Consultant In Crisis

‘Does anybody know what time the pharmacy here shuts?’ Sandy was from a country town well north of Christchurch. Like several other people she was living in during the course at the school’s accommodation facilities. ‘I’ve run out of shampoo.’

‘The supermarket will be open,’ Wendy told her.

‘Does anyone else need anything?’

‘I’ll come with you,’ Kyle announced. ‘I need a new razor.’ At twenty-three, Kyle was the youngest member of the class. He stroked a chin that looked like it was struggling to produce anything more than fluff and then eyed Fletch and Joe, who were collecting orders to take to the bar. ‘Get a beer for me, will you, guys? We won’t be long.’

Kelly chose a single seat at the end of the long table. With no other chairs available, Fletch would be forced to sit at the other end of the table and the conversation there was loud enough to easily drown out the sound of his voice. Things would be far more manageable at this end as far as Kelly was concerned. Dave Stewart was already seated on her left and having an animated conversation with June, a lively woman in her mid-fifties who was probably the oldest of the class members.

‘I was a cop, originally,’ Dave was telling June as Kelly sat down. ‘I’m forty-six now and I’ve spent the last nineteen years with the fire service.’

‘How long have you been involved with USAR?’

On Kelly’s right, Wendy was sitting beside Ross and they, too, were quickly engrossed in their own conversation.

‘It’s true.’ Wendy was laughing. ‘It was because I was fat that I joined the tramping club at school. I wanted to lose weight. Next thing I knew I was hooked and running marathons!’

‘Ever tried the Coast to Coast?’

‘No, but I’d love to. A race across the south island in one day would be the ultimate. I’d need to brush up on my kayaking and cycling times, though.’

‘I did it last year.’

‘Oh, wow!’

Kelly was only half listening to the conversations around her as she kept an eye out for the return of Joe and Fletch. Her colleague and her ex-fiancé. It was kind of ironic that the two men had established such a good friendship over the space of the last two weeks but Kelly was confident that she had dismissed any curiosity on Joe’s part on the first day of the course. During the class introductions, in fact. That session had probably been the hardest of the course so far. Kelly stole a glance at Dave as she remembered how he’d started that first day.

‘You represent a wide group of expertise,’ he’d told them. ‘We have people here from the fire service and the Red Cross. We have paramedics, nurses and doctors. Some of you are from cities and some from rural areas.’ Dave’s smile had been welcoming. ‘I suggest the first thing we do is go around the group and introduce ourselves.’ He’d looked at Kelly. ‘Tell us something about yourself. What you do and how you ended up being on this course.’

‘Um…’ Kelly had swallowed hard. She hadn’t been at all sure she’d even wanted to be on the course any more. Three weeks of sitting in a room with Neil Fletcher? Being reminded of the overwhelming effects that being in love with him had had on both her mind and body? No, thanks.

The silence was loud. Everyone was listening, especially Fletch. Kelly wanted to escape, to run away. But she had never run from anything in her life and she wasn’t about to start.

‘I’m Kelly Drummond,’ she stated clearly. ‘I’m twenty-eight years old and I’ve been with the ambulance service for eight years now. I qualified as a paramedic while I was working in Australia and I just came back to a new job in Christchurch three weeks ago. I guess they decided it would be a good idea to throw me back in at the deep end and give me the challenge of learning about urban search and rescue.’

Joe introduced himself with his usual laid-back confidence. June offered her background of nearly thirty years with the Red Cross, and Owen, Roger and Gerry made it obvious that working together at an inner city fire station gave them a close bond. And then it was the introduction Kelly had been dreading.

‘I’m Neil Fletcher.’ The familiar deep tone was as disconcerting as the first sight of him had been. ‘But, please, call me Fletch because I’m not likely to respond to being called Neil by anyone other than my mother.’

The laughter was general and the ice was broken amongst the group. Even Kelly smiled. She hadn’t forgotten how he hated the name Neil.

Joe poked Kelly in the ribs with his elbow. ‘Didn’t you and Fletch get together for a while? Just before you took off across the ditch?’

‘Not so you’d notice,’ Kelly whispered back. ‘I doubt that he even remembers me.’

Any suspicion that Kelly wasn’t being truthful would have been allayed by the way Fletch had later brushed her off and pretended they were strangers. Kelly was relieved. It would make things a lot easier—at least for the duration of this training course. She was unsurprised. If she’d been in Fletch’s position she wouldn’t want her reputation tarnished either. Dr Fletcher would be more than slightly embarrassed if the sordid details of their break-up ever became public.

‘Are you sure you only wanted an orange juice?’ Joe leaned past Wendy to place a tall glass in front of Kelly.

‘Thanks, Joe. That’s perfect.’

Fletch was right behind Joe. ‘Wine for you, June, and a nice cold beer for you, Wendy.’

‘Oh, excellent! Thanks, Fletch.’ Wendy looked around brightly. ‘Drag a chair over from that table. There’s plenty of room on either side of Kelly.’

‘Of course, she only wanted orange juice.’ Fletch nodded at Joe as he squeezed a chair in between Wendy and Kelly. ‘Does she ever drink anything else?’

‘How do you know that, Fletch?’ Wendy was now completely distracted from her conversation with Ross.

Kelly cringed as she realised she wasn’t the only person interested in the response to the question. She was grateful for Kyle’s intrusion as he and Sandy joined the group again.

‘So, what’s the news?’ Kyle demanded. ‘I hope I haven’t missed the debrief.’

‘Couldn’t start without you, Kyle.’ Dave tapped on his glass with a spoon to call for silence. Kyle edged rapidly down the side of the table and slid into an empty seat next to Owen. Dave cleared his throat.

‘OK, team. Let’s get this debriefing over with. Our pizzas are going to turn up in a minute. You all did a great job today and I’m happy to say you’ve all passed your first practical assessment. Hazard markings, rubble crawl, line and hail search and patient extrication.’

A pleased murmur ran around the group. The three-week USAR course was punctuated by both written and practical assessments and each success took the participants closer to their goal of becoming qualified as members of a very specialised emergency service.

Dave caught Kelly’s glance. ‘Maybe you can get hold of Jessica later and let her know.’

‘Sure.’

‘Where is Jessica?’ June queried. ‘Not sick, I hope?’

‘Family responsibilities,’ Dave said vaguely.

‘Oh…’ June nodded understandingly. ‘Her little boy is a special needs child, isn’t he?’

‘They’re all special needs,’ Joe muttered from Kelly’s side. ‘Kids get in the way of having any fun at all.’

Kelly wondered if Joe realised how evident his disappointment was, but maybe nobody else had noticed the spark of interest that Joe had extinguished the moment Jessica had mentioned having a child.

‘You’ll change your mind one of these days, mate.’ Fletch leaned slightly across Kelly to speak to Joe. ‘I can just see us all meeting for a ten-year class reunion. You’ll probably have six kids by then.’

‘No way.’

‘Grandchildren are great,’ June put in. ‘I’ve just got my second one.’ She chuckled. ‘I’ll probably be a great-grandmother in ten years’ time.’

The relief Kelly had experienced when the conversation had been diverted from her drinking habits was replaced by an inexplicable sadness. Where would she be in ten years’ time? Still focused on a career without any kind of real home or family? Her goals had been so clearly set but she had almost achieved them now. What could she aim for when she had succeeded in helping to sort out her mother’s current situation and cut her own ties to an unhappy past at the same time?

‘You got any children, Fletch?’ Wendy’s query came as Fletch turned his attention to his glass of beer with obvious relish.

‘Not yet, but I’m working on it.’

Kelly was jolted from her own thoughts. She had wondered repeatedly over the last two weeks whether Fletch was in another relationship. The thought of it being meaningful enough to produce children in the foreseeable future gave her a distinctly unpleasant sensation.

‘I intend to one of these days,’ Fletch continued. ‘Unlike Joe, I really enjoy the company of children.’