CHARLI fell into step beside Logan. ‘Do you often do retrievals?’ she asked as they headed out of the hospital.
‘Yes.’
‘What about the hospital? Aren’t you supposed to be on duty?’
‘This hospital is split into two sections, medical and surgical. As I’ve been trained in retrieval techniques, it’s better that I go. One of the surgical interns will take care of A and E until I’m back.’
‘A and E?’
‘Accident and Emergency. Same as ER.’
‘Right. So, you can do that? Just like that? No forms? No red tape? You can just head out on retrieval?’
‘You got it.’ He smiled as they headed out to the ambulance. ‘A bit different from your large American hospitals, eh?’
‘Very different.’
Logan found Bruce and they set off. Charli was sitting in between the two of them and his awareness of her sparked his hormones into overdrive. Just the feel of her thigh, pressing against his, was enough to knock him completely off balance. Focusing his mind on work, he worked hard to answer the questions Charli was asking about the district. How many callouts did the ambulance get? What type of retrievals had they been on? How did they cope with limited facilities at the hospital?
‘You’re almost as bad as Owen,’ Logan said with a laugh. ‘Asking questions, thirsty for knowledge. I wonder if you’re like this all the time?’
Charli glanced at him and smiled sheepishly. It was then Logan realised she was as aware of him as he was of her and the questions were a way to keep her mind occupied. He decided to follow suit and ask her a few questions about her working environment.
‘Doesn’t working in a big hospital and having to always be aware of red tape, cost-effectiveness and so on bother you?’
‘No. Actually, it doesn’t. I have a good team beside me and have learned how to number-crunch to my advantage.’
The instant the words were out of her mouth, Charli gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Logan smiled.
‘There’s another bit of information to file away about you. You know how to dwiddle the numbers.’
‘I never said that and I don’t even know what dwiddle means, you crazy Australian.’ She giggled with delight, like a child unwrapping another layer of a large present. How did he do it? How did he know the right time to ask questions and get answers to come automatically out of her mouth? Was it Logan…or was she starting to remember more? She frowned and thought hard. While she’d been speaking to Logan, she’d been able to picture her office at the hospital, picture the accountant assigned to her department, picture her senior registrar. She thought harder—but she couldn’t remember their names. She’d never been good at names. Numbers, statistics, surgical methods—not a problem. But names? Forget it…And she often did. She smiled, pleased she’d remembered something else about herself, and this time she’d remembered without prompting!
Bruce was starting to slow down and she realised they’d arrived at their destination. She noticed a police car was parked beside a ranger four-wheel-drive.
‘Is that Wil’s car?’
‘Sure is.’ Logan waited for Bruce to stop the ambulance before he climbed out, holding the door for Charli. ‘Who’s the ranger on duty, Bruce?’
‘Tom,’ he answered.
‘Good. Tom’s got a good head on his shoulders.’
Bruce radioed Tom to get directions to the bushwalkers’ location. Tom radioed back what injuries he’d found on one of the men. ‘Halley and Max are on their way out as well,’ Tom’s voice said through the UHF radio.
‘Reinforcements are always good.’ Logan smiled at Charli and she had to force her mind back into medical mode—it was the only part of her life she was one hundred per cent certain of. Helping Logan today had helped her immensely and now she had the opportunity to use her skills to help other people.
They climbed into retrieval overalls, put on helmets with lights attached and sorted out who was carrying which medical supplies. She was glad that, whatever had been happening in her life before yesterday morning, she’d worn decent lace-up shoes. It helped when she had to follow in Bruce’s footsteps—Logan behind her—as they made their way down to where their patients were.
‘Not too much farther,’ Logan said as they started to descend into a small gorge.
‘I now know why you have all your medical supplies in backpacks,’ Charli muttered as she placed her hand on a rock to steady her descent.
Logan chuckled behind her. ‘A different way of life. That’s one of the things I love about being out here. You need your wits about you the whole time.’
‘Are you saying you improvise with your medical care?’
‘When the need arises, yes.’
She glanced over her shoulder at him, surprised but pleased at the same time.
‘What? You don’t improvise from time to time? Even in the big city?’
Charli smiled and turned back to concentrate on what she was doing. ‘I think every doctor needs to, to a certain extent, but a few of my colleagues are strictly by-the-book people.’
‘That’s not always a bad thing.’
‘I’m glad you said that, Logan, because I think I’m one of those people.’
Logan chuckled at her words and she wished he hadn’t. The sound washed over her in glorious waves of happiness. She felt as though she could talk to him about anything.
‘They should be around here.’ Logan stopped, cupped his hands around his mouth. ‘Cooee!’ he called, then waited.
‘Cooee!’ came an answering call.
‘This way,’ he said.
‘Why didn’t you just use the radio?’
‘No need. We can pinpoint from following the direction the sound came from. They’ll also know where we are and how much closer we’re getting.’
‘Oh.’ Charli thought it through and realised it made sense. A few minutes later, Wil came through a thick clump of trees, almost scaring her. She jumped back and felt Logan’s arms go about her waist to steady her. Charli gasped.
‘Er…sorry…Charli. Didn’t mean to scare you,’ Wil apologised.
She sucked in air to her lungs, desperately trying to steady her heartbeat, which had nothing to do with Wil startling her and everything to do with Logan’s touch. An overpowering shock had travelled through her body, leaving her slightly breathless. She edged away and he dropped his hands, but it took a few minutes after they’d moved on, back the way Wil had come, before her heartrate returned to almost normal.
They finally arrived where the first bushwalker had gone over. Wil and Tom had set up lights to illuminate the area. Tom was busy rigging up extra abseiling ropes to a stretcher, which was attached to what looked like a small crane.
‘Ah, the cavalry has arrived.’
Logan introduced him to Charli and Tom set about briefing them.
‘Three bushwalkers set out late this afternoon for a walk out here to Redman Bluff. Unfortunately, it appears they weren’t too experienced and didn’t take the proper precautions. The ranger helicopter found them after the alarm was raised when they didn’t return to their camping ground. All three have gone over the bluff. Two are on the same ledge, the third is on a lower level. Max and Halley are on their way out and will probably be in time to take the first two casualties off your hands,’ he said to Logan.
‘Good.’
‘We’ll get you hooked up to a harness and then attached to the Larkin frame here.’ Tom put his hand on the small winch. ‘Once you’re in, we’ll send you down to assess the first two patients.’
Logan turned to Charli. ‘Ever done any abseiling before?’ He grinned when she gave him a nudge.
‘Logan, how would I know?’
‘Sometimes I ask the question and you know the answer, sweetheart. I was just trying it this time around. How do you feel about going over the cliff? Would you rather stay up here?’
Charli looked at the edge and felt instant dread.
‘By that look, I think you’d be best to stay up top.’
‘No.’ She shook her head, the words ‘believe in yourself’ running through her mind. ‘I…If you need me, I’ll come down.’
Logan nodded and climbed into a harness, waiting while Tom hooked him up to the Larkin frame. With his backpack on, his safety helmet to shine light on what he was doing, Logan was lowered over the cliff.
Charli couldn’t believe what she was seeing and wondered whether her heart had stopped beating at the sight of him disappearing from view. His smile was the only thing that reassured her. He’d probably done this a thousand times before so there was really no need for her to worry.
He called up to Tom that he was almost there and she realised he had a radio microphone so he could communicate with them.
‘Little bit more. I’m almost on the first ledge…just dodging a tree. OK. I’m down. I can see them both.’ He paused. ‘One of them doesn’t look good. Definite fractured arm, and that’s just from looking at him.’ Logan made his way over to the man and took his pulse. ‘Patient one, pulse is thready.’ He shifted over to where the second one lay. ‘Patient two, pulse is stronger. He doesn’t look to be too bad. Hey!’ Logan called. ‘Can you hear me?’
He received a muted response. ‘He’s rousing. Charli? I know you weren’t too keen on coming down but it would be great if you could. Tom would do it but I need him up top to control the Larkin frame. Wil and Bruce don’t have the qualifications I need.’
There was silence and Charli felt the three guys up top staring at her. ‘If you can’t do it, say so,’ Tom said. ‘You’ll be no good to Logan if you go down and are too scared to do anything.’
Charli thought and swallowed over the lump of fear in her throat. She knew Logan wouldn’t have asked her to come down if he didn’t really need her.
‘OK.’ She nodded and before she could change her mind, Tom was helping her into a harness and hooking her to the Larkin frame. He handed her a pair of gloves and a headset so they could communicate. Her medical backpack was on and no sooner had she blinked than she was being coached over the side of the gorge.
‘You’re on a winch so you don’t need to worry about doing anything,’ Tom told her in his brief but explicit instructions. ‘Logan will be waiting at the bottom to guide you down. Just breathe deeply and relax.’
Charli had opened her mouth to respond but found that she couldn’t, so she nodded instead. She wanted to close her eyes, to make this all go away, but Tom had said if she did that she might get dizzy and that was the last thing she needed.
It seemed to take for ever yet at the same time not long at all before she felt Logan’s hands guiding her in as she came to stand on the ledge beside him. ‘OK, she’s down.’ Charli clung to him for a moment, knowing if she didn’t she’d lose her nerve, and that was the one thing she’d vowed not to do.
‘You did great, Charli. Just great.’ Logan took off his helmet and bent his head to kiss her firmly. ‘Now.’ He replaced his helmet. ‘We need to get to work.’ He unhooked his rope. ‘Send down the stretcher next, Tom.’
‘Logan! What if you fall?’
He grinned at her. ‘I won’t. Come over here.’ He helped her off with her backpack and pulled out a pair of surgical gloves. ‘This is patient one. His pulse isn’t good and…’ He pointed. ‘Look at that arm. Definitely broken. Can you work on him while I get this other guy organised?’
‘Sure.’ Charli pulled the backpack closer to her and swapped her gloves over. The ledge was wider than she’d anticipated and she was extremely grateful for that. She checked the man’s pupils, BP, temperature and respiratory rate, calling out her findings to Logan and the others above. She secured a cervical collar around the patient’s neck, silently apologising for the discomfort of the thing. ‘His BP is dropping quite quickly. He has to be bleeding somewhere.’ She ran her hands over her patient and found a large gash across his abdomen beneath his torn clothing.
She pulled on the fabric so she could access the area better. ‘How are you doing, Logan?’ The stretcher was almost down. ‘Let me know if you need any help.’
‘OK. How’s patient one?’
‘Bleeding. I need some sutures.’
‘I’ll get some out for you.’ Logan dug in his backpack and pulled out the equipment she needed, loading the needle into the locking forceps.
‘I’ll have to stitch in layers. This is quite deep.’
‘Let’s get him stabilised and once he’s up top we can sort things out.’
‘How’s your guy?’
‘In better shape. I’ll get an IV going for you before I transfer patient number two to the stretcher.’
‘He needs Haemacell.’
Logan rigged up the drip, hanging the bag on a long, thick stick he’d stuck in the ground. The stretcher was hanging above them, waiting for the all-clear, and Logan got it down and managed to roll his patient into it. After securing the straps, he called for the stretcher to go up.
‘He’s all right to go up by himself?’
‘Yes. He’s fractured his left tibia and fibula and has a large bump on his forehead as well as several scratches and bruises, but that’s about it. He’s had a very lucky escape. We’re not too far from the top and the patient is conscious. Tom will have him soon. Besides, if I’d gone up with him, I’d have had to steal your rope and leave you here unprotected. Not good for your first time on retrieval.’
Charli had been busy while they’d been talking, debriding the wound so she could see properly to suture off the vessels doing damage. ‘I need more light.’
Logan grabbed a torch from his backpack and held it for her, keeping a check on the patient’s pulse while she worked. ‘That’s a neat line of stitches,’ he told her.
‘Really? I think it’s quite messy.’
‘You’re a perfectionist, Charli. No two ways about it.’
Tom radioed down to say the first patient was at the top and that Max and Halley were about five minutes away.
‘They’ll be working for their living as soon as they arrive,’ Logan told him. ‘Send down the next stretcher when you’re ready. This guy’s almost available for transfer as well.’ Logan checked his pulse again. ‘Stronger than when I first checked it.’
Charli was almost finished. ‘I can do without the light. Take his obs and we’ll see how he’s doing now.’
‘BP’s up, respiratory rate and temperature are still the same. It’s rather chilly out here so let’s get him up to the top.’
‘Agreed.’
‘And how about you? Are you cold?’ he asked her quietly. ‘I don’t want you getting sick again.’
‘Actually, I’m quite hot…probably from all the excitement and hard work.’ Her gaze met his and he smiled.
‘You’re one in a million, Charli Summerfield.’ He smiled at her and she was glad she was still hooked up to the ropes as her limbs turned to jelly.
‘Hey, stop flirting and concentrate on what you’re doing,’ Tom said with a laugh. ‘Stretcher is on its way down to you.’
Logan and Charli prepared their patient for transfer to the stretcher, being very careful of the arm, which was twisted at an odd angle. ‘His shoulder is dislocated but I’m hesitant to put it back in case the neck of humerus is fractured. Radius and ulna are definitely broken.’
Logan nodded. ‘We’ll just have to position him as best we can.’ When the patient was secured on the stretcher, Logan clipped Charli in beside it.
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Max and Halley are here,’ Tom called down.
‘Go on up.’ Logan said the words softly and radioed to Tom to start the winch once more. She was one in a million and the more time he spent with her, the more he didn’t want her to be taken from his life—as he knew she would be. He thought she was the bravest woman in the world for allowing herself to be winched over the edge of the gorge at night to tend to a patient. It must have been terrifying for her, especially as it had been her first time. His first time had been at a training exercise during daylight, with Wil pretending to be the patient, and he’d been scared stiff.
He anxiously waited for radio confirmation that they were both at the top and breathed a sigh of relief when it came.
‘I’m going to send Max down to the patient below, Logan, and then I’ll send a rope down for you to join him,’ Tom said.
‘OK.’ It was another ten minutes before Logan found himself on the next ledge down, with Max firmly in control of the situation. The two men had worked together in the past and were able to stabilise the patient quickly. They called for the stretcher and Logan went up with the patient.
At the top, he looked around for Charli and saw her in the back of the ambulance with the patient she’d worked on. Logan hurried over, briefly greeting Halley.
‘BP’s started to drop again.’ He heard the urgency in her voice. ‘He’s bleeding somewhere else.’ She looked at Logan. ‘We need to get him to surgery, stat.’
‘Don’t worry about the other two patients,’ Halley told them. ‘Max and I can take care of them.’
‘Great.’ Logan stepped out of his harness and climbed into the ambulance. Bruce was getting into the driver’s side and soon they were on their way back to Stawell. Logan pulled on another pair of gloves. Charli was already doing the man’s vital signs and Logan felt the abdomen where she’d previously sutured. He grabbed a stethoscope and listened.
He handed the stethoscope to Charli and changed over the drip while she listened. ‘It doesn’t sound right, does it,’ she stated rhetorically. ‘Let’s go in and see what we can find.’ They quickly prepped him and Logan put an amnesic drug into the drip to ensure their patient didn’t regain consciousness during the procedure.
Charli made an incision and checked around. ‘It’s the spleen,’ she said. ‘It’s ruptured. Suction.’
They managed to keep their patient stabilised and by the time they arrived at Stawell Hospital, their patient was in dire need of the expertise of the surgical team.
Charli breathed a sigh of relief when he was taken off their hands. ‘I didn’t need that.’
‘What? Working hard in an ambulance, after traversing a cliff?’ Logan smiled and put his arms around her, not caring in the slightest who saw them. ‘You’re brilliant, Charli.’ She gazed up at him and he saw that she was completely exhausted.
‘Come and have a seat for a while before we head back home.’
‘Mmm. That sounds nice,’ she sighed. She allowed herself to be led to the kitchenette and sat down, watching Logan make her a cup of coffee. ‘Actually, is there any herbal tea?’
‘Uh…’ Logan searched the cupboards. ‘Yes. Want a cup?’
‘Yes, please.’ Charli leaned her head back and closed her eyes. ‘When I’m working late at night in my lab, I sneak downstairs to Dr Hansen’s little kitchen and pinch some of his herbal teas. They’re delicious.’
Logan chuckled. ‘Why don’t you just keep some in your lab?’
‘My lab assistant doesn’t like the smell of them. He has an over-sensitive nose. Dr Hansen doesn’t mind. I think he buys them just for me sometimes.’
‘He sounds like a nice friend.’
‘He is.’ Charli sighed again and Logan finished making her tea.
‘Your memories are starting to flow more smoothly now.’ Charli opened her eyes and looked at him as he placed her tea on the table.
‘I think it’s you. You’re so easy to talk to. You know when to prod and when to back away.’ She smiled at him and sipped at her tea. ‘Nice.’ Logan sat beside her and lifted her feet up onto his legs and began massaging one foot at a time. ‘Mmm. You’re good at helping people, Logan Hargraves, but it makes me wonder.’
‘What?’
‘You give and you give, but do you ever receive?’
‘More than you could imagine,’ he said with total conviction. ‘Those kids have given me so much. The town of Halls Gap, the people, the patients, all of them, they’ve given me so much.’
‘I think it’s completely ingrained in you, part of your genetic make-up. You can’t help but be nice to people.’ She smothered a yawn. ‘It’s your MO. Logan—the knight in shining armour.’ She giggled, her eyes beginning to close. ‘Where’s your horse?’
Logan merely smiled, glad she was so relaxed after such a stressful evening. Ten minutes later, Wil came in to find Charli snuggled down in her chair, sound asleep, her feet on Logan’s lap.
‘How’s everything going?’ Logan asked.
‘Good. Halley and Max have taken the other two guys back to Heartfield and are happy to keep them there. How’s your patient?’
‘Still in Theatre.’ Logan shook his head in wonderment as he gazed at the woman beside him. ‘Charli was amazing, Wil.’ Logan told him what had happened in the ambulance. ‘She gave that guy a better chance to fight for his life.’
‘How does that sit with her not being licensed to practise in this country?’
‘You may want to check that out for me, but from what I can remember she may well be licensed. At the conference, while she was speaking, she made a comment about the differences in operating theatres here. She was here for a week before the conference so my guess is that she did some demonstration operating during that time.’
‘So for her to do that—’
‘She’d have to be licensed,’ they both finished together.
Wil nodded. ‘I’ll look into it for you.’ He gestured to Charli. ‘Looks as though your modern-day heroine is waking up.’
Charli shifted, stretched and yawned before opening her eyes. When she realised that she had two men watching her she sat up, feeling very self-conscious. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be,’ Logan said quickly.
Charli put her feet on the floor and raised her hands to her hair. Finding it messy, she quickly finger-combed her blonde locks and pulled them back into a neat ponytail. Logan was mesmerised, watching her graceful movements.
‘So, Logan, have you called your mum?’ Wil asked, breaking the silence.
Logan quickly looked to his friend. ‘Hmm…ah…What?’
‘Your mother? Have you called her?’
‘You’re about the sixth person to ask me that. Yes, I’ve called my mum.’ He shook his head. ‘When everyone asks me like that, it makes me feel as though I’m a mummy’s boy who still lives at home at the ripe old age of thirty-three and needs to check in if he’s going to stay out after dark!’
Charli chuckled. ‘It does sound pretty bad, you have to admit, Logan.’
Logan shook his head as Wil joined in her laughter. ‘Thankfully,’ Wil added, ‘everyone knows the real reason you need to let your parents know what’s happening.’ He looked at Charli. ‘Our man here was the local hero when he stepped in to look after those children. Every woman in the district thought he was as good if not better than Superman.’
‘All except one.’ Logan raised his cup to his lips.
‘Well, Barbara was hardly in this district, and don’t tell me you’re still pining for her.’ Wil stared at him in amazement. ‘From the few times I met her, Logan, I have to tell you my honest opinion of the woman was that she was a piranha.’
‘Barbara the Piranha?’ Charli glanced at Logan, trying to suppress a grin.
‘Go ahead. Laugh all you want.’ He drained his cup, placed it on the table and then leaned back in his chair, stretching. ‘It was a long time ago.’
Charli watched the stretch with interest, the way his shirt pulled against his biceps and firm trapezius. She was only vaguely aware of what the two men were saying.
‘Yeah, but, please, mate, tell me you’re not still carrying a torch for her.’
‘No way. That torch snuffed itself out long before Trev and Alison’s accident. I just hadn’t realised it. Women like that and I don’t mix—that much I’ve learned. Besides, the past five years have been the most rewarding of my life.’ He stood and collected their cups from the table. ‘I’m a family man now and that’s the way it’s going to stay.’
‘Whew.’ Wil wiped imaginary sweat from his brow. ‘I’m pleased to hear that—about Barbara, I mean. She was bad news.’
‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ Logan said in mild defence. ‘She was just a woman who knew her own mind and wasn’t going to let anything divert her. She wanted to be a prominent doctor’s wife and, as far as I know, she is. She married a guy I went to medical school with who’s more content with the amount he charges his patients than actually caring about his patients.’
‘What do you think, Charli?’
Charli switched her attention from watching Logan to his friend. ‘Think? About…’ She stopped and cleared her throat. ‘About what?’
‘About Logan and his non-existent love life,’ Wil said. Logan glared daggers into his friend’s back before glancing at Charli. Her eyes were wide with shock and he could also see the beginning spark of desire.
He needed to nip this in the bud—and quickly. ‘You don’t need to answer that,’ he told Charli in an offhand manner. ‘Wil only asks questions like that because his own love life is even more non-existent than mine, and he doesn’t have the excuse of looking after children to fall back on.’
Wil shrugged. ‘He’s right, unfortunately. Got any friends who are single?’ he asked Charli, and then cringed after he’d said the words. ‘Uh…sorry, Charli. I forgot.’
‘You and me both.’ She stood and another yawn escaped her lips. ‘Excuse me. I’m pretty beat but before I forget, Logan said you had some news for me.’
‘Oh, yeah. With the emergency and everything, it slipped my mind.’ Wil glanced at Logan and then back to Charli. ‘You might want to sit down.’
‘Is it that bad?’
‘Uh…yeah.’ Wil waited until she was seated and glanced at Logan again before he began. ‘I’ve managed to trace your steps as far as Melbourne. Thanks to Logan, we knew you’d been at the medical conference last weekend. The hotel you stayed at have faxed me through the printout of your account. I have it at the police station if you’d like to have a look at it.’
‘Is she still registered there? Her belongings, work papers, not to mention her passport must be somewhere.’
‘That’s where it gets strange. They said you’d checked out yesterday morning.’
‘Yesterday was Tuesday. She was in Halls Gap well before six o’clock!’
‘What time?’ Charli’s voice was quiet.
‘It was done via the before-hours checkout. They didn’t process it until after eight o’clock. They said the room you’d stayed in was vacant. No belongings or anything else were left.’
‘What about the car hire?’ Logan asked. This wasn’t good news. If Charli’s passport and belongings were missing…
The two men watched as Charli stood and started to pace up and down in the small room. ‘You hired the car when you had first arrived in Melbourne over a week ago. Everything was paid up front.’
‘Something’s not right here,’ she said.
‘You’ve got that straight,’ Logan agreed. ‘Something is wrong, Charli, and the answer is in your amnesia.’
Charli looked at Wil. ‘You said there was no sign of a struggle, no sign that I wasn’t alone when I fell.’
‘Which can only mean you were out walking alone.’ It was Logan who said the words. ‘You need to walk when you’re upset or agitated.’ Charli stopped pacing and glared at him. Logan only raised an eyebrow as if to say, See?.
‘Something was bothering you,’ Wil said, taking a small notebook from the top pocket of his uniform. He found his pen and started to write things down. ‘You had a hire car, started driving and ended up here. You needed to get control of your thoughts so you went for a walk.’
Both men looked at Charli. She shrugged. ‘It’s possible.’
Logan realised she was tired and they’d talked enough for the moment. ‘Well, Dr Summerfield, regardless of how you ended up here, it’s now time for you to get your beauty sleep.’
‘Are you implying that I look awful?’ she challenged him, glad for the lighter tone.
‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ He stood and pulled out his phone. ‘I’ll just send a text message to my mother on her cellphone so I don’t wake the kids, and then we’ll go.’
‘OK. I’ll visit the bathroom, first,’ Charli said.
‘I’ll check on the patients.’
‘I’ll head off. Drive safely, you two.’ Wil put his notebook away and headed out the door with a cheery wave. Logan finished sending the message to his mother and then studied his phone more closely.
When Charli returned, he said quickly, ‘What was your apartment security code again?’
‘Testing my anterograde memory, Doctor?’
‘No. I know there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m figuring out a clue.’
‘Uh, 18,12,68,37,88,73,’ she recited, amazed at how easily the code came to her.
‘You like Tchaikovsky. Look.’ He held out his cellphone. ‘Look at the numbers in relation to the letters. The last four sets spell out “overture”.’
Charli looked at the phone, then at Logan then back to the phone again. ‘You’re right!’
‘Don’t sound so surprised. I may not have your IQ level but I’m no dummy.’
She smiled at him. ‘I never said you were.’ She held his phone out to him. ‘Pumpkin time?’
‘Hmm?’
‘It means time to go.’ She giggled. ‘You know, Cinderella leaving the ball at midnight because her carriage is going to turn into a pumpkin.’
‘Oh that pumpkin time. Sure. I knew that’s what you meant.’
She laughed as they headed out to check on the patients. ‘I’m sure you’ve read the story to your kids quite a few times.’
‘Try a few hundred,’ he whispered as they entered the ward. He checked on the patients, wrote up some medication prescriptions in case they were needed and said good-night to the nursing staff.
When they walked out of the hospital, it was after midnight. Both were silent as they started the half-hour drive back to Halls Gap. Logan dug around in the console for a tape and finally found the one he wanted. He put it on and soon the strains of Tchaikovsky filled the air.
Charli felt herself instantly relax and her eyes began to close. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
Logan was surprised to hear her breathing turn deep so soon but he didn’t blame her for wanting to sleep. She must be so annoyed and frustrated, not knowing who she was or what had happened to her. She was scared as well—he’d seen that in her eyes tonight when Wil had been talking. To combat it, she’d started to pace. Nervous energy.
Her memory needed time to heal. The book he’d borrowed from the hospital library detailed the symptoms of retrograde amnesia as well as hysterical amnesia. Physically, her head appeared to be all right. She had a bruise on her skull but that would heal. According to the textbook, she would start to remember the events leading up to her arrival in Halls Gap within two to three days of the initial incident, but as there was also an emotional trauma present, it might take months for it to heal. It was all a matter of unlocking what she’d been trying to suppress in the first place.
She started to twitch a little, which concerned Logan, but then he realised she was only dreaming. Then her breathing started to become fast and shallow and he realised the dream wasn’t such a good one after all. As much as he wanted to wake her, he knew she needed to dream out the pain that was surrounding her. The question was, how much would she remember on waking?
He pulled the car into the driveway outside his house and, watching her closely, cut the engine.
As though on cue, Charli gasped and jerked upright. ‘Chuck! No!’ Her eyes were wide open but he wasn’t sure she was seeing things clearly as she appeared to be groping around, fighting against the restraining seat belt.
‘Charli?’ he said softly, and she turned frightened eyes to him. She was still struggling against the seat belt so he pressed the release button.
Her breathing was harsh and for a few moments he wasn’t sure she saw him—really saw him. Slowly, her breathing began to settle. ‘Logan?’ Her voice was a whisper. ‘Logan, is that you?’
‘Yes.’ He touched her hand. ‘It’s me. Everything’s all right.’
‘No. No it’s not. They’re coming for me. They’re after me.’
He watched her closely, wondering if he should tell her she’d called out Chuck’s name. ‘Who?’ he tested.
‘I don’t know. I’m running…always running.’ Tears had started to stream down her face and she was really trembling. Logan growled something inaudible and climbed from the car, stalking around to her side to help her out.
Once she was standing, he hauled her into his arms and held her close. ‘Cry it out, sweetheart. Cry it out.’
It was then she began to sob. Her body was racked with spasm after spasm and he knew the worst thing was that she had no idea why. He knew he’d feel that way if the positions were reversed.
‘Hold me. Hold me, Logan,’ she whispered frantically against his shirt. He was cold, they both were, but he couldn’t move. He gathered her closer, as close as he possibly could, his arms strong and firm about her.
The urge to protect this woman for the rest of his life was incredibly strong and Logan vowed then and there that if anyone tried to hurt her, they’d have to go through him first.