Chapter Six
Brianna knew for certain how far this trip had already changed her when she cleaned up the last mouthfuls of a bowl of glutinous porridge in the catering tent. Last week she would have rejected the food without a second thought. This morning she was simply grateful for something to fill her stomach. If Melanie could see her now, she’d laugh her dainty little socks off. Thinking of her, Brianna was hit with a sharp pang of loneliness. She missed a friend, someone to talk to, to laugh with. How long had it been since she’d laughed? Not since she’d arrived here, that was for certain. The team were friendly, but they treated her with the politeness of strangers. She wanted to talk to someone who knew her, who would tell her how it was. Glancing at her watch, and quickly calculating time differences, she reckoned it was lunchtime in the UK. Melanie might just have woken up.
‘Brianna?’ She sounded distinctly groggy.
‘Don’t tell me I’ve woken you up?’
‘Of course you bloody have,’ came the grumpy reply. ‘It’s only five in the morning.’
Brianna started to giggle. ‘Oops, I must have got the time differences wrong. Sorry.’
Suddenly her friend woke up. ‘Bugger, sorry, tell me everything,’ she screeched. ‘And you’ll have to shout because this is a really lousy signal.’
‘Of course it is. I’m using a satellite phone because I’m in the middle of flipping nowhere.’
‘Well, apart from being in the middle of nowhere, how the heck are you?’
‘I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I miss your ugly face, my friend,’ Brianna replied with a smile, gratefully easing into their usual banter.
‘Boy, things must be really bad.’
Brianna chuckled. ‘No, they aren’t, not really. In fact everyone has been really good to me. It’s just not the same as being with your friends. They tend to treat me with kid gloves here.’ Her mind wandered back to Mitch. ‘Well, most of them do. They’re probably scared I’ll go telling tales to Mum.’
‘Any hunky men?’
‘Melanie,’ Brianna exclaimed in mock disgust. ‘I’m here to understand how the group rescue and care for injured people whose lives have been ripped apart by a tornado. I’m not here to pick up men.’
‘Well, generally speaking, they try to pick you up,’ her friend replied dryly. ‘I’m sure even the most devoted rescue worker isn’t blind to a beautiful woman.’
Brianna sighed. ‘Maybe, but I have to say, it is all pretty depressing. It certainly puts my own life into perspective. I can’t help but think how flipping lucky I am.’ There was a moment’s silence, and Brianna wondered if Melanie was still there. ‘Melanie?’
‘Hey, I’m still here buddy. I hear what you’re saying, but don’t get too serious on me. Sure, do what you can to help, but you still have your own life to lead. And anyway, you didn’t answer my question. What about the men?’
Brianna thought of Mitch. How would Melanie react if she admitted she thought she was falling in lust with the head doctor? A rough looking man with an abrasive personality. She couldn’t even explain the attraction to herself, never mind her best friend. ‘Nobody you’d be interested in,’ she replied truthfully.
Quickly she caught up on the last few days of trivial but amusing gossip from back home, ending the call with a promise to phone again if anything interesting happened.
‘I thought I might find you here,’ Dan announced as he walked towards her. ‘If you’ve finished your breakfast, would you like a tour of the main camp? I’ve got to pick up some supplies and thought you might fancy a ride.’
‘What, a chance to get away from here for a while?’ She smiled at him. ‘What are we waiting for?’
Brianna knew a trip around the camp wasn’t going to be scenic, but at least it was away from the depressing sight of patients in hospital beds. It also took her away from the close proximity of Mitch, which was definitely a good idea. She was still alarmed by her sudden attraction to him in the early hours of the morning. With a bit of luck, time away would bring her equilibrium back to an even keel.
First Dan drove to the small airstrip where he hauled several large crates marked Medic SOS into the back of the truck. He refused her offer of help, for which she was grateful. If she’d gone with Mitch, no doubt she’d have been the one left lugging the boxes while he watched. And told her to put more effort into it.
Driving back, Dan stopped to introduce her to a twinkling-eyed older man called Sam, who was in charge of the whole set-up, and then detoured so she could see the full extent of the refugee camp.
‘I wonder how they manage to live, eat and sleep all under one small canvas roof?’ she wondered out loud, staring at the huddled rows of tents the poor villagers now called home.
‘It’s probably easier when your original home wasn’t much bigger.’
She nodded, uncomfortably aware that even before the tornado these people had lived in homes probably no larger than the garage her father parked his car in. As she scanned the faces in front of her she didn’t see any of the emotions she’d expected. There was no weeping, no angry tantrums. If this had happened to her, she’d be doing both. Instead there was a quiet acceptance of what had happened. Most people seemed simply grateful to be alive and holding someone they loved.
‘I can’t imagine how it feels to suddenly lose everything. Your home, possessions, maybe members of your family.’ She felt sick at the thought.
‘I doubt it’s much fun, but then again it depends on what you had to lose in the first place.’
‘I guess.’ The sheer extent of her privileged existence hadn’t been clear to her, until now. Would any of the crowd she partied with really understand the hell other people were living through? Even Melanie had changed the subject when Brianna had tried to explain what she had seen. Whatever she did with the rest of her life, Brianna promised she’d never forget the hardship she’d witnessed on this short trip. Or the grace with which the villagers handled the cruel blow fate had thrown them.
‘So, are you enjoying your stay with us so far?’ Dan’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
‘I’m not sure enjoying is the right word. It’s certainly been an eye-opener. You read about this sort of thing in the newspapers, but until you’ve actually seen it for yourself, well, it just doesn’t seem real, does it?’
Dan glanced over at her. ‘I guess you’re right. I’ve been doing this job for a couple of years now, but I can still remember my first camp.’ The jeep shuddered as it went over a few craters in the road. ‘Still, we can’t have you going back remembering just the tough stuff. You have to have some fun. It’s how we manage to cope with the rest. Me, Jane and Toby are going out to the town for a drink tonight. Will you join us? We’re a lot more entertaining when we’re not on duty.’ He grinned, his eyes lighting up in invitation. The message in them was clear.
‘Perhaps,’ Brianna replied cautiously. She longed for a few drinks and a bit of light relief, but she didn’t want to give Dan any wrong ideas. ‘I’ll see how I feel later. What about the others? Aren’t they coming?’
‘Roger doesn’t fancy it and Tessa and Stuart are on duty.’ He veered sharply to the right to avoid a giant pothole. ‘Mitch rarely comes out, but maybe if you invited him, he would.’
Brianna laughed at that. ‘After our little altercation yesterday, I sincerely doubt that.’ Thank goodness only she knew how her pulse had rocketed at the suggestion. She gave what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug. ‘But I’m happy to give it a try.’
They were on their way back to the medical tent when Dan’s phone went off. ‘Yes, no problem, we’re nearly there.’
After finishing the call he turned to Brianna. ‘We’ve got to get a move on. They need the truck to get out to a child who’s been found in the rubble of one of the houses. Apparently a metal pole has speared straight through his chest.’
Brianna shuddered violently. ‘Oh God.’ The images that flashed through her mind were enough to make her feel faint.
‘The family had evacuated to the camp a couple of days ago but this morning the mother noticed her son was missing. It seems he’d wandered back to his old home for some reason. When they found him he was trapped by the pole, still alive but unable to move.’
Dan continued to talk but Brianna heard very little of the rest. It took all her concentration to stay conscious. And not heave all over the dashboard.
They screeched to a stop outside the medical tent and Dan dashed inside. Brianna waited in the truck, desperately trying to be strong. It wouldn’t be pleasant but she wanted to go with them. This was the type of situation they must regularly come face to face with. She wanted to see for herself how they dealt with it.
‘Brianna.’ Mitch opened the truck door. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes tired and his chin wore a couple of days’ worth of stubble. It didn’t stop her heart doing cartwheels in her ribcage as he glared at her. For all his roughness, perhaps because of his roughness, he was the sexiest man she’d ever met. ‘We need to take the truck. You’ll have to get out.’ No please, just a command.
She stayed seated. ‘I’m coming along.’
Mitch started to grab her and pull her out of the truck. Then he looked down at his hand gripping her arm and dropped it faster than the proverbial hot potato. ‘For God’s sake woman, why won’t you do as you’re told?’ he thundered, clearly exasperated.
‘I’m here to see what you do, so I’m staying. I’ll sit in the back if you like, but I won’t remain behind.’
‘This isn’t a flaming outing to the park,’ he replied tightly. ‘There’s a boy impaled with a pole. It won’t be a pretty sight.’
She raised her chin. ‘I’m not stupid. I know that. But what’s the point in me coming all the way out here if you won’t let me see what you actually do?’
Mitch could see there was no point arguing with Brianna. Other than manhandling her out of the truck — and she probably still had the bruises from the last time he’d put his grubby hands on her soft flesh — he had no choice but to let her stay. He was damned if he’d ever met a woman more stubborn, or more arrogant. ‘Fine,’ he snarled. ‘But there’s only one person we’ll be focusing on. You feel faint, or sick, you’re on your own.’
He slammed the door shut and went to check the equipment Dan was putting in the back of the jeep.
‘Will you need to operate on site?’ Dan asked, heaving a medical bag over his shoulder.
‘I hope not.’ The preference was always to get a patient into hospital with injuries like this. The reality was that the hospital was hundreds of miles away. With no smooth roads and no ambulance with soft suspension, it was highly likely such a long trip would cause more damage. He’d have to assess it when he was there. The most realistic scenario was he’d have to bring the boy back to the medical tent and operate on him there. It was primitive, but he’d done it before. He just hoped Brianna didn’t stick her pretty little nose in too far. He knew how traumatic the sight would be when they got there. He’d seen it many times before, both with Medic SOS and on the battlefield. She hadn’t. He didn’t have the time or energy for more than one patient.
‘What’s she doing in the truck?’ Tessa looked pointedly at Brianna, who was staring defiantly out of the window.
‘Apparently she’s coming with us,’ Mitch replied absently, his mind already thinking ahead to what he might find, what he would need.
‘You’ve got to be kidding. She’ll just get in the way.’
Clearly incensed at being discussed as if she wasn’t there, Brianna yanked open the door. ‘I can hear, you know,’ she told them. ‘And I won’t get in your precious way. I’m just here to observe.’ With that she slammed the door shut again.
Tessa raised her eyebrows at him, but Mitch merely shrugged. He wasn’t going to get embroiled in a female spat. Taking the coward’s way out, he helped Dan load up the rest of the equipment.
The atmosphere in the truck was tense as he drove to where the boy had been found. Next to him Brianna folded and unfolded her arms, wrapped her hair into a ponytail, and finally stared out of the window. Behind him, on the back seat of the truck, Dan closed his eyes and a stony-faced Tessa glared at the back of Brianna’s head.
Once again, Brianna shifted in her seat. ‘Having second thoughts about tagging along now?’ he asked.
‘No.’
He almost smiled. As if she’d admit to being wrong. ‘Ever seen a bad injury?’
‘My mother once cut her hand on a kitchen knife.’
He couldn’t help himself. He snorted. ‘Don’t tell me. She needed one, no maybe two plasters?’
‘She needed stitches,’ Brianna muttered, refusing to look at him.
Casting his eyes down to her hands, he saw how tightly she clutched them together and felt a twinge of sympathy. ‘You want my advice? When we get there, don’t look.’
He brought the truck to a halt outside the ruined remains of a small house and flung open his door. Leaving it up to the rest to bring the equipment, he headed straight towards the cluster of people. A woman, presumably the mother, lay on the ground, weeping loudly and cradling the boy’s head in her arms. They all looked up as he approached.
‘Doctor, doctor,’ the mother cried in Spanish, tears streaming down her face.
Mitch nodded at her and hunkered down next to the boy. He might have seen several such injuries, but it didn’t take away the immediate feeling of repulsion. Poor little mite. Gently he began to examine him, trying to find out if the pole had skewered any vital organs. Thankfully the boy was unconscious, though the family confirmed he’d been awake when they’d got there.
‘It looks like it’s just missed his heart,’ he reassured the mother in his serviceable Spanish.
* * *
While Mitch and the others raced to the child, Brianna hung back. From what she judged to be a safe distance, she allowed her eyes fleeting glances of the scene, keeping them at head height so she wouldn’t accidentally glimpse the poor boy on the ground. She felt really, really shaky. Mitch and Tessa had been right. She had no place here.
Suddenly the crowd around the boy moved away, and Brianna’s eyes unthinkingly shifted downwards, towards the child. Instantly she knew she had to look away, but found she couldn’t. It was as if someone had hit the pause button and she was left staring at the grotesque sight of a long rusty pole sticking out from the top half of a child’s body. Oh my God.
A tidal wave of nausea hit her, clawing at her stomach, and the air she sucked in came out in short, rasping breaths. She felt cold and clammy and rubbed absently at her arms, trying to warm herself, all the while her eyes fixed on the distressing sight in front of her.
‘Brianna!’
Through a fog of horror, Brianna heard Mitch’s harsh voice yelling at her. She blinked and slowly moved her head, as if coming out of trance. Dimly aware of him motioning for her to move away, she turned and took a few steps towards the truck. That was when her knees gave way. Quickly she crouched onto the ground and put her head between her legs, letting the blood rush back to her brain. Bugger, bugger, bugger, she’d been about to faint. Would have done if Mitch hadn’t called out. Just as he’d predicted she’d nearly added to his problems.
‘You okay, Missy?’ One of the men who’d been standing by the boy came up to her, speaking in halting English.
Weakly she smiled up at him. ‘Yes, thank you, sorry.’ Her eyes involuntarily flickered towards the scene, but this time Mitch’s large body obscured her view. Hastily she looked away. ‘Is he your son?’
The man shook his head. ‘My nephew. He in bad way.’
Brianna reached out and squeezed the man’s arm. ‘Yes, but he has good people looking after him. They will do everything they can.’
Together they sat and waited. Brianna found she was unable to resist looking over again, but this time she kept her eyes on Mitch. Whether it was because the initial shock had worn off, or because she was now focused on Mitch instead of the boy, she wasn’t sure but she no longer felt she might black out. Or heave.
‘He must have nerves of steel,’ she whispered out loud. The boy’s uncle clearly didn’t understand, but smiled as if he did.
The more she watched Mitch work, the more her admiration for him grew. There was nothing hesitant or unsure about his actions. Rather they were decisive, confident. If she’d been the mother she would have felt immensely reassured that this man was looking after her child. He had the air of a man who wouldn’t let anything beat him. It was wildly inappropriate, but she felt a stir of desire. There was something incredibly sexy about the sight of the calm, self-assured doctor at work.
Disgusted with the way her thoughts had turned, she forced her mind back to the reason they were there. ‘Do you know why your nephew came back here?’ she asked the man at her side, trying to take both their minds off what was happening.
‘I think he miss his things,’ he replied sadly. ‘He look for them.’
Brianna waited until they were putting the boy onto the stretcher before walking up to the ruins. She wondered if there was something in particular the boy had been searching for. Something important enough to him that he’d walked all the way from the camp to find it. There, under a sheet of corrugated iron, she caught sight of the furry ear of a toy rabbit. Lifting up the iron sheet, she tugged out the soft toy. It was dirty, but nothing a wash couldn’t solve.
* * *
Back at the medical tent Mitch and the team operated on the child while Brianna waited anxiously with his mother and father. It had been two hours now and they’d still not received any news. Restlessly she stood and started to pace. Putting her hands in her pockets, she felt the soft fur.
‘Here.’ She handed the cuddly toy to the mother. ‘I found this in the rubble. Maybe it was what your son was looking for?’
With trembling hands the mother reached for the rabbit, tears running softly down her face as she cuddled it to her. ‘Gracias, gracias.’
Brianna reached over to give her a hug. She had nothing else to offer.
Suddenly the tent door swished open and Mitch walked in. Dressed in green overalls, sweat beaded across his forehead and locks of sandy hair plastered to his face. He looked shattered. ‘He’s stable.’ He spoke the words softly in Spanish to the parents, but Brianna got the gist of what he was saying from the look of relief on his face, and delight on theirs.
The couple hugged each other tightly and then went to shake Mitch’s hand. ‘Doctor, you save his life, you are miracle worker,’ the father told him.
Mitch shook his head. ‘I’m afraid not. He still has a long way to go, but you can see him now.’
He took them off to see his young patient and Brianna collapsed back on one of the chairs. She felt exhausted too, though all she’d managed to do was get in the way. Leaning forward, she put her head in her hands and closed her eyes.
* * *
As Mitch left the parents with their son, he noticed the mother tuck a toy rabbit into the boy’s arms. It was the same rabbit he’d seen in Brianna’s hands as they’d left what had remained of the family’s home. For some inexplicable reason, it made him smile. Damned if she didn’t have a real thing about stuffed animals. He went in search of her and found her sitting where he’d left her, though now she was hunched over, head in her hands. Glorious chestnut hair straggled out of the confines of its band and escaped in ribbons over her face.
‘Tough afternoon.’
Brianna looked up with a start. Her face was so pale. Far too pale. ‘For you and his family, definitely,’ she replied softly.
Mitch looked at her through narrowed eyes. ‘For you too, I think.’
‘A bit.’ Squeezing her fingers together, she sat back in the chair, her face suddenly alive with a mixture of anger and disgust. ‘You were right, damn it. I shouldn’t have gone. You nearly had two casualties on your hands.’
Mitch went to sit next to her. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ he told her quietly. ‘Seeing a person so badly injured is incredibly traumatic. Even more so when that person is a child. It would knock anyone sideways.’
‘Which was why you didn’t want me to go.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘But you’re not used to doing as you’re told, are you?’
Her eyes flickered with a hint of amusement. ‘No, I guess not.’
He held her gaze. It was the first time he’d really looked into her eyes, at least when they weren’t spitting anger at him. They were beautiful. Clear and as green as a forest on a sunny day. He felt drawn to them and to her. Alarmed at the thought, he abruptly rose to his feet. ‘Go and get some rest,’ he told her roughly. ‘And this time, do as I damn well say.’
Brianna smiled, producing pretty grooves on either side of her mouth. Grooves he wanted to run his tongue over. She was one hot lady, but that was a big part of the problem. He was anything but a gentleman. ‘Yes, sir,’ she replied mockingly.
‘That’s more like it.’ He looked at her a moment too long and felt a kick of desire. Sharply he turned and retreated to the safety of his tent.