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'OK.' She nodded, hoping she looked brave for his sake because she certainly didn't feel it. He was right, though. Tanya did require someone to be with her at all times as she ascended the mine-shaft.

Elizabeth watched them go and soon the only light in the area was the one on her helmet. She made sure the first-aid kit was secure and ready to go as the minutes seemed to tick on forever.

Finally, she received word that they were at the top and she breathed a sigh of relief. Soon. She would be out of here soon; She needed to be out of here soon because she could feel her self-confidence slipping away.

Elizabeth listened closely to Pierre's instructions on how to attach the winch and then she felt herself being pulled upwards.

When she eventually reached the top, a few of the people around her clapped.

'Well done, Doc,' Pierre said, and clapped her hard on the back, so hard she thought she'd topple over and end up at the bottom of the shaft again. She waited patiently for them to unhook her and take the first-aid kit before she tested out her legs and headed over to the ambulance.

'How is she?' she asked Mitch.

'She's doing quite well, considering. How about you?'

'Me? Oh, I'm fine.'

He grinned at her. 'Sure, Lizzie. Pull the other one, it plays "Jingle Bells".'

Elizabeth laughed and felt the tension leave her. 'Let's get to work, Doctor,' she said as she climbed into the back of the ambulance. 'I'll stay here with Tanya while you follow in your ute.'

'Good idea.' And because he couldn't control it any longer, he pressed his mouth quickly to hers in a lip-smacker of a kiss. 'See you there, Lizzie.'

The ambulance ride was uneventful and Tanya slept, although she was easily roused. Once they arrived at the hospital Imogen took over, taking the patient off for X-rays to check the damage. It appeared the break to Tanya's tibia and fibula were quite clean and the bones hadn't broken the skin.

'A cast and you're done,' Mitch told Tanya.

'What about my thumb?'

'You've been extremely lucky there. It's come off at the knuckle so your actual thumb isn't broken at all.' He held up an X-ray so Tanya could see. 'We've stabilised you for now but you'll be transferred to Adelaide soon because you'll need microsurgery to fix it properly.'

'All right. Where's Wilheim?'

'He's in the other room with Lizzie. He almost passed out when he first walked in here. You know how he hates hospitals.'

'He's hopeless. He's no good with medical situations.' She chuckled.

Mitch was glad to see a smile back on his patient's face. 'I'm going to give you a local anaesthetic in your leg and then we'll get Lizzie, our new resident orthopaedic doctor, to manipulate the tib and fib back into place. We'll do a check X-ray and then we can apply the cast.'

'So the new doctor's good, then?' Tanya asked.

'She's had a lot of experience in emergency medicine and has set many a fractured leg before,' he stated as Elizabeth walked into the room. 'Ah, there you are, Lizzie. We were just talking about you.'

'I hope it was all complimentary,' she muttered before they set to work.

An hour or two later, Tanya and her husband were off with the Royal Flying Doctor Service on their way to Adelaide. 'I hope Wilheim begins to feel better soon. Does he hate to fly as well as hating hospitals?' Elizabeth asked.

'I hope, for Tanya's sake, that he doesn't,' Mitch answered.

'I don't know about you but I need a drink.'

'Sounds good. I'll go write up the casenotes. Two sugars and a dash of milk, please,' he added before walking off to sit at the nurses' station.

Elizabeth went to the kitchen and switched the kettle on. She leaned against the bench and sighed. What a day, and Mitch was
still
wearing boot polish on his face, although now it was mixed in with a healthy helping of dirt and sweat. She shook her head and smiled. He was certainly a character. That thought reminded her of the kiss he'd pressed to her lips before he'd closed the ambulance doors. It hadn't been a passionate or endearing kiss but merely one in triumph of a job well done, and she'd appreciated it more than he'd ever know. The kettle had just boiled when she heard someone calling her name. She came out. 'Did you want me?'

'Phone,' Imogen said, holding the receiver out to her. 'It's your fiancé.'

Elizabeth glanced at Mitch as she walked over to get the phone.

His jaw was clenched and his eyes were like steel. She quickly looked away. 'Hello?' she said tentatively into the receiver.

'Darling. There you are.' Marcus's deep English tones rang down the line with the slight delay.

'Yes. How did you get this number?'

'It wasn't difficult. I merely searched the Internet for Coober Pedy and there it was. I had my secretary place the call and now I'm speaking to you. Isn't technology wonderful? I've missed you so much, Elizabeth.'

She cleared her throat and turned her back to Mitch. 'That's nice.'

Marcus laughed. 'Aren't you going to say you've missed me, too?'

'Of course. Of course I've missed you.' She was aware of Mitch mumbling something to Imogen before he walked off. She glanced over her shoulder only to see him disappear into the kitchen. Why did she feel so wretched?

'Elizabeth? Elizabeth? I say, are you still there?'

'Yes. Yes, I'm here, Marcus.'

'You sound tired.'

'We've just been out on retrieval because we had to rescue a patient who was at the bottom of a mine-shaft.'

'Please, Elizabeth.' His voice held a hint of disgust. 'Don't go into any details about your work. It always makes me queasy.'

'Yes. I forgot. Sorry.'

'Well? Aren't you going to ask me how your father is?'

Elizabeth sighed, knowing the answer already. 'How is he?'

'Not good. Not good at all, I'm afraid. He's really taken it quite badly—you leaving, I mean. I must admit, I was never hot on the idea myself but you still went.'

'Yes, I did. I had to leave the nest some time.'

'Did yew? 1 don't think you realise how much he relies on you. He draws strength from you, Elizabeth. He's given you everything you've ever needed and it's all right here.'

It's not! Elizabeth wanted to scream. He didn't give me my mother, or the chance to make my own mistakes. She looked over to the kitchen doorway to find Mitch lounging against the doorframe, sipping his coffee and talking to Imogen. Why was it she could sense his displeasure? Although he appeared nonchalant, she felt it was an act—or maybe that was wishful thinking on her part.

She turned back. 'Listen, I have to go. Because of the emergency, the rest of the day will now be a total shemozzle.' It was then the time difference dawned on her. 'What time is it over there?'

'Just after four o'clock in the morning.'

'What are you doing up so early? I hope you don't end up sleeping in and being late to the office. My father loathes tardiness.'

'He's working from home at the moment so I'm going around there to assist him with the caseload.'

Elizabeth closed her eyes. If Marcus had wanted to make her feel guilty, he was doing a good job.

'As to why I'm up so early...the answer is simple. I miss you.'

Elizabeth didn't say anything but she felt her eyes begin to mist with angry tears. Why had he called her? This wasn't fair. She didn't want to feel guilty about leaving. She'd tried to explain things to both her father and to Marcus but neither of them had understood. It had only been because Maude had been, expecting her that Elizabeth hadn't given in and stayed. She'd been waiting her whole life to meet Maude and although they knew each other from the letters they'd written, holding her mother in her arms had been a lifelong dream and one she hadn't been prepared to forgo any longer.

'I have to go,' she whispered.

'Give me the number of your residence and I'll call you there later.'

'I.. .1 don't know the number,' she replied honestly. 'But I'll find out what it is and let you know. You probably shouldn't call the hospital again because we need to keep the line open for emergencies.'

'All right. I'll wait to hear from you, then. Goodbye, Elizabeth. I love you.'

Elizabeth found it difficult to speak so she mumbled, 'Goodbye,' and quickly disconnected the call. She stood at the desk for a moment, desperately trying to compose herself before she had to face Mitch.

'Ready to go?'

Elizabeth spun around, surprised to find him behind her as she hadn't heard him walk over. The first thing she noticed was that he'd finally washed his face but she looked away quickly, hoping he wouldn't see her tears. 'Would you mind giving me a minute?' Before he could answer, she turned and went to the change rooms.

Once there, she locked herself into a cubicle, put the lid down on the toilet and sat, burying her face in her hands. She needed to get control and she needed to do it now. She dragged in a deep, cleansing breath and slowly let it out. Mentally, she locked Marcus and her father away so she could concentrate on her job. She would deal with her thoughts about them later.

What about Mitch? Did she need to lock him away as well? Elizabeth shook her head, unsure what to do about him. She unlocked the door and peered at her reflection. Her mascara hadn't run, her nose wasn't pink but her cheeks were devoid of colour. She gave them a little rub, making them pale pink, and although she wanted to refresh her lipstick, she didn't have her bag with her. She finger-combed her hair and tied it back once more before taking another deep, calming breath and straightening her shoulders.

When she reappeared, she was calm and composed. Mitch took one look at her and realised the ice queen was back. Whatever she'd had to do to restore her equilibrium, she'd done it. She walked over to him with that haughty look she'd worn the first time he'd met her. Was this just her armour? Her way of dealing with things? He watched as she collected her bag from the locked drawer, straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin with a hint of determination.

'I'm ready now. Thank you for waiting. Goodbye, Imogen.' Elizabeth smiled at the nurse and, without waiting for Mitch, strode out to his vehicle. She managed to open the passenger door by herself and was putting on her seat belt when he climbed in.

'Everything all right?'

'Of course.' She smiled politely at him.

'Liar.'

'Perhaps.' Elizabeth shrugged and looked out the window.

He started the engine and drove to the clinic, neither of them saying a word on the short drive. Once there, they headed inside. Elizabeth could feel him watching her with curiosity and concern but she wasn't ready to talk about her problems with him. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk to
anyone
about them. The way her father and Marcus made her feel so guilty for daring to do something different sounded so...trivial when she said it out loud—even to herself.

'Concentrate on work,' she mumbled.

'What?' Mitch asked, and she turned, surprised he was behind her.

'Oh...nothing. Just mumbling to myself.' She greeted Daphne and glanced down at her clinic list before calling her first patient through. She worked steadily, refusing to let thoughts of either Mitch or Marcus enter her head. The reason she'd come to Coober Pedy had been to be with her mother and also to find out about herself.

But Mitch is helping you do that, she rationalised and a smile came to her lips as she remembered their early morning activity.

'You OK, Elizabeth?' Daphne asked when Elizabeth had come out to call another patient through but instead had stood staring at the set of casenotes on the top of the pile with a ridiculous grin on her face. She quickly composed herself, cleared her throat and called the next patient in.

Finally, the clinic was over and Elizabeth closed her eyes, massaging her shoulders and the back of her neck. She still had the ride home with Mitch to get through when all she wanted to do was to lie down and relax. A good book and time to read it. That was what she needed the most. She made a mental note to look through Maude's bookcase because she was sure her
mother would have something she could unwind with.

There was a knock at her consulting-room door and she quickly opened her eyes as Mitch strode in. 'Ready?'

Elizabeth dropped her hands back to the desk and composed herself once more. 'Yes.' She stood and picked up her bag and the completed casenotes. 'I'll just take these out to Daphne.'

Mitch followed her out getting a sense of her uneasiness around him. He wondered, as they said goodbye to the receptionist, whether he'd be able to get her to open up and talk to him. Perhaps they'd be able to have a chat when they arrived back at Maude's house. He checked his watch. Maude would definitely be home now so that idea flew out the window.

He drove her home, wondering how he was going to ask her about her fiancé. She'd said she'd had a boyfriend who had wanted to take things to the next level and he'd simply thought she'd meant a physical relationship. Now he realised she'd been talking about marriage. Was she engaged? Was she trying to figure out if she really wanted to get married? This morning she'd said she didn't want to get involved with him but not because of another man. When Imogen had announced it was Elizabeth's fiancé on the line, Mitch had felt like someone had punched him. He'd felt annoyed and slightly jealous where he really had no right to be either.

'So you're engaged?' he blurted out as he rounded the corner into Maude's street. A moment later, he pulled up in the driveway. He cut the engine and closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't meant it to come out sounding so harsh and accusatory.

Elizabeth took a slow and steady breath before turning her head to look at him. 'No. I am not engaged. I have never received a proposal of marriage and therefore have never accepted one. If I
had
been engaged, I would have mentioned it this morning.'

He exhaled and raked a hand through his hair. 'I guess I was...surprised when you received that phone call.'