Outback Thunder by Ann B Harrison

be
here in just a second." She pulled the curtain and left them alone.
    He held Zoe's hand
standing beside the bed ready to go on the hunt for the doctor if he didn't
materialize shortly.
    “ Shtop stressing," Zoe slurred squeezing his fingers.
    "No. You know
how I hate seeing you hurt. I'll just go—"
    The curtain parted
before Jonas could leave to find help and an elderly gentlemen in a white coat
with a stethoscope around his neck came into the room.
    "Well well,
what do we have here? Zoe Walters I assume. I haven't seen you for a few years,
my girl and you appear to have grown up very nicely." The doctor pushed
Jonas to one side and took her wrist in his hand. "Been fighting with your
brother again or is this a little bit more serious?"
    "Dr. Bob,
you're shtill here?"
    "Can't get
rid of me that easily. Nice slur you have there." He lifted his head and
spoke to Jonas. "Knocked unconscious was she?"
    "Yes for at
least three to five minutes." He hovered at the end of the bed watching as
the town’s favorite doctor gave Zoe's vitals a quick check.
    He held his breath
when Dr. Bob peeled away the blood soaked bandage from her head. "Hmm,
nasty cut there, Zoe. A couple of stitches I'm afraid. Shouldn't leave too much
of a scar though. Bleed a lot, these head wounds, but not always that serious.
On a scale on one to ten, what do you think your pain is?"
    Zoe moistened her
lips and looked at him.
    "Don't try
and be brave, kid. You are going to have the worst headache for a few
days."
    "I want to
throw up it’s so painful. Maybe a seven or eight."
    "She did
throw up, Doc so I figured it's pretty bad." Jonas shook his head at her.
    "I'll get you
something for the pain. Back in a jiffy."
    Her eyes flew open
and a look of panic filled her face. Jonas reached past the doctor as she tried
to sit up.
    "Settle down,
Zoe. I'll stay with you."
    "You still
haven't outgrown those panic attacks, I see." Dr. Bob nodded to them.
"Just give me a minute and I'll get a suture tray too and you can sit
beside the bed to keep her calm Jonas."
    The doctor bustled
out past the curtain and Jonas leaned down to wrap his arms around her
shoulders. "It's okay... just a couple of stitches and I promise I won't
let you go. You can watch me while he does it, okay?"
    Her eyes were wild
and frightened but she nodded her head and gripped onto his hands, her
fingernails digging into his skin.
    He eased her back
down on the pillow and hooked a chair with his foot to sit on so he was at eye
level with her. He kept her hands tightly in his and slowly she relaxed and
closed her eyes again.
    Zoe startled when
the curtain was swept aside and the doctor came in rolling a cart with him. The
same nurse from reception followed close behind. Jonas narrowed his eyes. It
was Lucy Carmichael, the girl that broke them apart.
    How much worse
could today get?
    He hoped that Zoe
didn't recognize her. He cringed when she withdrew her hands from his and her
breathing picked up a notch. She had seen her.
    "Let me give
you some pain relief, dear girl," Dr. Bob said. He withdrew a syringe from
the drawer in the cart and took a vial from the dish on top. Checking it with
the nurse against the chart, he inserted the needle and filled the syringe.
"Not allergic to morphine from memory are you, Zoe?"
    "N...no."
    Doc leaned over
and lifted her shirt to swab her stomach. "This is best in the stomach
muscles as I'm sure your remember me telling you last time you came to grief on
the farm. Just a little sting."
    Zoe cursed when
the doctor plunged the needle into her stomach, the look on her face one of
horror when her gaze met Jonas.
    "You know
it's for the best, Zoe. You can't sport a headache like that." He grabbed
her hands again and held them tight when she tried to pull away.
    The doctor got the
sutures ready and turned her head to Jonas so he could clean her brow. The
nurse handed him a green cloth which he put over Zoe's face leaving the wound
visible in a small patch. Jonas peeked