He’d better get into the car and drive before he took her in his arms and held her for ever.
Shutting her door, he strode around the car and slipped inside.
Nikki sighed. ‘So much for a day off. It’s like a busman’s holiday.’
Fraser turned the engine over, at the same time jerking his thumb towards the back seat. ‘I don’t think those bags have anything to do with being an AP but all to do with looking gorgeous when you’re not in your uniform.’
‘Take me home, then. I’ve got a lot of unpacking and putting away to do.’ She grinned, more relaxed with him than he’d seen her in the past couple of months.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Fraser grinned back before slowly easing between two cars in preparation for heading on up the hill. Three steps forward. None back? Again. Progress was being made. His grin stretched wider.
CHAPTER TEN
FRASER watched Nikki from under half-lowered eyelids as she read a magazine. Except she hadn’t turned a single page in the past twenty minutes. So far their shift had been very quiet for a Friday night. Too quiet. Without work to focus on, his brain was running riot with images of Nikki.
Nikki driving the ambulance.
Nikki holding that guy in his car on the Whangamoas.
Nikki burning the scrambled eggs, and another time walking in here with enough chocolate brownies to feed half the town.
Nikki in his arms, kissing him.
His chair crashed against the wall as he stood up. Damn it, he needed some air. He pushed out through the main door into the parking area and dragged in a lungful of warm evening air. Thank goodness for spring when there was no need for heavy jackets or jerseys.
He needed to get away from her. She’d gone back to being a work colleague and nothing else since their day in Nelson, which was starting to irritate him. It was as though she regretted the kisses they’d shared, and the love-making. As if she had more issues to clear up but wasn’t outright asking him about them. If they were even about him. He suspected they were. So why couldn’t she say what was on her mind? She’d harped on about not believing he had returned permanently, mentioned on more than one occasion that he should return to his medical studies. What did she want from him?
Hands on hips, he leaned back and stared up into the clear night sky filled with stars. Three steps back. Talk about being all over the place.
At least his mum and dad were back home after the endless rounds of discussions with doctors, specialists and rest-home managers. His mum had finally conceded it was time to let his dad go into care, but it was breaking her heart to do it, so he’d made a point of being at home every moment he wasn’t here.
With one exception. The day he’d visited the Page clan. He’d planned on seeing Allan and Rose before tracking down Jay and Beau, but when he’d turned up at the homestead everyone had been there. Including Nikki. His heartfelt thanks for what they’d done in helping to find his dad had been well received. Like old times. Once again he was completely at home in the Page house. It felt good, great.
Even Nikki hadn’t been as distant as she was at work. Probably secure with her brothers all over the place, minding her business for her.
The way she’d stayed with him when he’d learned his dad was missing had got to him, reminded him again how badly he’d treated her all that time ago. Nik had not backed off from a potential problem, supporting him instead of leaving him to his own resources. Gawd, he loved her. But until she learned to trust him again he wouldn’t make any headway. Only time was going to show her he meant everything he had said.
In the office the radio squawked at the same moment his pager vibrated on his hip. At last. Locking the door, he hurried to the ambulance, unhooked the power supply and climbed inside.
Nikki slid into the driver’s seat. ‘What’s the address?’
‘Holdsworth Road. Know it?’ Fraser read the screen.
‘Yes.’
‘Asthmatic with chest pains. Sixty-nine-year-old man.’
‘Who?’
‘David White. The head of science at the boys’ college was a David White. The age seems about right.’
‘Could be the same man, then.’
A neighbour let them into the house. ‘I came over when I saw the lights still on. He’s never up after ten and it’s now gone midnight. He’s struggling to breathe.’
Fraser placed the pack on the lounge floor and knelt down beside his old teacher, the man who’d inspired him to keep following his dream. ‘Hello, sir. Got yourself in a spot of bother, have you?’
‘Fraser …’ David tried to inhale. ‘Is that you?’ he gasped.
‘Yes, it is. Bet you never thought I’d be turning up to help you out. Have you taken any asthma meds in the past hour?’ Fraser was taking obs as he talked.
David moved his head sideways. ‘No,’ he mouthed. Then his eyes widened. ‘Nikki? With you.’ David wheezed. ‘Good. Back together.’
‘Only working together,’ Nikki was quick to reply as she prepared the nebuliser to administer salbutamol.
‘I’m going to give you a shot of adrenaline, David.’
David nodded once. ‘Getting worse,’ he squeezed out.
Fraser rapidly rechecked his patient’s obs. ‘Slipping in and out of consciousness. I’ll set up an IV port ready for more adrenaline if he goes under.’
Nikki nodded. ‘Wait twenty minutes before a second dose if you can.’
‘Will do.’
‘As soon as you’re done we’ll get him on the stretcher and loaded up.’
Fraser drove away from ED after they’d handed their patient over to the night staff. ‘I wonder why David let his attack get so bad?’
‘Didn’t want to be a nuisance?’ Nikki mused. ‘We get plenty of those.’
‘I wouldn’t have thought he’d be like that. He’s severely compromised himself now.’
She’d seen how it had upset Fraser to see his old teacher in such a state. ‘The nurses in ED will give him a lecture, believe me. I’ve heard them do that on more than one occasion.’ Nikki stretched her legs as much as possible in the confines of the cab. Her stomach rumbled—loudly. She grinned. ‘Can we go by a burger bar?’
‘Anything to stop that racket.’
‘Cancel the burger.’ Nikki reached for the handset. ‘Blenheim One, go ahead.’
The coms operator’s voice crackled loudly in the truck. ‘Priority-one call. Male, eighteen years, Eugene Clark, heavy blood loss from right arm. Be aware, possible stabbing, police have been notified.’
‘Roger, Coms. And thanks.’ Nikki grimaced. ‘It’s one-thirty in the morning. We’ve got to be dealing with drunks.’
‘Possibly.’
She hadn’t finished. ‘I just love stabbings. Everyone will be off their heads with booze and drugs. They’ll be angry and looking for another fight. The patient will be belligerent and swearing fit to bust. And us? We’ll be trying to be nice and helpful.’
Fraser winced. ‘Sounds like a heap of fun.’
She watched Fraser as he sped through the dark, empty streets, ever watchful of the road and looking out for walking partygoers thinking they had the street to themselves. Hopefully the flashing lights were enough to warn anyone out and about of their presence. At this time of night the siren was a last resort.
Nikki nibbled her top lip, feeling more uneasy than usual. ‘Remember the first priority is our own safety. If the crowd looks dangerous, we wait for police back-up or leave.’
‘Gotcha.’ He indicated a left turn. ‘I’ve been to these sorts of situations before, Nik. Often.’ He reached across, gently squeezed her thigh. ‘We’ll be careful.’
‘Sure.’ Of course they would. But she had a bad feeling about this one.
‘Here we go.’
Nikki peered through the dark. ‘That’s one hell of a crowd. All young men, by the look of it. I hope they’re not going to give us any grief.’
A policeman opened her door. ‘Hey, Nikki, how’re you doing?’
/>
Relief loosened the tension gripping her. Thank goodness for the boys in blue. They weren’t quite so alone now. ‘Just fine, Grant. What’s the mood here?’ Nikki slid to the ground.
‘Tense, but they’ll leave you alone, I think. We’ll be watching your backs.’ Grant nodded at a line of three of his colleagues. ‘The victim’s behind our men.’
Slinging her pack on her back, Nikki closed the back door firmly. ‘Can someone keep an eye on our truck?’
Grant said, ‘Absolutely.’
Keeping close to Fraser, she pushed through the jostling young men. After one crude remark Fraser took her elbow and whispered, ‘Ignore them.’
‘I am,’ she replied, but the shiver rolling through her body undermined her conviction. The atmosphere heaved with loud rock music and something else. Something she couldn’t put her finger on. It worried her. One wrong move from any of these guys and she was leaving. Ambulance crews were told time and again not to put themselves in any danger.
And tonight things felt dangerous.
Then they were looking down at their patient and she pushed her concerns aside.
Eugene lay sprawled on the pavement, his arm bound tightly with a towel in an attempt to slow the heavy bleeding. It wasn’t doing the job. He was groaning and cursing everyone in sight, especially the police. Patches of vomit were mixed with the massive pool of blood next to the lad’s body.
Nikki knelt beside him. ‘Eugene, my name’s Nikki and this is Fraser. We’re paramedics from the ambulance service. I need to look at your arm.’
She reared back at the expletives that spewed from Eugene’s mouth, her shoulder slamming into Fraser’s knees and knocking him off balance. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered when he crouched down beside her.
Leaning forward, he said as calmly as he could manage, ‘Listen, we’re here to help you so stop carrying on like that and let us get on with it. The sooner we’re done the sooner we can get you to hospital and out of pain.’
Following Fraser’s example, Nikki drew a deep breath to calm her thumping heart and looked around the immediate area then back at their patient. ‘By the amount of blood covering the pavement, Eugene’s in serious risk of going into shock and organ failure,’ she said quietly.
‘Aren’t you going to give me some drugs now?’ Eugene’s eyes widened. ‘I’m hurting real bad.’
‘I’m sure you are. We’ll give you some gas in a minute, but we also need to stop the bleeding.’ Fraser had a face mask ready.
Nikki reached into the bag for some scissors and asked quietly, ‘Want to tell me what happened?’
‘What’s that got to do with you, cow? Just fix me up.’
Beside her Fraser drew an angry breath then stood to ask the cops if they knew what had happened. When he returned to crouching beside Nikki he told her, ‘Knife wound. Grant put this towel in place before being edged away by some of Eugene’s mates.’ He reached for the lad’s good arm, wrapped a cuff around it. ‘Eugene, I’m going to take your blood pressure. Can you stay still for a moment?’
Nikki murmured, ‘Unfortunately that towel isn’t stopping the bleeding. I’m going to have to risk removing it to put a tourniquet on.’ She began snipping at the soaked towel.
‘Hey, lady, what are you doing? You can’t take that off his arm. You’ll kill him.’ A young man, bouncing from one foot to the other, loomed up on her other side, anger glaring out at her from his mean-looking eyes. Then he stuck his fingers in his mouth and let loose with a piercing whistle.
She shivered, glanced behind, heard shouting break out on the opposite side of the crowd. The cops took off, heading for the fracas. Three menacingly silent youths slid in beside Nikki and Fraser.
Her tongue moistened her lips. ‘We’re helping your friend.’ If Eugene wasn’t their friend, she and Fraser were in trouble.
The biggest and meanest of the trio grabbed Nikki’s shoulder, his fingers digging in so hard the knuckles were white. ‘You think we’re stupid? You’re gonna make him bleed to death.’
‘Hey.’ Fraser spun on his feet. ‘Let her go, mate. She’s trying to save Eugene’s life.’ Anger glittered from his eyes.
Light glinted on the wide blade of a knife in her assailant’s hand. ‘Not if she takes that towel off she’s not. I know you have to put pressure on a cut to stop the bleeding.’ His fingers dug deeper and he carved a pattern in the air right before her face.
Nikki could feel her knees knocking. The air in her lungs caught. Her skin went icy. What could she say to deflate this madman’s attitude? Her mind was blank.
Fraser stepped closer, glared into the man’s face. ‘Let her go or your pal isn’t going to get any help.’
‘That so?’ The young man splayed his legs, waving the knife between them. He jerked a thumb at Nikki. ‘She your woman?’
Fraser didn’t hesitate. ‘Yeah, man, she is.’
I am? Did he mean it? Or was he just saying it to defuse the situation? She tried moving her shoulder free.
The guy gripped harder, spun her round. ‘Let’s show him what it’s like when his woman’s hurt.’ And the hand holding the knife rose, the blade flashing in the light.
Nikki watched, breathless, with her feet rooted to the ground, appalled as the blade descended, fast, aimed directly at her. Then she was shoved sideways, slamming onto the road. Her elbow cracked hard, pain ricocheting up and down her arm. Her hip thumped hard, more pain hitting her, winding her.
Then something, someone, toppled, fell over her feet. ‘Fraser,’ she screamed. And scrambled to get clear and reach for him.
The knife handle protruded from the side of Fraser’s chest. Nausea roiled up her throat. She swallowed hard. Don’t be sick now. Fraser needed her. What to do? Her brain was not functioning.
Remove the knife? Wrong. Load him and drive like hell for the hospital? Made more sense than anything else. She needed help getting him to the ambulance.
‘Fraser, talk to me,’ she pleaded, and looked at his face. Blood pumped from a head wound, tracking over his forehead, down his cheek. When she touched him, his head lolled sideways. He was unconscious. Had his head hit the tarmac?
‘Hey, Nikki, move over, girl. We’re here now. We’ll take care of Fraser.’
She blinked, took a quick sideways glance. ‘Mike? Rebecca?’
‘We heard on the radio there was a problem here so thought you could do with some support.’ Mike already had Fraser’s shirt cut away from the wound.
Nikki wobbled on her haunches as she gripped Fraser’s hand. ‘Hang in there, Fraser, love.’ She knew she sounded desperate. She didn’t care. ‘You have to save him, Mike.’
‘We will. I promise.’ He gave her a quick hug. ‘Now, move a bit so I can get to your man.’
The second person to have called Fraser her man. Maybe they were right, and she should just get over the past. Completely. She blinked and looked around. ‘Where is everyone? What happened to the crowd?’ Strength had returned to her voice now that Mike and Rebecca were here and she wasn’t dealing with this alone.
‘Disappeared in a flaming hurry, from what Grant told us. No one’s sticking around to take the rap for this.’ Rebecca knelt on the other side of Fraser, calmly working on him.
Tears pricked Nikki’s eyelids and streaked down her cheeks. ‘Thanks, guys. I lost it. I didn’t know what to do.’ Her thumb stroked Fraser’s hand without stopping, willing him to be all right. How? He had a ruddy great knife sticking out from between his ribs. She knew all the implications of that. She shivered as her skin chilled.
‘Who would remember anything in these circumstances?’ Rebecca smiled.
Mike turned to Nikki. ‘I know you don’t want to leave Fraser’s side but could you ask Grant and his colleagues to load the other patient and drive him to the ED?’
She didn’t want to. ‘Okay.’ Letting go of Fraser’s hand was difficult, peeling one finger back at a time. But Mike was right. Eugene was entitled to be helped, regardless of what his mate had done
to the man she cared for most in this world. But before she stood up she placed the softest of kisses on Fraser’s cold lips. ‘Hang in there. You and I are not finished yet.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NIKKI curled up uncomfortably on a chair beside Fraser’s bed. The beeping of the machines monitoring his breathing reassured her. Something had to tell her. Fraser wasn’t. He lay so still. Too still. Nothing like his usual active self.
His hand lay in hers, not reacting to any of her light squeezing. Bruises covered his forehead and his left cheek was swollen. A shaved patch on his head showed a wound stitched together. According to the surgeon, Fraser had been very lucky. A concussion but no lasting damage to the brain.
Add to that a punctured lung and one nicked rib, and he was lucky?
Her bottom lip quivered. He was lucky. He could’ve been killed. ‘He saved my life.’
On the opposite side of the bed Molly smiled wearily. ‘Don’t go blaming yourself. Fraser would never let anything happen to you if he could help it.’
‘Aren’t you angry at him for leaping between me and that knife? At me because he cared enough to do that?’ Dang, she was angry. Fraser should not be lying here. She should. It was her that guy had wanted to hurt. Not Fraser.
‘The only person I’m angry at is the man who did this. I know I sound old when I say it wouldn’t have happened when we were your age.’
Nikki couldn’t stop the chuckle that rolled off her tongue. ‘Remind me not to say that when my kids are getting into trouble.’ She squeezed Fraser’s hand and looked at his mother. ‘Thanks, Molly, you’ve cheered me up.’
Molly pushed off her chair. ‘I’d better go and see Ken. He’ll be fretting because I’m late.’
‘What are you going to tell him about this?’
‘I doubt I’ll say a word. It will only distress him when there’s nothing he can do about it.’
‘But you must tell him. Ken has a right to know, surely? Wouldn’t you want to know? I would, if it was me.’ Like mother, like son? Had Molly always kept things from Ken, or was her reaction due to his illness?
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