CHAPTER THREE

      LINDSEY TURNED UP the music and did a rhythmic little rock with her shoulders as she drove. It was Friday at last and she was on leave. Going home. It was a good feeling. And perhaps back among the vines and the majestic blue hills she’d be able to sort out her feelings about a certain doctor. Was she wasting her time, though? Maybe. Maybe not.

      She shut her music off. It was time to concentrate on her driving. Even though the country road was bitumen and usually well maintained, it was narrow. And it was just on dusk, visibility questionable to say the least, but she hadn’t wanted to hang about in Hopeton. With the thought of home beckoning, she’d just wanted to be on her way.

      Automatically, she concentrated her vision on the road ahead. The headlights of an approaching car were illuminating the horizon. Lindsey adjusted her own headlights in preparation. She noticed there was a vehicle behind her as well. But so far it was obeying the road rules and keeping a safe distance.

      * * *

      Dan’s thoughts were very mixed as he drove. He hadn’t managed to catch Lindsey much over the past week. And that had been a frustration. He’d wanted to reinforce the little progress he’d made in getting to know her. But his hours at work had been manic, only because he’d made himself available so as to accumulate a few days’ leave after the wedding. The wedding was tomorrow. He hadn’t prepared a speech so he’d speak off the cuff. He and Nathan had so much shared history, it shouldn’t be difficult.

      Abruptly, Dan was jolted out of his thoughts of weddings and speeches as he noticed the lurching drift of an oncoming car. What the hell? All his reflexes sprang into action. He reduced speed instantly, preparing to brake. For a split second he forgot to breathe, following the speeding car’s trajectory as it plunged out of control, crossing the centre line and placing it on a collision course with the car in front of him. He felt every nerve in his body tense.

      Surely, a crash was inevitable.

      * * *

      Lindsey hissed an expletive, all her defensive driver training coming into play. This couldn’t be happening! Who was this lunatic of a driver? Her heart pounded, echoing in her ears. Please, no! She pulled hard on the steering wheel, feeling she’d dodged a bullet as the sports car shot past in a blur. She was safe. The relief was instant but short-lived as the vehicle clipped the rear section of her car, pushing her off the road. Her head snapped forward and then back, slamming into her headrest as her car spun and spun again.

      Dan’s jaw went rigid. This was a nightmare. He watched in horror as the sports car rolled before coming to rest right side up in a mangled mess of metal and broken glass. One headlight remained working, shining brokenly on the prostrate figure lying in the middle of the road.

      * * *

      It took a few seconds for the nurse in Lindsey to react. All thoughts of her own welfare fled. Pushing out of the car, she set her feet on the road. She felt woozy as she stood, swallowing back sudden nausea. She had to get to the injured person. She began running.

      * * *

      The sight of the female figure running towards the accident wrenched Dan out of his quagmire of disbelief. He brought his Land Rover as near as was safe to the accident site, switching his headlights to high beam. In seconds, he’d lodged a call for an ambulance. Seconds after that, he was out and grabbing his medical case, complete with oxygen and suction. He had a feeling he was going to need every last item in his kit. He took off at a run, noting the woman was already at the scene, crouching over the injured man. Dan frowned. Should she even be there? He’d seen how her vehicle had copped the impact of the sports car. ‘Are you hurt?’

      Lindsey startled at the brisk demand, raising her head. She blinked uncomprehendingly. ‘Dan...?’

      Sweet God. Dan let his breath go in a stream. ‘Lindsey?’

      For a mini-second they stared at each other in amazement and total disbelief. But the whys and wherefores had to wait until later. They had a life to save. ‘Are you OK?’ Dan rapped.

      She frowned slightly. ‘Think so...’

      ‘Then let’s see what’s going on.’

      The injured man looked in his sixties. Possible causes for the accident ran through Dan’s head. Had he fallen asleep? Suffered a stroke or heart attack...? He was wearing bike shorts, T-shirt and hiking boots. Dan threw open his medical kit, snapping on a pair of gloves. Who was this guy—some kind of fitness nut? First things first, he decided, placing an oxygen mask over the man’s face.

      Lindsey hunkered down beside Dan. ‘Ambulance coming?’

      ‘Yep. They’ve diverted one. Let’s hope it gets here in time.’ Dan shook his head at the carnage. ‘Glove up, please, Lindsey. I need your help here.’

      She swayed a little then gathered herself, taking a deep breath and then another, pulling on her gloves over shaking hands. ‘Is he still breathing?’

      ‘Just. Obviously he wasn’t wearing a seat belt to be thrown out like that.’ Dan did a quick head-to-toe check. ‘Multiple contusions, by the look of it, fractured tibias.’ He ripped out an expletive. ‘Arterial bleed from his groin.’

      Lindsey felt her stomach turn upside down, the sight of bright blood pulsing from the femoral artery almost making her gag. She took quick, shallow breaths, swallowing down the bitter taste of bile. Working like a robot, she grabbed whatever she could find in Dan’s bag to absorb the flow of blood and pressed hard against the site. Pressure. They needed pressure. A tourniquet. An ambulance. A and E back-up. Her brain fogged. This was bordering on her worst nightmare. She’d attended dozens of accident scenes. What on earth was wrong with her...?

      ‘Sure you’re OK?’

      Suddenly Dan was butted up against her. Lindsey felt the warmth of his hand anchoring hers. Her teeth began to chatter. ‘Bit s-sick...’

      ‘You’re in shock!’ God, why hadn’t he noticed?

      ‘I’ll...be all right.’ Lindsey forced herself to slow her breathing. In and out.

      Dan scanned her face. Even in the dim light he could see she was as pale as parchment. ‘Do you hurt anywhere? Lindsey, I need to know.’

      She shook her head and winced as a spasm in her neck caught her unawares. ‘Bit of...whiplash. I’ll be OK. Just...get on.’

      Dan hissed a non-reply. Within seconds, he’d wound a tourniquet into place.

      Freed from the task of providing pressure on the wound, Lindsey pulled back. ‘Do you have a collar?’

      ‘No, damn it.’ He shook his head at his lapse. Made a mental note to include one in his kit ASAP. ‘We’ve got to stop that racket somehow,’ he grated. They both knew their patient’s airway was seriously compromised, his tortured breathing rattling into the stillness. He’d have to improvise. Dan’s responses were running at top speed. He moved forward, kneeling so that the injured man’s head was between his thighs. It was the only kind of stability he could offer for his patient’s head and neck. Using gentle pressure, he extended the chin. The man’s breathing improved marginally. It had to be enough until the paramedics got there.

      Lindsey rallied, giving Dan the back-up he needed. She passed him the portable suction unit, automatically pushing the mask aside so he could place the sucker inside their patient’s mouth. She felt black nausea pool in her stomach as blood tracked down into the tubing. Turning away, she retched onto the road.

      ‘That’s enough, Lindsey,’ Dan ordered. ‘I can manage from here.’ He motioned backwards with his head. ‘Go and