Blinking with difficulty, Zac opened his eyes. Red dust swirled around them, and for a full minute he couldn’t see. Then his breath caught at the horror of red streaming down Ava’s face from a gaping wound in the middle of her forehead.

A wound he’d seen once before. Exactly like one he’d seen before. This was his fault. Again.

His brain screamed No! so loudly it escaped in a moan through his lips. Ava was dead. Or worse. Comatose.

Panic surged like a swirling black tornado in his brain, ripping his consciousness with the horror of his worst nightmare and swallowing him. His mind churned and the edges of the world grew dim. Everything went blessedly black.

When Zac began to take in his surroundings, it was the familiar routine sounds of a hospital he noted. Which hospital, he had no idea. In fact, the events of how he’d arrived here remained strangely elusive. His head pounded and he raised his hand to touch the spot. A thick bandage met his fingers at the back of his skull. Head injury? And his arm hurt.

Below the fog in his mind, a panicked urgency fluttered to get out and his heart pounded with the need to remember. He’d almost woken several times, pushing through the gentle weight of unconsciousness, and sometimes a whisper of an elusive feminine voice clamoured for his attention. Always it said the same thing. ‘Zac?’ There was something about the voice that calmed him, until eventually, the nightmare receded as he clawed his way up through the mists of confusion.

He remembered saying, ‘Roslyn?’ And then the patient in the next room cried out and some instinct made him swing his legs off the side of the bed to render the fellow assistance, but before his feet could touch the floor a nurse hurried towards him.

‘Back in your bed, Dr Logan, please. Dr Fithers will be here soon. You stay resting till the doctor comes.’

When she saw that Zac was in no more danger of falling, she hurried out the door and he heard her soothe the other man’s distress.

To Zac’s relief, someone he knew, George Fithers from med school, appeared at his side, and after a moment’s hesitation he perched awkwardly on Zac’s bed.

‘It’s good to see you alive, Zac.’

‘Hello, George. Was I that close to death?’

‘You’ve had a big couple of months.’

What month would that be? he thought but he didn’t ask. It would come back. ‘Where am I?’

‘Alice Springs.’ George studied him. ‘A bit hazy on that, are you?’

‘A bit,’ Zac admitted cautiously.

‘Not surprising.’ George steepled his fingers and considered him. ‘You came to work for me here a week ago. A locum appointment, though.’ He gave Zac a mock glare. ‘You’re off sick now.’