Water and Fire (10 page)

Aidan's face twisted, as if he
wasn't sure what to say or what expression he should wear. My heart
twisted, too, in response to his obvious pain.

"She's the ice queen. Calm and
collected in the most stressful of procedures, but a heart of ice
in everything else, too. She was too cold for you to touch, Aidan.
You should come inside and join us, instead of sitting here
alone."

Me.
The ice queen was me, a name I'd heard used for
how precisely I could handle a difficult birth. It meant more than
I'd thought. Cold that could shut out Aidan.
Not any more.

I pushed the door open wider,
excusing myself as I slipped past Jill with my eyes on the
ground.

"There you are, Bel," Aidan
said in relief.

I lifted my
eyes to his face and met his relieved smile with my own much warmer
one.
Too cold for him to touch? Don't you
dare say that about Aidan.
I leaned down
to kiss him as my hands placed the glassware on the
table.

His lips touched mine in what
he seemed to think was only going to be a perfunctory peck, but I
persisted, lips parted and tongue poised, until he realised I had
something more passionate in mind.

A minute or maybe three passed
before I pulled away, to the sound of Jill's uncomfortable cough. I
turned to face her, my hand clasped tightly in Aidan's. "We sat
outside because it was a bit too crowded inside and we wanted to be
alone for a bit." I smiled down at Aidan, the look in his eyes
returning every drop of my warmth for him.

Jill sounded uncertain. "Well,
there's space for you inside, if you two want to come in and join
us." She retreated inside to the fire.

I kept hold of his hand as I
slid into my seat. With my spare hand, I took another piece of the
spicy sausage and popped it into my mouth. Now I was prepared for
it, the burn was barely perceptible.

Aidan snorted and poured us
each a glass of water. He gulped his down, before saying, "You
should try some of the chicken, too. And the spring rolls, before I
eat them all."

I did as he suggested, but I
barely tasted any of them. I ate until I was full. All that
remained was the chocolate whiskey.

Aidan didn't say a word 'til
I'd finished eating. He just watched me, with a rueful smile on his
face. When I was done, he asked, "Would you like to go inside, by
the fire, with everyone else?" His eyes held yearning, but also
understanding.

He wants to go inside, to the
room full of people.

I hesitated. "I…"

"I usually sit on the sofa near
the fire – most of the other regulars are happy to let me have the
same spot, every week. We can sit in a corner, as far away from
everyone as possible, if you like, or we can claim my spot by the
fire. If they won't make space for you, you can sit on my lap." He
grinned wickedly.

I felt lost. I didn't want to
go inside and be the centre of attention.

Somehow, Aidan understood. "Or
we can stay out here in the cold, if that's what you want," he
added gently. "Let's have the last sip of whiskey." He lifted his
tiny glass and clinked it against mine, before taking a sip.

I don't like the cold and I
want to be warm with him. Wherever that may be.

I looked up into his eyes as I
drained my glass. Chocolate fire on my tongue, I leaned across the
table to kiss Aidan again. I didn't want the kiss to end. But it
did, as his cold fingers touched my neck.

"Let's go
inside," my voice said of its own volition.
I want your hands as warm as they were on my skin this
morning.

I pushed away from the table
and stood up, stepping forward to stand by Aidan's side. He curled
an arm around me and kissed me briefly. "Thank you, Bel," he
murmured.

My heart swelled. "You're
welcome," I said slowly, for the first time. His arm a comforting
weight around my waist, I led the way inside.

As Aidan's hand rhythmically
stroked my hair, I leaned my head against his shoulder and let my
mind drift. Conversation washed over me like waves on a beach, but
no comments were addressed to me and I had no opinions I wished to
express. I was content, for the first time in as long as I could
remember.

"Did you catch last night's
footy game?"

"The Barkers lost two lambs
last week…"

"The wife'll be at me if I
don't chop some more wood for the week…"

"I'm thinking of trying a sour
mash, like the Americans do. Not sure what I'll call it…"

"The Tans got a new Landcruiser
yesterday."

"So, you never did tell us what
happened to that midwife, Aidan," a voice said, bringing me back to
the conversation.

I looked up to meet Aidan's
eyes, gazing down on me. He bowed his head to kiss me before he
answered, his eyes not leaving mine. "She warmed up to me after a
while," he said softly with a broad smile. I felt my own lips lift
to match his.

I sat up straighter and we
shared a longer kiss, oblivious to the questioner or his
conversation. I heard the veranda door squeak open, but I didn't
turn to see.

"I'll go get some more wood for
the fire. Wouldn't want you two lovebirds getting cold." The door
squeaked again until it banged shut.

People began to murmur goodbye
to Aidan and slowly shuffle toward the door. Aidan responded to
everyone by name, while I summoned a smile and a nod for each one.
My smile didn't seem so stiff any more, surfacing easily and
staying on my face.

Soon it was just Aidan and I
left. "Should we go?" I murmured, raising my eyebrows.

Aidan shook his head. "Ben's
getting more fuel for the fire. We should at least wait 'til he
gets back."

As if on cue, a voice from
behind me asked, "Where's Ben?"

"Outside getting more wood,"
Aidan replied.

"That shouldn't take him more
than five minutes. How long's he been gone?"

Aidan shrugged. "Maybe
twenty?"

The barman crossed the room to
the door. "I better go find out what's taking him so long." The
door banged behind him.

"Just us." I smiled at Aidan,
whose hands began to caress more than my hair and my face. His
kisses turned more passionate, too, with no intention of stopping
soon.

Running footsteps on the
veranda ended in a protesting squeal as the door was ripped
open.

"Doctor…Aidan…" the man gasped
between breaths, both hands clamped to his chest. "Ben. Need a
doctor."

I leaped to my feet before
Aidan, my hand closing over his to pull him up beside me. "What
happened?" I asked urgently, striding behind the man as he led the
way to the woodshed. I didn't let go of Aidan's hand and I heard
his stumbling steps as he followed us.

"I don't know," he said. "I
went in and he was just lying there. He's dropped a load of wood
all over the floor and he's lying on the ground. I came straight
back here for help. After all, Doctor Aidan's closer than the
hospital."

I glanced at Aidan, whose face
had gone pale. His hand tightened on mine as he realised he'd have
an emergency to deal with – the one thing he hated most.

I started humming under my
breath, the song a soothing lullaby I'd wanted to sing to my
daughter. The same song I sang when I drove my car with Miranda
bleeding in the back. It helped to calm me, if nothing else.

Aidan's grip loosened and his
strides lengthened so he walked beside me instead of following
behind. Both my hands free, I automatically twined my hair into a
knot on the back of my head. Practical once more.

We approached the open tin shed
and stopped. The barman lifted his hand and pointed. "He's in
there, lying on the floor." He didn't seem to want to go back in
the shed at all.

I glanced at Aidan again,
taking a step forward, but he got there first, ducking his head to
go inside. I skittered inside behind him, moving out of the doorway
so I wouldn't block the light.

I heard his breathing as soon
as I stopped moving, so I knew Ben was alive, but he lay on the
ground, his eyes open and unseeing. Aidan knelt beside him,
checking for head and spinal injuries or some sign of why the man
was paralysed.

I edged around the two men,
searching the woodshed. Big chunks of timber were scattered on the
floor, as if they'd been swept from the carefully stacked pile that
took up more than half the shed. Movement caught my eye and I
stepped closer to see better and make sure.

"What's wrong with him?" the
barman asked nervously, sticking his head inside the shed door.

"I don't know," Aidan murmured
at the same time as I said, "Snakebite."

The barman burst out laughing.
"When it's near freezing outside? The snakes are all asleep – too
frozen to bite anyone!"

"Can you get the first aid kit
from inside, Mark?" Aidan asked quietly. "And call an ambulance,
too, mate. If he's not conscious, we need to get him to hospital.
If they want more details, bring the phone out here and I'll fill
them in on what I know."

"Sure, Doctor Aidan." The
barman grinned and trotted off.

"Bel…" Aidan began.

I shrugged. "I'm a midwife, a
nurse. You're the doctor. They expect you to take charge and you
are. They won't listen to me while they have you."

"No," he said urgently, with a
firmness in his tone that made me stare at him. "Why snakebite,
Bel?"

"Check his hands, his wrists –
he didn't wear gloves and she was probably asleep in the wood. I
think he woke her up and she defended herself," I replied.

Aidan stood up, looking around
in panic. "But where's the snake?"

I touched the toe of my shoe to
the block of jarrah nearest me, a striped tail just showing beneath
it, stirring sluggishly. "She's here, trapped under some wood."

Aidan's eyes were wide. "What
kind of snake?"

I turned my head to look more
closely at her. "Tiger snake, I think."

Aidan's arms pulled at me,
trying to put distance between us and the poor stunned snake. I
shook my head and pulled away. "Help Ben. Find the bite marks and
tell the ambulance officers. Do your first aid and get him safely
out of here. When he's on his way to hospital and some antivenin,
I'll let the snake loose."

Aidan gave a nod of
understanding and attended to his patient. "On his wrist – here.
Right into the vein." He pointed at the tiny puncture marks, wiping
away a trickle of blood.

Not a moment too soon, for the
barman appeared. "First aid kit!" he announced, holding out the
box.

Aidan's voice was calm and
methodical. "Get me a pressure bandage – I think he's been bitten
by a tiger snake that was hiding in the wood pile." He held out a
hand expectantly.

The flustered barman fumbled
through the first aid kit and held out a bandage, his hand shaking.
I crossed the shed in two strides and took it from him, ripping
open the packaging to hand the bandage to Aidan.

He wrapped Ben's arm tightly,
from the visible bite marks on his wrist up past his elbow, before
Aidan demanded and was given more bandages.

The ambulance officers didn't
take long, for their station wasn't far away, and it seemed like no
time before we heard the sound of the ambulance siren. Mark left to
guide them to the shed.

"Tiger snake bite. Swab the
area and get some antivenin in him straight away," Aidan ordered.
"It's been half an hour since the bite – you need to act fast, as
he's already showing some signs of paralysis."

The ambulance officers nodded
fervently as they shifted Ben to a stretcher and into the
ambulance. Both turned to Aidan, to ask if he wanted to accompany
them.

For a moment, Aidan hesitated,
but he slid an arm around my waist instead. "No. I'm not on duty
this weekend. And I've had a couple of whiskeys. Raise the on-call
doctor on the radio and have him meet you at the hospital. I think
Lachlan's on today."

The paramedics nodded again,
before climbing back into the ambulance with their patient and
heading off.

I ducked into the shed while
the two men watched the ambulance. I moved to the other side of the
block of wood, where I could see the snake's head. I looked into
her open eyes. She was short, but fatter than most tiger snakes I'd
seen. I nodded carefully at her, humming my daughter's lullaby for
luck, as I touched my foot to the log trapping her coils. With a
flick of my foot, I rolled the wood toward me, releasing her. She
slithered away with difficulty to the darkest corner of the shed.
"Take care, little one," I murmured to the small snake, who looked
as if she was about to give birth. She'd had a precious burden
indeed to defend from Ben the distiller. She disappeared into the
darkness beneath the wood pile.

I left the snake in her shed
and joined the two men, who hadn't noticed my absence.

"He'll name his next whiskey
after you, Doctor Aidan! You saved his life!" Mark beamed at
Aidan.

Aidan shook his head gravely.
"No, I think Ben should name his next whiskey after..."

"The snake," I interrupted with
a forced smile. "He should name the whiskey after the snake that
bit him!"

"Tiger snake it is!" Mark
laughed, sounding giddy.

Aidan glanced at me and I
smiled, moving to his side. His arm circled me again as he kissed
me. "Time to go home, Bel?"

I nodded, fighting to hold my
smile in place.

We both bade Mark goodbye and
walked slowly to Aidan's Mini.

It wasn't until we were back on
the road to his house that Aidan asked, "Why didn't you speak up
for yourself, Bel? You knew exactly what to do there. If Ben names
a whiskey after anyone, it should be you. You saved his life."