‘Sorry about that.’ Zac was never sick. But that wasn’t what he needed to know. ‘What happened with this?’ He slid his hand around the back of his neck again and winced when the pressure stung.

‘Car accident. Impact and roll over, and a branch came through the side door and knocked you out. You’re lucky it didn’t take your head off.’

Zac winced. ‘Harder to get over that one.’

‘Beyond my help,’ George agreed. ‘But you’ll be fine. It happened on the road out to Uluru. You were hit by a speeding campervan.’ He sat back. ‘You had to wait for a storm to pass before the RFDS flew you in here.’

George seemed to be watching his face intently, but none of this rang any bells.

‘What can you remember?’ George’s question seemed careful, and Zac had the impression the doctor was trying not to upset him.

Why would it upset him? Zac closed his eyes and tried to remember the events of the last few days. ‘Today is Sunday?’ he asked, and George nodded. He even looked slightly relieved, so that was good.

‘I’m not cheering yet. You had a one-in-seven chance of that being right. Try the date,’ George urged gently.

Zac could remember asking patients these questions. He stared down at the white hospital sheet for a moment. ‘I can remember Valentine’s Day. Roslyn’s funeral. I got home from Weipa last week. So mid-March? I had lunch with my parents and signed the papers for the house sale. So maybe the twentieth of March?’

George didn’t meet Zac’s eyes, but he nodded as if he’d confirmed something he’d suspected. ‘Today is the fourth of April.’

Zac forced down another of those sudden panic surges and had to concentrate to keep his voice even, which hurt. ‘How long did you say I’ve been here?’

‘Twelve hours.’ George sat back and stared at him. Zac wanted to know what he was thinking.

April? He shook his head and winced. He’d lost a couple of weeks. ‘It feels like March.’

‘There’s no doubt you sustained a major blow to the head, but you were lucky. The X-rays we took show no fractures to the skull and the CT looks clear of any clot or haemorrhage formation. Apart from your memory glitch, the injury shouldn’t cause you any further trouble, but of course, I’d prefer you avoid small aircraft flying for a few weeks.’

Memory glitch? Zac’s knuckles whitened on the bed as the panic attacked his throat again. He needed to remember something, but it was completely out of his reach. ‘Was anyone with me in the accident?’