Page 3 of Ruby’s Outback Love

Things were changing within our team. I’d previously been Clinical Nurse Manager for Dr Barry Bright, the only GP in town, on the weeks we weren’t out in the field. Now I was doing the same job for Drew in his rooms at the hospital. I was also his theatre nurse. Linda had taken over my job with Barry. She had confided, although she loved Drew with her whole heart, she felt working and being together twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, would strain their relationship. I’d agreed and we had come up with our new arrangement. Both doctors had accepted our proposal, not that they’d had much of a choice – Linda and I were both strong willed individuals. Once the new centre was open, we’d have to review the arrangements as the men would have rooms side by side.

Barry was the towns one and only GP with an extremely busy practice. Until Drew had moved to town, he’d also taken care of post-op consults in town. Neither were necessary now, but with the new facility at Barrawon, Barry had decided he and Linda would drive out once a week and provide general medical services to those in the nearby area. People now had access to medical care they would have previously had to travel hours for. It was making a huge difference to ‘my people’ – Indigenous Australians, and I knew they were grateful.

Thanks to the FDS and our team, Bourke and the surrounding areas, now had an exceptional medical service.

James and Finn, pilots with the FDS in Dubbo, both qualified doctors and paramedics, continued to take care of emergencies and for the time being, flew Cam in and out.

This team was one I was proud to work with and I regarded each member as a friend.

***

I absentmindedly rubbed at the knuckles of my right hand before taking another sip of tea. I’d seen Phil around town a couple of times and each time caused my heart to ache a little bit more. Thankfully, I hadn’t seen him with Francine and their child, or children. I was a long way from being ready for that.

Even after all these years, I still felt raw and sometimes wished I’d stayed down in Sydney where I’d been working as the Director of Nursing at a small hospital after earning my doctorate.

After reading an advertisement by the Flying Doctor Service in Dubbo, explaining they were looking for someone to work out of Bourke, Barry, an old friend of the family, had contacted me to see if I was interested. I’d driven up to Dubbo on a Saturday morning and stayed for a couple of nights.

Monday morning, I’d walked into the FDS office and pretty much demanded they give me the job so I could help ‘my people.’ I certainly wasn’t backwards in coming forwards. As an indigenous woman, I’d had to fight hard for everything I wanted, which had made me both strong and confident. Except when it came to Phil. No, not only Phil, it was most men I was wary of these days, especially the police.

Drew had been there at the time and immediately hired me. I flew out with the team that very same day. I loved the work and reconnecting with my roots.

Barry had offered me the position of Clinical Nurse Manager the same week. After flying back to Dubbo, I’d picked up my car and headed to Bourke, ready for the next time the team arrived.

While I waited for settlement on a house I’d bought, I stayed back in the home where I’d grown up. Catching up with Mum and dad, who I’d stayed in touch with daily, but hadn’t seen for well over eight months, had been a tearful but joyous affair.

Now, I was well and truly settled into my own home – a small white painted weatherboard with green shutters, a white picket fence, native gardens, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Everything had been perfect until Phil had crashed back into my life two months ago…….

CHAPTER TWO

Bourke NSW

Fifteen Years Earlier

I stood behind the fence around the oval peeking at the group of senior boys who were warming up before hitting the track for a race.

A soft groan spilled from my lips at the sight of Phil Thacker in a pair of running shorts which moulded over his arse. The man was to die for and I snatched every opportunity to drool over him.

We both attended Bourke High School, he was year twelve at – eighteen years old. I was year ten and sixteen. My aunt and uncle hadn’t known my exact birthdate.

I’d been dumped on their doorstep in a washing basket, a threadbare blanket wrapped around my naked body. A note accompanying me from my mother had stated I was a mistake and she had better things to do with her life than raise a brat.

Aunt Mavis and Uncle Tommy, who I called mum and dad, had taken me in and raised me as one of their own. There were nine of us and I fitted in the middle - I had three older sisters and one brother, along with four younger brothers.

Mum estimated I’d been around three months old when I’d been ‘delivered’ to them. For months, they’d attempted to find my birth mother, even enlisted the help of the police, but it was if she’d vanished into thin air.

After a while, they gave up looking for her and decided my birthday would be March 25th, three months prior to the day I’d been abandoned.

At fourteen years old, mum had helped me to legally adopt their last name of Waters.

I’d always referred to myself as Ruby Madeleine Waters and hadn’t really cared about making it legal until one of my teachers at school had advised I would need a legal name if I intended to attend university, which I did. So, we filled in a whole bunch of papers and I finished up with an official name and date of birth. It kept the government happy, I guess.

***

“Hey, Phil, you up for a few beers tonight?” Rod Lyneham, one of Phil’s closest friends ambled towards him.

There was something about Rod I didn’t like. He was a creep who had the mental range of a windscreen wiper. He’d hit on me a few times but I’d always rejected him and cleared out.

“Nah, gotta study. I need good grades to get into the Police Academy.” Phil had talked about being a cop for as long as I could remember.