and got Pete settled on a stretcher before pushing it into the ambulance.
‘What’s it like out there?’ Steve asked.
Out of the corner of her eye Phoebe could see Bluey hooking Pete up to the oxygen and a saline drip but her attention had again drifted to the firefighter and she couldn’t seem to tear herself away.
‘Not good. The fire’s several kilometres wide and this wind’s not helping. We haven’t got it under control but it hasn’t broken the containment lines.’
From his erect posture to the carriage of his head through to his strong voice, he exuded confidence. In fact, since he’d arrived on the scene she hadn’t worried about the fire. Everything seemed more controlled now.
‘I’ll leave you to it, then.’ He nodded at them both before turning back to the MFS car. As he walked away Phoebe realised she didn’t know his name and then wondered why that mattered. She had other things to worry about. She hopped into the ambulance and began to examine Pete’s knee.
‘Anyone know if Kerry and the girls got out OK?’ Pete was asking after his family.
‘We haven’t heard of any problems but I’ll check on that for you,’ Steve replied. ‘Would they have reported in at the police station?’
‘They should have—that’s always the plan.’
‘No worries, then. I’ll find out.’
Phoebe ran her hands over Pete’s knee. It was quite swollen and tender on palpation over the medial aspect and seemed quite unstable when she tested the cruciate ligament, but he didn’t complain of pain with that test.
‘Looks like you’ve done some ligament damage, probably involving your cartilage, too, and I suspect your anterior cruciate ligament is ruptured.’
‘That went a long time ago,’ Pete said. ‘An old football injury. But the pain on this side is new.’
‘I reckon you’ll live but you won’t be fighting any more fires today.’
‘What about the house?’
‘The MFS and the CFS are there, you’ll just have to trust them to do their jobs. We need to get you back to town,’ Phoebe said as she wrapped an icepack around his knee before checking his oxygen sats.
‘Kerry and the girls are fine.’ Steve reported. ‘Kerry’ll meet you at the hospital. Ken and Bluey will take you in—they’re due for a break.’
The two-way radio crackled into life as Phoebe tightened the straps to secure Pete to the stretcher. Steve took the call, interrupting Phoebe. ‘We gotta go. Bill Chappell’s had a suspected heart attack.’ She raced back to the other ambulance, jumping into the passenger seat as Steve turned around, heading up the hill, heading into the smoke and towards the fire.
‘Where is he?’
‘Still at home. We can get through past Pete’s place.’ The reduced visibility hindered their speed and Steve turned the siren on to alert any other vehicles to their presence.
Once again, Phoebe was aware of her heart rate increasing with every metre they advanced towards the fire. She knew from the emergency services controllers that they weren’t in any immediate danger yet the conditions were making her nervous. She took a deep breath but that only made matters worse as she got a lungful of smoke-tainted air. She took another long drink of water and tried mentally reciting her French verbs. As a distraction technique it was quite successful and she was just beginning her second run-through when Steve turned into Bill’s driveway.
Maureen Chappell met them at the front door and gave them a quick summary of Bill’s medical history as they made their way to the lounge room where their patient was slumped in a chair. His breathing was shallow, his complexion grey and his skin was coated with a sheen of perspiration—in short, he didn’t look the picture of health.
Maureen had told them Bill was complaining of left chest pain, extending down his left arm. Phoebe administered a quick dose of GTN spray under Bill’s tongue while Steve recorded his obs.
Phoebe unbuttoned Bill’s shirt and applied the sticky electrodes for the portable ECG machine as Steve ran an oxygen line to the mask he placed over Bill’s mouth and nose. Together they set up a saline drip and while Steve waited to see if Bill’s condition stabilized, Phoebe returned to the ambulance to fetch the stretcher. Bill had suffered episodes of angina in the past and the safest place for him at the moment was in hospital.
The return trip to Hahndorf, with Phoebe driving, took less than twenty minutes but in that time several fire engines passed them on the road as they headed out to the fires. Each time one passed by Phoebe found herself looking into the trucks, looking for a glimpse of the unknown fireman.
After delivering Bill into the care of the nurses at the hospital, Phoebe and Steve returned to the station for their scheduled break. The combined fire and ambulance station was one block from the hospital on the edge of town, but even as they travelled that short distance Phoebe continued to search the streets for the tall, dark fireman. She knew she was being ridiculous. He wouldn’t be wandering the streets, he’d be out there, risking his life to save others, but the idea she might never see him again filled her with unexpected despondency.
Steve parked the ambulance and Phoebe stretched as she climbed from her seat. She was filthy, tired and hungry but she knew a shower was pointless as she’d be back out in the heat and smoke soon enough. Dumping her language discs and textbooks on a table, she headed straight for the change rooms. Ripping open the Velcro closures on her fireproof jumpsuit and stripping down to her singlet top, she decided she’d have to be content with a quick wash. Feeling slightly refreshed, she left the top of her suit dangling from her waist as she walked along the passage back to the kitchen to grab a sandwich. Her stomach rumbled at the thought and she was so focussed on her mission she didn’t look where she was going and collided with someone in the passage.
Hands reached out to steady her and she started to apologise, but when she saw who it was the words caught in her throat. Tall, dark and way too attractive.
He was back.
CHAPTER TWO
‘SORRY.’ Phoebe eventually managed to murmur an apology.
‘My fault. Are you OK?’ His eyes ran over her body. She knew it was his reaction to the collision but it made her heart race all the same. She cursed her fair skin as she felt a blush steal across her cheeks. She was never normally at a loss for words but she just stood there, staring at him. ‘Did I hurt you?’
Phoebe searched for a reply. His hands were still holding her upper arms, making coherent thought difficult. ‘No, no.’ Her gaze met his and again she felt a sense of familiarity. He held her gaze. Was there a flicker of recognition from him too or was that her over-active imagination?
His lips parted, he was about to speak. She knew she hadn’t sounded convincing but she wasn’t hurt, only momentarily stunned. ‘I’m fine. Really,’ she said as she stepped back, forcing him to release her so she could flee to the kitchen where there was safety in numbers. She knew she was being completely absurd, running away from the very person she’d been trying to find all afternoon, but until she could get her ridiculous reaction under control she couldn’t be trusted around him. Not if she didn’t want him to think her a complete idiot.
She
