Melting the Trauma Doc's Heart Page 5

  No...she hadn’t tripped, she realised a split second later. She’d been grabbed and pushed and she still had a pair of strong, male arms around her body. A body virtually on top of hers, in fact, but that wasn’t as startling as the eyes that were so close to her own. Caramel-coloured eyes that had such an intense expression that Olivia’s heart skipped a beat. Was it fear she was seeing?

  Whatever it was, it was gone in another heartbeat. Zac scrambled to his feet and offered her a hand to get up.

  ‘Sorry about that. I wasn’t sure how close we were to that explosion, that’s all.’

  So he’d thrown himself on top of her to protect her?

  Wow... Olivia felt the need to suck in a deep breath.

  ‘You’re not hurt, are you?’ The query was concerned but she could see that Isaac’s head was turning towards where their patient had been placed.

  ‘No. I just got a bit of a fright, that’s all.’ A glance at the flames engulfing the wreckage of the plane made Olivia realise that she was still rather nervous but she remembered how little Isaac had thought of her when he’d left that voicemail on her phone and she didn’t want him to think she was pathetic, as well.

  Except he didn’t seem to. There was understanding in his gaze now. And more of what she’d seen before that had given her so much confidence. That look that made her think he might actually be impressed.

  ‘It’s okay. Our firies will get that sorted. We’re safe here.’

  Sure enough, the fire engine had reached the plane wreckage now and there were people running and shouting as they readied their gear to deal with the fire. The gate to the paddock had been left open behind them, Olivia noticed, and a mob of panicked sheep was now streaming out onto the main road. Perhaps their patient was aware of the chaos around him because he had suddenly become more agitated as Zac and Olivia reached him.

  ‘Dave? Can you hear me?’ Ben was speaking loudly. ‘Don’t move... Dave?’

  ‘He’s not responding.’ Zac seemed oblivious to anything else that was going on around them as he turned swiftly back to lean over the stretcher and check Dave’s level of consciousness. Olivia could see that he wasn’t opening his eyes and his speech had become no more than incoherent groaning.

  Zac had asked one of the paramedics to radio for an update. ‘How far away is the chopper?’

  ‘Ten to fifteen minutes,’ Ben told him.

  ‘I’m going to do a rapid sequence intubation,’ Zac said. ‘His LOC is dropping and he’s not going to be safe to transport if he’s this agitated.’

  The young paramedic reached for a plastic pouch in the pack beside her. He glanced at Zac, who nodded in Olivia’s direction.

  ‘You happy to assist me with an RSI?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course.’ Olivia held her hands out to take the pouch that she could see contained the drugs and instruments that would be needed for the procedure. Having enjoyed her training in anaesthetics so much as a junior doctor, she was very familiar with every aspect of the use of strong drugs to sedate a patient and then the sometimes tricky task of easing a tube into the trachea to protect an airway and take over someone’s breathing. She had only ever done it in the anteroom of a sterile operating theatre, mind you, with any number of staff and all the equipment that might be needed if something went wrong. The thought of doing it in the middle of a paddock, with smouldering plane wreckage in the background and people yelling from the road where they were trying to deal with the mob of sheep now causing a traffic hazard was...well, it was actually rather exciting.

  Thrilling, even, Olivia decided minutes later as she injected the drug that was going to paralyse Dave and watched Zac as he knelt behind the pilot’s head and focused on the procedure, ready to assist with whatever else he needed her to do, like putting pressure on the cricoid cartilage at the front of the neck to aid tube placement. He had to use both hands, one manipulating the laryngoscope and the other inserting the endotracheal tube, and it felt like only seconds later that he was attaching the bag mask and holding that with one hand to provide ventilation as he used his stethoscope with his other hand to listen to breath sounds and check that the tube placement was correct. The whole procedure had been so swift and smooth that Olivia could feel her jaw dropping.

  Wow... How clever were this man’s hands? And how confident was he?

  The rescue helicopter was coming in to land by the time they had secured the tube and made sure that all the measurements they were monitoring were acceptable. A smaller helicopter was not far behind it.

  ‘News crew,’ someone said. ‘National TV.’

  The air rescue aircraft landed well away from where they were working but Olivia could feel the chop of the rotors beating in her own body. They didn’t shut down the engine because the crew knew their patient had already been stabilised and they would be able to take off again within minutes. They also seemed to know Zac well and he got waves and thumbs-up signals before the doors were shut and the aircraft took off again. The news crew was hovering nearby, clearly filming the accident scene and the final moments of the pilot’s rescue, before swinging away.

  The beat of rotors increased as the air rescue chopper lifted off and Zac turned as his hand dropped from the wave he’d been returning. His gaze caught Olivia’s as they both turned to begin walking back to where his vehicle was parked near the ambulance, and maybe he was feeling the same kind of adrenaline rush that she was at being part of this extraordinary incident, because he smiled at her. A kind of lop-sided, almost grin that lit up his face and somehow coalesced with the vibration of the sound from the helicopter into something that Olivia could feel right down to her bones and then radiating out in an intensified version of the tingle she’d been aware of when she’d first set eyes on this man. It wasn’t just this crazy situation or the rush of having worked to try and save someone’s life that was thrilling, was it?

  There was something about Isaac Cameron that was threatening to become the most memorable aspect of this brief, unexpected interruption to Olivia’s life, and that was disturbing enough to make her break the eye contact without returning that smile. She glanced at her watch as if knowing the time of day was of the utmost importance. Which, of course, it was.

  ‘Oh...no...’

  ‘Problem?’ Zac wasn’t smiling any more.

  ‘I haven’t got a hope of getting back to Dunedin in time to catch my flight.’

  A hint of that smile made one side of his mouth twitch and Olivia glared at him. He was finding this amusing? But Zac was oblivious to her glare because he wasn’t looking at her face. How rude was that, to be eyeing her body up and down like some cheeky teenaged boy?

  ‘Don’t suppose you brought a change of clothes with you?’

  ‘What?’ Olivia hadn’t given a thought to what state she was in but Zac’s comment gave her a vague recollection of ripping her skirt on that barbed-wire fence. She looked down and then closed her eyes for a heartbeat as she groaned aloud. Her clothes weren’t just ripped—they were filthy, with streaks of dirt and blood and...good grief...sheep manure? Those shoes would never be the same.

  The paramedics were loading the last of their gear back into the ambulance.

  ‘We put your pack in the back of your car, Zac,’ Ben called.

  ‘Thanks, mate.’

  ‘See you soon, yeah? Training session tomorrow night?’

  ‘Sure thing—as long as the weather doesn’t get too gnarly.’

  ‘True. If that storm gets here early we might be busy rescuing people, not training. Either way, we’ll be seeing you soon.’

  The firies were also packing up their gear, preparing to leave, as Olivia and Zac neared his SUV. A police car coming into the paddock slowed and then stopped as it got close. The driver’s window rolled down.

  ‘Hey, Zac... Bit of excitement for you, I hear?’

  ‘Yep. If you need a statement,
though, Dr Donaldson here is your woman, Bruce. She witnessed the crash.’

  ‘Dr Donaldson?’ The older man blinked but then collected himself. ‘Yes, a statement would be great. I’m going to be on site until the Civil Aviation investigators arrive. They’ll want to talk to her as well, I expect.’ He shifted his gaze to Olivia. ‘You staying for a while?’

  ‘No. I’m on my way back to Auckland. That’s my car out there...’ Olivia pointed to the road. She could only see the roof of her car because it was surrounded by sheep.

  ‘It would be helpful if you could stay long enough to give a statement.’

  ‘And you might want to have a shower and get your clothes washed before you go anywhere,’ Zac added. ‘Come back to the hospital with me and we’ll get you sorted.’

  ‘No way.’ Olivia was not going near Cutler’s Creek Community Hospital again. Ever. She could still hear that dismissive tone of her father’s voice telling her that she shouldn’t have come in the first place. That she should get out while the going was good. She hadn’t forgotten the stares of strangers, either. Curious but vaguely judgemental. Like the look on this police officer’s face right now as he took a notebook from his shirt pocket.

  ‘Be a good idea to stay in town for a few hours,’ he advised. ‘Perhaps you can give me your phone number so I can get in touch when the investigators get here. Hopefully it won’t be too long.’ He wrote down the number that Olivia recited and then nodded at Zac before driving closer to the plane wreckage.

  ‘Keep me posted,’ was all he said.

  Zac raised an eyebrow at Olivia. ‘How ’bout my place, instead? Not so far from here. Far enough away from town. I’ve got to head back to work but you’d be welcome to use my shower. And I’ve got a washing machine.’ The corner of his mouth quirked again, making her think that this man was far too easily amused. ‘I’ve even got Wi-Fi. You might be able to change your ticket and get a later plane tonight. And you won’t be running from the law without providing your statement. Not that I expect you’d ever do anything remotely illegal...’

  There was something confusing about this man, Olivia realised. At times he seemed completely laid-back and confident. At other times, he was judgemental and aloof. Arrogant, even, like he had been when he’d left that voicemail on her phone? But there’d been that moment after the plane wreckage had exploded and she could have sworn she’d seen what had looked like fear in his eyes. Or horror, even. What had that been about?

  She had to admit she was curious but she was also busy weighing up her options. She couldn’t simply drive off into the sunset. Quite apart from being obliged to speak to the people who would be investigating this crash, there was no way she could go anywhere looking like this. There might be a shop in town that would sell clothing but she’d already had enough of people staring at her. Besides, she hadn’t realised until now how cold the wind was and the thought of a hot shower in the not-too-distant future was more than appealing. Even if there was a motel available in this small town, it would take time to find it. Isaac Cameron was offering her by far the best possible solution, she realised. And maybe she could justify her willingness to accept as a case of better the devil you knew?

  ‘Fine,’ she said ungraciously. ‘I could use your place. As long as you won’t be there.’ Both Zac’s eyebrows were raised now and Olivia suddenly felt ashamed of herself. ‘Thanks,’ she muttered. ‘I appreciate the offer.’

  ‘Least I can do,’ Zac said calmly. ‘I appreciated your help here. Reckon we might have saved that guy’s life, don’t you?’

  Olivia caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t want Zac to know how proud it made her feel that he’d found her assistance helpful. Or that potentially saving a life was the most satisfying thing she had done medically in rather a long time. She made a vague sound of agreement, however, as she turned her head to look again at the hundreds of sheep milling around her rental car.

  ‘How am I going to get to my car?’

  He was grinning. ‘You’re a real city girl, aren’t you?’

  Actually, no, Olivia wanted to tell him. I got sent away to boarding school when I was only five and it was out in the country. There were plenty of sheep around there. And then my mother found me another boarding school in the countryside in England and I even had my own pony, but you know what? I’d rather have been a city girl. Living with my own family...

  But it wasn’t any of his business and she wasn’t about to tell him something that he might relate to her father—the man who had probably been happy to agree with her mother and send her away in the first place—so Olivia said nothing.

  Zac’s grin faded and then he shrugged. ‘The sheep won’t bother you, I promise. Someone will round them up and get them back in here as soon as we’ve gone. Jump in...’ He held the passenger door of his SUV open. ‘I’ll get you back to your car and then you can just follow me.’

  * * *

  Thank goodness he’d done a bit of housework over the last few days. The kitchen bench wasn’t piled with its usual collection of used pots and plates and there were clean towels available. Zac led the way into a hallway, opened a cupboard and handed two of the towels to Olivia.

  ‘Bathroom’s down the end of the hall. There’s plenty of stuff like shampoo. Probably not what you’re used to but it’ll do the job. If you need something to wear while you wash your stuff, try the bottom drawer of the tallboy in my bedroom. There’s a bunch of old track pants and jeans and sweatshirts that I only use for training days. They’ll be a bit big but they’re all clean and they should keep you warm.’ He didn’t want to think about what Olivia might or might not be wearing under any borrowed clothes. He didn’t want to think about her standing in his shower, either. Totally naked...

  The sooner he got back to the hospital, the better. ‘I’ll throw a couple of new logs in the pot belly stove in the kitchen. I don’t have a dryer but if you put your clothes on the rack above the stove, they’ll dry in no time.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Olivia was following him as he went to poke the fire back into life. ‘Do you have a code for your Wi-Fi?’

  ‘Yep. It’s pinned to that corkboard there.’

  ‘Do you want to me to lock up when I leave?’

  ‘I never bother. Pretty safe place, Cutler’s Creek.’ Zac closed the door of the stove after putting more fuel into it. Maybe it was the lick of new flames he could see that were making him feel so on edge again. They were reminders of both unexpected heat and potentially dangerous explosions.

  Yeah...he was a lot more rattled than he wanted to think about. ‘Right, then... I’d better go. I’ll let Bruce know where he can find you when they’re ready for that statement.’

  ‘I’d better get on with cleaning myself up.’ Unexpectedly, she smiled at him. ‘Thanks again, Zac.’

  Oh, wow...it was the first time he’d seen any hint of a smile on her face and it was some smile. Generous and warm and it made her lips curve into the most enchanting shape ever. He’d already realised that Olivia Donaldson was quite possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever met in real life but that smile just took the package to a whole new level and that was even more disturbing than whatever heat and fear had been flickering along with those flames.

  His mouth went dry as he turned away, so he didn’t say anything by way of a farewell, just raised his hand as he left. It was a good thing that she wouldn’t be here by the time he got home again in a few hours’ time. It was going to take some time and effort to get past the ripples of disturbance this woman had been a part of today. Zac had the feeling he could well be haunted by echoes that were unlikely to fade any time soon.

  If ever...

  CHAPTER FOUR

  TO SEE THAT small red rental car still parked outside his barn when he drove home was a surprise, to say the least.

  Zac was trying to decide whether his heart rate had picked up because the surprise
was a pleasant one, rather than a potential problem, when he walked inside his house to find Olivia in his kitchen, wearing a pair of his ancient track pants and a sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up. This was even more disconcerting, especially when the scent of the shampoo and soap she had used was so familiar it made it seem like she belonged here. She had not only washed her hair, which was hanging in loose waves down her back, she had also washed off any makeup she’d been wearing. She should have looked a lot less attractive but, in fact, the opposite was true. Olivia Donaldson not only still looked impossibly gorgeous but now seemed far more approachable—with a girl-next-door vibe instead of a supermodel pretending to be a private surgeon.

  So, okay...maybe the surprise was pleasant. Especially given that Zac had recovered from the rattled sensation he’d had after that accident scene and that Olivia’s antagonism seemed to have worn off for the time being.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said to him by way of a greeting. ‘I meant to be gone long ago but I was waiting for the wash cycle to finish and then those people from the crash investigation turned up and I forgot to take things out to put on the rack...’ Her nose crinkled to give her an apologetic expression. ‘...and I’m still here...’

  ‘So I see.’ Zac had been caught by that nose crinkling thing, which had offered a glimpse of a very different side to the sophisticated woman who had turned up in his hospital earlier this afternoon. ‘No problem. Did you manage to change your flight?’

  ‘Yes, but I couldn’t get another one till early afternoon tomorrow. I’ve been online trying to find a motel nearby but the only place within a hundred miles or so seems to be the pub, is that right?’