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'You
have
done this operation before, haven't you?'

Elizabeth smiled, tempted to say no, but knew that teasing Marcus was not the best way to help him to relax. 'Many times.' She accepted the chart from Imogen and noted that his BP was still low. 'Marcus, you've lost quite a bit of blood and before I take you to Theatre you need a transfusion.'

'Don't you need to operate straight away? Isn't it critical?'

'No. You're quite stable for the moment. Are you in any pain?'

'No. Your colleague gave me something and that seems to be working.'

'Wonderful. Rest for now.' She placed her hand on his forehead and his eyes closed wearily. 'I'll explain the operation to you later but for now sleeping will do your body the world of good.' She turned to Imogen. 'Let me know when you need me.'

'Will do.'

Elizabeth went to check on Mitch who was sitting at the table in the kitchen, head in his hands. Her heart went out to him. 'Are you all right?' she asked.

He raised his head and held his hand out to her. She took it, giving it a squeeze. 'Sit for a minute.'

'Yes.' She did as he asked, seeing the turmoil within him. 'Will you be all right in Theatre?' If she had any options other than having Mitch assist, she'd take them. 'This can't be easy for you.'

'No. Today has been...' he paused '...gut wrenching.'

'You're not wrong.' She looked down at their entwined hands. 'He'll be fine, Mitch.'

'I know. I have complete confidence in your medical abilities, Lizzie. How's he holding up?'

'He's doing fine. Almost hit the roof when he realised I would be performing the operation but...' She shrugged.

'He's not used to you being so strong. But you know you are, don't you? You know that you have an enormous amount of inner strength, Lizzie, otherwise you would never have left England. It takes a strong woman to take control of her life and that's exactly what you've done.'

'Have I?' Her voice wavered. 'Some days, I'm not so sure.'

Mitch tugged her closer and she stood and leaned over him. 'Why don't you prove it to yourself by kissing me?'

She smiled. 'Prove what?'

'I don't know and I don't care but what I do know is it's been far too long since my lips have been on yours.'

Elizabeth moved in closer. 'I know the feeling.' Her lips parted in anticipation as she lowered her head and when their lips finally touched both of them sighed into the kiss. Mitch was right. It
had
been far too long and both of them felt it.

'Oh, will you two give it up?' Teena groaned as she came into the room. Elizabeth straightened quickly and looked at the nurse who was grinning from ear to ear. 'It's bad enough that you've been making googly eyes at each other since Elizabeth arrived. Do we need to have the mushy stuff shoved this far down our throats? Gack!'

Mitch laughed. 'Jealous?'

'Sure am.' Teena laughed. 'All right, Marcus's blood transfusion is under way,' the nurse said. 'How many units do you need all up?'

'At least three,' Elizabeth said. 'Just to be on the safe side.'

'OK. I'll get that organised,' Teena said before walking out and leaving them alone.

'Good.' She turned to face Mitch, still concerned about him. 'You are going to be all right to assist me, aren't you? I mean if there was someone else to help, I'd get them but—'

He stood and pulled her into his arms. 'I'll be fine,' he interrupted. 'So long as I'm near you,' he murmured, nuzzling her neck.

Elizabeth smiled. 'You need to get a life, Mitch.'

'I'm trying, Lizzie.'

'Very
trying,' she retorted, giving him a quick kiss. 'No more now. I need to concentrate.'

'And you can't do that with me around?' Mitch reluctantly let her go.

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

'What do you think?' Before he could reach for her again, she quickly left the room. She had an operation to focus on.

Once Elizabeth was satisfied with Marcus's red blood cell count and she'd explained the operation procedure to him, she checked on Mitch. He had changed into scrubs and was standing at the sink, waiting for her.

'Feeling all right?'

'I'm fine.'

'Good.'

They continued to scrub and gown and soon the operation was under way. She had switched off her emotions the instant she had walked into the operating theatre and was concentrating on work. Even so, she kept a close eye on Mitch.

'How are you doing?' she said.

'How am I doing?' he repeated. 'You want to know how I'm doing? I'll tell you how I'm doing. I'm doing fine and I'll be doing a lot better if you'll stop asking me that question every five seconds.'

Elizabeth glanced at the clock on the wall. 'It's been at least ten minutes, not five seconds, since I last asked,' she said in that haughty tone of hers, and Mitch gave a shout of laughter.

'Ah...Lizzie. Sometimes...you drive me crazy.'

'I'm not going to ask about the other times. Suction.'

'Probably wise,' Imogen interjected.

'I'm just concerned, that's all,' Elizabeth defended herself.

"Thank you. Thank you for your concern.'

'Oh, it's not really concern,' she teased. 'One brother is all I'm planning to deal with today.'

'I guess fair is fair,' he retorted, but wondered whether there was a hidden meaning in her words. Did this mean she didn't want to talk about
them!
She'd stated in the ambulance that Marcus wasn't her boyfriend any more and then there had been the kiss they'd shared before Teena had interrupted them. Too many questions, he decided. Again he'd picked a rotten time to think about them. He shoved the thoughts aside. If he didn't concentrate, she'd be asking him how he was feeling in
under
ten minutes.

With his mind firmly back in control, Mitch continued to assist her while she inserted a Grosse & Kempf intramedullary nail into the femur. 'Actually, you're quite adept at orthopaedics.'

'I was considering it as a field to specialise in,' she said.

'I take it you're not thinking of it any more.'

She glanced at him. 'Let's just say I've discovered other...interests. How's Marcus doing, Ryan?'

'Thank goodness she's asking about someone else,' Mitch grumbled good-naturedly.

'He's steady.'

'Well, we won't be too much longer. Almost time to start wrapping this show up.' They worked on and finally she gave the nod for Ryan to reverse the anaesthetic. She wearily de-gowned and went to switch the kettle on.

'I'll have tea,' Imogen called.

'I'll have coffee,' Ryan chimed in.

'Why don't I make them?' Elizabeth whispered.

'Why don't I help you?' Mitch said from behind her, his hands clamping around her waist. They headed into the kitchen but before she could fill the kettle he'd spun her around and had pressed his lips to hers.

Elizabeth couldn't fight it. When he pulled back, she smiled at him. 'Trying to prove to me once and for all that you're really all right?'

'Something like that.' He stepped away and filled the kettle before switching it on. He turned and leaned against the bench. 'We need to talk, Lizzie.'

'I know. And we will, but first let's get Marcus settled.'

'No.
First
let's all have a relaxing cup of tea.'

'Don't be obtuse. You know what I mean.'

'Yes. Yes, I do.' He started setting out cups.

'When are you going to tell him?' The question was asked softly.

'I don't know.'

Thankfully, he wasn't going to be obtuse about
this.
'He's your brother, Mitch. He deserves to know what you've done for him today.'

'What did I do, apart from my job?'

'You saved his life.'

'That's all part of my job. Regardless of who had been down that mine-shaft, I'd have done the same and so would you.'

'You don't want him to be indebted to you, do you?' she asked.

'No.' He glanced down at the cups all neatly lined up, waiting for the water to boil.

'Do you think he'll feel that way when he finds out?'

He was silent for a moment. 'I don't know. He was always very headstrong when we were younger. Always trying to play catchup. I think he needed to feel as though he was better than me in some way.'

'And if he knows you saved his life, you think that might make things worse for you?'

'Don't know. It might.'

Elizabeth could feel herself pushing too far but knew she couldn't stop. 'Do you
want
a reconciliation with him?' She held her breath, waiting, hoping.

'You know, when I first figured out that my little brother was the man you were seeing in England, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. I was glad we'd parted, gone our separate ways.' He paused.

'And now?'

Mitch shook his head. 'When I saw his body, limp and lifeless at the bottom of that shaft...' He shook his head again and Elizabeth placed her arms around him. 'It was horrible, Lizzie.' He buried his face in her neck and let out a shuddering breath. 'It was horrible to see him lying there like that. It made me realise that the past doesn't exist any more. The squabbles we had were those of children. We're men now and hopefully, in time, we can put our differences aside and perhaps work on a relationship. Even if it's just a phone call on birthdays and at Christmas. That's got to be better than what we have now.'

'So you'll tell him, then.' Elizabeth drew back and looked at him, her gaze caressing his face.

'Let's see what tomorrow brings. He needs to get through the night first.'

*

Mitch insisted Elizabeth return home to get a good night's sleep. 'I'll see you later,' he said when he dropped her off at Maude's. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. 'Yes, I'll keep you informed of his progress. Yes, I'll notify you of anything else that happens during my shift.'

'I was only going to say goodnight.'

'I love that haughty tone of yours,' he chuckled and kissed her. 'And, yes, we'll talk about us tomorrow, although I think I have
some
of the answers to my questions.' She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off by placing his mouth over hers once more. 'Dream of me?'

'Yes,' she whispered sleepily, and turned to go into her mother's dugout. She waited for the ute to drive off before she tiptoed in to check on Maude.

'Everything all right?' Maude asked sleepily.

'Yes. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.'

'You didn't. Mitch and his noisy ute did. Marcus is all right?'

'He's doing fine.'

'Good. Go to sleep.'

It was what everyone was telling her to do—and for the first time since she'd arrived in Coober Pedy she was going to
do
exactly as she was told.

Elizabeth felt as though she'd just closed her eyes when the phone rang. She sprang out of bed but it stopped moments later. Switching on the light, she checked the clock. 'Half past ten!' She stood and it was then she realised she'd fallen asleep in her clothes. 'Another new experience.' She headed for' the shower and was soon dressed. She went in search of Maude, knowing that if anything had been wrong at the hospital her mother would have passed the message along.

'Hi, sleepyhead,' she said when Elizabeth appeared in the kitchen. 'Phone wake you?'

'Yes.'

'Sorry about that. Mitch and I decided to let you sleep for as long as possible. I called the hospital earlier this morning to get an update, just in case you woke and wanted to know.'

'So how is Marcus?'

'Mitch is pleased with his progress. He's recovering well from the anaesthetic and red blood cell count is back to normal.'

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. 'Excellent. That's very good news.'

'It's also good to hear Mitch has found his sense of humour again. I take it you no longer think he's avoiding you?'

Elizabeth smiled shyly. 'No. No. Yesterday...' She paused and shook her head. 'Yesterday was a day of revelations.'

'Marcus turned up, you realised you liked him only as a friend and are deeply in love with Mitch?'

'Spot on.'

'I
am?'
Maude's eyes widened in surprise. 'You're in love with Mitch!'

'Yes.'

'But...but... Oh, honey. This is fantastic. This is wonderful.' Maude hugged her daughter close but then quickly pulled back. 'Does he know yet? Ooh, what about your father?'

'Mum.'

'How on earth are you going to tell your father? He'll be furious. Oh, and poor Marcus.'

'Mum.'

'Talk about kicking someone when they're down. So I take it you're staying? Do I need to start organising a wedding?'

'Mum!' Elizabeth grabbed her mother by the shoulders and shook her gently. 'Settle down.'

'Settle down?'

'Settle down.'

'How? How can I possibly settle do— Ah...' Maude paused as though some great revelation had just hit her. 'So
that's
why Mitch wanted that information.'

'What information?'

'Nothing. He wanted your father's number so he could tell him about Marcus.'

'
I
was going to call Dad. Why is Mitch doing it?'

'He
is
Marcus's next of kin, Liz.'

'Of course. I keep forgetting.' Elizabeth poured herself a glass of juice and drank it. 'I'd better get going.'

'I'll drive you. Oh, this isn't fair. Can't I just wait around at the hospital this morning to see what unfolds?'

'Only if you're sick,'

'I think I can twist Imogen's arm.' Maude contemplated.

'Although she'd probably want to jab me with needles again. On second thoughts…'

Elizabeth laughed. 'You're priceless, Mum.' She kissed Maude's cheek. 'Don't ever change.' She took a deep breath. 'I'm ready when you are.'

'Let's go.' Maude chattered all the way to the hospital and by the time she dropped Elizabeth off, the excitement had rubbed off on her. As she walked up the ramp to the hospital, she felt butterflies churning in her stomach.