by Amy Andrews
Richard held her and told her it was OK and that it was over now. He understood about feeling powerless. He had been a powerless child and he had jumped in boots first defending a powerless woman. He understood the despair that powerlessness bred. He rocked her gently and Tundol joined them. He put his arms around Holly, too.
Richard noticed John inching away and he aimed the gun at the man who he despised at this moment more than the soldier he had shot through the heart. Despised him because he was responsible for turning Holly into a vengeful robot instead of the happy, zany, high-spirited person she was. He only hoped the old Holly wouldn’t take too long to come back.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ Richard ordered, and John froze.
They stayed there for a while, Richard comforting Holly until she felt better and then securing their prisoner.
‘What now?’ she asked.
‘We’re nearly at the bottom. When we get there we’ll lie low til nightfall. We’ll be easy targets for anyone from the mountain to take a pot shot at us if we go now.’
‘What about him?’ asked Holly, glancing at John sitting on the ground a short distance away, his hands tied behind his back. She expected to still feel hatred but she only felt sorrow. Sadness that they lived in a world where the people within it couldn’t get along.
‘We’ll take him with us and see he’s brought to justice.’ He smiled at her. ‘We’re nearly home.’
She smiled back and Tundol joined in also. They could see Abeil in the distance and Holly felt happy for the first time in days. Her heart filled with love for this man who had stopped her from doing something she would only have regretted. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to open her mouth and tell him so, but she hesitated.
‘You were right when you said that killing John wasn’t me. Do you know how you know that about me?’
He looked at her warily. ‘How?’
‘Because we’re the same, you and I, in lots of ways. You knew that about me because you recognise it in yourself. That beneath all the hurt and crap that’s tainted your life you are basically a kind, decent man, Richard Hollingsworth. And that’s why I love you.’
Every time she said it the words slammed into him like a sledgehammer to the gut. He refused to entertain such ideas out here. ‘Really? You love me and think I’m a decent man, and yet I killed someone.’
‘Yes, but you didn’t have a choice. You did what you had to do to save an innocent family. I did have a choice. There were no lives in imminent danger, just a choice to make between right and wrong. Thank you for knowing how I was feeling and the words I needed to hear.’
He stared at her for a few seconds. ‘Come on,’ he said gently, ‘let’s get this show on the road.’ He shrugged his pack on and pulled John to his feet with the ropes that bound his wrists.
It took them just under an hour to finally get off the mountain completely. They came out in a different spot to where they had first been driven, but it didn’t matter. Abeil beckoned and in a few hours it would be dark and they could move out across the open plain and walk to their freedom.
Holly’s heart soared and she danced a little jig with Tundol. The three of them looked like such a ragtag bunch of escapees. Their clothes were covered in mud and torn in places, and their skin was caked with days’ worth of grime. But they were almost free.
Richard secured John to a tree. His mission was nearly complete. Holly joined him back at the treeline and they watched Tundol run around nearby like a crazy thing, like a child instead of a packhorse. He’d been so long up the mountain he was obviously enjoying his freedom.
Tundol saw a butterfly and chased it. He chased it and chased it until Richard called him back, concerned he had gone too far. He was worried there might be snipers on the mountain that could easily pick them off from their elevated vantage point. They had come too far to have tragedy befall them now.
The child obviously didn’t hear him or was too engrossed in his game.
‘I’ll go,’ she volunteered. Holly felt a bit like chasing butterflies herself.
She ran off after Tundol and Richard went and checked on John, testing the security of the bonds. John started to laugh and Richard looked at him questioningly. John nodded his head and Richard followed what he was looking at. There was a discarded sign laying on the ground nearby. Richard didn’t understand the writing but he did understand the picture—landmines!
The next few moments happened in slow motion when Richard thought about them afterwards. He turned back to where Holly was chasing Tundol and yelled out, ‘No-o-o-o.’
He was running out after them at the same time. He was careful to step where she had stepped, but it was too late. The click as Tundol activated a mine sounded so loud to his ears that it reverberated through his head. He saw the explosion in slow motion, too. Tundol being thrown in the air and Holly, who had been two paces behind him, dropping to the ground so suddenly it was as if she’d been cut in two.
He realised the explosion had been small and his mind was already guessing that the device was probably old and malfunctioning. He reached Tundol first. He was screaming in agony. His right foot had been all but blown off. It clung to the rest of his leg at the ankle by a macerated portion of skin. It was bleeding profusely and Richard knew he had to put a tourniquet on it or Tundol would bleed out through his wound.
‘Holly,’ he yelled. ‘Holly.’ He whipped off his belt and pulled it tight just below Tundol’s knee. It wasn’t great but it would have to do until he got his kit.
‘I’m fine, Richard,’ she said. ‘Just see to Tundol.’
He did a quick head-to-toe check-up on the boy but he seemed to have escaped remarkably unscathed everywhere else. He picked the orphan up and carried him over to Holly. In the back of his mind was their exposure to eyes from above and the location of further explosive devices. He had to do a quick treatment and get back under cover.
‘Holly,’ he said, reaching her side, searching her from head to toe. He noticed she was holding her stomach where a wound was flowing freely with blood.
‘I’m OK, I think I just copped a bit of shrapnel. How’s Tundol?’
Her voice was small and Richard was alarmed at the amount of blood he could see. ‘I think he’ll lose his foot but I’ve put a tourniquet on.’ He ripped her shirt right up the middle with brute force and his heart sank at what he saw. She must have copped a flying chunk of metal to create a wound that size. ‘I’ll get some fluids running when I get my kit.’
‘Get it now, Richard,’ she urged him. She could hear Tundol’s cries and they were thrusting daggers into her heart. ‘And give him something for the pain.’
Richard couldn’t remember ever feeling this scared. Not on the many dangerous missions he’d been on. Not confronting a masochistic rebel soldier. Not with his parents. Not in the last few days.
Holly had a critical injury. She needed surgery. There was very little he could do to stem the flow of blood out here when he couldn’t even tell where it was coming from. Richard checked Tundol again as he took off his shirt and then his T-shirt beneath. The flow of blood from Tundol’s wound had practically stopped.
He shoved his T-shirt on top of her wound and pressed hard. It was the cleanest option he had.
He shook his head. No. No. No. She would survive. He hadn’t come this far to lose her now. That just wouldn’t be right.
‘Holly,’ he said, ‘I’m going to carry you back to the treeline. You and Tundol. We need to get out of plain view.’
‘OK.’ She yawned sleepily. ‘Just look after Tundol.’
Richard picked up Tundol and plonked him on his back, piggyback style. He scooped Holly up into his arms as gently as he could and cradled her to his chest. She cried out in pain and Richard felt an ache in the centre of his chest like he had never felt before. And then he ran, bolting back to the cover of the trees.
Gunfire from further up the mountain chewed up the ground behind him and Richard ducked lower
and weaved a little with his precious cargo, but still kept to the area of ground he knew to be safe. It didn’t make him feel any better that his decision to move his patients had been vindicated.
He placed Holly gently on the ground and Tundol sat beside her. He made a snap decision. One or both of them could die without immediate surgical intervention. He felt fear crawl through his gut. He had to summon help.
He grabbed the flares from his pack and stood away from the treeline a little. He let off two red ones and then a green in quick succession. It was his company code for soldier in distress. He knew they’d be seen back at the army hospital and that help would be sent immediately.
Richard didn’t have time to watch the display of the flares burning in the afternoon sky. He had to get back to Holly. Both her and Tundol needed fluids.
Richard tore open his pack and grabbed the gear for an IV line. Tundol’s wound was still looking good but he knew that the tourniquet could only stay on for so long. He prioritised in his head. IV and fluids for Holly. Then for Tundol.
As he snapped the tourniquet around her arm, he realised he was chanting to himself. Don’t die. Don’t die. She was too young and had survived the horror of the last few days. It wouldn’t be fair for her to die when she was so close to getting that bath.
‘Holly, I’m putting in a drip,’ he said, and was alarmed at her lack of response. ‘Holly,’ he yelled, and shook her.
Her eyes fluttered open. He slid the needle in and she protested slightly. He had fluids running into her as fast as possible within two minutes.
He reluctantly left her side to put an IV into Tundol. The boy watched with great interest as Richard slid the needle into him. His pain appeared to have subsided as the tourniquet slowly constricted not only the blood supply but the nerve supply to the foot and leg. It was no doubt quite numb by now. Richard wrapped it in a sterile towel and then bandaged the towel in place.
He smiled at the orphan they had both grown so fond of and the boy smiled back. Tundol pointed to Holly.
‘I know, Tundol, she’ll be OK. I promise,’ he said, ruffling the lad’s hair, trying to be positive when inside he was scared out of his mind.
‘Holly? Holly,’ he said, shaking her, and noticed the coolness of her skin. He checked her pulse. She was quite tachy-cardic. He heard the wocca, wocca of distant helicopter blades and felt a surge of relief. He wished he had a radio. He could alert them to his exact position and warn them of the landmines and the two casualties he had with him.
Holly felt wonderfully warm and she could see the most intensely beautiful white light. It was beckoning her and she wanted to go it. It was so inviting and she knew without anyone telling her that beyond the light was a wonderful world where everyone lived in peace and harmony.
She heard Richard’s voice float down through the layers of fog. It was OK. She had told him she loved him. She had got it off her chest, so it didn’t matter now that she was being called to a different place. She’d go to the light happily, knowing that she had reached out to him and told him the truth.
‘Holly, Holly. Wake up. Help is nearly here,’ he said, applying a wad of sterile dressings in place of his soaked T-shirt. ‘Stay with me, Holly.’
His voice was so demanding, she thought absently as the light came closer. It was OK. She had tried to get him to love her. There was no shame in her failure. She had shared her love, that was the important thing.
Richard was going out of his mind with worry. ‘Goddamn it, Holly.’ He shook her pale, limp form and felt tears prick at his eyes. ‘Don’t you dare die on me. I love you, dammit, don’t you dare die!’
Richard had suddenly never felt more certain about anything in his life. It was like he was seeing her for the first time, really seeing her. Seeing the woman, not the girl. The woman he loved. She couldn’t die now, not when he had finally realised the truth.
She smiled at him then, a serene smile. Her eyes flicked open. The silly man was trying every trick in the book to keep her from the light. ‘It’s OK, Richard. You don’t have to tell me now because I’m dying. It’s beautiful here.’
Goddamm it, no! He had been so wrong about her. She had taken everything this ordeal had thrown her. And she hadn’t whinged, complained, nagged, thrown a tantrum or broken an ankle. She’d done everything he’d asked of her and she’d done it without question or complaint.
He had rejected her advances because of their age difference and had dismissed her out of hand as a girl, a child. Well, she may be young but she was a woman, not a child. Hadn’t she proved it? Hadn’t she proved it plenty during this gruelling ordeal? Why had it taken something like this to make him realise?
‘No. No.’ He shook his head. The sound of the rotors was louder. He could see them now. ‘I love you, Holly, with all my heart and soul. I think I always have but I just couldn’t admit it to myself. You’ve got to believe me, my darling.’ Richard felt himself choking up. ‘Don’t leave me. I need you, Holly. I want you to be my family.’
He gathered her up in his arms and held her close, trying to convey the depth of his emotion through his touch alone.
‘It’s OK, Richard,’ she whispered. ‘You don’t have to pretend.’
‘No.’ He shook his head and pressed his face into her neck. What could he say to convince her? He knew she was at the brink but he’d read enough near-death stories to know that people could decide to go or to stay. And he wanted her to stay.
And then it came to him. He recited a string of numbers, his face pressed close to hers. He repeated the sequence again and again.
He knows my phone number, she thought absently as she reached her hands out to touch the light. How darling. How sweet. How…He knew her phone number? How come? He’d certainly never rung it. She pulled her hand back to her side and moved towards his voice.
‘You know my phone number?’ she asked.
‘Oh, Holly, I couldn’t get the damn thing out of my head,’ he cried, seeing her coming back to him. ‘I carry it in my wallet. Look.’ He let her go and dug his wallet out of his back pocket. He took out the tatty napkin with her writing on it and she opened up her eyes and looked at it.
‘You kept it?’
‘I tried to throw it out,’ he said, his voice husky with emotion.
‘Why didn’t you?’ she asked.
Richard heard her voice getting stronger. ‘Because I was in love with you. I just didn’t realise it till now. I’ve always loved you, Holly.’
‘Don’t cry, Richard,’ she whispered, weakly wiping a lone tear tracking down his face with her thumb. ‘What’s that noise?’ She frowned.
Richard could see the markings on two helicopters now. They were almost here. ‘The cavalry, darling. The cavalry.’
‘Is Tundol OK?’ she asked.
Richard sagged against her and kissed her cheek lightly. She was back. Now he had to get her to medical help, a.s.a.p.! He knew he was taking a risk but he had to get out from his safe position and alert the searching helicopters. He hoped the rebels were lousy shots. He ran out from the bushes to wave at the helicopters.
The downdraught from the choppers as they hovered above him almost knocked him over. He indicated for one chopper to send someone down, and within seconds a man was being lowered.
‘Sergeant, we’ve been looking for you,’ yelled the soldier over the rotor noise.
‘Well, you’ve found me,’ Richard yelled back. ‘We’re standing in the middle of an old minefield. This area is safe enough for the chopper to land and there seems to be a safe corridor that way.’ Richard indicated the pathway back to their hideout. ‘I have two casualties, one with a foot practically blown off, the other with major abdo trauma. And there are snipers shooting at us.’
The chopper medic nodded and tugged on the rope and he was winched back up. Richard ran back to his patients and was relieved to see Holly still conscious.
Gunfire burst out from somewhere in the jungle. The rebels were firing at the helicopters now. The
Iroquois returned fire, peppering the direction of the sniper with a loud clatter of bullets. The Blackhawk landed soon after while the Iroquois kept up the covering fire from above.
Two soldiers jumped out once the chopper touched down and ran towards Richard. He met them halfway and reluctantly handed over Holly to one and Tundol to the other. They ran back, crouching low, and loaded their patients into the chopper, taking off as soon as everyone was inside.
Richard sat on the floor of the chopper, shaking as reaction finally set in. He noticed as they lifted off and peeled away back in the direction of Abeil that John was still tied to the tree. He had his head turned to protect his face from the force of the churning rotors as they took off. He would send a crew for the new rebel leader later. For the moment they were safe. His mission was complete.
EPILOGUE
HOLLY and Tundol were rushed to Theatre after their fifteen-minute trip back to the hospital. Richard was debriefed extensively over the following days and relieved of his duties and ordered home early. He sought and was granted permission to stay by Holly’s side. She stayed in hospital for a week, the landmine projectile having nicked her mesenteric vein but luckily causing minimal damage to her bowel or other abdominal structures.
Richard was teased mercilessly by his men as he sat day and night beside her, holding her hand and telling her he loved her. He’d been through the scariest experience of his life—nearly losing the woman he loved—and he didn’t want to waste any more time.
‘I’ve got a surprise for you,’ he said the morning of her discharge. She was to fly home to Australia the next day.
Holly looked into his black eyes and saw his love for her shinning in their depths. She couldn’t believe it had taken her nearly dying for the stupid man to realise what she meant to him. She sat up in her bed and closed her eyes. ‘Oh, goody! I love surprises.’
Richard grinned at the excitement on her face and was tempted to just kiss her instead. Damn this open bloody-plan design! He beckoned to Tundol, who was waiting outside, and when she opened her eyes, he was sitting on Richard’s lap.