‘Bingo,’ she said softly, seconds later. It was easy to draw back the plunger now. The syringe filled with blood. ‘Twenty mils should be enough to make a difference if the tamponade’s the main culprit.’
They all watched for a minute to see John’s respiratory efforts improving and his blood pressure creeping up.
Another minute and he began to regain consciousness. Less than five minutes later they had intravenous access established, fluids running and their patient stable enough to transport. The short flight to the hospital was a busy time of reassessment, monitoring and further treatment and it wasn’t until well after the handover to emergency department staff that Mikki discovered how impressed her colleagues were.
‘He would’ve died if you hadn’t been there,’ Josh told her. ‘That was awesome, Mikki Mouse.’
‘It’s an effective procedure when it’s needed.’ Mikki tried to sound modest. ‘But it’s not that different to a chest decompression for pneumothorax. I’m surprised you don’t have it in your procedures.’
‘It’s coming in.’ Tama’s voice had a curiously rough edge as though the words were hard to get out. ‘I wouldn’t mind getting a head start on it, though.’
‘I’ll run through it with you on a manikin any time you like.’
‘Cool.’
Josh wanted to discuss the case as they flew back to base. To go over the signs and symptoms and talk more about the lifesaving procedure, but Tama was curiously quiet. Mikki caught him watching her with an oddly assessing gaze.
Had she passed muster this time, perhaps?
She got the impression she had and the sheer joy that gave her was startling enough to make her want to sit quietly and savour it. She let Josh continue talking and just made the right noises when needed. Even after they landed and climbed out of the helicopter, Josh was still talking.
‘Man, I’m starving,’ he announced. ‘Did we have lunch?’ He didn’t wait for Tama’s response. ‘So long ago it doesn’t count, anyway. I’m going to make a mountain of toast.’
He set off towards the messroom.
Steve was still busy shutting down the helicopter.
Mikki was suddenly alone in the hangar with Tama and, without looking, she knew he was staring at her.
She ducked her head. ‘I’m pretty hungry myself. I’ll go and help Josh with that toast.’
‘No.’ The single word stopped her in her tracks. ‘Wait a sec. I … want to talk to you.’
Mikki turned. That odd note was in his voice again. As though he was saying something he would rather not be saying but felt compelled to.
There was certainly something compelling about his gaze. Mikki couldn’t look away.
Tama looked as though he was seeing her for the first time.
She could see respect.
Acceptance.
And something more.
Something that made her toes curl and her blood tingle.
It was Tama who broke the eye contact. Slowly. Deliberately. He cleared his throat and stared fixedly above her head. Mikki didn’t follow his line of vision. She wanted to watch his face when he said whatever was important enough to make him look like this.
‘I know you’re keen,’ he said gruffly. ‘But I have to be seen to be careful about following the rules, you know?’
Keen? Mikki focussed on Tama’s face, her mind one step ahead of him.
Dear Lord, he’d noticed the way she’d been watching him. The attraction wasn’t mutual, as she’d thought, and he was about to tell her he couldn’t teach someone who fancied him.
‘But I’ve changed my mind,’ Tama continued. ‘If you really are that keen, we can … you know … do something about it. The boss doesn’t need to find out.’
The flush of colour entering Mikki’s cheeks got rapidly hotter. Was he offering her sex?
‘How ‘bout it?’ Tama finally looked down and caught her transfixed gaze.
‘Ah …’ Mikki couldn’t think of a thing to say. Talk about direct! ‘Yes, please’ might be equally direct and honest, but it lacked a certain something.
Tama lowered his voice to a sexy rumble. ‘You want to, don’t you?’
Oh … help! There was no denying that. And Tama was doing that thing with his lips again. That quirky half-smile that went with the twinkle Mikki was coming to recognise. Pure mischief. She sucked in a breath.
‘I guess I could …’
Her hesitation was all too plain.
‘I know it’s more than a bit out of order. Way too soon and all that, but you know what?’ The twinkle gained intensity. ‘I reckon you’ll do OK.’
Mikki’s jaw dropped. ‘Oh …’ Maybe she hadn’t measured up as well as she’d imagined.
Her reaction didn’t seem to be what Tama had expected. He frowned. ‘So … you want to start now?’
‘Now?’ Mikki squeaked. ‘Here?’
‘Where else?’ Tama was looking over her head again. ‘It’s the only place I know of that’s got a winch simulator.’
CHAPTER SIX
‘WINCH training? Already?’
‘I’d barely started before we had our days off. I should be able to get into it properly this week. I’m lucky, Dad. Usually you have to wait months to get this sort of training.’
Mikki heard a deep sigh that travelled remarkably well, considering her father was currently on the other side of the world.
‘I’m perfectly safe, Dad,’ she said patiently. ‘So far all I’ve been allowed to do is learn safety stuff and terminology and how to wear the harness and hook carabiners on and off things. My feet haven’t left the ground and when they do, it’ll only be in the hangar.’
‘At the rate you’re going, you’ll be dangling out of a helicopter on a bit of string in no time.’
Mikki laughed. ‘It’s a wire capable of holding a ton of weight, as you well know. I’ll bet you’ve done more research than I have about what’s involved with helicopter crew training.’
Her father chuckled. ‘Knowledge is power, you know. I believe you’ve got bush and snow terrain survival training coming up as well. Do you know when?’
‘No idea. I would imagine they wait for a group of trainees before that kind of operation. I’ll have to ask Tama.’
‘Tama,’ her father repeated thoughtfully. ‘Hmm …’
Mikki’s mouth went suddenly dry. Could there be some kind of telepathic link being beamed by satellite? Surely there hadn’t been any clue in her own tone or recent conversations to reveal how often that name echoed in her own head. Along with images that could stir up some rather disturbing physical effects. Good grief, what if her father knew that she had thought Tama was offering her sex instead of winch training?
That she might have been incapable of declining such an offer?
Or maybe there was another link. An equally disturbing one for some unidentifiable reason.
‘You don’t know him, do you, Dad?’
‘No, of course not.’ The response was lightning fast. ‘Why would I?’
‘You’ve been