below them was ideal—and definitely better than trying to make conversation with someone who clearly had no intention of making his life any more pleasant.
‘ETA two minutes.’
‘Roger.’ Summer leaned forward in her seat to get a better view of the ground below. ‘Vehicles at eleven o’clock. I can see a fire truck and ambulance.’
‘Copy that,’ Monty said. ‘Comms? Rescue One. On location, on location.’
The chopper tilted as they turned. Monty was using the crew frequency now. ‘Turning windward,’ he advised. ‘I think the road’s going to be the only landing place.’
‘Got a bit of a tilt to it. No wires, though.’
‘No worries,’ Monty said. ‘Be a bit dusty, folks. Okay…right skid’s going to touch first.’
They had the doors open before the dust cloud had cleared. Zac released the catch of his safety harness first and hoisted one of the backpacks onto his shoulder as they climbed out.
Summer picked up the other pack and a portable oxygen cylinder and followed. Weirdly, it felt like she was used to working with this guy already. Maybe that was because he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and he wasn’t waiting to follow her lead. At least he stood back when they reached the knot of people standing by the side of the road near the fire truck so it was Summer that the fireman in charge of the scene spoke to first.
‘We’ve got the vehicle secured but haven’t got the driver out. It’s a bit of a steep climb.’
‘Single occupant?’
‘Yes. An eighty-three-year-old woman. Frances.’
‘Status?’
‘I’d say two.’ An ambulance officer joined them. ‘GCS was lowered on arrival. She’s confused and distressed. Airway seems to be clear but we haven’t got close enough to assess her properly yet and, given the MOI and her age, there’s every probability she has serious injuries.’
‘Access?’
‘Ladder. It’s a few metres short of the target, though. You’ll have to be careful but there’s plenty of trees to hang on to.’
‘Cool. We’ll go down and see what’s what.’ Summer glanced at Zac. Tall and broad-shouldered, his size and weight would make the climb and access to the vehicle much harder than it was for her. It would probably be sensible for him to suggest waiting up here on the road while she did an initial assessment and made their patient stable enough to be extricated by the fire crew.
‘Want me to go first?’ he asked. ‘And test the ladder?’
‘If you like.’ Summer passed her backpack to a fireman who was ready to secure it to a rope and lower it down. Not that it was needed, but she had to give him points for thinking about her safety.
Looking at the narrow ladder lying on the crushed and probably slippery ferns of the bush undergrowth on an almost vertical cliff face, she had to acknowledge those points.
‘Yeah…you going first is a good idea, Zac. There’ll be less damage done if I land on you rather than the other way round.’
‘Impersonating a cushion is one of my splinter skills.’ Zac handed his pack to the fireman and then turned without hesitation to climb onto the ladder. A rope attached to the top and anchored to the back of the fire truck was preventing it sliding downwards but it couldn’t control any sideways movement. Another rope was attached to the back of the small car that could be seen protruding from the mangled scrub and ferns a good fifteen metres down the bank.
‘She was lucky the scrub cushioned the impact,’ the fireman said. ‘Probably why she’s still alive.’
Zac was halfway down the ladder now and climbing carefully enough not to make it swing. Summer caught the top rung and turned her body to find a foothold. She loved the kind of challenge this sort of job presented. The ladder was easy. Getting down the last stretch when you had to slide between trees was harder. There were fire crew down here but it was Zac who was moving just ahead of her and every time he caught himself, he was looking back to make sure she’d reached her last handhold safely.
It was Summer who needed to take the lead as they got close enough to touch the car. A small hatchback well buried in undergrowth left virtually no room for a large man to see much. The front passenger window had been smashed. Summer put her head in the gap.
‘Hi there… Frances, is it?’
The elderly woman groaned. Her voice was high and quavery. ‘Get me out. Please…’
‘That’s what we’re here for. My name’s Summer and I’ve got Zac with me. Are you having any trouble breathing, Frances?’
‘I…I don’t think so.’
‘Does anything hurt?’
‘I…I don’t know…I’m scared…’
Summer was trying to assess their patient visually. Pale skin and a bump on the head that was bleeding. She could see the woman’s chest rising and falling rapidly. The more distressed she was, the harder it would be to assess and try to move her.
The window on the driver’s side was broken too and suddenly there was movement as the prickly branches of scrub got pushed aside. The face that appeared was wearing a helmet. How on earth had Zac managed to get down that side of the vehicle?
Not only that, he was reaching in to touch the woman. To put a calming hand on her forehead, probably to stop her turning her head to look at him in case she had injured her neck.
‘It’s okay, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘We’re going to take good care of you.’
Sweetheart? Was that an appropriate way to address an eighty-three-year-old woman?
‘Oh…’ Frances didn’t seem offended. ‘Oh… Who are you?’
‘I’m Zac. I’m a doctor.’
‘Do I know you?’
‘You do now.’ He leaned in further, a lopsided smile appearing as he make a clicking sound like someone encouraging a pony to move. The sound was accompanied by a wink.
‘Oh…’ The outward breath sounded like a sigh of relief. There was even a shaky smile in response. ‘Thank you, dear. I’ve been so scared…’
‘I know.’ His voice was understanding. Reassuring. Was he holding a hand or taking a pulse in there? ‘Summer—are you able to open the door on your side? It’s jammed over here.’
With the assistance of a fireman and a crowbar, the answer was affirmative.
With the new space, Summer was able to ease herself cautiously into the car. The creaking and slight forward movement of the vehicle made her catch her breath but it terrified Frances.
‘No…help…’
This time it was Summer as well as their patient who took comfort from Zac’s confident tone. ‘The ropes just needed to take up the extra weight. You’re safe. There’s a great big fire engine up on the road that’s not going anywhere and the car is very firmly attached to it. Relax, sweetheart…’
There it was again. That cheeky endearment. Summer wouldn’t want to admit that skip of her heart when it seemed like the car was beginning to roll further down the cliff. She most definitely wouldn’t want to admit that warm feeling the use of the endearment created. How powerful could a single word be? It could make you think that someone genuinely cared about you.
That you were, indeed, safe.
Suddenly, it was easy to focus completely on the job she needed to do. Summer unhooked the stethoscope from around her neck and fitted it into her ears.
‘Take a deep breath for me, Frances.’
There