The Courage to Love Her Army Doc (4 page)

After his antics last night he was lucky Peter hadn't rounded up a posse to turf him off the island for laying lips on his sister. He'd been beating himself up over it all night and this display of skittish behaviour wasn't easing his conscience at all. By all accounts Emily was recovering from an acrimonious split and definitely wasn't the sort of woman he should be kissing on a whim.

His one saving grace was their apparent mutual decision not to mention it. Perhaps his casual walk away had lessened the significance of the event. He might start kissing everyone goodbye and make it out to be more of a personal custom rather than the result of his attraction to her. Although there was something intimate about seeing her fuss around the bed where he'd been lying, thinking about her, last night.

He'd been honest when he'd said he preferred the quiet out here to Miriama's busy household. There was also the added benefit of being able to see the door from his bed. Combat had made him hypervigilant about his surroundings. He wasn't comfortable in a room where he couldn't see all entry points. Army life taught a man that concealed entrances were all potential ambushes where the enemy could attack. That level of paranoia had been essential in his survival but it hadn't left him even after his medical retirement to civilian life. It was simply part of his make-up now and another reason he took to the open road rather than remain cooped up in a two-up, two-down suburban prison.

‘So, do we have any particular schedule, or is this more of an A and E department we're running?' Emily encroached on his half of the room, arms folded across her chest.

‘I thought we'd break you in gently today and run more of a walk-in clinic. We can organise something more formal once you're settled, if you prefer.' He operated a casual open-door policy every day but he got the impression this GP would expect something more...structured.

Emily struck him as the type who preferred knowing exactly what she'd be doing from one day to the next without any disruption to her routine. The complete opposite of how he lived his life.

‘I'd like to set up a few basic health checks. We could start with taking blood pressure, maybe even a family planning clinic.' She was drifting off into the realms of her own practice but it was a good idea.

Specific clinics might draw in more of the community for preventative check-ups as opposed to waiting until something serious occurred when it was too late to get help from the mainland.

‘I think the female population might be more open to you too. Perhaps you could think about running a women's wellness clinic? It's not every day they have someone to talk to them about sensitive subjects such as sexual health or female-specific cancers.' It was as much about educating patients as treating them and he would happily defer to Emily in areas where she had more experience.

‘That's a great idea. I'm sure I can put something together for later this week.' Her eyes were shining with excitement rather than fear for the first time since they'd met. Well, if he didn't include last night on her doorstep.

His gaze dropped to her mouth as he relived the memory and the adrenaline rush it had given him. Was giving him. Only her nervous cough snapped him out of his slide back into dangerous territory. He certainly didn't want to freak her out after they'd just established their boundaries.

‘Good.'

‘Glad we got that sorted.'

It was better all around if they kept their lips to themselves, on different sides of that screen.

* * *

There'd been a steady influx of patients throughout the day, more minor ailments than emergency medicine to deal with. Not that she was complaining. Coughs and colds were manageable and it meant she didn't have to call on her colleague for an extra pair of hands. She had, however, handed out a vast amount of paracetamol and antibiotics, not to mention sticking plasters. It was probably a combination of not having these drugs readily available and the novelty of a new, female doctor in residence. At least it showed she'd been accepted in her role and she'd kept busy. That was better than sitting fretting in the corner with nothing but tumbleweeds straying into her section of the clinic. Worse, she'd have had time to overanalyse that kiss some more. Every time he so much as looked in her direction her body went up in flames at the memory. While she was investigating the swollen glands of a pensioner she wasn't thinking about Joe. Much.

‘Say “Ah” for me.' She bent over the side of the bed to peer into her patient's mouth and felt a nudge against her backside.

She turned around to read the Riot Act to whoever it was getting handsy with her when she saw the shadow on the other side of the curtain. Joe was innocently tending his patient too and proving that having little room to manoeuvre was going to be an issue if the butt-bumping became a regular occurrence. It mightn't faze him but she was finding it pretty distracting.

‘Your tonsils are quite inflamed but it's nothing a course of antibiotics won't clear up.'

She heard Joe prescribe the same treatment she'd been dishing out all day. It wasn't unusual for viruses to spread like wildfire in such a small community and she was glad of the extra supplies she'd brought with her. They were going to need them, along with the hand sanitiser and vitamin tablets she'd be using to prevent succumbing to it herself. The last thing she needed was Joe having to tend her too.

If the claustrophobic room wasn't hot enough, the thought of her next-door neighbour mopping her fevered brow was enough to bring on the vapours.

Emily moved closer to the oscillating fan before the heat in her cheeks eroded her camouflage make-up and caught sight of a young woman running up the path with a baby in her arms.

‘Help! She's not breathing!'

The baby, no more than nine or ten months, was conscious but not making a sound, even though her limbs were flailing in a panic. Not hearing a baby cry in this situation was heart-stopping for her too, indicating the child's airway was completely blocked.

‘Give her to me. Quick.'

The child's lips and fingernails were already turning blue but there was no visible sign of obstruction in her mouth.

Joe was at her side in the blink of an eye. ‘What happened?'

‘She... We were eating breakfast. She grabbed some bread off my plate. Is she going to be okay?'

Emily slid one arm under the baby's back so her hand cradled the head. With her other arm placed on the baby's front, she gently flipped the tiny patient so she was lying face down along her other forearm. She kept the head supported and lower than the bottom and rested her arm against her thigh for added support. With the heel of her hand she hit the baby firmly on the back between the shoulder blades, trying to dislodge whatever was stuck in there.

Delivering a blow to such a small body wasn't easy to do without guilt but the pressure and vibration in the airway was often enough to clear it.

Unfortunately, after the recommended five back blows there was no progress. Time was of the essence as the lack of oxygen to the brain would soon become critical. She rushed over to lay the baby on the bed, paying no mind as Joe kicked the screen away so he had room to assist. He cradled the infant's head, murmuring soothing words for child and mother as Emily started chest thrusts.

With two fingertips she pushed inwards and upwards against the breastbone, trying to shift the blockage. She waited for the chest to return to its normal position before she repeated the action. Her skin was clammy with perspiration as she fought to help the child to breathe. If this didn't work they'd run out of options.

Joe reached out to touch her arm. ‘I've done a few tracheostomies in my time if it comes to it.'

He was willing to step up to the plate with her and she found that reassuring. She'd never performed one and hoped it wouldn't come to that. The idea of making an incision for a tube into the windpipe of one so small was terrifying.

‘Thank you.'

With her surgical inexperience and the primitive facilities she was glad to have the backup but it was absolutely the last resort. His calm demeanour in the face of a crisis helped her to centre herself again and deliver another chest thrust.

She checked inside the mouth again. If this didn't work she would repeat the cycle before letting Joe take over. After another chest thrust she felt movement beneath her fingers and heard a small cry.

‘You've got it!' Joe's shout confirmed her success and she stopped so he could retrieve the chunk of bread causing the trouble.

The colour slowly returned to the baby's face and Emily had never been so relieved to hear a child cry.

‘Thank you. Thank you.' The weeping mother alternated between hugging them and stroking her daughter's face.

‘I just want to sound her chest.' Emily unhooked her stethoscope from around her neck so she could listen to the baby's heartbeat and make sure there was no resulting damage from the trauma. Her lungs were certainly in good order as she raged her disapproval.

Once she'd carried out her checks and made sure all was well, she gave the relieved mother the go-ahead to comfort her child.

‘I think I need to keep you all under observation for a while. Emily, if you don't mind, I'm going to break into that stash of tea and biscuits I saw you put in your locker earlier. We all need it for shock.' Joe's worried frown had evened out into a relieved smile to match her own. She sat down on the bed and waited for the much-needed cup of tea, still feeling a tad shaky herself after the ordeal.

Having a partner here mightn't be all bad. He'd let her take the lead today while still providing support, and tea, when she'd needed it. It made practical sense for them to work together. If only she'd stop overreacting to the slightest body contact. And staring at his backside as he bent down to retrieve her precious cure-all.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘I
THINK
WE
deserve a break,' Joe waved off their first emergency patient and her mother at the door once they were sure she had fully recovered.

‘I was under the impression we'd just had one.' While it had all been very dramatic and draining, saving lives was part of their job. It shouldn't be an excuse to shut up shop and act unprofessionally. If anything it highlighted the need for them to keep to a schedule so people knew where to reach them at any given time.

‘Even busy doctors are entitled to a lunch break. Are you telling me you don't take one back home?' His raised eyebrow and smirk dared her to deny it.

‘Of course I take my regulation breaks. Just not usually all at once.' She omitted to mention she took a packed lunch and did her paperwork through those breaks since it made her sound as if she had no life outside work.

He made a derisory ‘
pfft
' sound through his teeth. ‘Ten minutes off our feet, keeping a baby under observation, isn't a real break. We need a proper time out to de-stress before our next patients, otherwise how can we do our jobs effectively? You need to learn how to go with the flow, Emily.'

His cheeky wink only served to irritate her further.

‘I thought that's what I
was
doing.' The sigh of self-pity was entirely justified, she thought, after coming all the way out here and taking part in everything thrown at her thus far. If she let herself get carried away too much there was a danger she'd end up completely lost at sea.

‘It's lunch, Emily. It's not a big deal.'

It
would
seem silly to him but in her head it translated to something much bigger—ditching their responsibilities for their own gratification. That was exactly what Greg had done and she'd been the one left to deal with the consequences. It wasn't a situation she intended to re-create any time soon.

‘What about cover? We can't abandon our post here and leave people without adequate care.'

‘We can put a note on the door but, honestly, we won't be that hard to track down if something happens. Yasi Island has survived all this time without us and I'm sure they'll cope over one lunchtime.' He was already scribbling on a piece of paper now he'd made her concerns seem ridiculous.

She was here for two weeks, had treated one emergency patient so far, and was trying to avoid a shared break under the cover of her ‘they can't live without me' excuse. It was no wonder he wasn't buying it. This was about him, and her fear of spending time with him, and nothing else. She had to get over it or the next fortnight was going to be hell.

‘Is there some place we can buy lunch? I don't recall seeing any fast-food restaurants nearby.' Her tongue-in-cheek comment was intended to make her seem less of a jobsworth but the practicalities of his proposal were no less important to her. While it was refreshing not to have a coffee shop or burger joint on every inch of land, there was also a distinct lack of grocery outlets. She had literally nothing to bring to the table and it wouldn't be polite to help herself to Miriama's meagre provisions.

‘Lack of refrigeration is a problem on the island when the only electricity available is via the odd generator here and there so most of the food is fresh. There's none of your fast-frozen, pre-packed, no-taste, processed muck here. The gathering of food is a communal effort, as is eating it. There'll be no shortage of hosts to take lunch with.' He pinned the note to the door and hovered, clearly waiting for her to leave with him.

She was certain the idea of turning up at people's homes uninvited and unannounced was something he did all the time, given his nonchalance now, but she was used to a certain etiquette. Dinner parties and organised soirées were more her thing than breaking bread with strangers. Honestly, this man had no shame.

‘Should we take a gift?' Something to break the ice and make it seem less like begging for food. She'd rather starve than face any humiliation.

‘You've already donated supplies to the school and I thought we could head there first. The children will be thrilled to meet you. They enjoy showing off and I know for a fact this is their lunchtime too. So...' He gestured for her to make her way out in front of him but she wasn't entirely convinced by his argument. That ‘first' comment alluded to the idea there'd be more than one stop.

‘You could take your medical bag with you if that makes you any more comfortable about leaving.' He pre-empted her next attempt to back out.

‘A mobile clinic?' It wasn't a bad idea to combine work and lunch, and accepting their hospitality in exchange for her medical skills was much more palatable than simply pulling up a chair and waiting to be served.

‘If that's what you'd prefer.' His voice was a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

‘It is.' She knew she could be hard work when people seemed to tire of her so easily but at least Joe nudged her with encouragement rather than criticism. It left her free to make decisions on her own terms.

Negotiations over, she grabbed her bag and followed him out the door. Despite her initial reservations, reaching this compromise felt like a win. With a little forward planning she could
do
spontaneity. Somewhere between Joe's laid-back attitude and her regimented approach to work they might find a way to actually make this work. Perhaps if she found that happy medium in her personal life, she might make that work again too.

* * *

Joe had been right again. It was becoming a habit. And very annoying. Every time his cool, calm and rational thinking was proved correct it made her fears seem all the more neurotic.

Their impromptu visit to the school had caused such a commotion the children had immediately abandoned their lessons. She would've felt terribly guilty about the disruption if their teacher hadn't been equally animated by their arrival.

‘
Vanaku
. Thank you for coming to see the children.'

The pupils all stood to attention behind their desks as though someone of great importance had entered the room. It was difficult to come to terms with the fact that person could be her.

‘I, er...we thought I should come and introduce myself. I'm Emily, the new doctor.' She shook hands with the pretty young teacher.

‘I'm Keresi. We're so grateful for your wonderful gifts to the school. Aren't we, children?'

They were prompted into an enthusiastic chorus of agreement that managed to suffuse Emily's cheeks with heat.

‘It's nothing, really.' She'd only brought a few stationery supplies at the last minute. Nothing that would've warranted such an outpouring of gratitude at home. It was humbling to be reminded how lucky she was in the grand scheme of things and how much she took for granted. Okay, her heart had taken a mauling recently but she'd had a university education that enabled her to live a life of luxury compared to many here.

‘We would really like to do something for you.' The effusive teacher clapped her hands to assemble the kids along the back wall of the classroom.

Emily stepped further into the room to allow Joe in on whatever was about to happen. No matter how hard she tried to make this a solo adventure they were destined to share these experiences and if she was honest, everything seemed slightly less intimidating when he was close by. This morning had been a prime example. She'd coped with the emergency largely on her own but having him there had been a comfort when she was so far from the medical support she was used to. Joe had been the first person in a long time to make sure she hadn't felt alone.

The children launched into a repertoire of songs and dance, so well choreographed she understood this must be something they performed on a regular basis for tourists—and hungry doctors. It enabled her to stop overanalysing what people would think of her for turning up uninvited and enjoy the proud display of talent. Old and young alike had made it impossible not to be a part of the community here.

Once the show was over, she and Joe broke into applause.

‘That was just...lovely.' The tears in her eyes and lump in her throat arrived unexpectedly.

‘Yes, thanks, everybody.' Joe lifted his hands above his head and gave them another round of applause.

‘We're going to take our lunch outside now, if you'd care to join us.' Keresi motioned her class outside as she delivered the invitation Joe had prophesied.

‘That's so kind of you. We'd be honoured. Wouldn't we, Emily?' He didn't even attempt to hide his glee at being proved right.

‘Sure, and in return we'd be happy to do a free health check for everyone while we're here.'

She'd call that an even trade and a conscience salve all in one.

With everyone in accordance and no one beholden to anyone else, the trio of adults joined the rest of the class outside on the grass.

Joe had made it sound as though lunch would be some grand affair with buffet-style tables of food, or at least that's how she'd interpreted it. Instead, the children were cross-legged under the shade of the trees, tucking into their food boxes.

‘What are we going to do? A lunch-box raid?' she murmured, before catching herself.

She cleared her throat to draw his attention and spoke again. ‘I'm not taking food from the mouths of babes.'

‘Will you chill out? I can guarantee you'll neither have to ask for food while you're here nor starve. Honestly, you put yourself through so much unnecessary stress you'll make yourself ill. You should take a leaf out of your brother's book and take this all in your stride.' He rested his large hand on her shoulder in an act that should've been easy for her to shrug off along with his advice, but his warmth on her bare skin stole away any snarky retort. His touch had distracted her even from the arrival of her stepbrother, who was strolling towards them.

‘Hey, you two. I saw your note and figured you might want to share a bite to eat.' He held up a basket of fresh fruit and other foods not readily identifiable to Emily. At this moment she didn't care. Her stomach was rumbling and Peter was family. She was entitled to take food from him guilt-free.

‘Oh, ye of little faith.'

Joe was really going to keep this gloating going all day.

Thankfully he did release her from his thrall, abandoning her shoulder in favour of a banana. There was definitely a happy vibe about him, her brother too, which was surprising given their previous life before Yasi. It showed a definite strength of character in both of them to have come through the darkness that time in Afghanistan had surely brought to their door.

She kind of envied this enlightened attitude they'd found where they no longer sweated the small stuff and trusted that everything would somehow work out in the end. Although not the path, or the losses they'd endured to reach this Zen place. A place that seemed so far beyond her reach when even the timely food delivery was causing concern.

‘Er...what is this?' She prodded the leafy parcels that were apparently the main component of their meal.

‘
Rourou
and cassava,' Peter declared, as though that helped her identify what he expected her to eat. Time apart had made him forget who he was dealing with here. This was the girl who'd taken a great deal of persuading to partake of the mildest curries when they'd gone to an Indian restaurant for the first time. She needed any new dish explained in simple layman's terms and a tasting demonstration before she ventured into new territory.

Joe had no such qualms as he dug in with his fingers to take a sample. ‘They're
dalo
leaves with boiled tapioca.'

‘Just like real school dinners, then?' With her food taster apparently unharmed, and Peter helping himself too, Emily braved the unknown. It wasn't as bad tasting as she'd imagined and the starchy snack would fuel her for the rest of the afternoon, along with the more familiar fruit she took for later.

‘I know you'd rather have a pasta salad and a fruit smoothie but this is the next best thing. You'll get used to it. I have.' Peter took a second helping to prove his point.

‘I see that.' She also saw the way his gaze kept drifting past her to watch the pretty Keresi in the background.

‘Did you make these, bro?' Joe scooped up the last food bundle after she declined it.

Her taste buds had been enjoying the sweet and stodgy delights of comfort food these past months so it was going to take some time to adjust.

‘No. The young mother whose baby you saved this morning sent them over to say thank-you. You two are her new heroes.'

‘Hey, it was all your sister. This girl knows her stuff and I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her by claiming credit for what she did. She can hit pretty hard when she wants to.' Joe held his hands up and deflected the praise back to her.

‘Oh, I know all about it. She can be vicious if you take her toys without permission and as for her chocolate stash, if you touch that your life won't be worth living.' Peter made it sound as though they'd had a tempestuous relationship growing up when nothing could be further from the truth. She'd been so happy to be accepted by him and his mum, Shirl, she'd followed him like a puppy. He'd have been justified in pushing his pesky shadow away but he'd never once made her feel like a nuisance or his ugly stepsister. She'd often thought how different her life could've been if Shirl had been her
actual
mother, avoiding all the unpleasantness of her early years.

Peter rubbed the invisible evidence of their imaginary argument on his leg but his eyes were still focused on something, someone else. That someone who was making her way over to their little group.

‘Can I get you a drink?'

‘That would be—'

‘I'll help you.' Peter cut her off as he stumbled to his feet in a hurry.