Chapter Seven
‘QAS are incoming, lights and sirens!’ Maddie yelled from the counter of the nurses’ station, slamming the phone back in its cradle.
Adrenaline kicked through Piper’s veins as she moved from the bed she’d just finished making.
The wails of the sirens rang from outside the double doors.
She grabbed a pair of latex gloves from the box on the wall and pulled them over her hands, purposeful strides moving her through the emergency department.
The sun was low in the sky and she was due to finish in an hour. That seemed unlikely now.
The doors slid open and Stef pulled the stretcher in with one hand while the other was busy squeezing the bag over the patient’s mouth to provide oxygen.
Emmett was on the stretcher, his knees on either side of the woman, performing chest compressions.
A defibrillator sat at the woman’s feet, pads attached to her chest.
‘Resus bay,’ Piper directed as Maddie smoothly took over the bagging.
Cara hurried into the emergency room. ‘Doctor’s turning the car around. Tell us what we’re dealing with, Stef.’
‘Fifty-eight-year-old female with chest pains following a motor vehicle accident. Compound fracture to the right thigh bone following the head-on collision, suspected broken ribs and a collapsed lung. We stabilised her at the scene, but she started crashing in the ambo when we were about three minutes out. The defib’s shocked her once already.
Eddie and Mick are coming with the driver, maybe five minutes behind us. ’
The stretcher came to a stop in the bay and Piper stepped up to the side, placing her hands together over the patient’s chest. ‘Switch out, Emmett.’
Before he could lift his hands, the automated voice of the defibrillator spoke. ‘Stop CPR. Analysing rhythm.’
Emmett climbed down from the stretcher in a way that screamed he’d done it before and Piper held her breath.
‘No shock advised,’ the machine said. ‘Continue CPR.’
Piper folded her hands over one another and commenced her round of compressions, building an even pace. It didn’t take long for the muscles in her arms to start burning. Must be doing it right.
Dr Estella walked through the doors, her scrubs in place, and Piper breathed a small sigh of relief that it was Estella still on rotation and not Sean.
He was a cocky locum doctor who wouldn’t believe anyone who didn’t hold the same degree as him.
The movement of Piper’s arms continued her assault on the patient’s chest. C ome on, please beat.
She caught Emmett’s eye and read the same plea in the serious lines of his face.
The machine again commanded her to stop so it could analyse any rhythm and Piper stilled instantly.
Estella kept a sharp eye on the screen before pressing her fingers to the woman’s neck. ‘No pulse,’ she murmured.
‘Shock advised,’ the robot voice said.
‘Clear for a shock,’ Estella said more loudly.
Piper stood back as the machine’s voice garbled through its assessment. The machine sent a shock of electricity through the woman. Piper ignored the instinct to look away as the patient’s chest jolted in a stiff jerk. She’d never get used to that, no matter how many times she saw it.
The doors to the ambulance bay opened again as another stretcher was pulled through. This must be the driver. Piper suspected he was this woman’s husband. Please be okay.
‘She’s stable,’ Estella announced. ‘Let’s get this lady a one-way ticket to Townsville via air transportation.’
Cara gave a nod and picked up the phone. ‘Piper, get her ready for an airlift. Maddie, on the driver with Greta. Emmett and Stef, make yourselves useful.’
Piper moved around the patient, adjusting lines and collecting observations. Emmett moved too, each doing what needed to be done and somehow not getting in the other’s way.
‘Did Stef say it was a head-on collision?’ she asked.
‘Two teens stole a car from Townsville and were joyriding out this way when they took a corner too wide and veered across the white line, straight into these guys.’ His jaw was tight as he secured another strip of tape around the cannula in the back of the patient’s hand.
‘Are they …’
‘Apart from a few scrapes and bruises from the air bags going off, they’re fine and in the back of a police car.’
Piper’s eyes widened. Rage and injustice burned through her as she continued working on the woman, who remained unconscious. She swallowed the feelings down. There was no room for them in the ED. ‘They’ll need to get checked over.’
‘Yeah, well, we ran out of ambulances. The cops will bring them by. I just asked that the couple get a head start.’
Piper moved her hand to cover the back of Emmett’s, drawing his troubled gaze to hers. ‘Hey, I get it. It’s okay.’
The corners of his mouth flicked up before they got back to it.
It was all hands on deck to get the patient ready and out to the helipad once the giant metal bird had touched down.
Piper had been part of teams receiving patients from helicopters but had never loaded one before and she kept her head down and her eyes peeled, taking the process in.
Once the woman was settled and the rotors carried her into the sky, a collective sigh rang out from the group.
‘There’s your first medevac,’ Maddie said, slinging her arm around Piper’s shoulders. ‘How does it feel?’
Piper let out a burst of exhausted laughter. ‘A bit different from taking them off at the other end.’
Emmett pushed the stretcher down the slope to the hospital from the helipad behind them.
‘Are you taking her husband into Townsville?’ Piper asked over her shoulder.
Her shift had ended a while ago and she was overdue for a soak in the delicious clawfoot tub in Emmett’s newly renovated bathroom.
She wouldn’t be complaining if Mr Didn’t-like-musiclouder-than-a-dripping-tap wouldn’t be home to complain about her latest playlist.
‘Nah, Eddie and Mick have already left with him, but Stef and I will have to pull a bit of overtime until they get back.’
‘What a shame.’ Piper couldn’t hide the glee in her voice.
Emmett groaned. ‘You’re going to hide away in the bathroom with music I’ll hear from halfway down the street, aren’t you, twinkle tones?’
‘Twinkle tones?’ Maddie laughed. ‘Where do you come up with this stuff?’
‘Don’t encourage him, Maddie.’
Emmett’s slow chuckle ran over Piper like she’d already slipped into the hot bubble bath headfirst. It’s just Emmett . But the reminder didn’t stop the warmth in her veins.
The door to the hospital opened and Cara’s head poked out. ‘Piper! You have a phone call.’
Her brow crinkled. ‘Me?’
‘Yes, you. They asked for Piper Hendrix. That’s you, isn’t it?’
‘Who would be calling you here?’ Maddie asked.
Panic seized Piper and she gasped, her eyes flying to Emmett’s. ‘What if something’s happened to Mum? Or Carter?’
‘I’m sure it’ll be fine.’
But she didn’t hear him. Breaking into a jog she ran into the main entrance of the hospital, which was empty, and snatched the phone up from behind the desk. ‘Hello?’
‘Piper. It’s so good to finally hear your voice.’
A coldness seeped into the marrow of her bones. ‘Heath? How’d you find me here?’
‘Were you hiding from me? Rush Creek is a bit far for a game like that.’
‘I didn’t end our relationship and leave Sydney because I wanted to stay in contact with you. Why won’t you just leave me alone?’ Tears pricked her eyes as her frustration soared like a kite on a windy day.
‘Piper, I can’t let you go that easily. Not without a fight. Let me fight for us.’
‘There’s nothing left to fight for.’ Her voice was loud. ‘You’re too late. You need to fight for yourself and forget me. Don’t call me again.’
She slammed the receiver down and took in everyone around her staring: Maddie, Cara and Emmett. Oh, no. They’d all think she was an absolute loon.
‘Excuse me,’ she murmured then turned and ran for the sanctuary of the staff room.
Emmett stared after Piper, anger and protectiveness mixing in his stomach.
Leaving the stretcher in the middle of the waiting room, he marched to the desk and lifted the discarded receiver to his ear.
A dial tone was all he heard, and he cursed.
He would’ve loved to have ripped Heath a new one for upsetting her, leave him with a very real threat of what would happen if he called her again.
‘What the hell was that?’ Maddie asked.
‘Her ex.’ He glanced at the door Piper had disappeared through. ‘I’m going to check on her.’
‘Yeah, you are.’
Emmett shot Maddie a glare. ‘Tell Stef to put the stretcher in the ambulance.’
She gave him a salute and he shook his head before heading after Piper. The door led to the staff room that hosted a small kitchenette and a giant table. A couch sat beneath the window and lockers lined the opposite wall. But there was no Piper.
The door nestled next to the fridge, which led to the bunk room, was open and Emmett took some tentative steps towards it.
Peering in, he spotted Piper curled up at the top of a bed made for the night shift to take a nap on their break.
Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her head bowed on top of them.
Her shoulders were moving with her silent sobs.
Emmett rubbed at his chest, sure there was a chip in his heart.
Going to her, he gripped her shoulders and lifted her high enough to wrap his arms around her, crushing her to his chest. Her body responded to his hug and she buried her face in his neck.
The wet of her tears made him hold her tighter.
Was it wrong that he was noticing how well she fit against him?
Probably. But it wasn’t enough to stop him.
Hugging Piper Hendrix was the most natural thing he’d ever done.
What would kissing her be like? You’re an insensitive prick, Coleman.
She was crying over her ex and he was thinking of kissing her.
His childhood best friend’s little sister. What’s wrong with me?
All too soon, Piper calmed and pulled her head back from his chest. He reluctantly loosened his grip but didn’t let her go.
‘Help me understand what he’s done to cause this much of a reaction from you.’
She closed her eyes but nodded and sank back down to the mattress, slipping through his arms. He took the seat beside her, giving her space but not too much, and rested his hand on her leg. She took a deep breath, her brown eyes piercing his.
‘Heath has an opioid addiction and is under investigation for stealing medication from the hospital.’
Emmett’s breath escaped him in a hiss. He’d heard about doctors and surgeons taking drugs to either keep them going during the long shifts or to zone out after all the trauma from dealing with medical emergencies. He’d never met any, but he knew they existed and, apparently, Heath was one of them.
‘Shit, Piper. When did you find out?’
Piper tipped her head back. ‘When the executive director gave me a call with the medical superintendent right beside her.’
Emmett cringed.
‘It gets better,’ she continued. ‘I had to answer to the board of medical directors about why I never reported him. It was so humiliating to have to admit that I had no idea.’ She paused and Emmett could see the tears welling in her eyes again, but she seemed to try to swallow them down.
‘I know what you’re thinking. How could I not know?
Sounds like a cop-out, right? I’ve asked myself the same question over and over, but I swear I didn’t, Emmett.
The only conclusion I can come up with is that I didn’t care about him enough to notice. ’
‘I wasn’t thinking that,’ Emmett said, squeezing her leg. ‘I was thinking of how far a man has to fall to develop a problem so significant and hide it from his partner.’
Piper scoffed lightly. ‘We weren’t really partners by then. We’d drifted so far apart that we were no more than roommates who barely saw each other.’ She shook her head. ‘I feel so bloody guilty for it.’
‘It takes two people to be in a relationship, Piper. You can’t shoulder all the blame yourself.’
‘I didn’t know what to do. If I’d stayed with him, then I was guilty by association.
Word got out in the hospital and everyone started treating me differently—like I was the one stealing medication.
None of the people I thought were friends acted like they were; I wasn’t allowed to go to the restricted medication room by myself; I was getting side eyes everywhere and the whispers …
they may as well have been shouting. How could I stay with him?
And if I left, how could I abandon him when he needed me the most?
I was completely trapped.’ She swiped at the tears that had slipped past her resolve.
The chip in Emmett’s heart turned into a crack straight down the middle. ‘It’s not your fault. He put you in an impossible position.’
‘It was too much. I know he needed me, but I couldn’t be the person he needed me to be for him.
I didn’t want to be.’ Her voice broke and Emmett shuffled closer, putting his arm around her.
She leaned into his side. ‘I wasn’t strong enough and I was terrified of the damage it would do to Carter’s career, and Jonathan’s, if it got out and they linked me to them.
So, I put myself and my family over my partner and ran away to Rush Creek in my Kombi. ’
‘You were so strong,’ he said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Don’t let him make you feel bad for choosing your own mental health over a man who’d become someone you didn’t know.’
‘That’s the bit that really kicks,’ she said, anger seeping into her voice. ‘I thought I knew who Heath was. I lived with him for eighteen months. Slept in the same bed. Had the same group of friends. But when it came down to it, I didn’t know him at all.’
‘It might not count for much, but I think it takes guts to walk away from a situation like that. He made his choices, Piper, and he would’ve brought you down with him.
If he can’t respect the space you’ve put between you when it’s this much space, then I shudder to think what would’ve happened if you’d decided to stay. ’
‘I have zero regrets about leaving. I should’ve broken it off earlier. I think I just got complacent. That makes me sound like a really terrible person.’ She dipped her head into her hand.
Emmett tugged her hand away from her face. ‘No, it doesn’t. You can tell me anything, Piper, and I’ll never think badly of you. I’ve known you forever. I know your heart.’
Her face softened.
The door to the bunk room flew open and Stef’s head popped around it. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got another call.’
Annoyance flooded Emmett’s veins. He wanted to stay with Piper but he was needed.
‘Go.’ Piper nodded towards Stef as if she knew he was torn. ‘I’ll be fine.’
He leaned over and wrapped her up into another hug. ‘I’ll see you at home?’
‘I’ll be there.’ She squeezed him tightly.
He was a big fan of hugs.