Daintree by Annie Seaton

Author:Annie Seaton [Seaton, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2016-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Saturday morning

Crooked Cottage

‘I guess I’m looking for happiness. A cliché, I know, and I probably sound ungrateful, given how easy I had it.’ Jeremy looked at Emma, drinking in the beauty of a face as familiar to him as his own. ‘But I wasn’t happy in Sydney. The social merry-go-round, the expectations, living up to the image. It wasn’t for me. It was artificial and I was over it.’

He looked down to the little dog as he whimpered for attention. Leaning down, Jeremy focused on rubbing the sleek black coat.

‘After uni I worked for two years in emergency in St Vincent’s, then I went back to study last year. Did an MBA.’

‘I’m pleased to hear that. I’m still surprised that you left Sydney.’

Teacups clattered as she put them on the table in front of him.

‘Do you remember what they used to call Kings Cross?’

Emma nodded and pulled out a chair. ‘The naughty patch. I did a short placement at St Vincent’s in second year, remember?’

‘I’d forgotten.’

‘Two years is a long time to work at that pace.’

‘I loved it at first. Stab wounds, gunshot injuries, alcohol-fuelled head traumas, drug overdoses, car crash casualties, and that was just a normal night. It was totally unpredictable.’ He dropped his head into his hands for a moment. ‘But after a while it lost its appeal. I guess I burned out and when there was a situation . . . I . . . realised I couldn’t do it forever.’

‘So here you are,’ she said slowly.

‘That’s why I took the job way up here. A new direction. A new start.’ He lifted his head. A small frown etched two small lines into his brow. ‘And so far it’s been everything I’d hoped for. Watching the way you guys work up here and comparing it to how we worked at St Vincent’s—dealing with the immediate problem, never really connecting with the patient—well, it’s motivated me.’

‘So you’re beginning to understand holistic medicine.’ Emma’s chair scraped back as she stood again. She poured hot water in to warm the pretty blue and white teapot.

‘I guess I am. I know I’ll be learning a lot from how you work at the hospital. And I’m excited about the Outreach work.’

Emma set the pot down in the middle of the table.

‘Still a collector of bits and pieces, I see, Em?’

She smiled. ‘Visitors get the fancy one. George and I use the old battered one over there. Still milk with two sugars?’

‘Yes please.’ He picked up a bark arrangement from the middle of the table and held it up to the light. Shades of colour from deep brown to a pale pink caught the light as he slowly turned it. Emma sat at the table and poured his tea and added the milk and sugar, just like she always had.

He lifted the cup and sipped the steaming liquid as an awkward silence settled between them. The kitchen was quiet apart from the ticking of a large old-fashioned clock on the wall and the occasional snuffling of the little black dog that had gone to sleep on his feet.

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