Marion Lennox - The Doctor’s Rescue Mission

A book in the Air Rescue series, 2005

Dear Reader,

In 1998 a tsunami hit the coastline of Papua, New Guinea, causing massive destruction and loss of life. My awe at the job done by the medical teams in the wake of such chaos led me to write The Doctors Rescue Mission. Now, as my book goes to print, another tsunami catastrophe has occurred, this time causing so much destruction to the world that I can scarcely take it in.

Those who provide medical relief and rescue services move into nightmare situations with courage, compassion, skill and endurance. This book is dedicated to the men and women of organizations such as Merlin (www.Merlin.org.uk) or Mdecins Sans Frontires (www.doctorswithoutborders.org).

I write of human drama. These men and women face it in reality, and I hold them in the very deepest respect.

To my readers all over the world, stay safe in these troubled times. Please.

Marion Lennox

THE call came as Morag prepared for dinner with the man she intended to share her life with. By the time he arrived, Dr Grady Reece was thrust right out of the picture.

The moment she opened the door, Grady guessed something was wrong. This mans career involved responding to disaster, and disaster was etched unmistakably on her face.

What is it, Morag?

That was almost her undoing. The way he said her name. Shed always disliked her name. It seemed harsh-a name suggestive of rough country, high crags and bleak weather-but the lilt in Gradys voice the first time hed uttered it had made her think it was fine after all.

We need to talk, she managed. Butyour family is expecting us. Gradys brother was a prominent politician and theyd been invited to a family barbecue at his huge mansion on North Shore.

Rod wont miss us, Grady told her. You know Im never tied down. My family expect me when they see me.

That was the way he wanted it. Shed learned that about him early, and she not only expected it but she liked it. Loose ties, no clinging-it was the way to build a lasting relationship.

No ties? What was she about to do?

Dear heaven.

You want to tell me now? he asked, and she shook her head. She needed more time. A little more time. Just a few short minutes of the life shed so carefully built.

Hey. He touched her face and smiled down into her eyes. Ill take you somewhere I know, he told her. And dont look like that. Nothings so bad that we cant face it together.

Together

There was to be no more together. She fought for control as she grabbed her coat. Together.

Not any more.

He didnt press her. He led her to the car and helped her in, knowing instinctively that she was fighting to maintain control.

He was so good in a crisis.

Grady was three years older than Morag, and hed qualified young from medical school. He had years more experience than she did in dealing with crises.

His reaction to disaster was one of the things that had drawn her to him, she thought as she stared despairingly across the car at the man she loved-and wondered how she could bear to tell him what she must.

Patients talked to him when they were in trouble, she thought. So must she.

Grady was a trauma specialist with Air-Sea Rescue, a team that evacuated disaster victims from all over Australia. Wherever there was disaster, there was Grady, and he was one of the best.

Hed arrive in the emergency room with yet another appallingly injured patient, and the place would be calmer for his presence. Tall and muscular, with a shock of curly black hair and deep, brown, weather-crinkled eyes, Gradys presence seemed to radiate a reassurance that was as inexplicable as it was real. Trust me, those crinkling eyes said. Youll be OK with me.

And why wouldnt you trust him? The man was heartwarmingly gorgeous. Morag hadnt been able to believe her luck when hed asked her out.

As a surgical registrar, Morags job at Sydney Central included assessing patients pre-surgery. Shed first met Grady as hed handed over a burns victim-an aging hippie whod gone to sleep still smoking his joint. The mans burns had been appalling.

Morag had been impressed with Gradys concern then, and shed been even more impressed when hed appeared in the ward two weeks later-to drop in and say hello to someone no one in the world seemed to care about.

That had been the beginning. So far theyd only had four weeks of interrupted courtship, but shed known from the start that this could work. They had so much in common.

They were both ambitious. They both loved working in critical care, and they intended to work in the fast lane for their entire medical careers. They laughed at the same things. They loved the same food, the same lifestyle, the sameeverything.

And Grady had the ability to curl her toes. Just as he was doing now. She looked across at her with that quizzical half-smile she was beginning to love, and her heart did a crazy back somersault with pike. He looked gorgeous in his soft, lambs-wool sweater-a sweater that on anyone else but Grady might look effeminate, but on Grady it just looked fabulous-and it was all she could do not to burst into tears.

She didnt. Of course she didnt. Tears would achieve nothing. She turned away and stared straight ahead, into the darkness.

The restaurant he drove her to was a secluded little bistro where the food was great and the service better. Grady ordered, still sensing that Morag couldnt do anything other than focus on the catastrophe surrounding her. With wine poured and orders taken, the waiters let them be.

They must look a really romantic couple, Morag thought dully. Shed taken such care with her appearance tonight. Although dressed for a barbecue, there was little casual about her appearance. Her jeans were figure-hugging and brand-new. She wore great little designer shoes, high as high, stretching her legs to sexy-long. Her crop top was tiny, crimson, leaving little to the imagination, and shed swept up her chestnut curls into a knot of wispy curls on top of her head. Shed applied make-up to her pale skin with care. She knew she looked sexy and seductive and expensive-and she knew that there was good reason why every man present had turned his head as Grady had ushered her into the restaurant.

This was how she loved to look. But after tonight thered never be any call for her to look like this again.

Hey, it cant be that bad. Grady reached out and took her hand. He stroked the back of it with care. It was something shed seen him do with patients.

Two weeks ago a small boy had come into Sydney Central after a tractor accident and Grady had sat with the parents and explained there was no way the little boys arm could be saved. Shed seen him lift the burly farmers hand and touch it just like this-an almost unheard-of gesture man to man, but so necessary when the father would be facing self-blame all his life.

Shed loved that gesture when shed seen it then. And now, here he was, using the same gesture on her.

What is it, Morag?

My sister. She could hardly say it.

Dont say it at all! a little voice inside her head was screaming at her. If you dont say it out loud, then it wont be real.

But it was real. Horribly real.

I didnt know you had a sister. Grady was frowning, and Morag knew he was thinking of her mother, the brisk businesswoman to whom hed been introduced.

Beths my half-sister, Morag whispered. Shes ten years older than I am. She lives on Petrel Island.

Petrel Island?

Off the coast of-

I know Petrel Island. He was focused on her face, and his fingers were still doing the smoothing thing to the back of her hand. It was making her cringe inside. This man-he was who she wanted for ever. She knew that. But he-