believe I got it so wrong,’ she sighed. ‘I’m angry as much as anything right now. I should have seen it coming and I didn’t. OK, things haven’t been that great for a while, but whenever I tried to talk about it Simon said he was just a bit stressed by work. And I believed him.’
‘You loved him. Why wouldn’t you believe him?’
‘When I look back at the last few weeks, I just cringe. I made it so easy. I helped him.’
‘You’re a nice person, Em. The nicest person I know.’ The words were like balm to the raw patch on Emily’s heart and she was happy to let Mike’s squeeze pull her a little closer. Close enough to rest her head comfortably on his shoulder. ‘You can’t help helping people. I heard about all the hours you spent with young Lucky when you were officially off duty. You can’t tell me it was just because you didn’t want to be around to see Simon bloody Kent pack his bags and move out. You were determined that baby was going to survive, weren’t you?’
‘It was helping me survive as well,’ Emily admitted. ‘I think any patients of mine would have got a fair bit of extra attention in the last few days.’
Like they had all those years ago, when throwing herself into her career had seemed the only way forward.
‘It’s not just patients that you help, though, is it?’ The deep notes in Mike’s voice rumbled against Emily’s cheek. ‘Look at all the times you’ve let me cry on your shoulder and tried to help.’ He was silent for a few seconds and then sounded thoughtful. ‘Wasn’t it you that set me up with Kirsty? To take my mind off Trudi leaving?’
‘Sorry.’ Emily’s tone was rueful. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.’
Actually, it hadn’t seemed like that great an idea. It had just seemed…inevitable. As ordained by fate as the fact that her relationship with Simon had just morphed into an unexciting engagement. The wild desire Emily had had of suggesting herself as a replacement for Trudi was still ridiculous enough to make her blush. And still just as easy to dismiss.
Mike grunted as though in agreement. ‘Getting dumped doesn’t do wonders for your ego, does it?’
‘Trudi didn’t dump you. She cried buckets when her visa ran out.’
‘She didn’t try applying for a new one.’
‘She was going to.’
‘Yeah. Until she met that guy in Switzerland and got married a few days later.’
‘Maybe marriage was what she was looking for.’
‘Obviously.’
‘You were a bit slow off the mark, then.’
‘What?’ Emily could feel Mike stiffen. ‘I didn’t want to marry Trudi.’
‘What about Kirsty?’ Emily sat up and eyed Mike cautiously. ‘Did you want to marry her?’
‘Of course not.’ Mike grinned disarmingly. ‘She did have great legs, though.’
Emily rolled her eyes. Of course she did. So had Trudi. And Marcella. Great legs were just another item on a list that put her on a different planet from the women Mike Poulos chose.
‘So you’re not exactly devastated, then.’
‘I guess not.’ But Mike’s grin had gone. For just a fraction of a second Emily had another glimpse into eyes that weren’t shuttered by humour and realised she was seeing a part of Mike she had never been privy to before.
Maybe something good was going to come out of this whole mess. A bond of comfort in their friendship that was going both ways for the first time.
‘I am upset,’ Mike said slowly. ‘And I’m starting to wonder what the hell’s so wrong with me.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with you,’ Emily assured him. ‘You’re a great guy, Mike. Kirsty’s an idiot.’
‘Yeah.’ A familiar glint reappeared in those dark eyes. ‘She is, isn’t she? She and Simon bloody Kent should be a perfect match.’
‘How did we not see it happening right under our noses?’
‘Because it didn’t. They took off to Brisbane when they found they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.’
‘Did you know what was going on?’
‘I had my suspicions.’
‘When?’
‘The weekend before last. When you told me you were covering a night shift for Simon because he had to rush off to Brisbane.’
‘When his mother mixed up her insulin dose and put herself into a coma. What was so suspicious about that?’
‘Just that Kirsty had rung me ten minutes earlier to say she couldn’t make it back to Crocodile Creek for a day or two because her father was having some sort of crisis with his insulin dosage.’
Emily huffed at the absurdity of it. ‘Why on earth didn’t they have the imagination to come up with different stories?’
‘Because they’re both idiots,’ Mike reminded her promptly.
Her smile came much more easily this time. It wasn’t even forced. Mike smiled back at her delightedly, clearly taking the credit for having cheered her up, at least a little, but Emily looked away quickly. She couldn’t reveal just how much she was enjoying his company.
Neither could she put any real significance on some new connection she and Mike could be forging here. They were in the same boat right now, having had their respective partners run off with each other no less, but it was a very temporary thing. Michael Poulos never stayed lonely for long. It would be foolish to imagine that this almost intimate companionship would become a regular occurrence.
And right on cue, the radio on the desk opposite the couch crackled into life.
‘Cooper’s Crossing to Crocodile Creek Air Medical Service. Come in, please.’
Mike’s attention was caught instantly and completely. He jumped to his feet. ‘Where the hell is our radio operator?’
‘Someone’s got the hand-held,’ Emily pointed out, following Mike’s example and standing up.
‘Yes. I have.’
‘Oh!’ Emily whirled so fast she almost fell over. ‘Charles! I wish you wouldn’t sneak up on people like that!’
‘It’s an advantage I have no intention of losing.’ Charles Wetherby, medical director of Crocodile Creek Base Hospital, rolled his wheelchair towards the desk. ‘The battery’s low on the hand-held,’ he said. ‘That’s why I was on my way back.’
‘Cooper’s Crossing station to AMS. Are you receiving me, over?’
Charles reached for the microphone on the desk. ‘Crocodile Creek Base Hospital, receiving you loud and clear. Is that you, Jim?’
‘Yes.’
