Emergency Baby

Alex was as cheerful as ever. You could put that man anywhere and he would still function with a far higher than average level of competence. He would also remain cheerful and establish a rapport with any patient. Bruce relaxed noticeably with the distraction of conversation and became a lot less anxious when Mike decided to use his waiting time pushing as much rubble as he could back towards the cave end of the tunnel in preparation for the upcoming phase of the rescue effort.

Periodic calls to the trapped men quickly became part of the routine.

‘Tim? Can you hear me, mate? Steve? Are you OK?’

‘Keep calling,’Alex advised into the silence. ‘They may be able to hear us and it’ll help if they know there’s a rescue effort under way.’ The lamp beam swung away from Bruce. ‘Check this for me, Sam?’

‘Morphine, ten milligrams,’ Sam confirmed, holding the ampoule up to catch her own beam of light. ‘Expiry date’s fine.’

‘This might make you feel a bit sleepy,’ Alex informed Bruce, ‘and I’m going to give you something else so it doesn’t make you feel sick.’

‘Right. Hey, what’s the time?’

‘A bit after 6 p.m.’

Bruce swore softly. ‘The girls will be frantic.’

‘Girls?’

‘My wife, Lauren. And Steve’s wife, Courtney. They were going to come back and meet us at the tunnel entrance. Hey, Mike!’

‘What’s up, buddy?’ Mike had crawled back ready to start rolling a new piece of rock away.

‘What’s happening up top? Did you call the girls?’

‘They were here already when I went up. It was Lauren’s phone we used to call the emergency services.’

‘Is she all right?’

‘She’s worried,’ Sam told him, ‘but she’s OK. I had a word with her before we came down. She’ll be doing her best to look after her friend. She’s due to have a baby pretty soon, isn’t she?’

‘Courtney? Yeah, she’s due in about three or four weeks, I think. That’s why we took a week off work to come caving. Steve’s not going to get away much for a while after that. He might never get away again after this. Courtney worries enough at the best of times.’

‘Hmm.’ Sam had been concerned about the level of distress the pregnant woman waiting near the sinkhole had been in. How much worse was it going to be to know there were no signs of life yet from the father of her baby? She made a mental note to spend some time with Courtney after they had accompanied Bruce to the waiting helicopter. It was quite likely that it would be rather a long time before they could reach the trapped men and Sam could only hope that when they did, medical intervention would still be of benefit.

It was going to be a long night.

The more easily negotiated route to the underground cave took ninety minutes longer than the path Sam and Alex had taken. By the time the extra personnel and equipment arrived, they were more than ready to secure Bruce into the Stokes basket stretcher and start the long trip back. They had done what they could to stabilise their patient. His leg was in a traction splint, which helped control both internal bleeding and pain. He had received some fluid replacement to help counteract blood loss but he was showing signs of shock with raised respiration and heart rates. The sooner they got him into a hospital’s emergency department the better.

There were plenty of people to help with the difficult task of hauling the stretcher through the tunnels leading back to the surface but there was no way to avoid the more precarious start to the journey by having to pull their patient up the vertical wall beside the ladder.

‘I’ll go up with Bruce,’ Alex told Sam. ‘You get up top and direct the rope work.’

Having ascended the ladder, Sam looped a rope around a solid piece of rock and clipped a carabiner on her belt to the anchor. She fed another length of rope through a belay brake on the wall that had clearly been used as a means of descent before the ladder had been installed and this rope was secured to the Stokes basket. She stationed another person beside her to control a rope attached to Alex’s harness and they both pulled in the extra length as the stretcher slowly moved upwards.

Sam watched the strength Alex displayed, climbing the ladder with only one arm, hooking his legs around the thick edge wires to put his feet on the rungs heels first and help prevent any sway. He had his other hand through one of the gaps cut near the rim of the heavy plastic of the Stokes basket and Sam had the silly impression that if their ropes failed for some reason, Alex would simply keep hanging on and save their patient from plummeting to the floor of the cave.

Totally impossible, of course, but that was the kind of confidence Alex exuded. Normally, it inspired Sam to push herself a lot harder in the hope that Alex would be as proud of his partner’s abilities as she was. Sometimes she actually got the impression that Alex was doing the same thing but they had become so closely welded as a team over the last few years that it was hard to tell just who inspired whom.

What if the thrill was permanently gone for Sam? A lack of passion would be reflected almost instantly in her performance. Maybe it had been already, the way she had allowed herself to get stuck. Alex hadn’t seem perturbed, however, and that was both a relief and a warning. The thought of seeing concern—or, worse, disappointment—reflected in those dark eyes was not a pleasant one.

‘Almost there, Alex,’ she called. ‘It’s well over the lip. We’re going to start tipping the basket back and then drag it onto flat ground.’

Even with help, the effort required was enough for Sam to have to catch her breath for a moment. Bruce was not a small man.

‘You OK?’ Alex was unclipping his rope.

‘Absolutely. You?’

‘Nothing a strong coffee won’t cure. Let’s get moving, eh?’ He dropped to a crouch. ‘How’re you doing, Bruce?’

The response was a mumble that Sam couldn’t make out. ‘Is his GCS dropping?’ she asked with concern. A drop in consciousness could be a sign that the level of shock was worsening rapidly.

‘He’s a bit drowsy. I topped up his morphine before we started up the wall.’

Sam nodded. ‘Probably a good way to be. It’s not going to be a very comfortable trip being dragged over rock.’

It was uncomfortable for everyone and it felt like the longest three hours Sam had ever experienced. Only two things prevented it from being unbearable. One was that Bruce’s condition remained stable and he wasn’t too distressed by the trip even on some rougher patches.

The other was that Sam managed to maintain her usual stoicism and kept the growing dismay that she had turned some corner in life and was about to fall into a void completely hidden.

Or so she thought.

Right up until Bruce had been despatched in a rescue helicopter with a new paramedic crew to accompany him to hospital. Until Sam had spent time trying to offer what comfort she could to the pregnant wife of one of the men still missing and until she had been given a hot meal and drink and directed to sit down and rest near the fire roaring in a concrete barbecue area of the campground that marked the entrance to the caving network.

Alex folded his long legs to sit beside her a few minutes later, balancing a heaped plate of hot casserole and potatoes on his knee.

‘What’s up, Sam?’

The habit of doing anything necessary to live up to the privilege of being Alex Henry’s partner was not something Sam could easily relinquish. She certainly wasn’t going to admit to the sensation that she was standing on the edge of some emotional precipice. Alex was unlikely to be able to understand, let alone sympathise with, such a situation.

Or would he?

‘You look tired,’ he said succinctly. ‘Let’s hope our relief team arrives before they summon us underground again.’

‘Yeah.’ Sam was grateful for a believable reason for any odd vibes she might be emanating. ‘It was a hard one, wasn’t it?’

‘Cool, though.’ Alex spoke between mouthfuls of the savoury meat dish. ‘I wouldn’t mind doing a bit of caving that didn’t have the pressure of being a rescue situation.’

Sam’s smile felt a bit strained. A year ago—even a week ago—she would have encouraged such an interest. Would have felt the same way, in fact, and angled for an opportunity to accompany Alex on a new venture.

‘So?’ Alex couldn’t have satisfied his hunger enough to explain the way his fork hung halfway between his plate and his mouth. The intensity of the glance that came Sam’s way wasn’t diminished by the flickering firelight, and she found it unnerving.

‘“So”, what?’

‘Are you up for it? Shall we see if we can hook up with a caving expedition when we’ve got a few days off?’

‘Maybe.’ Sam pushed a piece of food around her plate, her appetite fading rapidly. What on earth was wrong with her?