Page 28 of Stranded with the Surgeon

Guy muttered what had to be something Jennifer wouldn’t have wanted to hear anyway. He pulled her roughly to her feet and then bent to put an arm behind her knees.

‘Hang on,’ he instructed grimly.

Jennifer wrapped stiff arms around his neck and held on, even though she knew the splint on her arm must be cutting into his shoulder. She could feel the jerk of unsteady movement as he negotiated the track and adjusted to his burden. She could feel the limp that became progressively more pronounced, but she could do nothing more than hang on. And pray.

Her awareness of anything more than the sound of Guy’s rasping breaths, the pounding of his heart and the tight grip of his arms faded. Jennifer had no idea how long he carried her like that. A distant memory nagged until she caught it. The day her mother had died. The bewilderment and pain. The solid feel of her father’s arms and the sound of his voice trying to create an anchor in a child’s shattered life. She could even hear the rumble of his deep voice.

It’s okay, Jenna. I’ve got you. We’ll get through this together, you and me.

It was a shock to open her eyes at the jolt of being lowered to the ground and to see Guy’s face instead of her father’s. Hadhespoken those words? No. Jennifer shook her head to try and orient herself.

‘We’ve made it.’ Guy’s voice sounded ragged. ‘We’re safe, Jenna. Look.’

The hut sat in a small clearing, a large, dark shape against an even darker background.

‘It’s the Welcome Flat hut,’ Guy told her. ‘A mansion compared to most tramping huts, and the only two-storied one that I know of. It’s years since I’ve been here, but it should have a coal stove and a radio.’

Jennifer stared at the solid wooden door. ‘What if… it’s locked?’

‘Huts are never locked.’ Guy led the way and turned the handle. ‘See?’

Not only was the hut open, but it had also been left immaculately tidy by the last people to use it. Fuel for the stove was abundant, and in what seemed like no time at all the light from the flames revealed other treasures. Like a hurricane lamp that created enough light for them to see the supply of canned and dried food left in case of emergencies, and a radio. Guy seemed to have no problem in turning it on and changing frequency while searching for a response.

‘Welcome Flat Hut,’ he said repeatedly. ‘This is Guy Knight requesting assistance. Is anybody receiving?’

Then, miraculously, a response came.

‘Department of Conservation base station here. Are you from the plane that went down two days ago?’

‘Affirmative.’

‘How many of you are there?’

‘Two.’

‘Are you injured?’

‘Not badly. We’ve walked out from the crash site.’

Jennifer huddled near the stove but the warmth didn’t seem able to penetrate her layers of wet clothing. She had stopped shivering and felt incredibly drowsy, but if she was entering a more advanced state of hypothermia she couldn’t have cared less. She listened to the discussion of whether to send a search-and-rescue team in to meet them at first light or a helicopter to evacuate them.

Apparently it was a six-hour tramp to where vehicles could access the track from the main highway at the Karangarua River. Guy didn’t seem to think Jennifer was able to do the walk, and she wasn’t going to argue.

She didn’t even protest when Guy came over and ordered her to take off all her clothes. Her fingers refused to cooperate, however, so she stood there like a statue while Guy pulled soggy garments from her one by one. He left her bra and knickers on but she was past caring.

Having draped the clothes over a chair close to the heat of the stove, Guy took off his leather jacket and hung it over Jennifer’s shoulders. Then he astonished her by picking her up in his arms again.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I know how to warm you up.’

Was he going to take her to lie on one of the bunk mattresses with him? Skin-to-skin, as the common lore regarding treatment of hypothermia suggested was best?

He’d already kissed her. He’d stripped off her clothes. The thought of further intimacy didn’t bother Jennifer. Nothing bothered her. Even being taken outside into the cold night air.

‘Wait a minute!’ The words were spoken aloud as the chill bit into her exposed skin. She tried to move but the grasp of Guy’s arms was way too firm. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’

They had finally reached safety. Warmth. Even in her fuzzy mental state Jennifer knew she needed warmth above anything else.

‘Don’t argue,’ Guy ordered brusquely. ‘Trust me.’

---