Mac smiled. “You made it easy to melt into you. I just went wherever you took me.”
“Are you always so compliant?”
“Only when it suits me.”
“Oho, I hear a challenge!”
Mac chuckled. “Some people might say be careful what you wish for.”
Sarah sipped her wine and hummed in pleasure.
Mac carefully adjusted her legs so they weren’t directly facing the fire. Sarah picked up on it. “Too hot?”
Mac nodded. “Just a bit.”
“Well, how about we damp the fire down and head off to bed, love? It’s been a long day, for both of us, and something tells me tomorrow will be more of the same.”
A few minutes later they were snuggled into the bed. Mac traced the outline of Sarah’s eyebrow, softly sliding her feather-light touch along the lines of her cheekbone and jaw. “Did you manage to catch up with Jean today at all?”
“She called this afternoon. She’s got some pictures of Richard. She said she’ll bring a copy to school to give to you tomorrow. The principal has agreed she can stay and be a helper at the school until things settle back down again.”
“Has there been any more news?”
“Nothing much. The police have managed to find out that he hired a navy-blue Ford sedan a couple of weeks ago. They have a notice to keep an eye out for him, but nothing solid to date.”
“Do you think it’ll blow over?”
“I don’t know, love, I truly don’t.”
“Well, I might be able to offer a brief distraction. Let’s plan that family dinner we spoke about. Martha said she didn’t mind which weekend. I know it’s probably a bit tricky at the minute, with rosters and the like, but do you want to see what weekend suits you? I’ll mention it to Maree and Terri tomorrow and get them to look at their diaries too. I thought I might head on over to the refuge in the morning and help out for an hour before work, if that’s okay.”
“What time do you usually go?”
“Usually I head out early and go for a run, but I think I might take my time and drive tomorrow, so about six. I’ll be home by seven.”
“If I’m awake in time, would you mind if I came too?”
Mac frowned slightly and tilted her head. “Don’t you want to sleep in?”
Sarah shrugged. “I can stay if you want to go on your own, that’s okay.”
Mac shook her head. “No, that wasn’t what I meant. That came out all wrong. I would love it if you wanted to come, but if you want to sleep in, that’s fine too. There’s no pressure or expectation either way. I would be happy if you came, but I’d be just as happy knowing you were catching up on some much-needed sleep.”
Sarah yawned and confessed. “I am tired. How about we see if I’m awake in the morning and take it from there?”
Mac smiled and kissed the top of her head. “I can deal with that. Good night, babe.”
“’Night love.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Sarah was dead to the world when Mac got up, so she carefully tucked the covers around her and let her sleep. Mac set the table for breakfast, leaving a note next to Sarah’s cup. She slipped on some clothes and headed out the door. As she drove to the refuge, Mac thought how nice it felt to be getting back to a semi-normal routine. It was even nicer to know that there was someone waiting at home for her. God, I’ve missed that.
Martha was right. She was starting to live again, and it felt good. Tina would always be a part of her, but Sarah had her heart now. Before Sarah, she’d never gave much thought to the future. I am the luckiest woman alive. Mac pulled up and got out of the car, wandering over to the cat and kitten house to find Maree inside the door.
She was greeted with a hug. “Hey, gorgeous, good to see you.”
Mac hugged her back. “Good to be seen! Would you like me to do the babies room?” She nodded towards the kitten room.
“That’d be great, thanks, hon. You happy to do run six too? I know someone who’d love to see you.”
“I’d love to. And I can’t wait to see her either.”
“How are the hands?”
“Not too bad. I brought some gloves to go over the top, so I don’t get them wet. I should be okay.”
“All right, well, Terri’s over with the old dogs, so just give her a yell if you want a hand. Just take it easy, huh?”
“Yup. Will do. Oh, hey, I was wondering if you and Terri might like to come to dinner at Martha’s, one weekend soon. For a bit of a family meal. You guys, Sarah, Jean and Thomas, maybe John?”
“That sounds great. I’ll check with Ter, but count us in. We could bring dessert.”
“Perfect. Okay, just let me know what dates work for you. I better get going. See you afterwards.”
Run six was pretty quiet. The hunting dog had been taken up by a young farmer and the old cattle dog had been adopted by a family in town. The little terrier mix was still there, but it pleased Mac immensely to see that he was no longer frenetically pacing. One of the girls had given him a rawhide bone, and he was lying on the floor, happily chewing away.
Mac went in to clean his pen. He never once let go of the chewy bone, allowing Mac to come up and pat him, while parading around the kennel with it like a king. Mac laughed, enjoying his newly discovered sense of ponce. With building excitement, Mac went next door to Nell’s run.
Nell came flying over, leaping into midair, straight into Mac’s arms, her tail wagging hysterically with joy as she licked Mac’s face frantically. Mac laughed as she tried to dodge the energetic tongue. Kneeling on the ground, she put Nell down and asked Nell to sit, which she dutifully tried but was too excited to hold for very long. “What say you let me clean up here, my lovely, then we go for a walk and burn some of this energy off, huh?”
In no time, Mac had the kennel spick and span. She slipped the lead on, and they circumnavigated the grounds before heading to the play pen, where they played for about ten minutes, followed up by a few sit, stay, and come routines. Nell had taken to the training really well, responding with enthusiasm, happy to please, performing like a champion. Mac looked at her watch. Offering Nell a last treat, she slipped the lead back on and returned the happy pup to the kennel. She had not long settled Nell back in when she met up with Terri on the path headed for the house.
“Hey, chick!
“Hey, Ter. How’s it going?”
“It’s all good. How about you? How’s your grilled bits?”
Mac laughed. “They’re good, thanks. I see you’ve found homes for some of the inmates.”
“Uh-huh. You noticed run six lost some of the regulars. The people who took them on were really lovely. It’s been a good week. We’ve found homes for several cats and dogs, and we haven’t had too many new ones come in, so all in all, pretty good. What about you, how’s work going?”
Mac nodded. “Not too bad. I’m still sort of on light duties for a bit, ’til I get clearance”—Mac held up her hands—“but it’s good to be back doing stuff.”
Terri shook her head and put her arms around Mac’s shoulders. “And to think you’ve only really been incapacitated for a handful of days.”
“I know, I’m hopeless. I don’t do sitting around very well.”
“Maree reckons you’ve got ants in your pants. God help us all, if you ever get seriously hurt or sick. I think we might have to put you into a medically induced coma, just so you can cope.”
Mac laughed. “You could be right.”
“Can you stay for a coffee?”
Mac shook her head. “Not this morning. I want to get home and see if Sleeping Beauty is awake yet.”
“Okay, well, give her our love. Will we see you tomorrow?”
“Yep. I’ll see you in the morning.” Mac jogged back to the ute and headed home, humming all the way down the road.
When she got home, she heard the shower running, and it sounded like Sarah was humming too. Mac smiled. She was tempted to join her but knew that would lead to both of them being
late for work. Instead, she heated the water for coffee, then got some bread out and thought about having a go at making scrambled eggs. She figured the protein would offer sustained energy throughout the day, which they were both probably going to need, what with Mac running around after heaps of kids and Sarah more than likely to have another flat-out day in Emergency.
Mac opened up the fridge and pondered. Scrambled eggs didn’t look too hard when Sarah made them. Heat the pan, a daub of butter, eggs, some milk, mix it up. I can do this. Mac got everything ready. First, the butter. Check. Then the eggs. How many? She’d start with four…no, hang on, five, she liked odd numbers. Okay, now mixing, mixing. Shit! Milk. How much? A small splash. Easier to add than take away.
Mac wiggled her hips, doing a little happy dance by the stove.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“Wha?” Startled, Mac jumped, spinning around to face the voice, the momentum making a piece of egg fly across the room to land wetly at Sarah’s feet.
Sarah looked down at the egg and then up at a chagrined Mac at the stove.
“Sorry, didn’t hear you come in.”
“Obviously. Are you cooking?”
“I’m trying…I’m sort of making this up as I go, kind of.”
Sarah walked up behind her, wrapped her arms around her waist, and kissed her neck. “That’s very sweet of you. Are you scrambling, or making an omelette?”
“Scrambling. Why?”
“Then you need to stir it some more, babe. Like this.” Sarah held Mac’s spoon hand and helped mix some more. Mac was incredibly conscious of Sarah’s warm breath on the side of her neck, her breasts and pelvis pressing against her back. Sarah nibbled playfully on her ear. “Do you always do little dances when you’re cooking?”
Mac chuckled. “No. I don’t cook, remember? Which probably explains why I don’t dance either.”
Sarah kissed her neck again. “Well, we can fix both of those.”
Mac closed her eyes and groaned, leaning back into Sarah’s caresses.
Sarah poked her in her uninjured side. “Aha, keep your eyes on the eggs, lover.”
“Cruel, you’re just cruel.”
“And loving it. Do you want me to toast some bread?”
“Yes, please. Forgot about that. How long do I cook this for?”
Sarah leaned over her shoulder and looked in the pan. “I reckon by the time the toast is done, you can pull it off the stove.”
“Okay.”
Half an hour later, as they took their time over coffee, Mac smiled to herself, amused that eating a meal took far less time than what it did to make it.
Sarah wrapped her hands around her mug. “How did this morning go?”
“Really good. The girls both send their love, by the way. I mentioned the dinner. They’re going to check to see what weekend is good for them, but they’d love to come. They offered to bring dessert, so whatever you do, make sure you save some space at the end of dinner. Their desserts will blow your mind.”
“I can’t wait. How was Nell?”
“Well, I won’t have to have a bath from the chin up. She jumped into my arms as soon as I got there and licked me like crazy.”
“The dog does have good taste. I guess she missed you.”
“Yeah, I guess she did. I know I missed her. She’s starting to grow too, now that she’s got some condition on board. She’s not going to be a big dog, probably only a bit over medium sized, but her coat is shiny and her eyes are bright. She looks great. The girls have done a super job.”
Sarah reached across the table and held Mac’s hand. “That was a lovely breakfast, thank you. And thank you for letting me sleep in, and the note. And I have to say, you’ve got it all wrong.”
Mac frowned. The note she’d left simply said I love you.
Sarah smiled at her and leaned over and kissed her on the nose. “I love you more.”
Mac smiled. “More?”
“Uh-huh. The most, in fact.”
“Is that right?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
“It seems you have a competitive streak, Dr. Macarthur.”
Sarah offered a cheeky smile. “Oh yes. I play to win…when the stakes are right.”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
Sarah laughed. “Come on, into the shower with you. I’ll change your dressings when you come out.”
Mac got up from the table. “So the eggs were okay?”
“They were lovely.”
Mac smiled. “That’s the first time I’ve ever done that.”
Sarah’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “The first time you’ve made scrambled eggs?”
“Yep.”
“Well then, they were superb and I feel honoured.”
Mac chuckled. “You should. For once I didn’t set the fire alarm off.”
Sarah laughed and swatted her behind. “Go on, get out of here.”
After a quick shower, Mac sat on the edge of the bed as Sarah knelt to look at her legs.
“They’re coming along nicely. We might try airing them without the bandages on the weekend, if you like.”
“That sounds nice.”
Sarah ran her hand gently down Mac’s side. “Okay, let’s look at your stitches. Mm, another day or two, and we can probably take them out. Nice and clean. That’s good.”
“They’re starting to get itchy. That means its healing, doesn’t it?”
“Uh-huh.”
Next Sarah unwrapped Mac’s hands. The right hand was healing well, but the left hand was still marginally weepy from the setback earlier in the week. “How are they feeling?”
“Not too bad. I can do a bit more with them, which is good. But they’re still really tender, especially the left one.”
“Hmm. How often are you taking the tablets?”
“I take one in the morning, and one when I get home.”
Sarah nodded. “Let’s finish up here then and get you dressed and on your way. How many kids will you have today?”
“I’m not sure, maybe thirty.”
“Are you ready?”
“Can you ever be ready for that many kids?”
Sarah chuckled. “I suppose not. Come on, lover, it’s time for you to get your gear on and time for my morning fix.”
*
Sarah was in her office finishing up the weekly meeting with her senior staff. Don stayed behind and was showing Sarah the roster for the following week. He shook his head. “It’s the best I can do for the minute. I’m guessing that we’ll probably just have to take each shift as it comes until this flu runs its course. The people down the bottom in green have indicated that they can do extra shifts during the week if they’re needed. We’ve got four out at the minute, but two should hopefully be back on board early next week. Fingers crossed no one else goes down with it. Between those out and those we lend around the place, it’s getting tricky to find enough to go around without putting too much strain on the ones who are still here.”
“I know. We’ll just keep going as best we can. You’re doing a great job.”
Sarah’s phone rang just as Don left the room. “Sarah Macarthur speaking.”
There was nothing but silence on the other end.
“Hello?”
Sarah could hear breathing.
“Hello?”
A deep-throated chuckle echoed down the line.
“Can I help you?”
“I don’t think so. You’ve done more than enough already.”
The voice was clearly male. “What do you mean? Hello? Who is this?”
Whoever rang, hung up.
Sarah shook her head and put the phone back in its cradle.
Her mobile sounded. It was a message from Colleen, wanting to know if she was available for lunch. Sarah texted back that she would meet up in half an hour in the cafeteria. Returning the phone to her pocket, her fingers brushed against the note that Mac had left her this morning. She read it again. I love you. Sarah stared at the
note. No one had ever left her anything like this before. But then again, I was never with anyone long enough to get one, I suppose. She carefully folded the note and placed it back into her pocket, smiling.
Alice stuck her head in the office door. “Sarah, you got a minute? Don wants to know if you can offer a second opinion on a patient that’s just come in.”
“Sure. Lead on.”
Sarah followed Alice to a cubicle where several people were gathered around a bed, looking down at a man’s hand. Sarah stepped into the circle, surprised to see a rather large lizard biting down very firmly on three of the man’s fingers.
Don looked up at Sarah. “We’re not quite sure of the best way to separate these two. Mr. Johnson here doesn’t want the lizard harmed, but the lizard is not so caring and refuses to let go. Got any ideas?”
“Ice packs.”
Don looked at her like she’d gone mad. “Come again?”
“Put some ice packs in a towel and wrap it around the lizard. It will make his metabolism slow down. When he gets dopey, you can prise him off. Then put him in a laundry bag until he can go home. Mr. Johnson will need some pretty strong antibiotics too—it’ll be a dirty bite.”
Don nodded to Alice who went off in search of the ice packs. “I take it you’ve done this before?”
“Sort of. One of the guys down the hall from me, back in our uni days, had snakes and lizards as pets. I was the only one on the floor with a fridge, so he used to borrow some space in it sometimes to anaesthetize his little friends.”
“Nice one.”
“You guys okay here if I take a lunch break?”
“No problem.”
Sarah squared away her paperwork and joined Colleen in the cafeteria. “How’s baby world?”
“Baby world is booming. It’s like popcorn upstairs at the minute.”
“So what are you doing, taking a break?”
“So far all the cases have been straightforward and the team are on top of it. There’s one lady I’m keeping an eye on, but I figure I’ve got another hour or two yet, so I thought I’d grab lunch while I could. How’s things with you?”
“Steady. Which is good. How’s your team faring with staff this week? We’ve got four out and some on loan. We’re stretched, but we’re okay, compared to some of the others.”
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