‘Is he all right?’
She dragged her hand out of his and wiped the tears from her cheeks. ‘For now. But he’s been using his mask a lot the last few days, and I just went to the storeroom to bring out a new oxygen bottle, because the one he’s got will be empty in an hour or so … but, oh, Tom! There’s two in there, but they’re both empty. I always have a spare, always—the MediGas crew deliver them once a week—but I must have messed up my order.’
No oxygen. And a long night ahead with a power outage likely and a frail man with emphysema totally reliant on him and Mrs L. ‘I’ll go now,’ Tom said. ‘If the clinic in Hanrahan is out, I’ll stop by the Ambulance Depot.’
Mrs LaBrooy clutched his arm. ‘I hate to see you driving in this weather. The roads will be treacherous.’
‘It’s fine, I’ll be care—’Fuck.The road was cut. By a tree and flash flooding and god knew what else.
‘What is it, Tom?’
He rubbed his hands through his hair. ‘Bill had trouble getting out of here. The road’s cut.’
‘Oh, god. Oh, Tom. Bruno’s going to die without oxygen and it will be my fault.’ Her face crumpled and she slumped into the wall.
‘Mrs L, this is not your fault. I’m here, aren’t I? There was nothing stopping me checking we had plenty of oxygen and I didn’t do it either, did I?’
‘But I’m the one here to look after you.’
He hugged her. ‘And that’s what you’re doing right now, looking after us. Let’s go into the kitchen and put the kettle on and get a plan going. We’re isolated up here, but we’re not on the moon. We’ll find a way.’
Mrs LaBrooy gave a gasp. ‘We could call a medevac helicopter.’
‘In this wind?’ Tom knew Navy helicopter pilots who’d flown through gunfire and tornadoes, and even they wouldn’t be able to land on his back paddock in this storm. In the dark, no landing lights, no windsocks? ‘No, helicopters are out.’
‘We call the ambulance,’ she said. ‘You can ride down to where the road’s cut and meet them.’
Yeah. That was an excellent idea. Too bad he couldn’t get on a horse without running the risk of severing his spinal column. That plan had to be the last resort. ‘Does Dad know there’s a problem?’
‘Not yet. He’s been very sleepy today. I’ve set him up by the television in his room, but he’s not in a good way.’
Christ. ‘Okay. Let me make a few calls. You want to make a pot of tea for us while I’m on the phone?’
‘Of course.’
He watched her bustle off through the house. Though he’d be grateful for the tea, keeping Mrs L busy was the real benefit. Busy got in the way of worrying. He’d learned that lesson right here in Hanrahan.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and realised he knew exactly who to call.
Josh picked up on the third ring. ‘Tom. Hello, mate. What’s up?’
‘I need help.’
‘Anything. What can I do?’
‘You still know how to ride a horse?’
‘Last time I checked. Bit late for trail rides, isn’t it?’
‘We’re in trouble.’
‘What, now? Tom, I’m—’
‘Dad’s going to be out of oxygen in a few hours and the road’s shut. We need a bottle brought up the mountain and it’s horseback or nothing.’
His friend’s breath made a whoosh through his earpiece. ‘Tom, I’m in Sydney.’
‘What?’
