenzie, I have to go. But as I said, I’ll be back at the end of February. After that I can move in here and we can start making wedding plans.”

  Mackenzie smiled then. Everything was going to be okay. “Just make sure you’re back in time for Kate and Joel’s baby,” she warned.

  Nathan chuckled. “As long as my sister isn’t early, I’ll be back with weeks to spare.”

  A sudden thought occurred to her. “What about the jobs you’ve applied for? What if you get an interview?”

  He shrugged. “I can do them via Skype if I need to.”

  “So when are you going?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Mackenzie raised her eyes. So soon?

  He pulled her close again, kissing her passionately on the mouth. “I’ll miss you so much. But don’t worry, it will go quickly.” Nathan checked his watch. “I know it’s still early, but I might head back to Mum and Dad’s place now and pack some stuff. I’ve got a ten o’clock flight from Sydney so I’ll need to be up around four tomorrow to give me enough time to drive to the airport.” He pulled her into another tight embrace before kissing the top of her head. “I love you Mackenzie Grace Jones and I’ll be counting down the days until I see you again.”

  “So will I.”

  They walked together to his car and it was another few minutes before they eventually pulled apart and he was able to drive away.

  *

  The next month passed in a haze of busy days and nights. Mackenzie spoke to Nathan every day and was glad when he told her he was counting down the days until his return just as she was.

  Kate and Joel had packed almost everything ready for the move out to Eagle’s Ridge the following week. The truck, which was delivering her father’s furniture from the house in Willandara, was expected in a week. Then it would be Mackenzie’s turn to set up home in the farmhouse. She could hardly contain her excitement.

  At three o’clock one morning as time crawled slowly toward dawn, Mackenzie was finishing her third night duty in a row. She was shattered. The doctors had a feast of fruit and nuts and healthy food in their small staff room and they’d offered some to Mackenzie but she was craving chocolate – or something sweet and sugary to get her through to seven o’clock. She was debating whether to head out to the vending machine in the waiting room when a tired yet familiar voice greeted her.

  “Morning.”

  Liam and another paramedic wheeled in her next patient. Exhaustion clouded their eyes too. She hadn’t seen Liam since Christmas Day and hadn’t had a chance to tell him that Lily was begging Mackenzie for his number.

  “Hi. What have you got for me?” she asked. “Hope it’s something sweet.”

  “This is Qantas,” Liam replied tetchily.

  “What?” That couldn’t be the man’s name.

  “Nothing sweet about him,” the other paramedic muttered under his breath.

  “We call him Qantas because he’s a frequent flyer,” Liam explained.

  She stared at the overweight, unkempt man on the ambulance stretcher. It was hard to determine how old he was. He could be thirty, or closer to fifty. He held one arm close to his body in a makeshift sling and clutched a dirty white envelope to his chest with the other hand. His clothes were filthy and he stank – a combination of smoke, urine and some other foul smell Mackenzie couldn’t identify and didn’t want to.

  They positioned the stretcher beside the narrow bed and indicated the man should wriggle across. Mackenzie noticed neither of the paramedics made any offer to assist him. Each move of any part of the man’s body, even his feet, produced a frown and a grunt, presumably from pain.

  When he was finally settled, he turned to Mackenzie. “Hello.” His voice was high-pitched and whiney.

  “This will be a good show for the slowest part of the night. Lucky you. You’ve got the best seats in the house. He’s always fun to watch,” Liam said. “We picked him up walking around town. He’d called us because he said he got locked out of his house. He needed to get his pain medications but couldn’t because they were inside. His usual sob story involves some sort of pain requiring morphine so he comes in here regularly. Hence the frequent flyer tag. The arm in the sling was what caught our attention this time.”

  “Is it broken?”

  The man handed Mackenzie the dirty envelope he was clutching to his chest and she extracted an x-ray, placing it above her head to see it better in the light. She was no radiologist, but it looked to her like a simple non-displaced fracture of his ulna bone.

  “GP apparently put the cast on last week,” Liam said.

  A simple touch to
the man’s cast by Liam produced a yelping sound like a cat with a stepped-on tail. Liam rolled his eyes in Mackenzie’s direction and she bit her bottom lip to hide a smile.

  “That hurts,” the man squealed, his reactions completely beyond what should have been normal for a six-foot-two, solidly-built man. “I need morphine. It’s the only thing that works. The pain is so bad.”

  “He’s all yours,” Liam said, “and while I won’t tell you how to do your job, my suggestion is don’t rush to do anything for him or he’ll know you’re a soft touch and he’ll be back tomorrow.”

  “Wow, I love the cynicism,” Mackenzie said.

  “Trust me, when you’ve been doing this job as long as I have, it’s hard not to feel cynical.”

  Mackenzie touched Liam’s sleeve. “Are you okay?” she asked, sensing something deeper was going on than Liam simply being cranky because it was three o’clock in the morning and he was dealing with a difficult patient at the end of a long shift.

  He gave a thin smile. “I’m okay.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Yeah, but thanks for asking. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends – working both here and in Sydney. I’m just tired, that’s all.”

  “Why are you working here? I meant to ask you last time I saw you.”

  “I’ve resigned from my job in the city but haven’t finished yet so I’m working the two jobs.”

  “Why the change?” Mackenzie asked.

  “It’s a long story but I needed a change of pace. Sydney was killing me.”

  Mackenzie nodded. She knew what he meant. The best thing she’d ever done was exchange her city life for her new country one.

  She turned back to her patient and found him fast asleep on the bed.

  “Eh,” she said aloud. “So much for needing pain relief. Looks like you need sleep.”

  Just like me. She threw a blanket over him and flicked off the lights in the cubicle. When he woke she would assess him properly, but first she needed food.

  Chapter 32