‘I’m finished.’
‘Finished?’ He frowned. ‘Two lacerations, a broken arm and a sprained ankle?’
‘I’ve strapped two fractures.’
‘Nothing else?’
She hesitated. ‘They did lose some of their people. There’s nothing we can do there.’
‘But there’s no serious injuries.’
‘Once again, not…not that we can do anything about.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Two of the old people are badly injured,’ she told him. ‘One of the elderly men has a compressed skull fracture. He’s deeply unconscious and his breathing’s starting to weaken already. And there’s an old woman with a fractured hip.’
He stared. ‘So what are you going to do about it?’
‘Nothing,’ she said simply. She was collecting gear and tossing it into the back of the truck. Then she relented. ‘No. I have been allowed to do something. I’ve left enough painkillers so Zai will drift toward death in peace.’
‘For a broken hip?’ he asked incredulously. ‘We can take her back. Set it. And the compressed fracture-we could alleviate pressure-’
‘You know as well as I do that if there’s been pressure on the brain for twenty-four hours, the damage will be irreversible. And Zai…yeah, you’re right, we could operate. But that means a trip to Sydney. She’d be in hospital for weeks, facing rehabilitation. She can’t do that.’
‘How fragile is she?’
‘Not very.’
‘Then why can’t she do it?’
‘She’d die,’ Morag said simply. ‘You put Zai in a Western hospital ward and she’d die of shock and terror.’
‘So she’ll die anyway?’
‘Yes,’ she said flatly. Dully. ‘Of course she will. She knows that. But at least she’ll die out here, surrounded by her people and the way of life that’s been hers for ever. It’s the way she wants it, Grady, and I’m not about to argue.’
‘You can’t just-’
But he wasn’t allowed to continue. ‘Yes, I can,’ she snapped. ‘Of course I can. These people have a way of life that I respect, and that way of life has nothing to do with the customs we hold dear. If this island’s deemed uninhabitable…’
‘They’ll be resettled. Maybe they’d be better off on the mainland.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Why not? At least they’d have medical facilities.’
‘They have medical facilities now,’ she said in a savage undertone that was laced with pain. It hadn’t been easy, he guessed. To walk away from a patient she could have helped. ‘They have me. I’ve worked so hard to get their trust, and I’m succeeding. OK, it’s a tiny bit at a time, but I’m allowed to help the children. They call me now if a mother gets into major trouble during childbirth, and that’s a huge concession. Even though I’ve no specific obstetric training, I can often help. And I’m certainly better than nothing.’
She gazed up at him, her eyes troubled, trying to make him see. ‘They can’t be isolated from our world for ever,’ she admitted. ‘But they can be assimilated ever so carefully, ever so gently, so they can preserve the values and traditions they value while taking the best of ours.’
‘But to leave her to die… Morag, surely you don’t believe-’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. Leave me be!’ He was suddenly aware that there were tears welling up in her eyes and she swiped them away with an angry gasp. ‘Do you think I like not being allowed to treat Zai? Don’t you think I mind that an old lady I’ve known and respected since my father brought me out here twenty years ago is dying out there among the palms? And do you think I haven’t thought these issues through again and again? Of course I have. But you…you’re going to hold a public meeting in the next few days. I know you are. Marcus told me that’s what the plan is. Give us a day or so to appreciate how deeply we’re in trouble, and then you and the rest of the bureaucrats you work with are going to say close down that island, take these people to the mainland-they’ll be better off. As if you know anything at all…’
She broke off. She gave an angry sniff and then another, but as he made a move to touch her she backed away as if his touch would burn.
‘Don’t touch me. We have to get back to town.’
‘Morag-’
‘Just…leave it. I’ve just said goodbye to two people I love. Leave me alone to get over it. You wouldn’t know what that’s like, Grady Reece. You fly to the rescue, you do your dramatic thing and then you leave everyone else to pick up the pieces.’
‘Morag…’
She gulped. ‘I’m…I’m sorry,’ she managed. ‘That’s not fair. You’ve been…you’ve been an enormous help and I’m incredibly grateful. But can you imagine what sort of lives these people will lead if they’re transplanted to the mainland? Can you?’ She shook her head. ‘No. I’m sorry. You can’t have thought… And why would you? This isn’t your business, Grady. Just leave me be to come to terms with it.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THEY drove back to the village in unbroken silence. There were eggshells everywhere, Grady thought ruefully, and he wasn’t sure where to tread. Where to go to from here?
Back to Sydney? Of course. In a couple of days. When the disaster was over.
Or when the disaster was just beginning…
He couldn’t afford to think like that, he told himself. Could he?
In the meantime, silence seemed the only option.
They arrived back at the field hospital just as Lucy was being prepared for the helicopter flight to the mainland. Jaqui had been looking after her, and as Morag appeared in the hospital entrance, Jaqui looked up in relief.
‘Lucy was hoping you’d be back before she left.’
‘I’ve been out at the settlement,’ Morag told the teenager.
‘Are there more deaths out there?’ Lucy whispered, and Morag took her hand and squeezed. Grady stood back with Jaqui, watching in still more silence. He was starting to feel impotent. There was nothing he could do. Nothing!
‘There are,’ Morag told her.
‘My dad’ll hate it.’ Lucy hesitated. ‘Nargal?’
‘Nargal’s fine.’ She smiled, and turned to include Jaqui and Grady. ‘Nargal shows Lucy’s father the best place to fish. Lucy’s dad found Nargal after his canoe was upended in a storm twenty years ago. Peter spent the night out searching when everyone else had given up. By the time he found him, Nargal had almost reached the end-he was far gone with hypothermia. But Peter brought him back and Nargal’s been good to him ever since.’ She hesitated and then turned back to Lucy. ‘Nargal says his men are out looking for Hamish.’
‘Everyone’s looking for Hamish.’ The girl’s voice broke on a sob. ‘I should be.’
‘No. You shouldn’t.’ Morag ran her fingers down Lucy’s face. ‘You’ve lost skin all down your chest, your arm’s broken and you’re in no fit state to do anything but recuperate.’ She motioned back to Grady and Jaqui. ‘You know these two are part of the country’s top Air-Sea Rescue team. If they can’t find Hamish, no one can. We have hundreds of people combing the island and the sea.’
‘He’ll be drowned.’
‘If he is,’ Morag said gently, ‘then it’s even more important that you be with your parents. They’ll be going out of their minds, Lucy. I know you can’t do anything here, but you can be with them and, believe me, it’s the most important thing. When you can’t do anything else, you give yourself.’
Hell.
Grown men weren’t supposed to cry.
