MARTIN recovered consciousness before the plane touched down at Cairns.

For Nikki it was a weird journey. She felt as if she had been snatched from her nice, safe existence, and only part of that feeling was due to flying to Cairns. She watched over her patients while she tried hard to avoid thinking of Luke Marriott.

‘He’s nice, isn’t he?’ Lisa whispered as she stirred from her drugged sleep and found the strength to speak.

‘Who?’ Nikki asked. She knew already whom Lisa was talking about.

‘The new doctor. He…he saved my life.’

Nikki shook her head, but part of her acknowledged the truth of Lisa’s words. His presence might not have saved Lisa’s life but it had probably spared her legs, and as for the boy she was with…

Nikki checked Martin for the hundredth time and noticed with satisfaction the lessening of his unconsciousness. He stirred just as they touched down, his eyes flickering open and gazing upwards in dazed confusion.

‘You’re safe,’ Nikki told him gently. ‘You and Lisa crashed the car. Lisa’s here with you. She’s OK. We’re taking you both to hospital.’

It was all he could cope with hearing. His eyelids lowered and he slept.

At Cairns Nikki was suddenly redundant. Forewarned, there were ambulances and doctors waiting as their flight landed. Martin’s condition was less serious now than they had feared, so Nikki could slip into the background. She was content to do so. By now the cumulative effects of two sleepless nights were showing. It was five in the morning and she was close to exhaustion.

Someone showed her to a sparsely furnished room at the hospital. All Nikki saw was the bed. Somehow she shed her clothes, slipped between cool sheets, and seconds later was asleep.