Chapter Four – Freedom Above
Back at the Royal Flying Doctor Base Geoff and David shared a dark look.
"I don't like this," David protested as Geoff made to leave for the hospital. "I mean, Kate is just a nurse. What if something happens during transit?"
Geoff halted in mid-step and turned to his younger colleague. "Kate is an excellent nurse. She'll do what's required of her and more," he said in a voice that left no room for further discussion.
David looked away briefly and sighed. "I'm sorry, Geoff I didn't mean it that way," he apologized.
Geoff gave him a guarded smile. "I know, David. Just help me get the theater ready and then head out to the airport," he ordered.
"What about the clinic? Should Annie and I go out there to finish it?" David asked.
Geoff shook his head. "Annie's left with Nick and considering what's happened out there I think it's better to recess and book another clinic the next week or so," he reasoned.
"Should I call her back?" Clare asked.
Geoff nodded. "Immediately," he said. "We need her in theatre. But Clare, don't tell her it's Gerry. Not yet, she doesn't need to be worried prematurely."
OOOOOO
Gerry grinded his teeth in agony and hissed as Tom gently put pressure on the now open wounds.
"Keep still, Gerry," the doctor commanded sternly with an underlying concern for his colleague in his voice that had the pilot on edge.
"What's the verdict?" The pilot tried bravely.
"Just keep still," Tom replied shortly.
"Great," Gerry grimaced, not daring to glance down his side. "Did I tell you…I can't stand blood?"
In desperation Tom suddenly chuckled and then glanced up as Kate made her way over to them. "Have you heard anything?" he asked anxiously.
"He's en route as we speak and should arrive in another thirty minutes or so," she explained and nodded at their common friend.
"He said to tell you that if you make any comments on his flying skills you're off the plane," she admonished with a soft yet concerned smile.
Despite being drained of energy Gerry's lips curled slightly upwards even though his face was a tight mask of controlled pain. "I can't make any promises," he whispered cockily and closed his eyes.
"Hey," Tom cautioned. "You're not fainting on me, or slipping into shock are you?"
"Just resting my eyes," the pilot mumbled.
Kate shared a worried look with Tom who dejectedly shook his head.
The minutes went by agonizingly slow and Kate felt a lifetime had passed when the mail plane finally turned up. Gerry was sitting next to her, slouched in the passenger seat of the four wheel drive. Every raged breath he took sent a shiver down Kate's spine. It was a curse to be medically trained at times. Despite the fact that it had happened several years ago she couldn't help but to draw parallels to another accident. She kept thinking back on Gibbo, the friend and pilot they hadn't been able to save.
"Here he is," Tom said from the backseat.
Kate shielded her eyes with her hand as she gazed up in the air at the sound of the engine.
"My goodness," Gerry wheezed in disbelief as the old and worn aircraft made a landing approach. "Would that thing keep it together all the way back to Crossing?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation Tom shook his head and chuckled. "You sound better, do you feel any better?" he asked.
"I'm afraid to do an inventory," he quipped and hissed as he tried to shift in the seat. "My blood is seeping through my fingers."
Tom said nothing as he got out of the car and ran up to the mail plane to have a chat with the pilot. The minute later he went back to the car and opened the passenger door. "Come on Gerry," Tom encouraged.
"I'd rather stay put," he whispered faintly.
"Sorry, mate," the doctor returned sternly and stepped aside slightly to give Kate room to help him move the pilot to the awaiting aircraft.
Nick gave a low whistle as the trio past him and quickly ran up ahead to open the passenger door of the old aircraft.
Tom eased himself inside and then gently heaved the Nomad endorsed pilot inside while Kate closed the door behind them and Nick got into the cockpit next to Gerry to fire up the old engine again.
"Don't spare the horses, Nick," Tom said, trying to keep his voice light and free from the anxiety he was feeling. Despite being a professional doctor he wasn't immune to feelings and he preferred not to treat his own colleagues, let alone lose them on the way to the hospital.
The mail plane pilot nodded and gently reached out to fasten the RFDS pilot's seatbelt. By the look on his face he didn't like what he saw one bit.
Although Nick occasionally took passengers who paid for the ride, not for free like his successor Frank, he wasn't used to emergencies, injured persons, demanding doctors or blood. It unsettled him to see the man next to him on the verge of bleeding out before his eyes. Unconsciously he willed the little aircraft to go faster than she really could and prayed they would have a tailwind all the way to Cooper's Crossing.
OOOOOO
Kate watched the single engine aircraft take off and slowly climb toward the horizon until it became nothing but a faint spot. With a heavy heart she walked over to the Nomad, who stood ready for flight at the end of the Maple Hodges airstrip, and jumped into the cockpit to put the radio on.
"Mike Sierra Foxtrot to Victor Charlie Charlie," she said into the microphone.
"Mike Sierra Foxtrot this is Victor Charlie Charlie receiving," Clare's clear voice came over channel.
"Clare, they've taken off now," Kate reported wearily. "If everything goes according to plan, they should be at the airfield in two hours, the mail plane can't make it faster."
"You've done everything possible Kate," Geoff said. "It's up to Tom and Gerry now."
Kate chuckled at the absurdity as she remembered the old comic show with the cat and mouse. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Geoff, obviously aware of what he'd just said, chuckled too. "I'm glad someone finds the situation hilarious," he returned.
Kate sighed and sobered. "I'll head back to take care of the three children and poor Brian," she said.
"What's the nature of their injuries?" Geoff asked to keep his and Kate's mind off Tom and Gerry.
"You already know that," Kate returned.
"Just humor me, Kate," he said.
"One of the young boys amazingly got away with a small cut over his left eyebrow. The other two weren't quite so lucky. One of them suffered a broken arm and the other a broken ankle, both of them are sporting various cuts and bruises," she reported dutifully.
Silence settled over the open radio channel for a moment before Kate spoke up again. "It's Brian I'm worried about," she finally said. "He's blaming himself for everything, for causing the accident that killed his 'uncle Jeremy'.
"Surely no one else blame him?" Clare asked.
"No, I don't think so," Kate returned. "But that's the least he needs right now. He suffered a severe blow to his head, cracked a few ribs and have a very colorful shoulder. He needs to rest and recuperate."
"Are you sure you don't want David to drive out there?" Geoff asked.
"Jennie is helping me with the kids and Brian. We'll take both four wheel drives and drive toward Crossing as soon as possible. The cars are not equipped by radio communication but I'd estimate that we'd be home in about three and a half hour if we leave immediately," she reasoned.
"Kate, I don't like it," Geoff cautioned.
"We're out of options," she returned seriously. "Tom checked them up before he left, they are not in immediate danger."
"What about Brian?" Geoff returned. "You can't tell if he's got internal hemorrhaging."
"No, but at the moment he doesn't show such symptoms and it's better to move him than to let him stay here," she argued. "Estimate our arrival around eight pm. Mike Sierra Foxtrot out."
Kate sighed and glanced out the cockpit windows. She reached up to turn off the radio and everything else that might consume battery power. The nurse then checked that everything was locked so that no one could come in and play with the equipment in the cabinet where they kept medicine and supplies in the cabin. With a heavy heart she left the aircraft and turned to the four wheel drive. "Goodbye 'Foxy'," she said and then shook her head wondering why she was saying goodbye to a piece of machinery.
OOOOOO
John Maple Hodges ushered a tear away from his cheek and then wiped away the thin sheen of perspiration from his forehead. He sighed and heaved himself up of the grave he'd dug for his father's old friend, the whole family's friend, Jeremy Rodgers.
John shoved the shovel hard into the dry ground and grunted.
"It's okay to cry dad," a soft voice spoke up from behind him.
He chuckled mirthlessly as he turned around to face his oldest child and only daughter in the family. Born only one year before Brian she was now a startling young woman. He saw less and less of her as time went past and since a couple of years back she'd been living in Sydney to complete her studies.
"I'm glad you're home," he said simply as he closed the small distance between them.
She said nothing, instead she gently squeezed his shoulder and gazed toward the grave.
An eerie silence settled over the pair as they shared both grief and pain.
"I'll miss 'uncle' Jeremy," she finally managed in a subdued voice.
"Yeah, love," John replied despondently. "I always knew this day would come, that he wouldn't live forever, but I didn't expect it to end so suddenly, so tragically."
Joanne Maple smiled, not sure what else to do but it was a forced and unsettling smile that did nothing to hide the sadness in her eyes. She reached into her purse and withdrew a set of old and worn photographs with fondness.
"I hope he is free now," she said and handed over the pictures to her father. "When I was ten I caught him looking at them. At first he told me to go away but I was persistent and nosy," she trailed off and laughed at the memory.
John stared at the young man on the photos. There was no mistake about it, it was Jeremy on the pictures, but he was not a simple ranch hand or a drifter as his father had cryptically told him when he'd asked about 'uncle' Jeremy. In his hand he held a photo of a young pilot, his crew and an old aircraft called 'the Runner'.
"He told me he'd let me in on his secrets if I promised not to tell anyone, and as a little child I gladly accepted, eager to hear about his adventures," she explained hollowly.
"That is a bomber," John said slowly as he studied the picture closely.
"Yes," she said. "He never told me the real reason for not taking up flying again, he kept telling me he had everything he wanted here and that he was happy. He didn't need flying anymore, he had had enough."
John smiled. "When I was little I remember Jeremy and your granddad gazing at the sky. I called them about it one day and Jeremy looked down at me and said, with a twinkle in his eyes, that there was freedom above. I've never understood what he meant, until now," he said.
Joanne gently embraced her father in a hug. "I've arranged for Father Jacko to arrive early tomorrow morning, that way he'll have a proper funeral," she whispered.
OOOOOO
Kate cursed as she drove into a large pothole. Brian cried out next to her and the smaller kid in the back whined miserably. "I'm sorry," she mumbled and cast a quick glance in the rear-mirror.
There was a honk on the horn from behind her and she pursed her lips into a thin line of displeasure as she saw that the other car had stopped. She came to a halt and killed the engine. With a sigh she retrieved her small supply bag and went over to the other four wheel drive.
Jennie breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the nurse come her way. "Thank goodness, Kate," she exclaimed. "I don't know how long I can handle listening to the whining and complaining from these two. Can't you give them something for the pain?"
"I don't dare to give them much more and the supplies are running low," Kate reasoned.
"Please, Kate, how long until we reach Cooper's Crossing? Another hour?" Jennie asked wearily.
The nurse nodded. "Do you have water?" she asked.
Jennie nodded and turned to rummage through the mess of things on the passenger seat next to her.
"I'll do a quick check up and give them a few tablets but that's it," Kate reasoned. "Then we must head on and speed up. Are the roads this bad the whole way?"
"We've been taking a short cut," Jennie said. "Although, I don't know, considering the low pace, if it was the right way to take under the circumstances. How's Brian and his kid brother?"
"Holding on, but the faster we can get them to the hospital the better," Kate explained.
"I'll step on it," Jennie assured her. "I don't suppose you've got any earplugs?"
"Sorry," Kate said softly.
OOOOOO
Nancy walked into the semi-dark base and frowned. "Clare, why are you sitting in the dark? Where is everybody?" she asked worriedly.
The radio operator glanced up from her work and smiled. "I haven't gotten around to turn on the lights in the duty room," she said sheepishly.
Nancy quickly moved over to hit the switch. "There," she said softly.
"You haven't heard?" Clare began carefully as she studied Nancy's jovial face.
"Heard what?" she enquired in confusion. "The baby news are all over town."
Clare swallowed. "Nancy, there's been an accident," she began seriously as she removed her reading glasses. "Several children has been injured at the Maple Hodges' station, their old ranch hand Jeremy Rodgers didn't make it at all."
"Oh dear, "Nancy mumbled as she held up a hand before her mouth. "It was a good thing that Tom and Kate was there when it happened then."
"I'm afraid there is more," Clare let on, not sure how to break the news to the kind woman next to her. "Tom is flying in with Gerry in the mail plane-"
"Is the Nomad broken again?" Nancy interrupted.
"It's not the aircraft that's broken. It's the pilot," Clare said in a subdued voice.
"Kilo Sierra Kilo to Victor Charlie Charlie," Tom's familiar voice came over the radio.
"Go ahead Kilo Sierra Kilo," Clare replied quickly.
"Clare, we're coming in now, is everything ready?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, the ambulance is standing by and the theatre is ready. How is he?" she asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Not good, Clare," Tom said darkly. "Kilo Sierra Kilo out."
OOOOOO
To be continued