About the Author

New Zealander ALISON ROBERTS has written more than eighty romance novels for Mills & Boon. She has also worked as a primary school teacher, a cardiology research technician and a paramedic. Currently, she is living her dream of living – and writing – in a gorgeous village in the south of France.

The Fling That Changed Everything

Alison Roberts

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-03729-7

THE FLING THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

© 2016 Alison Roberts

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Note to Readers

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

 Change of font size and line height

 Change of background and font colours

 Change of font

 Change justification

 Text to speech

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

THE SOUND OF the telephone ringing could barely be heard over the cacophony as the Roselli family gathered in their kitchen for dinner.

It wasn’t a big room. If the whole family had been here, they would have had to use the huge, rustic table out in the courtyard, beneath the vine-smothered pergola, but it was raining today—the kind of tropical downpour that was familiar to people living in Northern Australia—and the vines weren’t enough protection from the wet.

So, here they were, piling into the kitchen that was a long room, where Adriana Roselli presided over the benchtop and oven at one end and the scrubbed pine table that could fit ten people—if they squeezed up—filled the other end of the room. Fitting a wheelchair in made it a little more complicated, of course, and that was why the noise level was so high right now.

‘Ow... You ran over my foot, Fiona. Watch where you’re going.’

‘If you didn’t have your stupid ears full of your horrible music, you would have seen us coming. Move yourself, Guy.’

‘Not until you say you’re sorry. You’ve probably broken my toe.’

‘You’re the one who should apologise. Look, you’ve made Angel cry...’

‘Look out, all of you. If I drop this lasagne, you’ll all be sorry. Mamma mia...’ Adriana held a vast steaming tray over her head as her youngest son elbowed his way past her. ‘Why don’t my children ever grow up and act their ages? What have I ever done to deserve this? Lia, why isn’t the bread on the table?’

‘I’m coming... Oh, is that the phone?’

It took a moment for the effect of her words to sink in. Adriana almost dropped the lasagne onto the centre of her table and then covered her mouth with her hands, her gaze—like that of everyone else in the room, apart from Angel—swivelling towards Nico.

Was this the call they’d all been waiting for today?

‘I’ll get it.’

‘No, I will.’

‘It’ll be for Nico. Let him get it.’

But Nico was looking like a possum caught in headlights—too scared to move.

‘I’ll get it.’ Lia shoved the long basket piled with fragrant homemade bread at her brother Guy, but he had his eyes shut, his head nodding to whatever mesmerising beat he was still listening to, and she was too late, anyway. Her younger sister, Elena, had reached the phone first.

‘Lia? It’s for you.’

‘What?’ Lia shook her head. Who would be calling her on her day off? Her life consisted of her work and her family and that was it. One glance around the room would have been more than enough to remind her of why there was no room for anything else. And she wouldn’t want it any other way, either. This was her home and her heart all wrapped up in one delicious-smelling, messy, noisy parcel. She loved every person here so much it could be a physical ache.

‘Tell them to call back, then. I’m busy.’

She put the bread on the table beside one of the salads, smiling at her father, who was already in his place at the head of the table, silently waiting for chaos to morph into a more civilised mealtime. She glanced at the place settings Elena had been put in charge of. Where was the special, modified cutlery that Angel needed if she was going to feed herself?

‘It’s Bruce,’ Elena shouted. ‘And he says it’s important.’

Bruce? Her boss at the ambulance station? More than her boss, in fact. He’d been the one to push her into her specialised training that had given her the qualifications to gain her dream job on the helicopter crew. He was her mentor and a good friend. If Bruce said something was important, it was.

Were they calling in extra crew for some major disaster?

‘Coming...’ The noise level around her was rising again but Lia was barely aware of the small spat as her mother pulled the ear buds away from Guy. Or that Fiona was berating Elena for forgetting the special cutlery. She couldn’t miss that Nico was staring into space and clearly needed some reassurance or that her father’s silence was deeper than his customary patience, but paying attention to those things would have to wait.

‘Bruce?’ Lia pushed her long, unruly curls out of the way and pressed the phone to her ear so that she could hear properly. ‘Hi. What’s up?’

The noise level was still too high to hear properly so Lia slipped out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

‘Say that again. You want me to do what...?’

The silence was one of the things Sam Taylor loved best about Wildfire Island. Especially at this time of day, when the sun was almost gone and the scent of tropical flowers grew so much stronger.

He drew in a deep breath, shutting his eyes for a moment. And then he opened them and looked out from the vantage point he had chosen to the ocean surrounding this island, which had been his home ever since he’d begun working at the hospital here several years ago.

He’d taken the highest road on the island as he’d walked from the hospital and now he was on ground that was above the gold mine that had been the catalyst for so many people besides the islanders being able to call this place home. To one side he caught a glimpse of the village and the rocky promontory with the little church on top. He couldn’t see over the cliff tops to Sunset Beach on the other side, but this wasn’t an evening to chill out, watching the fiery show on the cliffs that had given the island its European name, anyway. Dense clouds were scudding sideways, intermittently hiding the sun, and it wouldn’t be long before they joined forces and unleashed the kind of tropical downpour that was a regular feature of the cyclone season.

Maybe it was that atmospheric tension that had pushed him into taking this strenuous walk after a busy day that had left him feeling physically jaded. They were short-staffed at the moment and having Jack, the helicopter pilot, take one of his nurses on a mission had made things a lot more stressful. It was a good thing that the plane was due in tomorrow, bringing in some new FIFO—fly in, fly out—personnel. And this time there would be a paramedic as well as a nurse so he would not only have extra hands in the hospital, they wouldn’t get borrowed just when they were needed in Theatre or something.

He let his breath out in a long sigh and felt more of the tension ebb. He could always find peace in this view. Excitement, even, as he looked out at the darkening shapes that were the outlying islands. The biggest one, Atangi, had been settled for the longest time and had the infrastructure of shops and schools. He could see the misty outline of islands that he knew well due to the clinics they ran on places like French Island. He could see the tiny humps of the uninhabited ones, too, and one of them was now his own.

How lucky was it that so many tradesmen had come to the islands to work on the upgrade of the laboratory and conference facilities that was now a feature of Wildfire Island? He’d been able to quietly offer some of them more work, building his dream house and the jetty for his yacht on a bush-covered island paradise that he had yet to name.

In the not-too-distant future, he wouldn’t be walking home to the accommodation provided for both the permanent and FIFO staff that kept the hospital and clinics running in this remote area. He’d take a boat and go home to picture-perfect solitude and the sheer beauty of nature. Not his yacht, of course. As much as he loved sailing, he’d have to be able to travel fast to get back here in an emergency, so he was looking at getting a new speedboat. An inflatable, probably.

For some reason, though, the prospect of that beauty and solitude wasn’t generating the excitement it usually did.

For the first time, it was actually casting a shadow of doubt on if he was doing the right thing.

Was it the remnants of a hectic day that made him think it wouldn’t be a good idea to have even a small strip of ocean between himself and the hospital? What if he hadn’t been there to deal with that anaphylaxis from a bee sting that had seen a young mother terrified that she was about to lose her child? Or if they hadn’t been able to perform that emergency appendectomy before the infected organ burst and could have caused a life-threatening sepsis?

Or was it the storm brewing? The wind picking up and those bad-tempered-looking clouds just waiting for an excuse to spark an outburst?

No. It felt deeper than anything as external as work or the weather. The shadow was more like an empty space in his soul. The alone space.

But he’d come here to this remote part of the Pacific Ocean to escape in the first place, and being alone was the ultimate escape, wasn’t it?

Turning away from the view, Sam automatically looked around, forgetting for a moment that he hadn’t brought Bugsy with him this time. The dog was a part of the hospital family here, and his care was shared amongst others, including him, when his owner was back on the mainland. One of the nurses had him today so Sam hadn’t had the pleasure of taking him out for his daily walk.

That’s what it was, he decided. That’s why he had this sudden, inexplicable sense of loneliness.

Maybe it was time he got a canine companion of his own. A Portuguese water dog, perhaps, who would love boats and fishing expeditions and swimming at the tiny, perfect beach that had been why he’d fallen in love with the island he now owned.

That way he’d have the best job in the world in a place where he could live happily ever after, and he’d have company to share it with. Company that would expect no more of him than his love.

What more could anybody want?

There was only one chair empty at the table as Lia went back into the kitchen. Plates were being passed, laden with the delicious layers of meat and cheese and pasta that had given Adriana Roselli’s lasagne its well-deserved reputation of being the best.

‘What did Bruce want?’ Elena reached for a thick, warm slice of bread and added it to her plate. ‘Was he asking you out for a date?’

‘Bruce is old enough to be my father,’ Lia said sternly. ‘And I’m old enough to know how ridiculous that would be.’

‘Oh, give it a rest,’ Elena snapped. ‘Mike’s only thirty-nine.’

‘And you’re only twenty-six. Thirteen years, Lena. Count them. It’s almost a generation.’

‘At least I’ve got a boyfriend. You’re turning into an old maid, Lia.’

‘That’s enough,’ Adriana ordered. ‘Sit down, Lia. Eat. You’re far too skinny these days. I can see your bones from here.’

Lia ignored the comments from both her mother and her sister. She slid into the seat beside Angel’s wheelchair.

‘Look at the way you’re holding your spoon, darling. Good girl... Don’t forget to blow on it. That lasagne looks hot.’ She leaned sideways to demonstrate but Angel giggled and tipped her spoon and the food fell off to land on her lap.

‘Thanks for that, Lia.’ But Angel’s mother, her sister Fiona, was smiling as she wiped up the small accident. ‘Let’s try that again, shall we, Angel?’

‘So what did Bruce want?’ Nico was picking at his food and clearly hoping for a distraction from his own thoughts.

‘He offered me a job for two weeks. On a helicopter crew on an island about two hundred miles northwest of Cairns. It’s called Wildfire.’

‘An island?’ Adriana shook her head. ‘Pff...what for? A holiday?’

‘There’s a hospital there, Mamma. It looks after a big population of people over a huge area. Bruce said it would be great experience for me. I’d have to do things I’d probably never get the chance to do here. And, if I liked it, I could go onto a regular roster to fly in for two-week stints.’

‘You can’t go,’ Elena declared. ‘Nico’s going to be going into hospital for his surgery any day now and you know what Mamma’s like around hospitals. You’re the only one who can explain things properly and stop her crying. And even if you’re here for the operation, what about the chemo? It’ll be horrendous.’

‘No, it won’t.’ Lia sent her sister a warning glance before turning to smile at her brother. ‘You’re going to fly through this, Nico. I know it’s scary but testicular cancer has a really high cure rate and you’re going to be one of those success stories. It’ll be okay.’

‘Promise?’ Nico, like the rest of the family, looked to Lia as his medical expert.

Lia’s smile was one of genuine reassurance. ‘Promise.’ Even if the treatment didn’t go as well as hoped, she would make it okay. Somehow.

‘Do you want to go?’ Fiona’s query was sceptical.

‘It would be exciting,’ Lia admitted. ‘Even the name of the island is cool. Wildfire...’

‘They have fires?’ Adriana shook her head. ‘You don’t want to go somewhere that has fires.’

‘Wildfire Island? Wasn’t that in the news not long ago?’ Guy put down his fork to fish his phone out of his pocket. ‘I’m sure I heard something about a mine exploding or something.’

‘Well, that’s that.’ The spoon clanked against the crockery dish as if Adriana’s statement was final. ‘I’m not having you going off into exploding mines.’

‘No, it didn’t explode.’ Guy sounded disappointed. ‘Just collapsed. People got hurt and there was a big rescue mission but it’s okay now. And why would Lia be going down a mine, anyway?’

‘I wouldn’t,’ Lia said reassuringly. ‘And what makes it really attractive is what they pay. I’d earn three times what I usually do in a fortnight. Imagine how far that would get us in buying those new walking aids for Angel.’

‘No...’ Adriana handed a laden plate to Lia. ‘It still sounds dangerous. Flying helicopters around islands miles from anywhere? What if you crash?’

‘It’s no different from what I do here. Apparently the head pilot is someone Bruce knows and he’s top of his game. It’s my job, Mamma—you know that. And I love it.’

‘It’s not natural,’ Adriana sighed. ‘You’re thirty-two, Lia. You should be married and having bambinos by now. Look at your sister. She was a mamma already by your age.’

‘Mmm.’ Lia and Fiona shared a rueful glance that took in how well that had worked out. Angel had been born prematurely and the lack of oxygen during a difficult birth had been responsible for her cerebral palsy. Her father had walked out of their lives as soon as he’d learned of her disability.

‘The money’s amazing.’ Guy spoke with his mouth full. ‘I’d do it if I were you. Hey...you could get the roof fixed and I wouldn’t have to trip over that bucket in my bedroom every time it rains.’

Her father had been silent throughout the discussion, his gaze on his plate, but he looked up as Guy spoke and Lia could see the shame in his eyes.

It’s not your fault, she told him silently, her heart breaking. And you’ll get another job before the redundancy money runs out.

The words she spoke aloud were very different. A daughter asking her father’s advice.

‘What do you reckon, Dad? Should I go?’

He returned her smile and the warmth in his eyes told her that her reassurance had been received and appreciated.

‘If you want to do it, cara, you should.’

Lia nodded slowly. ‘I think I do.’

‘Mamma mia.’ Adriana crossed herself as she closed her eyes. ‘When would you leave?’

‘Um...tomorrow. It seems like the person who was going to go has had an accident at the last minute, which is why Bruce was asked to find someone else. He’s happy to give me leave.’

The reality of the offer was sinking in around the table and everyone was staring at Lia with a mix of admiration and trepidation.

‘I said I’d call him back as soon as I’d discussed it with the family. Nico? You get to have the final vote. If you want me to be here for your surgery, I’ll say no.’

‘Go,’ Nico said. ‘I’ll have more than enough family fussing over me. I’m only going to be in hospital for a couple of days. You can send me some cool pictures and I can boast about my fabulous sister who’s off doing brave stuff and saving the world.’

Lia grinned. ‘You’re on. Right...’ She scooped in a hurried mouthful of her dinner. ‘I’d better go and ring Bruce back and start packing. I’ll have to be at the airport at five-thirty in the morning.’

‘I’ll drive you.’

Her father smiled as he spoke but her mother burst into tears. For a moment Lia considered changing her mind but then she glanced at Angel and remembered what that extra money could mean.

Swallowing hard, she pushed back her chair and went to make the phone call.

‘Whoa...’ Jack Richards, Wildfire Island’s head helicopter pilot, pushed his sunglasses down his nose to peer over the top of them. ‘You seeing what I’m seeing, Sam?’

Two young people had climbed out of the small plane and were heading across the tarmac to where they were waiting in the shade. The man had to be the paramedic, Sam decided, so no wonder Jack had elbowed him in the ribs. The new FIFO nurse was a stunner, all right. Tall and lean, she had a mane of curly dark hair that the wind was playing havoc with and legs that seemed to go on forever beneath the short shorts she was wearing. Huge sunglasses were hiding half her face but even from this distance you could see a generous mouth that was clearly designed for laughing.

Or kissing, perhaps...?

Maybe it was just as well she’d be safely confined to the hospital during working hours and not floating around remote islands with a good-looking young helicopter pilot. Romantic liaisons with FIFO staff happened—of course they did—and Jack was not shy about enjoying the opportunities, but for Sam it was a no-no. He’d always kept any such casual hook-ups to the times when he was on a break a long way away from here. This was his home and, as such, it was too important to mess with by indulging in something that he’d seen lead to long-lasting negative fallouts in others.

He didn’t need the clipboard he was holding to remind him that this was work time. Supplies were being unloaded from the small plane that was their regular link with the mainland of Australia and, amongst them would be the important medical packs containing drugs and all the other items Sam had ordered. They’d run low on dressings and suture packs after an unusually high number of minor trauma incidents in the past couple of weeks.

‘Let’s check that everything we ordered has come in,’ he said to Jack. ‘We don’t want to hold up the pilot in this weather.’

The wind had picked up even as they walked towards the plane.

‘G’day, mate.’ Sam extended a hand towards the male newcomer. ‘I’m Sam Taylor—one of the permanent doctors at the hospital here.’

‘Good to meet you. I’m Matt.’

‘Welcome to Wildfire Island. Is this your first FIFO experience?’

‘Sure is.’ Matt’s smile was rueful. ‘Might be the last, too, after that flight.’

‘Oh, come on, Matt.’ The girl was now restraining her hair with both hands to keep it from covering her face. ‘It was fun.’

Her grin suggested that a bumpy ride had been a bonus and Sam couldn’t help grinning back. A young woman who was gutsy as well as gorgeous? What man wouldn’t appreciate that combination of attributes?

‘I’m Lia Roselli.’ She had to let go of her hair with one hand as she extended it to shake Sam’s. The wind snatched the tumble of dark curls and plastered it across her face and she was laughing as she scraped it free.

The sound was as attractive as the rest of her. No wonder Jack was grinning like an idiot. It was only then that he realised that his own mouth was still widely stretched. It was an effort, in fact, to pull his lips back into line.

‘I’ve got a hair tie somewhere.’ Lia delved into the soft leather shoulder bag she was carrying. ‘Sorry, I should have tried to arrive looking a bit more professional, shouldn’t have I?’

‘You weren’t to know there’s a cyclone brewing.’ Jack turned to her after shaking Matt’s hand. ‘I’m Jack Richards.’

‘Oh...you’re my pilot.’ The search for the hair tie was abandoned as Lia took his hand. ‘Awesome. I’m looking forward to working with you.’

‘You’re the paramedic?’

Sam didn’t mean to sound so astonished. He deserved the look he got from both the newcomers. Even Jack’s eyebrows shot up. In just a few words he’d managed to make it sound like he not only had a prejudice against male nurses but that he didn’t think females were up to the kind of dangerous work that helicopter paramedicine could throw at them. He didn’t think either of those things. If he was really honest, the tone had probably come from disappointment more than surprise, and what was that about? Even the nurses tucked safely away in the hospital were not immune to Jack’s charm, so what chance did Lia have?

Good grief... Was that oddly unsettling flash something other than disappointment? Jealousy, even?

‘Sam didn’t get the memo.’ Jack was trying to rescue him. ‘And, I have to admit, it’s the first time we’ve had a female paramedic as a FIFO.’

‘First time for a male nurse, too?’ Matt was smiling. ‘Good thing we’ve come, then, isn’t it, Lia? Time the glass ceilings were broken around here.’

They all laughed, which broke the awkwardness. The distraction of having to check the delivered supplies off against the order form took a few more minutes and by the time the FIFOs’ luggage was brought out from the back of the compartment, Sam was ready to make amends for his faux pas.

‘It is a good thing,’ he told Matt as the new nurse retrieved his backpack. ‘We’re trying to encourage more islanders to train as nurses and you’ll be a role model that might open a few eyes. How would you feel about dropping into the high school over on Atangi and giving a bit of a career talk?’

‘I’m up for anything,’ Matt said. ‘I love my job and I’d be only too happy to encourage the lads.’

‘Hey...I love my job, too.’ Lia was beaming at Sam. ‘Maybe I could come and inspire the girls?’

Jack was grinning again. ‘You up for anything, too, huh?’

The flirting was unmistakeable. The flick of the long braid Lia now had her hair confined to was also an obvious message. And she could deal with more than the weather.

‘Anything professional.’ Her tone was a warning. Romance had been the last thing on her mind when she’d decided to take this job. It was the last thing on her mind any time these days, thanks to the time and emotional energy her family required. And even if she had been interested in meeting someone, it wouldn’t be Jack. She’d met his type too many times before. Dated them. Been dumped and hurt when they moved on—as they always did if it looked like the girl was getting serious.

Had she been too abrupt? Lia softened her tone. ‘I’m up for the new experience and if I like it I’ll come back next time. Sounds like the guy I’m replacing got a nasty leg fracture and won’t be back for a while.’

‘I told him paragliding was a dodgy hobby.’ Jack reached out as if he was going to offer to carry Lia’s pack but then changed his mind and adjusted his sunglasses instead.

Sam hid a smile. So Lia could look after herself.

‘Not that he wasn’t good at it.’ Jack seemed to be scanning the clouds now. ‘Just got unlucky, I guess.’

‘Lucky for me...’ Lia hoisted her backpack as if it weighed nothing. ‘Especially the timing. Who knew they paid so much more for coming here in the cyclone season?’

Sam’s inner smile vanished without a trace. The disconcerted look on Lia’s face made him realise that something of what he was feeling must be showing but he didn’t care. He had better reason than most not to care about someone to whom money was all-important, hadn’t he? He turned away.

‘Let’s go,’ he told Matt. ‘I’ll show you your accommodation and then give you a tour of the hospital.’

What had just happened there?

Lia had her backpack settled onto her shoulders and she was ready to go. Didn’t she have accommodation to see? Wouldn’t a tour of at least the emergency department of the hospital be appropriate for someone who could be delivering seriously unwell people to a place that might be short on staff experienced in dealing with resuscitation?

Maybe it had something to do with that very unsubtle attempt at flirting that had come from Jack. Of course she’d knocked him back. She was about to spend two weeks working with the man and the only relationship she wanted was a professional one, hopefully based on mutual respect and trust.

And what about that reaction to Matt being the nurse?

Lia’s high spirits dimmed a little. Was it expected to be part of the deal? Did FIFOs get paid so well because it was assumed they would provide a bonus service to men working in isolated places?

They probably did when they were working with Sam Taylor—if he was single, that was, which seemed unlikely. How many men who were that good-looking were still unattached in their midthirties, as he looked to be?

Mind you, there was something unusual about him. Something that didn’t quite fit the picture she might have expected. Something that made him look almost as if he was here by mistake.

Not like Jack, who had the rugged good looks of a pirate and a cheekiness that suggested he liked to live on the edge, which made wanting to live in an isolated place like this quite plausible. But Sam? He looked like he was playing a role—that was it. With his sun-streaked, floppy dark blond hair and blue-grey eyes, he could easily be a film star cast as a doctor in a tropical paradise.

Intriguing.

She wasn’t interested in meeting someone, she reminded herself.

But if she was, there would have been no contest between Sam and Jack, so it was probably just as well Sam hadn’t shown even a glimmer of interest in her. Quite the opposite, in fact, judging by the way he’d turned his back and walked away.

‘Looks like we’ve been abandoned.’ Jack shrugged. ‘Want to have a look at the helicopter before I give you the grand tour of everything else?’

‘Sure.’ Lia turned her head, her smile polite. ‘It’s a BK117, isn’t it? Fully specced?’

‘We’ve got everything your paramedic heart could desire. Even a portable ventilator and ultrasound.’

‘Awesome. The only other thing I need is a pilot with exceptional skill.’

‘At your service.’ Jack tugged at his fringe. ‘I might push the boundaries but I’m not about to risk killing myself or any of my crew.’ He returned her smile. ‘And, judging from your CV they sent through, you’re going to be one of the best I’ve worked with. And...um...sorry about, you know... I’m not usually a jerk. This job is my life. Maybe I got a bit overexcited about meeting someone who has the same passion.’

He wouldn’t be trying it on again, either. This time her smile was genuine. ‘We’re going to get along just fine, Jack.’ She couldn’t help turning her head to where a golf cart was sending up a cloud of dust as it carried Sam and Matt away from the airstrip. The question of how well she might be going to get on with the medical staff here was an entirely different matter.

‘Are we...um...going to have a look around the hospital some time, too?’

‘It’s our base.’ Jack nodded. ‘We hang out in the staffroom on our downtime so that we’re within coo-ee of the radio. You’ll probably get roped in to help with some of the medical stuff, I expect. We always seem to be a bit short-staffed.’

So she’d be seeing Sam again. Probably quite a lot of him.

Not that it should matter. If anything, it should be something that could be seen as a potential conflict, given the odd vibe he’d put out.

So why were her spirits lifting again?

Because she couldn’t resist a challenge? It was intriguing, that was all. She wouldn’t mind finding out how he’d ended up here and why he’d stayed.

And she’d definitely like to rub his nose in that attitude to how capable a female paramedic could be.

Yep. That would be a bonus.

And Lia was very good at rising to any challenge to prove herself.

She followed Jack towards the helicopter, which was well anchored to cope with the rising wind gusts. Not that they were likely to be flying anytime soon in these conditions, but the sooner the better, as far as she was concerned.

She could feel her fingers curling into fists.

Bring it on...

CHAPTER TWO

‘WHAT’S WITH THE white coat, Sam?’

‘It’s my doctor coat.’ The grin on his favourite nurse’s face was irritating. ‘You get to wear a uniform every day, Ana. What’s wrong with me looking a bit more professional? Besides, I never realised how useful all these pockets were. Look—I can fit my diary and phone and even my stethoscope in here...’ Sam pulled some sterile gloves from the wall dispenser and shoved those in another pocket. ‘I’m ready for anything.’

‘You look more like you’re about to front an advertisement for washing powder or something. You know...’ She dropped her voice. ‘Laboratory tests have proved Wonder Wash to be a thousand percent more effective than other leading brands.’

Sam snorted. ‘You’ve changed, Ana. You used to show a bit more respect.’

The grin widened. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a happily married woman now.’

He had to smile back. ‘You are. And it’s great. I’m really happy for you, even if you didn’t invite me to the wedding.’

‘Like you would have dropped everything and come all the way to London for a few days. It was hard enough persuading my mother to be there. And you’ll get your wedding fix soon enough.’

‘True. Is it next week that Caroline and Keanu are tying the knot?’

‘The week after. Oh...who’s this coming in with Jack?’

Sam turned his head. Sure enough, there were two people entering the wide walkway that linked the three wings of Wildfire hospital around its lush tropical garden. Something in the garden had clearly attracted Lia’s attention and they had paused as she’d pointed. Maybe she’d spotted an exotic bird near the pond in the garden’s centre. Sam found himself checking that the lapels on his white coat were sitting flat. Not that he was about to tell Ana but there was a reason he’d wanted to look particularly professional today.

‘That’s the new FIFO paramedic. She came in yesterday with the new nurse. Have you met Matt yet?’

‘Of course. He’s giving Rangi his bath.’ Her lips twitched. ‘It may take a while. There’s a lot to wash.’

‘We’ve got to try and get his weight down. The diabetes and skin sores are only going to be the start of his health issues.’

‘Mmm. I have to say it’s going to be a treat to have a male nurse on board for a while. Matt didn’t even need the winch to get Rangi out of bed.’ But Ana’s interest was elsewhere for the moment. ‘Has our new paramedic got a name?’

‘Lia...something. Sounded Italian.’

‘She looks Italian. And...gorgeous...’

It was Sam’s turn to make a sound of feigned interest but he had to turn his head again. Jack and Lia were much closer now and it was no wonder Ana was impressed.

The short shorts and wild hair he remembered from the airstrip yesterday were gone. Lia was wearing long, dark cargo pants and the black T-shirt with the red emblem of Wildfire’s rescue service. Her hair sat smoothly against her head with a complicated braid arrangement that went from her forehead on both sides to merge into a thick rope at the back.

She looked...professional.

‘Hey, Ana. This is Lia, my new crewmate. Lia, this is Anahera Kopu, one of our permanent nurses.’

‘It’s Wilson now, Jack. I got married, remember?’ Ana held out her hand to shake Lia’s. ‘You’ve got to show me how to do my hair like that. It’s amazing.’

‘It’s dead easy. And...um...congratulations? I’m guessing your wedding was recent?’

‘A couple of months ago. I just got back from London. And a honeymoon in Paris.’

‘Wow... Two places I’d love to visit.’

‘You haven’t been yet?’

‘Travelling’s never been in my budget.’ But Lia was smiling. ‘That’s why it’s so exciting to be here.’

Because it was a new country or because it was adding to the reserves in her budget? The knot of tension in Sam’s gut was as unfamiliar as the starched fabric of the coat sleeves on his bare arms. He started rolling the sleeves up a bit.

‘We’ve got an outpatient clinic to get started, Ana.’ He nodded at Lia. ‘Has Jack got you settled in all right? Happy with your accommodation?’

‘It’s fantastic. I love it. I woke up this morning and looked out at the view of the sea and all those islands and couldn’t believe how beautiful it all is.’

It wasn’t just her eyes that shone with pleasure—her whole face seemed to light up. It was impossible not to smile back.

‘Looks better on a nice day.’ He turned to Jack. ‘Are you up with the forecast? How’s that cyclone tracking?’

‘Bit too close for comfort, this one. We could be in for a rough few days.’

‘I’d better check the stocks in Emergency,’ Ana said. ‘We always get a rush on dressings and sutures and things in a cyclone. It’s amazing the debris that people can get hit with.’

‘Hettie might be able to do that when it’s quiet later. She’s on the afternoon shift, isn’t she?’

Ana nodded. ‘I’ll see how many people we’ve got in the waiting room for the clinic, then.’

‘I’d love to have a look around your emergency department,’ Lia said. ‘If that’s okay?’

In the tiny silence that followed her query Sam realised that the question had been directed at him. If he was honest, though, he’d known that already. He could feel Lia’s gaze on his skin.

‘Sure.’ He met her gaze long enough to be polite. ‘Jack knows his way around. Feel free to explore the whole—’ The sound of his telephone ringing stopped his invitation. He delved into his pocket to extract the phone from the tangle of his stethoscope and that was irritating enough to make him loop the stethoscope around his neck with one hand as he answered the call with the other.

He’d been expecting this. ‘Yes, it’s all sorted, Pita.’ He stepped away from the others and lowered his voice. ‘I’m tied up in a clinic this morning but I’ll leave it beside the radio in the staffroom. White envelope with your name on it.’

He heard a burst of laughter behind him but he kept moving as he ended his call. He had work to do and he knew the waiting room would be filling up fast. He didn’t have time for any social chitchat. His visit to the staffroom would not even include stopping to make a coffee.

Not that being busy was enough to explain the odd tension he was aware of. Maybe that had more to do with the fact that he could still feel Lia watching him as he walked away.

Déjà vu.

Lia watched Sam walking away. Maybe she would have to get used to feeling like she wasn’t overly welcome here.

She certainly needed to get over letting it get to her. She pasted a smile on her face as she turned back to Jack and Ana, but they were looking at each other.

‘What’s with the white coat? Has Sam been down in the lab already this morning or something?’

Ana shook her head. ‘Not that I know of.’ She grinned at Jack. ‘He said that he just wanted to look professional.’

Lia caught her bottom lip with her teeth to stop her saying anything. Like confessing that she had started the day in exactly the same way. The French braiding of her hair hadn’t been nearly as easy as she’d implied to Ana. It had taken ages and it had been Sam she’d been thinking of as she’d stared into the mirror and tried to perfect her professional look.

Had he done the same thing with that pristine-looking coat?

And if so...why?

To impress her?

He was still within sight on the walkway. In fact, he’d stopped in his tracks and was staring at something outside in the garden. Lia had been entranced by the flock of rainbow-coloured parrots she’d seen earlier and had had to point them out to Jack, but he’d been far less interested because it was something he saw every day so they would be unlikely to have attracted Sam’s attention, either.

‘Ana?’ Sam’s call was calm but they could all sense the urgency. ‘Grab the resus trolley, will you? I can see someone lying on the path.’

He disappeared behind the greenery of the lush shrubs hedging the walkway and Lia’s reaction was automatic. As Ana raced down the walkway to vanish through a door, Lia ran in the opposite direction—to follow Sam. She could hear the rattle of trolley wheels behind her as she pushed through the hedge to where Sam was now crouched over a sprawled figure.

‘Is he breathing?’

‘Can’t tell. Help me roll him over.’

He was a large man and it needed them both to roll him onto his back. Lia immediately tilted his head to make sure his airway was open and then she put her cheek close to his face and laid a hand on his diaphragm to feel for any air movement.

‘He’s not breathing.’

Sam had his fingers on the man’s neck. ‘There’s no pulse.’

Ana had had to go further down the walkway to find a gap to get the trolley through, and Jack was helping her, but there was no time to wait until they were there with the life pack and the bag mask. Lia already had her hands positioned in the centre of the man’s chest and she began compressions without waiting for any instruction from Sam.

‘I wonder how much downtime there’s been already.’

‘Not much, I hope. I think it was the sound of him falling that made me look over the hedge. He broke a few branches on the way down.’

She could feel Sam watching her as he spoke. Assessing her performance. Fair enough. This was a big man and it took a lot of strength to be able to make sure she was pushing hard enough to create an output from his heart. She could feel a sweat breaking out but she kept her arms straight and kept pushing. Hard and fast. At least a hundred compressions a minute, she reminded herself. And a third of the chest for their depth.

Ana threw a bag mask to Sam as she stopped the trolley. He caught it easily and in one swift movement had the mask over the man’s nose and mouth. He hooked his fingers under the chin to help press hard enough to create a good seal and then flicked a glance at Lia, who paused her compressions to allow him to squeeze the bag and deliver a couple of assisted breaths. The chest rose and fell twice and she started compressions again as soon as she saw the chest falling for the second time. Her arms were aching with the effort now but she knew she couldn’t slow down, even as Ana was cutting the man’s T-shirt to pull it clear and sticking the defibrillator pads on the side just below his heart and beneath the collarbone on the other side.

She began counting aloud to let Sam know when it was time to deliver another breath. Jack had attached the oxygen bottle to the mask.

‘Twenty-eight...twenty-nine...thirty...’ She held her hands clear as another two breaths were delivered.

The static on the defibrillator screen was settling and they could all see that their patient was in the potentially fatal rhythm of ventricular fibrillation.

‘Come and take over the airway,’ Sam instructed Ana. ‘I’ll get an IV in after the first shock.’

Lia could hear the tone of the life pack charging.

‘Stand clear,’ Sam ordered. ‘Shocking now...’

The rhythm didn’t change.

‘Do you need a break, Lia?’ Sam was pulling IV supplies from the trolley.

‘No. I’ll let you know when I do.’

‘You’re doing a good job. I’ll take over after the next shock.’

The praise was enough to banish the ache in her arms and to ignore the sting of perspiration getting into her eyes.

Clearly hampered by his white coat, Sam stripped it off and shoved it onto the bottom of the trolley. Then he moved swiftly enough to have an IV line inserted and the first dose of drugs on board before the end of the two minutes of CPR that meant another shock was due to be delivered.

‘Who is he, do you know?’ Jack asked.

‘He’s Rangi’s brother, Keoni,’ Ana said. ‘And I think he had an outpatient appointment this morning. Sam wants to test the whole family for diabetes.’

‘Stand clear,’ Sam ordered again.

Lia sat back on her heels this time, ready to move out of the way so that Sam could take over the compressions.

But this time the spike of the shock being delivered on the life-pack screen gave way to a blip of a normal beat. And then another and another.

‘He’s gagging,’ Ana said a moment later. ‘I’ll take the airway out.’

‘We’ll need a bed,’ Sam said. ‘And a few extra hands to move him.’

‘I’ll get Matt,’ Ana said, scrambling to her feet. ‘And anyone else I can find. Or do you need me here, Sam?’

Sam caught Lia’s gaze. ‘No...you go, Ana. We’re fine.’

The eye contact was only there for a moment but Lia felt like she’d passed some sort of test.

And she’d got good marks.

It was always a bonus to cheat death like this and have a successful resuscitation from a cardiac arrest but this felt even sweeter than usual. And the good marks went both ways. This success had been a team effort and Sam had shown himself to be a calm and competent leader.

‘We’ll get him into our intensive care unit,’ Sam said. ‘You may as well join us, Lia, and start your tour of the hospital with the pointy end.’

‘I’ll help you move him,’ Jack said. ‘And then maybe I should let them know that the outpatient clinic will be starting a bit late.’

‘Give Keanu a call. He can come in early and get things started.’ Sam was adjusting the wheel on the IV tubing to change the rate of fluids being delivered from the bag of saline he was holding up. His smile was wry. ‘It looks like it’s going to be another one of “those” days, all right...’

There was a gleam in his eye that suggested that those sorts of days were actually the ones he liked best and Lia found herself smiling back at him. She loved the adrenaline rush of dealing with emergencies, too. And the challenge of multi-tasking when it looked like there might be too much to handle but you knew the buzz of being able to cope was well worth the stress levels.

To be honest, smiling at Sam Taylor was no hardship. He looked so much better now that he’d discarded the formal white coat. His short-sleeved, open-necked shirt exposed tanned skin and he must have pushed his sun-streaked, floppy hair back from his forehead a few times during that intense scenario to have made it look so spiky and slightly disreputable.

And even with the wry twist to that smile, it was irresistible. What would he look like if he was really amused and those crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened? What would his laugh sound like?

Lia suspected it would be a very contagious sound. Had her early impressions been unjustified? Maybe Sam was actually quite a nice guy. He was certainly a very good doctor and that was more than enough to chase away any doubts that she might not enjoy working here.

Extra sets of hands were arriving from all corners of the hospital and Sam had more than enough to do, coordinating the helpers to lift Keoni onto the bed and arrange the equipment carefully so it didn’t get disconnected. He put the life pack on the bed between their patient’s legs so he could keep an eye on the rhythm on the screen. The bed didn’t have an IV pole attached so someone had to carry the bag of fluid high enough to keep it running. It was logical to give that task to Jack, who was the tallest person there apart from himself.

Their patient was beginning to take breaths unaided but not at a fast enough rate so he needed someone who could move alongside the bed, holding the mask in place to deliver oxygen and to assist his breathing when needed by compressing the bag attached to the mask. At any other time Sam would have asked Ana to do that because she was the most experienced nurse when it came to any protocols to do with resuscitation or post-resuscitation care. But Lia had been doing that since Ana had gone to look for extra help and she’d proved herself to be more than competent. It would be rude to push her aside and he’d invited her to come to his intensive care unit anyway.

Besides...despite how focused he was on transferring a patient who was still critical and could potentially arrest again at any moment, there was a part of his mind that was aware of appreciating Lia being there.

It wasn’t due solely to the competence she’d displayed in handling an emergency situation and it certainly wasn’t because of some masculine instinct that simply enjoyed having an attractive female nearby. Maybe it was his better nature asserting itself and being prepared to give her a chance to prove his first impression wrong.

Or maybe it had something to do with that smile...

‘If I was at home, I’d be transporting to a facility that had a cath lab,’ Lia said as they manoeuvred the bed into the walkway. ‘Do you have the capacity to do angiography here?’

‘No,’ Ana told her. ‘We’ve got a lot of things that remote hospitals might dream of having, like a CT scanner, but a cath lab would be taking things a bit too far.’

‘So how do you treat your cardiac patients?’

‘We’ll take a twelve-lead ECG,’ Sam responded. ‘And a chest X-ray. We can check cardiac enzymes and we’ll administer thrombolysis if it’s indicated.’

The sound of a wolf-whistle made him blink but he ignored it.

‘As soon as we’ve got him stable enough, we’ll arrange a fixed-wing evacuation to a hospital on the mainland that can do angiography and angioplasty. Cardiac surgery, if that’s what’s needed.’

The wolf-whistle sounded again. Frowning, he looked up from the rhythm he was watching on the screen to see Lia reaching into the pocket of her cargo pants to pull out a mobile phone.

What the heck? Okay, she was still holding the patient’s mask in place with one hand but how inappropriate could you get? Had she even been listening to the response to her query?

She was actually texting as she stepped back to let the hospital staff position the bed and hook up the equipment they now had available. Any impression he’d had of Lia’s competence and professionalism was beginning to fade and maybe that was why he gave her the challenge of interpreting the ECG trace as soon as he’d put the chest leads on and printed it off.

He stepped close enough to hold the sheet of graph paper in front of her. ‘So what do you think?’

Lia jumped and her gaze jerked up from her phone but she still had it clutched in her hand as she turned her attention to the trace.

Her scanning was as rapid as his had been.

‘Hyperacute T waves, and there’s significant ST elevation in leads V3 to V5. Looks like a sizeable anterior infarction with lateral extension.’

He wanted to test her. ‘What about the bundle branch block?’

‘There is a left bundle branch block but the ST elevation is greater than you’d expect and we’ve got Q waves here...and here...’

He hadn’t noticed how delicate her fingers were before. Long and slim, with practical, unpainted nails and no rings. Her touch on the paper was light enough not to move it but he could feel the pressure transfer itself to his own fingertips.

‘And there’s some reciprocal changes in the inferior leads,’ Lia added. ‘It’s pretty conclusive.’

He should have been impressed. He might have even told her that except for the interruption of that damned wolf-whistle again.

Her cheeks went pink. ‘Oops, sorry. I meant to put that on silent.’

Sam glared at her. ‘Maybe you could save your personal messaging for out of work hours.’

‘I’ve got the bloods done.’ Ana had a handful of test tubes. ‘Some will have to go down to the lab but do you want me to do the benchtop cardiac biomarkers?’

‘I’ll do it.’ Sam turned away from Lia. ‘Set up the tenecteplase infusion, will you? And draw up some atropine. I’m not happy with his rate. It’s sinus but it’s too slow.’

A glance from the corner of his eye as he transferred some blood to the tiny, specialised tube that would slot into the sophisticated device he was now holding in his hand showed Sam that Lia was busy texting again. Maybe she already knew that they could measure things like troponin and creatinine kinase and myoglobin, which were all markers of whether someone was having a heart attack and how large it was, but surely she should be interested to know that she would have one of these units available in the helicopter she was about to start working in?

They hadn’t been cheap but, like a fair few other items here, they were important enough for Sam to have quietly provided them from his personal funds.

Not something he would want Lia—or others, for that matter—to know. Maybe it was better that she wasn’t showing any interest or asking awkward questions.

And at least she put her damned phone away when Jack’s pager sounded an alert.

‘Looks like we’ve got a call. Come on, Lia. I’ll show you how the radio system works.’

‘Holy heck...’ The straps of her harness tightened to hold Lia in the front seat of the helicopter as it fought the wind. ‘How far have we got to go?’

‘Only another five minutes.’ Jack’s voice was reassuringly calm inside her helmet but the sidelong glance he gave her was more concerned. ‘These are pretty marginal flying conditions. You okay?’

‘Are you kidding?’ Lia laughed aloud as they slewed sideways and rocked again. ‘I love it.’

The look she got now was impressed. ‘I’ve had a few guys in that seat who’d have white knuckles by now.’

‘How will we get to patients if it gets any worse than this? Do you think the cyclone’s going to be a direct hit?’

‘It’s looking more likely. We might well have a day or two when we can’t get airborne. If that’s the case, we use boats for the closer islands. How do you go in rough seas?’

Lia grinned. ‘I quite like them, too.’

Jack shook his head, silent for a moment as he focused on controlling his helicopter. The main island of Atangi was within sight now and Lia could see that it was far more populated than Wildfire. Somewhere in that cluster of buildings was the medical centre they were heading for after getting a call from the nurse who was working there.

‘I used to ride horses way back,’ Lia said. ‘What I loved most was a good cross-country course. Boats and aircraft in a bit of rough stuff is like competing in cross-country when you never know where the next jump is or how big it’s going to be.’

‘You still ride?’

‘No. It’s not exactly an affordable hobby. Besides...’ Lia let out a whoop as they were buffeted by some particularly big turbulence. ‘I get all the excitement I need these days from my job.’

‘Yeah...’ Jack was clearly in complete agreement. ‘Let’s get this baby on the ground and hope that our patient doesn’t get airsick on the way back. If she does, it’s your job to clean up.’

‘Don’t think so, mate.’ Lia was still grinning. ‘It’s your helicopter.’

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.