Flight to Coorah Creek (15 page)

Adam lay in bed listening to Jess breathing.

She slept deeply. Every breath was almost a sigh … long and deep and soft. She was so close. He could almost feel the warmth of her body. He knew he could stretch across the gap that separated their two beds and touch her. He also knew her skin would be warm and soft.

It was a very long time since Adam had shared the night with another human being. He'd spent many a long night watching over his patients, willing them to take one more breath as he tried to heal them. But to share a night's rest with another person – that was an intimacy he had long denied himself.

Women found him attractive and there had been a time he'd been glad to welcome them into his bed. When he was young, the pity in their eyes when they saw his scars mattered far less than the sex that would follow. But that had changed. The pity had become too hard to ignore. He began to avoid casual encounters. And a deeper relationship meant getting close to someone. Giving them the power to hurt him. He avoided those, too.

He had forgotten what it was like to share the gentlest hours of the day with someone else. To share one's most vulnerable moments.

He hadn't planned this, and his main thought was to get through the next few days without Jess discovering his secret. He just couldn't stand the thought of pity in Jessica's eyes.

But still, the desire was there. How could it not be? She was a beautiful woman. The image of her body, golden in the sunlight, was burned into his mind. He wanted to run his hands up those long shapely legs. Press his lips against the curves of her body. Feel her flesh against his. Feel the warmth of her breath …

Jess sighed and moved in her sleep. She gave a little moan.

Adam shifted uncomfortably in his bed. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the faint line of light at the edge of the curtains that covered the window, wishing the sunrise would come. He had no business feeling like this. For so many reasons. He could never have a life with Jess. There were too many secrets he couldn't share. And with Jess, it would be all or nothing.

Jess had her own secrets too. He didn't know what they might be, but he knew that she had come to Coorah Creek to escape. To heal. Then she would leave the outback and go back to the life she deserved. Back to the bright lights. To the people who must be waiting for her. To the people who would be more to her than he ever could. An icy dagger slipped silently between Adam's ribs and pierced his heart. He didn't want her to leave. But he could give her no reason to stay.

Jess moved again, her even breathing broken by a short, sharp cry.

A nightmare. Adam recognised the signs. God knew Adam had survived more than his share of nightmares. As a boy he'd woken every night screaming into the darkness, the pain in his mind as real as the pain in his body. The nightmares had faded as the boy became a man, but still sometimes came to haunt his nights. What ghosts, he wondered, came to disturb Jessica's sleep?

Another cry from the other bed caused Adam to turn his head. Jess thrashed her head from side to side.

All other thoughts fled before the wish to simply comfort her. Should he go to her? As a tortured child he had welcomed Sister Luke's touch to ease his fears. Jess was no child, but Adam had no doubt that something tortured her. He wished he could go to her and put his arms around her. Make the pain go away.

With another cry, Jess suddenly sat up in bed, looking wildly around her.

Instinctively, Adam closed his eyes and feigned sleep.

After a few minutes, he heard Jess's rapid breathing begin to slow. The bedclothes rustled as she got out of bed.

‘Adam?' The whispered word was not to wake him, but rather to ask if he was awake. Adam didn't reply. Jess didn't need to see pity in his eyes either.

He heard her moving around the room in the darkness. There came the sound of running water from the bathroom, then finally the click of the room door as it opened – then closed again behind her.

Adam opened his eyes. The faint light of dawn seeped around the edges of the curtains. The bed next to his was rumpled and empty and cold. He was alone.

The sun was just beginning to peep above the horizon, and the light was soft and gentle. Despite this, Jess could hear noise and movement. Today would see the vast influx of people and horses for the races that would begin on Friday. Although she supposed everything was in place, there were still last minute preparations going on, even this early in the day. Jess did not want company right now. She turned north, away from the activity and towards the airport.

Her Beechcraft was parked where she had left it, next to the other air ambulances. There were a few more planes parked around the airstrip. One or two had tents pitched under the wings. The sounds of light snores suggested the occupants slept more soundly than she had.

Jess walked round the aircraft, running her fingers lightly over the paint and performing the routine checks she did every morning. The routines always soothed her and made her feel in control of something – even if she could not control her nightmares.

You killed him. You killed my son!

She had thought the nightmares were fading. These weeks in Coorah Creek, sharing her life with Ellen and the kids; with Jack and Sister Luke … and most of all with Adam, had brought something very close to happiness. But last night the nightmares had returned. She was only glad that Adam had slept through them. She didn't know what she would have done if he'd woken and asked her what was wrong. Adam was an important part of that tentative happiness she felt. Working with him was like a balm to her soul. Watching a baby being born. Helping the sick and injured. Even sharing stew around a campfire with the stockmen. The thought that something might rip apart those fragile feelings was more than she could bear.

She looked down at her hands. They were shaking ever so slightly. They hadn't done that for a while. It must be the crowds. The knowledge that there were journalists and cameras here. She told herself firmly they were here for the races. Not for her. It was time she got past the fear.

She pulled the keys from her pocket and unlocked the plane. Spending a few minutes checking the interior steadied her hands, but did not make her more inclined to face other people. She climbed back down the aircraft stairs. The sun was above the horizon now; the day starting to feel hotter. Soon a new influx of aircraft would begin. In the town, there would be cars and buses and trucks of horses. There was no way she could avoid people. Nor could she forget what had happened. All she could do was try to ignore the past and look to the future.

She turned her steps in the direction of the pub.

She walked through the pub door to find breakfast in full swing. The pilots she'd met the day before were all there, feasting on bacon and eggs and sausages, along with a few of the race organisers and officials. There were pots of coffee on the tables and the noise was pretty substantial. She grabbed some toast and coffee, and joined Greg Anderson and his colleagues from the Flying Doctor service.

‘Hey, Jess. Where's the doc?'

‘Still asleep, I guess.'

A strangled laugh came from somewhere in the vicinity of the coffee pot. Another of the group waggled his eyebrows at her in an exaggerated leer.

Determined not to blush, Jess shrugged. ‘Well, guys, how would you like sleeping with your boss?'

The laughter that followed told Jess she had deflected the potential embarrassment, until she glanced up and saw Adam standing in the doorway. His eyes were on her, a slight question on his face.

‘At least I don't snore,' he said quickly, responding to the curious looks cast his way.

‘Yes, you do,' Jess shot back. ‘Like an elephant with a bad head cold.'

Under cover of the roar of laughter that followed, Jess looked closely at Adam. He had appeared asleep when she got out of bed, but what if her nightmare had woken him too? He showed no sign of tension as he collected a huge plate of food and an equally large mug of coffee and joined her table. Talk soon turned to the day ahead and who was to be on duty at the airport and at the racetrack and the town's medical centre. Jess decided that everything was all right. Today was Thursday. The races were held on Friday and Saturday. Sunday evening, once the town had emptied of visitors, they would head back to the Creek. Surely she could keep her nightmares under control for just three more nights?

Jess had been expecting a busy day. She was surprised to find the reverse was true. There was plenty of activity, but no need for her services. Cars and trucks and buses roared down the road towards the racetrack. There was a steady beat of aircraft landing at the airport. Hotel staff and campsite workers were rushing about as the trickle of incoming racegoers turned into a flood. Tents were springing up at the campsite. The temporary food and drink stands were in full swing. There was music and laughter and, of course, there was dust. Great clouds of it stirred up by thousands of feet.

In all of this activity, all Jess had to do was wait.

Adam and the two other doctors were already on duty, tending to minor scrapes among the workers, and minor escapades among the crowd who seemed to start drinking the moment their feet touched the dusty ground. Jess was on standby. But there'd be nothing for her to do unless some emergency called for an airlift. She waited at the town's tiny medical clinic, reading and watching the passing parade of arrivals. By mid-afternoon she was restless. When it was Greg's turn to be on call, Jess set out for a walk, grateful for a chance to stretch her legs.

She hadn't gone very far when she heard the wolf whistle. She ignored it, but a second following close behind caused her to turn her head.

‘Hello, darling!'

Some young men standing near the makeshift bar were waving to attract her attention. ‘Come on over here and let us buy you a drink.'

Smiling, she shook her head and walked on. It wasn't the first such offer she had received. Like so many outback events, the population attracted here was mostly male and out for a good time. They meant no harm, but Jess made a mental note not to stray too far on her own late at night, after a long hot and thirsty day … when the beer had been flowing a little too freely for some.

She kept walking, enjoying the sights and sounds around her. This was like nothing she had ever seen before. There was laughter and music and the smell of burgers cooking. A large part of the growing crowd were city folk walking around clutching beer cans and slowly being turned a lobster red by the sun. They wore jeans and running shoes. The girls wore skirts and flat sandals … their feet quickly disappearing beneath a layer of yellow dust. The rest were outback people come in search of a couple of days respite from the loneliness and hard toil that was their daily lot. They wore broad-brimmed Akubra hats already stained with sweat and faded by the sun. Their elastic-sided riding boots showed signs of hard wear. Their skins were brown and toughened by exposure to a harsh climate.

Whatever their origin, the racegoers were all there for the same reason – to have some fun.

Jess stepped aside to let a truck roll past. She smelled, rather than saw, the horses in the back. That was what this event was supposed to be all about. Horse racing, but she had a feeling some of the revellers might not actually get as far as the track. A second horse van followed the first, and as Jess stepped out of the way, she saw the cameras.

A small crowd of media people were walking her way, pausing now and then to snap photos or take videos of the spectacle that was unfolding. Jess's heart started to pound, and she turned her head. She began to push her way through the crowd which had suddenly turned into some sort of impenetrable wall. She glanced back over her shoulder. The media scrum had turned in the direction of the bar. Good, she thought. Put those cameras away and go get a drink. One of the group turned her way and just for an instant their eyes met. Jessica prayed she would see no recognition there as she tried to lose herself again in the crowd.

By the time she was back at the medical centre, Jess had convinced herself that she had escaped unnoticed. But, just in case, she decided she'd spend a quiet night in her room. There was plenty of time over the next two days to experience the excitement of the races. Right now, she needed a little peace and quiet. The sun was setting and so she was off duty. The airstrip had no lights, so no aircraft would be leaving now. She strolled over to check her plane one last time. There were a lot of aircraft parked by the side of the airstrip now. Jess searched the line for any that looked familiar. There were none, and that left her feeling relieved. She still felt a little exposed. Anyone seeing her around the Beechcraft would guess she was a pilot. It wasn't a great leap from there to …

No. That wasn't going to happen! Chiding herself for being paranoid, Jess walked back to the pub. She guessed Greg and the other pilots would be there. She would join them for dinner. Adam would be on call most of the night. At least she might have the room to herself for a while.

Jess stretched to ease her muscles. She felt as if she was wearing a layer of dust.

‘A shower would feel pretty good,' she said to the sinking sun. ‘Yes. A shower then dinner.'

She slipped the key into the door and pushed it open. The first thing she saw was Adam clad only in a towel. He was standing by the window, his arms raised as he towelled his wet hair. Jess barely noticed the fine lines of his torso, or the muscles in his bare legs. All she saw was the terrible ruin of his back and shoulders. Her breath froze in her throat as the meaning of those scars struck home.

A custody battle … the father sprayed petrol on the family home and set it on fire. The boy was badly burned.

That night at the restaurant in Mount Isa, when she had asked how he had met Sister Luke.

Sister Luke sat with him, day after day. The doctors may have healed his body, but she brought his soul back from the darkness.