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She needed to get away.

Elizabeth looked around, her gaze quickly focusing on Mitch's old ute. The need to escape was becoming overwhelming and she found herself walking back the way she'd come. She opened the driver's door and looked down at the ignition, he hadn't left the keys behind. Then she noticed the wires poking out from beneath the dashboard.

Could she?

She stared at the wires. She'd watched Mitch do it. Surely it couldn't be that hard. It wasn't as though she was stealing his car...merely borrowing it. Her heart was pounding wildly, the sound reverberating in her ears as she reached out shaking hands towards the wires.

Elizabeth withdrew them quickly and wiped them down her clothes before trying again. She held the wires in her hands but still couldn't do it. She sat in the driver's seat and closed the door. Sighing heavily, she shook her head. She just couldn't do it. The fight, the anger, the confusion—all the emotions she'd been feeling drained out of her, to be replaced by depression.

She'd been programmed to do the right thing. She'd been the perfect student at school, the best in deportment classes, elocution lessons—and at keeping her mouth closed when her father spoke. Saying she wanted to go to medical school had been a big issue for her to face her father with but with thanks to an old medical professor who was a great friend of her father's, he'd finally given his consent.

Elizabeth had studied hard and had done exceedingly well...and now here she was, sitting in an old, smelly ute in the middle of Australia. The flies were buzzing and her head was spinning with a multitude of thoughts. Top of the list was that she didn't like it when Mitch was angry with her.

'At least I'm honest with myself.' She whispered his words out loud. Elizabeth wasn't sure
how
to be honest with herself. She'd been afraid to have an individual thought for most of her life and now, just as she was starting to gain some insight into herself, Mitch was there, confusing things for her even more.

Why had she let him kiss her? Why? Why? Why?

She closed her eyes and rested her head on the steering-wheel, answering her own question. It was because his kisses were perfect and wonderful and exhilarating and made her feel...special. 'But you didn't tell him that,' she whispered, and the feeling of loneliness swamped her again.

Elizabeth lifted her head. She needed to get out of there. The car was becoming claustrophobic and it wasn't too far to walk to...to where? The clinic? The shops? The pub? She didn't' want to be around people. She wanted to be by herself.

'So do it,' she commanded herself. With a powerful surge, she reached down and grabbed the wires, fusing them together. The old engine turned over and the ute leapt forward. Elizabeth dropped the wires and the connection was broken. She grabbed the gear lever and put her foot on the clutch, thrusting it into neutral. Then she held her breath and tried again.

Success! The engine started and she raised shaking hands back to the steering-wheel, the feeling of accomplishment washing over her. She put her foot on the clutch, released the handbrake and shifted the gear lever into reverse.

If she'd thought her heart had been pounding wildly before, it was nothing compared to now! Total exhilaration swamped her. She'd done something wrong—something naughty—and she'd done it on purpose! Wow. So
this
was what it felt like to be...bad.

Laughter bubbled up from deep within her lungs and she let out a whoop of joy as she drove out of Coober Pedy township. She had no idea where she was going and right at that moment she didn't care.

It felt good. It felt right. It felt...liberating.

She drove past some large excavators where people were working their mines. Several people waved, obviously recognising Mitch's ute, and, not caring, Elizabeth waved back. The window was down and her hair was blowing in the breeze.

She drove for another twenty minutes on the main highway before a ringing sound startled her. The phone. The satellite phone. It brought her back to earth with a thud. She slowed the ute down and pulled over on the side of the road. She picked up the phone, connected the call as she'd seen Mitch do and climbed out of the car to stretch her legs.

'Hello?' she said tentatively.

'Lizzie. Where are you?' He didn't sound mad. Was that a good thing?

'Urn...' She looked around her and shrugged. 'It appears I'm in the middle of nowhere.' It was true. There was not a tree or a bush or anything other than flat dirt and the road she'd been driving on. No blue-tongued lizards, no kangaroos—no nothing. Only herself, the ute and flies. She grinned to herself. There were always flies!

'Which way did you head when you left town?'

'Up past your mine.'

'Right. You're on the road to Alice Springs. Good.'

'Good? Aren't you cross I took your car?'

'Let's not get into that now.'

She picked up the tension in his voice. 'What's wrong? Mitch? Is Maude all right?'

'She's doing fine. There's been a car crash about one hundred kilometres out of Coober Pedy. Cameron Davies, his wife Leeanne and their twin daughters have hit a roo. Leeanne radioed the hospital to raise the alarm. They're not far from you. She said Cameron is unconscious and the girls are upset.'

'Naturally.' Elizabeth's voice was filled with sympathy. 'Are these the girls who were conjoined twins?'

'Yes.'

'I saw them on my first day here.' She nodded, a clear picture of Leeanne and her daughters forming in her mind.

'They can't be too far in front of you. Check the petrol gauge.'

Elizabeth's mind was whirring with the information. 'Uh... petrol.' She turned and peered inside the car at the gauges on the dashboard. 'It's about half-full.'

'There's more petrol in a container in the back, plus water and my medical bag. Keep on the road you're on and give me a call when you find them. We're on our way but you'll get there before us. We're just packing up supplies and getting the plane ready.' He paused. 'Lizzie?'

'Yes, Mitch?'

'I thought you'd dropped out far a moment there. Everything OK?'

'Yes.' She was already climbing back into the car. 'I guess I'll see you there.'

'I guess you will,' he replied, then disconnected the call. Elizabeth wasted no time, putting the phone back in its holder and starting the engine. There was a family out there who needed her and—thanks to her first-ever act of spontaneity— ' she would hopefully reach them soon. She put her indicator on and checked for traffic—then smiled to herself. What was she indicating for? There was nothing—as far as the eye could see, there was nothing. Still, old habits died hard and some weren't worth getting out of.

Elizabeth resumed her course—straight ahead—and as the sun was now rising, she picked up Mitch's sunglasses from the dashboard. Her mind was whirling with different scenarios of what she might find and what the triage steps would be. If Leeanne and the girls were all conscious, then Cameron would require her attention first. She sighed, glad she was confident when it came to her work. She only wished she could be as confident about her personal life.

'You're working on it,' she said firmly, and as there was no one else around, she put the pedal to the metal and zoomed up the road.

Twenty minutes later, she could see something way up in front. It was blurred by the sun reflecting off the black bitumen road but there was definitely something up there. She put her foot down harder to get there quicker, the ute shaking under protest at the high speed.

As she drew closer, Elizabeth slowed to a more reasonable pace, her gaze taking in everything before her...and it wasn't a pretty sight.

The front of the family sedan was buckled beyond belief. The windscreen had shattered, leaving bits of glass everywhere. The big kangaroo was still lying on the road in front of the car and there seemed to be an enormous amount of flies surrounding it. It was sad that the first kangaroo she'd see in this country was a dead one. Elizabeth felt her stomach churn and was glad she hadn't yet had breakfast.

Not looking at the roo, she pulled slightly off the road and stopped Mitch's ute. Quickly, she grabbed the sat phone and rushed around to the tray to collect Mitch's medical bag and some blankets. An outback doctor must always be prepared—

she was beginning to learn that and she was thankful that Mitch was prepared.

She raced to the car and saw Leeanne twisting around in the front seat to talk to the girls in the back. Something wasn't right. Why was she still in the front? 'Leeanne. How's Cameron?' Elizabeth asked as she peered inside the car, noting both the front passenger and driver's windows had smashed as well. Then she realised Leeanne's legs were trapped beneath the twisted metal.

'He hasn't come around,' Leeanne said, muted fear in her tone. 'The girls and I have been playing I Spy.'

Elizabeth looked at the identical twins in the back. 'Hello, girls.' She kept her tone light and was glad that Leeanne had been able to settle her children down, but they were still anxious and rightly so. Elizabeth knew this because their eyes were wide and both of them were clutching their identical teddy-bears tightly.

Elizabeth looked over at Cameron again, trying to figure out the best way to get to him. He was leaning back against the seat, his head at an angle, his seat belt still holding him in place, his arms limp by his sides.

'I've been checking his pulse,' Leeanne said softly. 'It's still there but I just can't move to do anything more than that.'

'Can you wiggle your toes?' Elizabeth unfolded a blanket and put it through the window, carefully placing it over Leeanne.

'Yes.'

'That's a good sign. Keep doing that every now and then. Any pain?'

'I'll be fine. Just deal with Cameron,' she whispered.

'Mummy. It's your turn to guess,' one of the girls said.

'Uh...' Leeanne's voice wavered and Elizabeth realised that the woman was about to fall apart. Someone had come to help so there was no need for her to be brave any longer.

'Why don't we let Mummy have a little rest for the moment?' Elizabeth said as she went around to the driver's side of the car. She tried the door and thankfully was able to get it open—not much but enough for her to manoeuvre through. 'What letter does it begin with?'

'B,' both girls said in unison.

'Hmm. B,' Elizabeth said as she quickly pulled on a pair of gloves and checked Cameron's pulse. 'Bushes?'

The girls giggled. 'There aren't any bushes out here.'

She pulled out her medical torch and shifted around so she could check his pupils. Both equal and reacting to light. That was a good sign. 'Oh, yes. You're right. How about blue sky?' Elizabeth could see that Cameron's feet were trapped beneath the pedals. She took his blood pressure—it wasn't very good. He was losing blood from somewhere and as there didn't appear to be any signs of it externally, it meant he was bleeding internally. She felt along his back, arms and legs, checking for fractures, but couldn't feel anything. 'Cameron?' she called loudly.

'That doesn't begin with B,' one of the girls said.

There was no response from their father. 'Oh. How about...bears?'

'Yes.' They were happy. 'Now it's your turn.'

'All right but first I need to call Dr Mitch on the phone. How are you doing, Leeanne?' she asked, and when she didn't receive any response she said more loudly, 'Leeanne. Stay with me now.'

The other woman roused and opened her eyes. 'Stay with me,' Elizabeth repeated. 'How are you feeling?'

'Tired.'

She rang through to the hospital and reported the situation to Imogen. 'How much longer?'

'Another five minutes or so,' the nurse replied. 'I'll pass the message on.'

Elizabeth disconnected the call, hoping the five minutes would hurry up and pass. She needed Mitch there now. Both Cameron and Leeanne would need to be cut from the car. It appeared both the girls were fine, although one of them had a small cut on her forehead which had bled for a while before clotting.

Elizabeth checked the medical bag and was overjoyed that Mitch kept it so well stocked. She'd seen him checking it daily and was glad there was a bag of saline there. She started to rig up the drip. 'I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...' What could she possibly say? They were in the middle of nowhere. There weren't that many things to spy. 'L.'

'Um...door.'

'That begins with a D.' Elizabeth sounded the letter phonetically. 'L, as in lick.'

'Lick,' one said.

'No.' Elizabeth rigged the bag of saline onto the car aerial before starting on the IV line. 'Try again. Remember, the first letter is L.' She pronounced it phonetically again.

'Lollies.'

'You're right. Lollies do begin with L but that's not what I can see. You have to be able to
see
what you're thinking of. How are you doing, Leeanne?'

'Leeanne,' came the call from the back.

'Good, but not what I was thinking of.' Elizabeth glanced across at Leeanne. 'Come on. Stay with me,' she called again, and Leeanne opened her eyes once more. "They'll be here soon. I promise.'

'Light!' one of the girls said triumphantly, pointing to the interior car light.

'Yes. Well done,' Elizabeth praised. 'You girls are certainly good at this game. Now let's play I Hear With My Little Ear. What can you hear?'

Both girls strained to listen and Elizabeth taped the IV line in place and started the drip. She checked Cameron's pupils again as well as his blood pressure, which had dropped since the last time she'd taken it.

'I can't hear anything.'

'You have to listen very carefully; don't you, Leeanne?'

'Uh...' Leeanne roused again and looked vague.

'Do you know where you are?' Elizabeth called, her concerned gaze watching the other woman carefully.

'In the car. We hit a
roo,'
Leeanne replied softly.

'Come on, girls? Tell Mummy what you can hear.'

Elizabeth could hear it—the glorious sound of the plane— and it was getting closer and closer.