it, especially as they’d seemed to settle into a truce of sorts and were working together quite well.
Because she’s got under your skin.
He turned his attention to the examination of Jimmy’s right kidney. It was the organ closest to the liver and as the liver had been nicked, there might be damage there. The kidney came into focus.
‘Flynn, he’s got gross haematuria, his urine is pink. Can you see signs of bleeding on the ultrasound?’ Mia’s voice carried across the room.
He tilted his head. ‘Come and look at this.’ He pointed to the image of Jimmy’s right kidney, which showed a small tear at the top. ‘It’s sliced through the top of the kidney, torn the liver and come to a halt.’
She leaned in close and he caught the scent of sun and sand, with a hint of the heady perfume of frangipani. He stifled the urge to breathe in more deeply.
‘Will he need surgery to repair the tears?’
He kept his eyes on the screen, checking he hadn’t missed anything. ‘I think that the haematoma will stop the bleeding. To a certain extent it already has because his pressure’s steadied and the kidney and liver should heal just fine on their own.’
‘So we can remove the spear tip safely now without fear of causing a big bleed?’
He turned to face her. ‘We can.’
‘That’s excellent news.’ Happiness for their patient radiated from her and her face glowed. ‘After a few days of close monitoring he’ll be back kicking the footy.’
Flynn deliberately looked away from her smile, trying to stall the rush of blood to his groin. He caught sight of the protocol handbook resting on the desk. Written by bureaucrats in Darwin and issued to every new health-care worker, Mia must have been reading it before Jimmy’s arrival. ‘Technically, the clinic doesn’t allow for overnight stays and any major medical emergency should be evacuated.’
Again Mia frowned, the bridge of her nose wrinkling. ‘Surely he’d be better off here close to his family. I’m happy to nurse him and you’re on the island if his condition unexpectedly deteriorates.’ Her eyes suddenly teased. ‘I’ll toss you for the three a.m. to five shift.’
He smiled broadly. ‘You’re on.’ He couldn’t believe his luck—she knew her medicine and she was prepared to bend the rules. The Kirri people hated leaving the island and Ruby would be out of her depth in Darwin.
‘For two firstborns, we seemed to manage that pretty well, didn’t we?’ She spoke quietly, suddenly serious.
The look in her deep aqua eyes whipped him hard in the gut. A look that was devoid of any grandstanding, the look that was completely inclusive and said loudly, We’re a team.
A team. She was right—they had worked well together. He should be thrilled that after all this time he was finally working with a RAN who wanted to be a team player because that would make his working life so much easier. But a leaden feeling settled in his gut and thrilled didn’t come close to describing it. He ran his hand through his hair, his brain scrambling to make sense of his feelings.
She’s just an average nurse like every other one you’ve met, worked with and forgotten.
But there was nothing average about Mia and that was the problem.
CHAPTER THREE
FLYNN walked over to the clinic from his residence, smelling the salt lingering on the early Saturday morning air, and breathed in deeply, savouring the freshness. Not one breath of wind rippled the trees and he knew the sea would be flat and calm—an ideal morning to go fishing.
He had a patient to see and a patient to hopefully discharge and then the day was his, emergencies notwithstanding. He’d ask around and perhaps drive up to the north of the island and see if anyone was heading out to fish. He could do with a day away from the clinic.
A day away from Mia. He needed to clear his mind.
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He should have taken the three to five a.m. shift for all the sleep he’d got. Images of Mia had floated through his mind despite him trying to shut them out, despite practising deep breathing and attempting relaxation. Hell, he’d come to these islands to avoid women and life had been easy. He wasn’t going to let one nurse change that.
As he pushed the clinic door open he heard Jimmy calling out.
‘Mia, is there more toast?’
Relief settled over him. He’d made the right decision in not evacuating Jimmy. A boy with a healthy appetite was a great sign.
Mia appeared from the kitchen holding a tray with cereal, milk and fruit. ‘Good morning.’ A warm smile tinged with familiar tension washed across her face. ‘I hope you ate breakfast at home because the way Jimmy is eating, my supplies are dwindling at a rapid rate.’
Her tinkling laugh spun around him, pulling at him with its intoxicating, sweet sound. For a woman who’d been up half the night she had no right to look so fresh and alluring. Her face, free from make-up, shone with a healthy glow, and her hair framed her cheeks, not yet pulled back into its usual neat ponytail.
He’d called into the clinic at three a.m. but Jimmy had been stable and sleeping and she’d sent him away, promising to catch a few hours’ sleep herself. He took the tray from her. ‘I learned the hard way and now I have a secret stash of food.’
‘Ah, yet another trick of remote medicine I have to learn.’ She pulled a tiny spiral notebook and pencil out of her pocket and wrote ‘Food supplies’ in it, under a list of other short notes, the bridge of her nose creasing in concentration.
The action surprised him. He’d understand if she wrote down a reminder for a drug order or something related to work, but some extra food?
She caught him staring at her and she quickly flicked the notebook closed, jamming it back in her pocket as if caught out doing something wrong. ‘Let’s give the boy round three of his breakfast.’
Jimmy sat crossed-legged on the bed, crumbs scattered all around him.
‘Is that all that’s left of three slices of toast and Vegemite?’ Mia teased as she brushed away the crumbs. ‘I had a brother who had hollow legs like you. He used to eat and eat and eat.’
Flynn slid the tray onto the over-bed table, wondering about the words ‘had a brother’. Wouldn’t people normally say, ‘My brother used to have hollow legs like you’? ‘Tuck into this, mate, and then I’ll come back and have a look at your dressing, OK?’
Jimmy bit into a yellow banana and nodded as Flynn motioned for Mia to leave the room with him.
He strode into the kitchen and plugged in the coffee-machine. ‘I need a cappuccino—what about you?’
‘That sounds great.’ Mia cut two slices of hearty wholemeal bread and dropped them into the toaster. ‘So, will Jimmy be discharged home to rest today or do you want to keep him in a bit longer so that his wound can be kept clean and dry?’
Flynn glanced
