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'I can hear something. I can hear something,' one of the girls chanted.

'Me, too. Me, too.' They both clapped.

'It's Dr Mitch and his friends who have come to help us out,' Elizabeth explained.

'Yay! It's a plane.'

'Very good. You both win that game. Now, I need you to listen very carefully. You need to stay here where you are. Try not to move around too much and soon we'll have you out of the car. Leeanne, how is your feet-wiggling coming along?'

'Good. I can do it.' She sounded exhausted and Elizabeth didn't blame her. The plane had landed on the road and Ryan, Teena and Mitch were headed towards them, all carrying equipment. Elizabeth wriggled free from where she'd been crouching beside Cameron and stood, -massaging her lower back. Mitch headed around to her.

'Fancy meeting all of you out here,' he said, his tone bright and jovial. Teena tried the rear doors but both were locked. She waved to the girls and then headed to the back of the car.

'I'll get them out through the boot,' she told Mitch.

'Good. Ryan, check the roo and then we'll start cutting these people out.' Mitch bent and looked in at Leeanne. 'How are your legs?'

'I can wiggle my toes,' Leeanne pronounced proudly, just like one of her daughters. Elizabeth smiled. Mitch was there and she felt more comfortable with the situation. She'd been out before on retrieval in London but the equipment and services had all been readily available. Out here it was you, whatever you had with you and the elements. Thank goodness they weren't too far from Coober Pedy and Mitch had been able to get there sooner rather than later. 'I was just about to give her something for the pain.'

'Good. How's Cameron's BP?' Mitch asked and Elizabeth checked once more.

'Slightly improved since I took it last.' She stepped out of the way so Mitch could get in and check Cameron. She looked up and saw Ryan walking back from the plane with a shotgun in his hands. Her eyes widened in shock and she was glued to the spot. What on earth was going on?

The nurse walked over to the roo, aimed the shotgun and fired.

Elizabeth jumped out of her skin and started trembling. What had he done that for? She had been hoping someone had contacted a vet or an animal rescue person to come and deal with the roo.

Mitch stood up and looked at her, noticing she appeared stunned. He put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look at him. 'Lizzie. Lizzie?' She wasn't moving and her eyes were starting to fill with tears. 'Elizabeth.' His voice was firm and she snapped her head around so their eyes could meet. 'He had to do it. It's the most humane thing. The roo wouldn't have survived the impact and the fact that it was still alive meant it would simply lie there and have to endure a slow and torturous death.'

'But...but...why couldn't we help it?'

'Because it was beyond help.' He gathered her close, pressing his body firmly against hers in reassurance. 'It's the way things are out here. Cameron and Leeanne are not beyond help.' He pulled back and looked at her again. 'I need you, Lizzie. I need you to focus on your job.'

Elizabeth glanced across at the roo but he turned her head back to face him. 'Don't look at the roo. Focus on what you need to do here. It will take us a while to get Cameron and Leeanne out and by the time we do, the RFDS should be here to take them on to Adelaide, but we need to get them out first. Forget the roo for now.' His tone was firm yet understanding.

'All right. It was the only thing to do?'

'It was the only thing to do,' he clarified.

'All right,' she repeated, and closed her eyes, trying to compartmentalise her thoughts and emotions. She'd done it before and she could do it now. Opening her eyes, she looked over to where Teena had pushed the back seat forward and was in the process of helping the girls to climb out of the car through the boot. They thought it was great fun.

'Set up a bag of plasma for Cameron.' He pointed to a medical kit he'd brought with him. 'Ryan and I will start peeling' this car open like a tin can.'

'How do you do that?'

'We'll peel the roof back first, which will allow us better access to the rest of the car. Then we start chopping pieces out until everyone's clear.'

'And you do this how?'

'With the jaws of life.'

Of course. She'd seen them at road accidents in London but she'd never seen them in action before.

'Are you OK now?'

'Yes.' She squared her shoulders and flipped her hair out of the way, wishing she had a band to tie it back with.

'Good.' He went around to Leeanne's side and gave her something to help with the pain, then he crossed to Ryan and they started talking, pointing at the car and working out where they needed to begin.

Elizabeth bent down beside Cameron again, checked the drip and started getting the plasma ready. She'd have to put it in his other arm and use the car aerial once more to hang the bag on. This time she needed to lean across to insert the IV and things took a little longer.

'Cameron,' she called again as she started on his obs once more. 'Can you hear me?' Still no response. Mitch had placed a cervical collar around Cameron's neck to help stabilise his head. Elizabeth felt his scalp again, checking for swellings. There was one at the back and one at the front. He'd obviously hit his head on the steering-wheel as well as the headrest. Whiplash.

Ryan bent into the window on Leeanne's side and secured a neck brace around her as well. 'We're getting there, Leeanne.'

'I'm not going anywhere,' the woman tried to joke, and it was good to see her keeping her spirits up. 'The girls?'

'They're over with Teena,' Elizabeth replied. 'They're fine. One of them has a cut on her head but nothing that a plaster won't fix.'

'I'm so glad they're both all right.' Tears welled in Leeanne's eyes. 'If anything had...' She trailed off.

'It didn't,' Elizabeth said firmly. 'They'll be fine. They didn't even flinch when Ryan...you know.'

'They know about roos and that if they're badly injured the best thing to do is to put them out of their misery. They've seen it before.'

Elizabeth shook her head. 'This outback life is so completely different from anything I've ever known.'

Leeanne gave her a wobbly smile. 'The outback has her moods but she also brings a lot of benefits as well.'

Mitch came over to the car and spoke to Leeanne. 'The plane's going to take Teena and the girls back to Coober Pedy. I'd like them to stay in hospital for a few days so we can make sure they won't have a delayed reaction. We're not busy so it's no problem and Imogen would love to have patients to fuss over, especially two gorgeous girls.'

'What about us?'

'The two of you will go straight to Adelaide. You're both going to need specialist care.'

Leeanne glanced across at Cameron. 'Is he...?'

'I don't know. He's bleeding internally and until we get him out we're not going to know what the damage is. We're boosting his fluids by giving him saline and plasma, which will give him the best fighting chance possible.'

'Good.' She sighed and closed her eyes.

'Once you're stable, you can come back to Coober Pedy and we can monitor you from the hospital and outpatient clinics so you shouldn't need to be in Adelaide too long, maybe a few days.'

'Good,' she said again, but didn't open her eyes.

The men took their time peeling back the car and when the RFDS arrived, they all pitched in and soon Leeanne and Cameron were out and being carried on stretchers to the plane. They'd needed to cut the car pedals away in order to get Cameron out and both of his feet were badly crushed.

'Take care of my girls,' Leeanne told Mitch after she'd been secured into the plane. Both of her lower legs were broken and would require surgical intervention to fix them. Thankfully, there was no sign of any spinal injury.

'They'll be fine. You concentrate on getting better. I'll be speaking to the head of orthopaedics, Sam Chadwick, who's a friend of mine, and he and his wife Penny will personally take care of both you and Cameron.' Leeanne smiled at his words. 'Ryan will be going with you to make sure everything is fine. Personally, I think he wants an excuse to stop in and see that dietician he's had his eyes on for the past few months.'

Leeanne gave a small chuckle.

'I'll be ringing to check up on you so make sure I hear favourable reports.'

'I will.'

'See you in a few days.'

Elizabeth was waiting outside the plane when Mitch disembarked. 'All done?'

'All done.' They walked back to his ute and watched as the plane taxied and took off, once more using the road as a runway. The local tow-truck driver from Coober Pedy had arrived and he and his mate began the task of getting the Davieses' car back to town.

'Guess we'll leave you to it, fellas,' Mitch said.

'Yeah, that'd be right. You get rid of the patients and then leave the rest to us,' the driver teased.

'You're the experts.' Mitch grinned as he finished packing the equipment into the tray of his ute. 'Ready to go, Lizzie?' he asked, punching in a number on the sat phone. 'Imogen,' he said a moment later, and gave her the update of the situation. 'Lizzie and I are heading back to town now so we'll see you in about forty minutes.' He disconnected the call and climbed behind the wheel. 'Uh...sorry, Lizzie. Did you want to drive? You can hot-wire my car again if you like.'

She frowned at him, unsure whether he was serious or teasing. She opted for the latter. 'I've had enough spontaneity for today. You can drive. I'll relax.'

He chuckled. 'Fair enough.' And bent to hot-wire the ignition.

'How long will it take for the plane to get to Adelaide?' she asked after they'd been driving for a while.

'About two hours. It's almost ten o'clock now so Cameron should be in Theatre this afternoon.'

'I heard what you said about your orthopaedic friends taking care of them. That's nice.'

'I find it helps if my patients know I know the doctors who'll be looking after them. I've known Sam for years and he often looks after my orthopaedic patients when they're in Adelaide.'

'That's nice.' She leaned her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. 'It's a pity about the roo.'

'It is,' he agreed, 'but it was the only thing to do.'

'I know. I was just shocked.'

'You should probably learn how to handle a gun while you're here.'

'Going down mine-shafts, shooting half-dead native animals.' Elizabeth shook her head. 'I don't know if I can take this different lifestyle any more.' She opened her eyes when she felt Mitch's hand on hers.

'Out here everything is stripped back to basics. Honesty is the biggest and best commodity. There's nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide, especially when it comes to facing yourself.!

'Is that what you've done?'

He nodded. 'I think I've become more in tune with who I am since I arrived here. So did Maude, and you are too. I've already noticed a lot of changes in you, Lizzie. You'll get there.' He squeezed her hand once more and when she thought he'd let it go, she discovered she was wrong. Instead, he kept a firm hold and placed their entwined hands on his thigh as they drove.

Sparks zinged up her arm at the warmth and contact but she didn't want to break it...so she didn't. His words had made sense but talking about something and doing it were two different things. Had she changed a lot already? She thought for a moment and agreed with that assessment. She was happier than she'd been in a long time and right now the thought of returning to England made her cringe. She hadn't liked her life before coming here but she hadn't been able to see it.

Neither of them said much else and when they pulled up,
outside the hospital Mitch lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her fingers. 'Let's go check on the girls and your mother.'

'Good idea.' They walked into the hospital and Elizabeth crossed to her mother's bedside, glad to see her looking better. 'Good morning, Mum.' She picked up the chart and read it before checking the drain. 'This is looking good.'

'It's annoying,' Maude grumbled.

'Well, if you'd told me on Thursday night what had happened, chances are you might not have needed it,' she chastised softly, and sat on the bed. 'Why didn't you tell me?' Her tone had softened.

'I didn't want to worry you.'

'I'm your daughter. It's my job to be worried.'

Maude smiled. 'I guess it is. I just felt silly, as though it was all a storm in a teacup.'

'In future, Mum, when it comes to medical problems, let
me
be the judge of that.'

'Yes, Doctor.'

Elizabeth smiled at her mother's words. 'Now, I would like you to rest.'

'Only if you do.'

'I intend to. We'll probably be able to take the drain out tomorrow and then in a few days' time you can come home.'

'What about the mine?'

'What about it? It will still be there, waiting for you when you are fully recovered and Mitch has given you the all-clear.'

'And the opal?'

'Mitch has it.'

'Don't leave the wheeling and dealing up to him. He's terrible at it.'

'Would you like me to see if we can arrange for someone to come here and speak to you about it?'

'Yes. The sooner the deal's done, the better.'

'All right. I'll see what I can do.' Elizabeth stood and kissed her mother. 'Now rest.'

'Yes, Doctor.'

Elizabeth spoke to Imogen and explained Maude's request.

'That shouldn't be a problem. I'll speak to her about it and get it organised.'

'Thank you. Where's Mitch?'

'He's just finished on the phone with his orthopaedic mate in Adelaide and is seeing the girls.' Loud giggles came from the paediatric beds and Imogen rolled her eyes. 'Scrap that. He's not seeing the girls, he's razzing them up. Excuse me.' Imogen headed off and Elizabeth smiled. A moment later Mitch strolled out of the ward, a large grin on his face.

'You just can't help it, can you?' she asked, and shook her head.

'Help what?' His tone was all innocent.

Elizabeth smothered a yawn but smiled at him.