She put her soft hand on his cheek. ‘I haven’t been fair to you, Terry. And I’m so sorry. Michael’s death should have brought us closer together, but I felt so guilty at not being able to nurse him back to health that I needed someone to blame.’ She looked down again. ‘But of course neither of us was at fault. I can see that now.’

He drew her closer and tucked her head into his neck so she couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. ‘At least we had the chance to love him for a little while,’ he murmured. ‘And he’ll always be in our hearts.’

She nodded and he could feel the dampness of her tears on his shirt.

‘Do you think you could bear staying on here for a while longer?’ he asked tentatively. ‘Only Dad will have to retire now he’s been so ill, and this place has to be kept running.’

She eased from his embrace, took the handkerchief from his pocket and determinedly wiped away her tears. ‘Of course it must,’ she said firmly. ‘The people here depend on it.’

‘So you think you’re ready to stay with me and help out? You’ve already seen how chaotic it can be. Do you think you could cope?’

She gave him a watery smile. ‘If you mean can I go without a drink for more than a few days without falling off the wagon – then yes. I won’t lie to you and say it’ll be easy, because I know it won’t. But these past two days have shown me how good it can feel to be doing something useful again – and to be a part of a real community. I’m willing to give it a go if you are.’

He felt a great wave of love for her as he drew her back into his embrace. ‘You won’t regret it, Sandra, I promise.’

She softly kissed his lips. ‘Let’s just take things one day at a time, Terry. The road ahead of us will probably be rocky, but as long as we have each other we’ll get through.’

Her head was once again on his shoulder, her hand resting above his heart that was full to bursting. They had come through the worst and, with Sandra by his side, they would conquer the world – or at least conquer the trials and tribulations of running a bush hospital in the middle of nowhere.

*

It was now mid-afternoon and the squall of rain had passed. Jane saw Hugh’s eyelids flutter and reached for his hand. ‘I’m here,’ she assured him.