Rescue Nights Read Free Page A

keep the chopper steady while I’m below it.’
    Looking at the way Andrew’s eyes crinkled as he shared laughter with the boys, Kate wished he was a little less attractive. Having a good-looking co-worker was a sharp reminder of her been-single-for-too-long status. Because it didn’t matter how physically appealing he was, Kate had a very serious policy about going out with the men she worked with. She hadn’t worked as hard as she had, to be one of Australia’s few female helicopter rescue paramedics, to ruin it by dating any of the doctors who passed through Cairns, especially any doctors in the rescue teams.
    Shaking her head to clear the thoughts running through it, Kate clued back into the conversation. Andrew was talking to the men about the time he had recently spent in the Himalayas. However, as soon as her coffee-filled mug touched her lips, Andrew turned to her.
    ‘I have some questions about how we pack the med bags,’ he said. ‘I have a preference with how it works.’
    Suddenly Andrew was looking much, much less attractive. Kate could feel the muscles in her face tightening, as she managed what she was sure looked distinctly like the half-hearted smile it was.
    ‘Sure, Andrew. We can do that.’
    Obviously, he couldn’t have brought this up before she had tightly stowed and inventoried each item.
    With a palpable twinge of resentment, Kate put her coffee down on the table and walked with Andrew to the equipment area. He knelt down on his haunches and pulled the large med bag towards him. Kate rolled her eyes, behind him, before mirroring his actions.
    ‘I like the stethoscope and blood pressure cuffs on the top of the bag, along with the gauze and bandages,’ said Andrew, the authoritative tone in his voice clear.
    ‘Your bag, your choice,’ she said. She couldn’t help herself from adding, ‘As long as you don’t remove any equipment in the shuffle.’
    Andrew looked up with one eyebrow raised. ‘Your bag. Your choice,’ he echoed. ‘But just so you know, if you are assisting me, I like pulse and BP reported first. And if there is any bleeding it is my role as the primary medic to deal with it, unless I ask you to do otherwise.’
    Kate couldn’t help but be taken back. All doctors specialized in arrogance but not many would lay down the law like this on their first day. Especially if, unlike her, they didn’t have a specialty in pre-hospital care.
    ‘I’ll give you some time with the med bag,’ she said. ‘That way you can familiarize yourself and organize it exactly the way you like.’
    This time, she didn’t mind if he heard the bite in her voice.
    Kate easily straightened her legs and rose from the floor. She settled in the seat that Andrew had been sitting in.
    ‘So Ben, how was the fishing yesterday?’ she asked.
    When the shift change came, Kate welcomed it with far more enthusiasm than usual. Her battered silver station wagon seemed an oasis of calm as she drove away from the helicopter base.
    Working with Andrew today had created an unusual kind of claustrophobia in a job she usually loved. For the last hour, she had fantasised about being alone, just her, her television and her reality television programming.
    She drove home on automatic pilot, making her way through the Cairns streets. The rain, which had been so heavy this morning, had lifted, leaving the streets looking freshly washed. It was only when she pulled into the resort’s car park that she noticed headlights in her rear-view mirror. As she pulled into number thirty-three, the other car pulled in the adjacent car park.
    She only needed to glimpse the profile of the other driver.
    ‘Damn, damn, dammit,’ echoed through the car’s interior.
    Kate swung her legs out of the car and climbed out.
    ‘Andrew, when did you check in here?’ she asked the man who was getting out of his car, only a metre away.
    She didn’t, for a second, regret the ungraciousness of her question.
    ‘I rang the Commander a few days