‘So, what happened?’ Maxi asked, increasing her strides to match his.
‘Technology, probably. The needs and skills of the work-force change. And then a kind of domino effect sets in. Folk have to relocate to go after jobs and towns as small as this go into a kind of recession. But apparently, a couple of years ago, people were beginning to trickle back to start new ventures in the district. Gem fossicking, tourism and the like.’
‘And then the drought hit,’ Maxi surmised quietly.
He nodded, tight-lipped.
As they neared the hospital, Maxi began to look about her. There was a strip of lawn, faded and burned from the harshness of the sun, but along the path to the front entrance a border of purple and crimson shrubs was vividly in flower. ‘They look like hardy plants,’ she commented.
‘Bougainvillea.’ Jake huffed a laugh. ‘Can’t kill them with an axe. They thrive under these kinds of hot, dry conditions.’
‘The hospital itself looks quite a spacious building, at least from the outside.’ Maxi cast an interested glance around. ‘And I love those verandahs.’
‘In the summer they bring a sense of coolness. Conversely, they’re great for catching the morning rays in the winter months. The walking wounded love them.’
She shot him a brief smile. ‘So the architects of earlier times knew what they were about, then?’
He grunted. ‘More than they do now in lots of cases. This is where the CareFlight chopper lands when we have an emergency transfer.’ Jake led her across to where a windsock hung listlessly at the far end of large unfenced paddock.
Maxi’s gaze stretched across to the distant hills, muted into diffused greys and blues as the evening light softened their stark outlines. ‘It’s so quiet…’
‘Mmm. It kinds of enfolds you. You stop noticing it after a while.’
‘I guess you would, yes. Oh, look!’ Surprise edged Maxi’s voice and she pointed skywards, watching as a flock of large birds thrummed by on urgent wings, calling harshly to one another as they passed overhead. ‘What are they—wild geese?’
‘Wild duck. There’s not much water in the lagoons for them these days. They’re leaving in numbers now to fly towards the coast.’
‘Will they come back?’
‘When the waterholes and lagoons are full again. Come on, Doctor.’ He touched a hand to the small of her back. ‘Enough of the local commentary. Let’s do this hospital round.’ He shot her a questioning look as they went through the front entrance. ‘I’m assuming you still want to accompany me?’
‘Yes, please.’
Loretta Campion, the charge for the shift, was just coming out of her office as they approached the nurses’ station. ‘Evening, Jake.’ She tilted her fair head enquiringly. ‘We expected you much earlier. Was there a problem?’
He gave a short laugh. Only the female one beside him. ‘Got held up a bit. Loretta, this is, Dr Maxi Somers. She’s—’
‘The new locum,’ the charge guessed, smiling as she extended her hand to Maxi across the counter. ‘We expected you on today’s plane.’
‘Ahh…’ Maxi took a moment to think on her feet, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. ‘I’m afraid I rather surprised Dr Haslem. I drove here.’
Jake almost choked. He could see what she was up to. ‘Maxi’s here on a trial basis,’ he counter-claimed swiftly, trying to salvage something that had some semblance of truth.
Loretta’s eyes widened in query. ‘I thought the tenure was for three months?’
‘I’m sure we’ll sort something out that will benefit us both,’ Maxi came in smoothly. ‘Jacob’s just being his usual cautious self.’
Loretta’s gaze skittered curiously between the two medical officers. ‘Am I missing something here?’
‘We worked together in England,’ Maxi said, keeping the patter going but flicking Jake a don’t-you-dare look. ‘But I’m sure I’ll settle in here. I love the place already.’
‘Well, it’s not at its best at the moment,’ Loretta said sadly. ‘But what a godsend to have another doctor—and no offence, Jake, but my guess is that the ladies of Tangaratta will be making a beeline for Dr Somers’s surgery.’
‘Excellent.’ Maxi beamed. ‘I’ll look forward to meeting my new patients.’
Jake bit back a squawk of unbelief. She’d outgunned him without blinking an eye. Hell! And he’d thought she needed protecting! He turned to the charge, his expression carefully neutral. ‘Loretta, do you have the charts for Bernie Evans and Karryn Goode, please?’
‘Mr Evans has perked up. We’ve pushed fluids into him for most of the afternoon,’ Loretta said, proffering the files. ‘But I think we should keep him overnight. He was in a right old state when the meals-on-wheels folk found him. If it hadn’t been their day to call…’
Maxi opened her mouth and closed it again quickly. She was full of questions and suggestions but wisely kept them to herself. She guessed she’d already stretched Jake’s patience a little too far.
‘And Karryn wants to go home.’
‘We’ll have to see about that.’ Jake ran his eyes over his patient’s chart. She’d recovered well after the birth of her baby boy. Maybe he’d let her go and maybe he wouldn’t. ‘OK, thanks, Loretta.’ He lifted a hand in acknowledgment. ‘We’ll find our way.’
‘Where to now?’ Maxi asked eagerly. They’d walked from the nurses’ station and turned the corner into a short stretch of corridor.
‘Nowhere.’ In a quick, precise movement Jake angled himself in front of her so she was almost pressed against the wall. He stared down at her, his look unreadable. ‘Just what are you trying to prove here, Maxi?’
‘Sorry?’ She blinked uncertainly at him.
‘Pretending to be the locum. And what’s with the “I love the place already”,’ he mimicked.
Maxi winced. Had she really sounded like that? Almost simpering? She shook her head, biting the soft inside edge of her bottom lip. ‘It was a silly, spur-of-the-moment thing.’
His dark brows came together. ‘You’ve hardly been in the place five minutes. How could you have formed any opinion?’
She shrugged, wrapping her arms over her chest and kneading her upper arms.
‘Max, this isn’t some kind of mind game!’ Jake’s voice was laced with frustration. ‘This is about real patients with real needs!’
Maxi’s heart thumped. Had she gone too far? ‘I know that, Jacob.’ She swallowed uncomfortably. ‘I know.’
‘Then why give Loretta the impression you’re the locum?’
‘Your receptionist happened to mention the locum hadn’t arrived and I thought…well, I thought, why not? It was out of order,’ she admitted, her green eyes soulful and large. ‘I’ll rectify things with Loretta before we leave.’
‘You won’t,’ Jake said, his tone implacable. ‘If you want to be taken seriously, just start thinking of a plausible explanation for your sudden departure, when the time comes.’
‘But—’
‘Maxi…’ he warned.