‘I think he’s had a stroke,’ Harry said quietly.
‘That would explain the loss of control over the wheelchair.’ At least he was still breathing. ‘Lack of consciousness?’
‘There’s an impact injury to the skull, but the stroke might’ve caused him to lose full consciousness before. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?’ Harry was working at stemming the bleeding.
‘Only that he didn’t seem to see my car, nor hear me when I yelled to watch out.’ Shuffling closer, she put her hand over Harry’s where he pressed against the wound. ‘Let me do that while you try and shift the bumper.’
Harrison handed over immediately and studied the bent and buckled wheelchair. ‘It’s stuck hard. We’ve got the fire service coming. Those guys will have cutting equipment. I doubt the crowbar will be of any use without hurting our man further.’
‘There’s a siren now,’ a woman said in a trembling voice.
Sienna glanced up to see the driver of the car watching them worriedly. ‘You okay?’
‘Not really. I could’ve killed him.’
‘He is alive, but we think he’s had a stroke, so don’t go blaming yourself.’ She turned back to their patient and with her free hand began checking his pulse again.
‘Can you move left a bit?’ Harry asked as he bent back some broken wheel spokes.
‘Sure.’ Working alongside Harrison felt right. They just clicked. As they did with most things. Except her lawn. Even in her new, slightly relaxed state, those circles drove her nuts. ‘Thanks for mowing the lawn, by the way.’
He didn’t look her way, so focused was he on the bolt he was trying to undo, but his grin was obvious. ‘No problem.’
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d annoyed her. If he hadn’t already guessed. Plastering on a big smile in case he looked her way, she continued checking her patient.
Her smile faltered. She dragged it back in place. Harrison was a problem, but that didn’t mean everything else was stalled. By starting to do things outside work she might become better prepared for a man in her future, whether it was Harrison or not. In her chest her heart slowed, unhappy about the idea of any man other than Harry. Okay, it seemed Harrison owned her heart. But for now she had to concentrate on getting her act together, becoming a rounded person with more to her bow than medicine.
If she had to pretend to be happy, then she’d keep pretending until it became real.
* * *
‘Harry, got a minute?’ the base director called as he made his way out of the changing room, dressed in light shorts and an even lighter shirt, the Santa suit he’d started wearing this week hanging on the peg for tomorrow. Seemed the kids loved Father Christmas turning up to save them.
That blasted humidity was doing a number on Harry again. ‘Sure, Derek.’ It was Friday night and he’d prefer a cold beer with the crew than what was probably going to be a discussion about how he thought the past three months had gone for him.
A chilled wine with a certain lady as company would be even better.
Yeah, well, that was not happening. Wine hadn’t been his favourite drink until a little over a week ago and he needed to move past that. The door had slammed shut on that particular relationship.
Sienna was busy getting on with her life and he was still in his nice, comfortable holding pattern of work, drinks with the crew, and avoiding everything else. Except the more he saw Sienna going out or arriving home well after him, the angrier he got with himself. Doing the same old same old wasn’t working any more. He wanted more, wanted to partake in living, not remain on the sidelines. In other words, he wanted to watch trees grow. Just as Sienna was doing. If she could sort herself out, surely he could manage the same?
‘Take a load off.’ Derek nodded to the chair on the opposite side of his desk and handed across his dream libation.
‘You read my mind.’ Hopefully only about the beer.
‘It’s stinking hot and we’re both off duty, so why not? This will hardly touch the sides.’
Harry poured beer into his mouth, savoured the chill, the flavour, then swallowed. ‘You softening me up for extra shifts?’ Some of the medical staff were trying to get days off for Christmas shopping and other pre-season stuff that needed doing before hordes of family descended upon them. He didn’t have that problem.
‘There is that, but what I want to ask is—what are your plans once you’re finished with us? Have you got another contract lined up?’
‘Sort of. I haven’t dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s but there’s a contract in my inbox.’ It needed signing and returning, fast. The days in Auckland were running out and he didn’t want to be left languishing. Definitely not in Auckland, where there was every chance of bumping into Sienna. Time to put this little glitch behind him and pull his finger out. He had to or go spare with need. He had to get away. Siberia wasn’t quite on the cards, but desperation did strange things to a man. ‘I’ve been offered the HOD’s position at Melbourne General for a year.’
The man opposite him nodded. ‘That sounds too good to turn down.’
‘It is, but for personal reasons I’m hedging my bets.’ Which wasn’t fair on Lance. He’d get on to that the moment he got home tonight.
‘Then you might be interested in staying on in Auckland. Working with us,’ he added quickly.
He’d walked into that one, hadn’t he? Too busy thinking about Sienna. ‘I’m not interested in continuing to live here either.’ But even as the words formed he was weighing up everything for and against. Getting away from being next door to Sienna was right up there, but there were other apartments or flats in this city that he could rent. On the plus side it meant not returning to Melbourne. Harry continued. ‘Tell me more about this position. How long do you need someone? What’s the role?’
‘This is confidential, you understand.’
‘You have my word.’
‘I’m going to Europe indefinitely with my wife. She’s Italian and wants to spend time with her relatives over there. There’re also lots of other countries we’d like to visit for more than a day or two crowded amongst millions of tourists, which is possible if we’re there out of peak season.’
‘Sounds fantastic.’ Harry drained his bottle. That sort of trip wasn’t something he’d do but then he didn’t have anyone to share the experience with, so he’d never given it much thought. It wouldn’t be half as enjoyable doing it alone.
Do you want to travel, Sienna?
The beer choked him. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he stared at his white knuckles. He’d got it bad. Perhaps he should go abroad, work in faraway places, and get over what ailed him.
Derek got two more beers from the small fridge shunted into a corner out of the way of medical packs and equipment. As he handed over a bottle he looked around his cramped office and then outside to where the helicopters were parked. ‘This would be a permanent position.’
‘Has this been approved by the board?’ There was no way the base director could make the offer off his own bat. The board would want a say in the matter—all the say.
‘They know and have agreed for me to approach you. You’ve impressed everyone with your cool, calm way of approaching patients and staff alike. If you don’t want to accept then we’ll have to go through the laborious process of advertising.’
‘Laying it on thick, aren’t you?’ Harry chuckled.
‘Of course. Tell me you’re not a little bit interested.’
The guy was good at this. ‘You already know the answer to that. I am thoroughly enjoying working here.’
‘But you’re not so keen on our great city.’
‘A city is a city.’ Saying too much, Harry.
‘So there’s someone in this particular city you want to avoid? Don’t you know the population is well over a million and a half?’
r /> Yes, he did, but there were only so many hospitals and paediatric wards to go round, and in this job he visited all of them one week or another. ‘I’m not going to give you an answer today.’
‘Fair enough. That’s better than I’d expected after you said you wanted to get away. But don’t take too long, eh?’
‘I can shake on that.’
‘No need. Your word’s good enough for me.’ Derek shoved his chair back and stood up. ‘Feel up to a couple more beers at my place along with a barbecue and meeting Lisa?’
He knew when he was being set up. All part of the conditioning process, and no one could blame this man for trying. ‘I’d like that.’
‘Good. Hans and his wife will be there too.’ As in board-member Hans.
Too late to pull out—if he wanted to, and right this moment he wasn’t sure. Something about staying on in this particular service, this city, was pulling at him. Something he suspected revolved entirely around Sienna and what they’d started. She might’ve finished it but his heart still had to catch up, let her go. Or dive in deep. He shivered. ‘No problem.’ He’d buy a bottle of wine for Lisa on the way. Which promptly reminded him of the last bottle he’d bought and who for. Which in turn underscored exactly why he had to say no to this opportunity. Or did he?
Sienna would tell him where to stick that thought if she knew. She’d feed him back his own line about avoiding life. Damn, but they were alike, yet acting out their lives in opposite directions. Or had been until she cycled off that hill. The thought of signing on for a position with no end date in sight no longer frightened him as much as it once had. Getting old? At thirty-six? He grunted a sour laugh. No, but this constant moving around was getting old. The idea of waking up to the same possessions around him, the same people every day, the same town or city, was starting to become a persistent nag in the back of his head.
I planted trees I want to see grow.