‘That’s different.’
‘Why?’ Mike sounded genuinely puzzled.
‘A plane’s safer.’
‘Why?’ Mike was sounding amused now.
‘Because it’s got wings,’ Emily muttered. She could feel her cheeks heating but continued doggedly when confronted by silence. ‘If its engine conks out it can at least glide down. It’s not going to drop like a stone.’
Mike and Charles exchanged a glance. They both grinned at Emily. She pressed her lips together stubbornly and glared back. She didn’t like being laughed at.
Then, for the second time that evening, Emily felt the comforting weight of Mike’s arm around her shoulders.
‘I wouldn’t let you drop like a stone, Em. Honest.’
The promise was as comforting as the physical touch. It offered protection. Never mind that Mike wouldn’t want to plummet to the ground himself, he made it sound as though it would be Emily he’d be taking care of.
Right now she felt too bruised to remind herself that she was quite capable of looking after herself. Having someone else doing that, even temporarily, was attractive. It made her feel special. Safe.
Safe enough to actually consider confronting her fear of flying in something that didn’t have wings?
‘But it’s dark.’
‘Not a problem.’ Mike squeezed her shoulder. ‘There’s a lovely bright moon out there and I’ll turn the lights on when we need to land. I’ll keep an eye out for the mountains, I promise.’ The pressure he exerted on Emily’s shoulder was enough to force her to turn and look at him. ‘Hey,’ he said softly. ‘Neither of us really wants to go to that party right now. An escape is just what we need. Both of us.’
‘Hmm.’ Charles was looking at both Emily and Mike so thoughtfully she could almost hear wheels turning. ‘I agree. What’s more, you’ll be an even more valuable member of staff around here if you can get past your helicopter phobia, Dr Morgan.’
Emily gulped. ‘Are you ordering me to go, Charles?’
Mike’s head tipped sideways as he chased eye contact with Emily. ‘Ple-e-ease?’
It was the lopsided smile that did it. Made her think that Mike wanted her company rather than Christina’s. Made her feel that she would be safe doing anything as long as she was doing it with Michael Poulos.
‘Oh…all right.’ The grudging agreement came out as almost a snap but Mike didn’t seem to mind.
Neither did Charles. He was smiling benevolently as he waved them off. Then he reached for the microphone again.
‘Crocodile Creek Base Hospital to Cooper’s Crossing. You receiving me, Jim?’
By the time Emily was kitted out in the dark blue overalls, heavy black boots and the white helmet that contained the earphones and microphone for radio communication, Mike had done all his pre-flight checks and was waiting to help Emily into the cockpit of the bright red and yellow helicopter.
‘Charles has been talking to the girl’s father again. She’s conscious and has got herself back to bed. Sounds like less of an emergency but he’s decided she should still be evacuated.’ Emily nodded but knew she probably looked less than enthusiastic. Up close, this was even more daunting than she had feared. The machine was huge. Far too big for spinning strips of metal as flimsy-looking as those rotors to hold up. If her hand wasn’t being firmly held by Mike at that point, Emily might have turned and fled.
‘Step onto the skid here and then up into the front seat.’
‘What? Isn’t that where the crewman sits?’
‘We’re not taking anyone else. This should be a simple retrieval and I can help you with any stabilisation of the patient that needs to be done before we head back. Come on—in you get.’
Emily felt pale. She hesitated.
‘It’s as safe as houses,’ Mike assured her. ‘Statistically, you’re safer doing this than crossing the road.’
‘I know. It’s just…’
‘Look, I’ll give you some extra protection. Watch.’
‘Mike!’ Emily was horrified. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Spitting,’ he said unnecessarily.
‘That’s disgusting!’
‘It’s a Greek thing.’ Mike didn’t look at all perturbed by Emily’s criticism. ‘It’s for luck. It wards off the evil eye.’
‘Oh…for luck, huh?’
‘Yep. Come on, it’s time we took off.’
‘Hang on.’ Emily resisted the tug on her hand. ‘Can I spit, too? For luck?’
Mike’s face lit up as he grinned. ‘Sure.’
Emily gave it her best shot. Luck was good. And spitting on the helicopter was so bizarre it was funny. She actually felt like laughing aloud and she hadn’t felt like that for days and days. Expecting Mike to approve, Emily was surprised to find him shaking his head.
‘You’ve got to do it three times,’ he told her.
‘But I don’t have that much spit!’
‘Well, actually…’ Mike let go of Emily’s hand, pulled the sleeves of his overalls down over his wrist and wiped the blob of saliva off the helicopter’s paintwork. ‘You don’t have to make it wet.’ His tone was injured. ‘It’s more of a token spit.’ The glance was very stern. ‘Especially when it’s my helicopter you’re spitting on.’
Emily was still grinning as she fastened her seat belt and watched the rotors lifting as their speed increased. She couldn’t remember when she had last felt this alive.
Setting off for a medical evacuation always got the adrenaline going because you never knew quite what you were going to find at the other end. Meeting a personal challenge like facing a fear of helicopters at the same time made this experience well out of any comfort zone.
Emily would never have agreed to this if it wasn’t Mike at the controls. Because it was him, and because she was doing this for the first time in her life and they were doing this with just the two of them, gave this mission an edge that could only boost Emily’s adrenaline rush.
Every cell in her body was pumping. Fear kicked in far more feebly than she would have expected when the skids left the tarmac and the helicopter rose swiftly. They were still gaining height rapidly as Mike turned over the cove to head inland, and Emily welcomed the distraction of seeing the people gathered around the bonfire on the beach. A small person waved.
‘There’s CJ!’ Emily shouted. ‘Look—I can even see that weird-looking puppy beside him.’
‘You don’t need to shout, babe. We’ve got an internal intercom system and the earphones and mikes are inside our helmets.’
‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be. You weren’t to know.’ Mike looked down at the beach and then turned his head towards Emily. ‘Who needs a party? This is much more fun, isn’t it?’
And Emily had to nod.
Astonishingly, this suddenly promised to become the most enjoyable experience of her life.
HE WAS nothing short of a genius.
If he’d spent a week planning