you woke.’
‘In the night?’ She stared wonderingly out into the sunlight.
She was in the field hospital. She and Robbie seemed to have a ‘room’ to themselves.
Someone-Grady?-had lifted a flap of canvas, hooking it high so she could see the sun rising over the horizon.
Dawn…
‘I’ve been asleep?’
‘For long enough.’ He held her as he’d hold a piece of Dresden china-as if she might crack at any minute. ‘We operated on your leg last night. Compound fracture. Hell, Morag, you might have lost your leg.’
She let that sink in. It was like a story about someone else. ‘So you and Jaqui operated-as you operated on Sam.’
‘Not quite like Sam,’ he told her, and his hold on her tightened. ‘Your leg’s going to be OK. We would have sent you to Sydney but the blood supply was compromised. You’ll need another operation before you’re through, but for now…for now you’re safe.’
That was enough for the moment. He held her in silence while she absorbed what she’d been told.
Safe…
They were good words, she thought dreamily. ‘You’re safe.’ She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t in heaven. She was alive, in Grady’s arms.
And Robbie? She still had questions.
‘You’re sure Robbie’s OK?’ Her voice still seemed to be coming from a long way away.
‘He ate eggs and bacon at midnight. He’s suffered a couple of nasty lacerations and some bruising, and he’s had a huge fright, but as soon as he realised you and Hamish were OK, the whole thing started fading to an adventure.’
Good. That was good.
Why wouldn’t her sluggish mind think?
‘Hamish?’ she managed.
‘He ate eggs and bacon at midnight, toasted sandwiches at five and I think he’s complaining that he’s hungry again now. He was a little dehydrated, but he drank so much lemonade after we dragged him up that we didn’t bother putting a drip up.’
‘Oh, Grady…’
‘And the dogs are fine, too,’ he told her in a voice that was decidedly shaky. ‘The team decided they wouldn’t leave them there overnight, so Doug and Max lowered themselves over the cliff face and brought them up in harnesses. Doug took Mutt home, and William’s decided he’s going to wait a bit before he starts the antidepressants. The first couple of days’ medication can bring drowsiness, and William has too much to do to be drowsy.’
Then, at the look of sheer confusion on her face, he smiled down at her with a gentleness that turned her heart right over. ‘That’s all,’ he told her. ‘You’re barely with me, my heart. But you are with me. That’s all that matters. For now…you need to sleep.’
Sleep.
It seemed a good option to her. Even a great option. Her eyes were so tired.
But still she clung, and still he held. She could feel the beating of his heart, she thought dreamily. Her Grady…
Her heart was beating with his. What more could she ask?
Nothing.
She woke again and Grady wasn’t there. Robbie was gone from the next bed, but Louise was watching. The nurse fussed and clucked and went and heated some soup. She helped Morag drink a little then she adjusted her pillows, checked her drip and told her not to worry.
‘Robbie’s with Hamish. He’s fine. Can you believe that child? He’s scratched to pieces and an adult would be groaning for days, but William’s brought Hamish down.’
She looked confused. Why wouldn’t she look confused?
‘William’s brought Hamish down?’
‘Hamish and May are staying with William because of the dogs, and also because Hazel was so pleased. You know Hazel and May are cousins? After losing Elias, finding Hamish has cheered Hazel up like nothing else could. It’s cheered everyone up. Now the two boys and the dogs are sitting out in the sun, comparing adventures.’
Adventures… There’d been too many adventures. ‘They won’t go back onto the cliff?’
‘Are you kidding? I don’t think they ever want to see that cliff again in their lives. William’s told them if they wander from sight he’ll scalp the pair of them, and they’ve promised. You know they’re kids who keep their promises.’
They were, too. But…
‘Grady.’ She was thinking aloud. ‘Where’s Grady?’
‘He’s at the town meeting. Like everyone else except Irene and me-we’re keeping the hospital running.’ She gave a tight, distracted smile, and her pleasure in talking of the little boys faded a little. ‘Which is just as well. Someone has to.’
‘The meeting.’ Morag’s mind focused sharply. ‘Oh, no, the meeting… Louise, I need to be there.’
‘Right, so you can just pick up your bed and leave? I don’t think so.’ The nurse smiled and started to fit a blood-pressure cuff. ‘Stop your worrying, girl,’ she told her. ‘You’ve been doing too much worrying. About everyone. And now Grady’s worrying about you, and William’s worrying about you, and Marcus and May and Hazel and just about everyone else on the island.’
‘But-’
‘You know you’ve got a really nasty fracture of your leg?’ Louise sounded as if she was scolding. ‘Jaqui and Grady worked like fury to try and re-establish a blood supply, and you’re dead lucky your leg didn’t to go the way of Sam’s. So if you think you can just get up and keep going, you’re gravely mistaken.’
‘I must,’ she said in distress. ‘The island… If I’m out of action they’ll evacuate the island and we’ll never return.’
Louise’s kindly face clouded. ‘I don’t know about that,’ she said stolidly. ‘But there’s nothing you and I can do about it, and worrying won’t help. So how about I call Irene to double-check the drugs, and we’ll give you the injection Dr Reece ordered? That’ll stop the pain and let you settle back to sleep. I’d imagine when you wake up, everything will be decided.’
‘Everything will be over.’
Louise pursed her lips and turned to call Irene. ‘Wait and see.’
Morag did sleep. Her body gave her no choice. She drifted in and out of a drug-induced stupor all through that long afternoon.
When she woke, the flap of the tent was closed. She could no longer see the sea, and the light was starting to fade.
She winced and groaned a little as the pain in her leg caught. But that wasn’t what was worrying her. The effects of the morphine had receded, her mind was clear and she was faced with the overwhelming realisation that she’d missed the meeting.
And she was injured. She understood enough of the injury to her leg to know she’d be off work for many weeks. The island would have no medical officer, and that’d be the death knell to the island. The decision about the island’s future was a foregone conclusion.
‘It’s about time you woke up.’
She twisted and Grady was at the entrance to her makeshift ward.
‘Hi, Morag,’ he told her, and he was smiling. What a smile. It was a smile to make her catch her breath. ‘We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for ages. Welcome to your future.’
Her future. What on earth was he talking about? She tried hard to focus, tried to see…
Who?
