for calling the undertaker. If it hadn’t been for Tess, you’d be pushing up daisies by now.’
‘So, what happened?’
‘We couldn’t evacuate you,’ Bill told him. ‘The weather was foul and no helicopter could get in, even if there had been enough time to get you to a major hospital or get a surgeon flown in here. Which there wasn’t. And here you were, losing blood like a stuck pig. Tessa was pouring in plasma but it wasn’t nearly enough. You were dying under her hands. So she said…she said she was going in.’
‘But… How the hell…?’
‘That’s what we all said,’ Bill said grimly. ‘You’ve got no idea… There was me and Hannah and Louise and Tess and Strop-all standing around staring at each other like helpless dummies. We were pouring in blood but we were still losing you. And then Tess said we had nothing to lose so who was going to do the anaesthetic?
‘And I just gaped at her-but Hannah said she’d have a go if Tess told her everything to do. Hannah’s such a poke-nose-there’s nothing she misses and she’s been a theatre nurse in the city. So Tess took a deep breath and says great and not to worry because it might be the first time Hannah’s given an anaesthetic but it’s also the first time Tessa’s ever been a surgeon. Which, you can imagine, made us feel a whole heap better…’
‘Yeah?’ Mike was trying hard to concentrate here. The pethidine was making him drift in and out of reality, but he was getting the gist of it. ‘So…’
‘So Tess rings Melbourne,’ Bill said. ‘You should have heard her. Bossy? You wouldn’t believe it. She organised a phone link with two specialists, one for her and one for Hannah-one anaesthetist and one specialist surgeon. They link up. We use that teleconferencing line you put in, where we talk hands-free. I turn up the volume so both Hannah and Tess can talk and the two specialists can listen and throw in advice as needed.
‘Maybe Tess could have advised Hannah on the anaesthetic-she did a bit and kept her eye on her-but she’s got her hands full with what she’s doing to you.’
Bill shook his head, and the tone of his voice indicated that what had happened was still unreal to him. ‘We had every nurse in the place back in here,’ he said. ‘There were people taking blood donations and helping in the wards and in the theatre. Everybody wanted to help.’ He gave a rueful grin.
‘And for those who weren’t needed and knew what was going on, Father Dan ran a special Mass. Tess said go right ahead, she needed every ounce of help she could get and she’d accept it from any direction she could. Oh, and Strop sat outside the kitchen door and howled.’
‘But she did it,’ Mike said faintly.
‘Yeah. She did it. You know you arrested on the table?’
‘You’re kidding.’
‘Nope. Hannah nearly died as well, she was so frightened, but Tess stayed calm. Stopped what she was doing-had me hold the clamps-and put on the electrodes. Jump-started you. Got the heartbeat going, reassured Hannah and then calmly went back to stitching the damned ulcer up. She did it like a professional, and the surgeon advising her told me afterwards that he doubted if he’d have stayed as calm as she was.’
And then Bill gave a rueful smile.
‘Maybe she wasn’t all that calm, though,’ he said grimly. ‘After it was all over and you’d opened your eyes and she’d seen you might make it…well, I went outside and she was throwing her guts up. Vomiting like it was she who’d had the ulcer and not you. You put her through the hoops, boyo, and that’s the truth.’
‘Hell.’
‘It was all of that.’ Bill’s smile softened and he gripped Mike’s hand. ‘All of that and more. Its bloody good to have you back. But Tess…’
‘Yeah?’ It seemed there was something else on Bill’s mind but he was having trouble saying it.
‘Well…’ Bill shrugged and then dived straight in. ‘When I was helping her clean herself up she told me you won’t marry her because she interferes with your medicine. Crying her eyes out when she said it. Of all the stupid things… She interferes with your medicine? Without her loving you… Without her worrying enough to practically kick your apartment door down, without her taking risks you wouldn’t believe and laying her professional reputation on the line…way beyond the call of duty… Well, without Tessa, you’d be giving this community no medicine at all. Never again. You’d be one more statistic for the graveyard.’
‘Tessa?’
‘Mmm.’
White-coated and efficient, Tessa had breezed into his ward, Hannah behind her. She picked up his obs chart and beamed at what she saw. ‘This is great,’ she said. ‘You know, we might start you on solids tomorrow.’
‘No eggs and bacon, though.’ Hannah grinned and Tessa smiled her agreement.
‘You’re right, Nurse. No eggs and bacon. We might try a little jelly and-’
‘Tessa!’
‘Sorry, Mike. Were you trying to say something?’ Tessa raised her eyebrows and gave him her entire attention- just like a really polite general surgeon.
‘Yes. Can we have a minute alone?’
‘I’m afraid Hannah and I are really busy.’ She smiled again. ‘You understand we have the entire medical needs of the valley on our shoulders. We can’t let our personal lives interfere.’
‘Yes?’ Once again that polite enquiry, though a twinkle lurked behind those green eyes.
‘I need to ask you something.’
‘Ask away.’
‘Alone!’
‘I’m sorry.’ She smiled benignly. ‘You, of all people, must know it’s professionally unwise for a lady doctor to be alone with a male patient. Hannah’s my chaperon.’
Hannah beamed. Goaded, Mike could only stare. Hannah had come right out of her shell. What she’d done had shed years of bitterness from her shoulders. The nurse was practically giggling.
‘You don’t need a chaperon,’ he managed.
‘Remind me to tell you what I need some day,’ Tess said gently. ‘I think I have in the past, but you haven’t listened. Now…is there anything I can do for you?’
‘Yes.’ He glowered. ‘I want you to marry me.’
‘Oh, is that all?’ Her brow cleared, and the twinkle came back. Behind the laughter there was joy. ‘I think we could organise that. Hannah, when you go back to the nurses’ station, could you see if you could find a time in my diary…?’
‘Tess-’
‘We wouldn’t want it to interrupt the medical needs of the community, now, would we?’
‘Tess-’
‘Must go,’ she said airily, breezing out. ‘But, of course, I’ll marry you. Anything to oblige, Dr Llewellyn. Anything to keep my patients happy.’
It was two days before he could get a serious answer. For two days she either had Bill or Louise or Hannah at her side, and he was almost going crazy.
Finally he caught her. It was midnight. He’d been dozing, half-asleep, a state he’d been in constantly since his operation as his body started to recover. He heard the door open gently, the slit of light enlarged and he heard soft footsteps coming toward the bed.
Silence. He closed his eyes.
Whoever it was bent over him. He would recognise that smell anywhere. His hand came out and grasped her wrist before she had a chance to pull away.
‘Nice,’ he growled. ‘Stay.’
‘Mike…’
All of a sudden, Tessa’s voice sounded really unsure. Mike’s eyes widened. He brought his other hand up to grasp her other wrist, and he pulled her down closer.
‘I’ve been wanting you so much.’
‘I don’t know why. You’re not much use to me like you are.’ Tess managed a soft chuckle and motioned to the tubing around his bed. ‘All wired up.’
