The landline rang as he passed Vicki’s room. ‘Want me to get that?’
‘Yes. Hope we’re not needed again.’
She can’t have been banking on that hope, though, because when he returned moments later Vicki was dressed and tying the laces of her navy shoes.
‘A supposed heart attack.’ He gave her the address before ducking into Marty’s room to get the first aid gear and defib.
‘We’ll take the car. It’s a little way along the main beach road.’
Silence landed between them as Vicki backed out onto the road.
He waited as she drove carefully through the deep puddles. Then, when he couldn’t bear it any longer, ‘What’s up?’ Which of their problems was putting that strained look on her face that he saw in the glow from the dash? Which was top of the list?
At first he didn’t think she’d answer, then she surprised him. ‘I worry I’m being selfish.’
That he had not expected. ‘Why would you think that?’
‘I’m not used to putting my foot down over what I want. Not on the big issues anyway.’
‘Okay with demanding chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla, but not where to live?’ Yes, that was his Vicki. Now the ball was in his court. Had he taken advantage of her indecisiveness?
‘In a nutshell. But why? I’ve never been a wimp.’
‘You like keeping everyone happy.’ Why hadn’t he seen that before?
‘Now I’m including myself.’
‘So it seems.’ He didn’t know where that left him; if she still wanted him in her life or not. She’d told him to go back to Sydney and sort out his own future. She hadn’t included herself in that picture. ‘It’s okay. Better than okay. You have to be happy before you make other people happy.’
She said nothing.
Frustration got the better of him. ‘I thought you were happy with me. That we were so in love nothing could come between us.’ He clamped his mouth shut. Too much, Cole.
‘I was,’ she sighed. ‘It all went wrong. Just go back to Sydney, Cole. Sort yourself out, and let me know what you’re doing if you still want to.’
The sadness taking over her mood caught at him, turned his gut into a roiling pool of longing mixed with his own sadness. Thank goodness they pulled into a driveway just then. He could focus on a patient, let his head clear for a while. Forget the elephant between them. Forget? Sure. Try ignore it for a brief time. That was as good as it was going to get.
The front door swung open and someone flashed a torch in their direction. Grabbing the kit and defib from the back seat, Cole headed to the house, aware of Vicki right behind him.
‘Dr Cole Halliday,’ he said to the man standing before him looking desperate. ‘And this is Vicki Halliday, a nurse.’
‘It’s my sister. She’s having a heart attack. Lots of pain in her chest. I’ve called the ambulance.’
‘That’s good. Show us where your sister is. What’s her name?’ Cole nodded down the hall.
Hurry up. This is urgent.
At last the guy moved. ‘Sandra. She started complaining of pain an hour ago. In here...’ He indicated a room where lanterns gave out an eerie light. ‘That’s my partner with her. Nadine.’
Why wait until now to get help? ‘Hello, Sandra, Nadine. I’m Cole, a doctor, and this is Vicki, a nurse.’
‘Hello, Vicki, how’s things? Sorry to get you out in this weather.’ Sandra was looking at his wife.
‘No worries.’ Vicki smiled at their patient as she reached to take the defibrillator from him. ‘Had nothing better to do.’
Thanks a bundle.
‘Where’s this pain?’ he asked.
Sandra tapped to the left of her sternum. ‘Here. And here.’ Her hand splayed across her upper abdomen.
‘On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how strong is it?’
‘Five, though there are peaks when it’s probably about eight.’
Vicki leaned over. ‘You need to remove your top so I can attach the defib.’
Sandra gave her a wonky smile as she began lifting her tee shirt over her head. ‘No problem.’
Cole studied the woman before him as he lifted her arm and felt for her pulse. Her colour was good, her eyes clear apart from the worry about her possible condition. Under his thumb her pulse was regular. Heart attack? Or indigestion?
Vicki had the pads on Sandra’s chest and was connecting the lines leading to the defib. ‘How long has the pain been going on?’
‘At least an hour, maybe more. I first felt uncomfortable after dinner.’
Glancing at the defib screen as it came to life, Cole nodded. ‘Eat in a hurry, by any chance?’
Nadine piped up. ‘We all did. Wanted to get it out of the way while we still had power.’
Vicki glanced up at him, a smile lifting her mouth, relief in her expression.
Again, he nodded. But he wasn’t done that quickly. There were things to check and note down. The steady beats resonating in the stethoscope said normal heartbeat. Sandra’s even breathing backed that up. The temperature Vicki showed him read thirty-seven. Checking the line on the defib screen once more, Cole relaxed and gave the news. ‘There’s nothing wrong with your heart. I’d say you’ve got a bad case of indigestion.’
Sandra stared at him, struggling to take it in. ‘Really?’ she squealed. ‘Not a heart attack?’
‘No. See how even those peaks are?’ he tapped the screen. ‘That’s good.’
‘Really good,’ Vicki confirmed. ‘Cole wouldn’t have you on about something so serious.’
Sandra let out the breath she was holding. ‘I’m sorry to be such a nuisance. Especially in this weather.’
‘Do we cancel the ambulance?’ Nadine asked.
‘Normally, they come regardless once a call has been logged,’ Vicki said, ‘You are still having pain, Sandra.’ She looked to him. ‘What do you think?’
That I would like to go back a year—or more—and start over.
‘That we need to err on the side of caution. It is normal to send someone in this situation to hospital regardless of the results.’
‘There you go. Decision made,’ Vicki said. ‘I’ll leave these pads on until the paramedics arrive.’
She was onto it. Better safe than sorry. Although Cole doubted Sandra had a medical problem, he’d have done exactly what Vicki indicated. If there was an area where they were always in sync it was when they were working with patients. Funny how they hadn’t known that before this weekend.
‘The ambulance’s here.’ Sandra’s brother stood in the doorway, hopping from one foot to the other.
‘That was quick for the circumstances,’ Nadine said. ‘I’ll feel happier with you going to hospital, Sandra.’
‘Me too. My chest still hurts, though not as much as before.’
The drive back to Marty and Anna’s house was quiet, though comfortable this time. The animosity had taken a hike, for a while at least. Shifting one way and another in his seat to ease the aching in his left leg and his back kept him busy for the few minutes before Vicki was pulling into the garage.
‘Power’s back on.’ She stated the obvious.
‘When did that happen? It was off at Nadine’s.’
‘Or they’d turned all the switches off and didn’t realise the power was back.’