Priority One

Chapter One

I am calm. I am in control of my emotions. No one else can affect the way I feel. I am remaining positive, no matter what totally humiliating crap this little scum-sucking weasel is trying to pull on me.

I wriggle my back against the hard plastic of the office chair, and try not to dwell on this last thought. Jamie Mitzabella may be a scum-sucking weasel, but he is my boss, and right now, I needed my job more than the Coastal Rescue and Ambulance Paramedic Service, needed me.

I need to stay positive. I need to avoid getting angry, because that is when I say things I later regret.

Sitting forward, I fixing him with what I hope is a million watt smile. "Mitz, you know it wasn't my fault I wasn't back in time."

He lets out a deep sigh and stares out the window, as though this conversation is already boring him.

"I had every intention of being back last week, but I was in a one room village hospital in Nepal. All I cared about was checking the IV needles weren't pre-used and the drugs they were giving me were not three years out of date. I was fighting for my life."

"Let's not over dramatize things Cate" he drawls patronisingly. "You had gastro."

"And, as I have already told you, there's nothing I can do. I had to give your position in the City Station to someone else. I really wish I could help you but..."

We both knew that was a lie. He had no intention of helping me. The only person Mitz helps is himself.

The guy had been waiting for an opportunity to make my life hell, ever since my knee had connected with his groin when we were students. He'd offered to give me the answers to our trauma exam in exchange for a quickie in the back of an ambulance.

At the time I didn't know what was worse - the fact that he was cheating on our exams, or that anyone would want to have sex in the back of an ambulance.

Still, it explained how he'd managed to pass, and how he'd climbed the management ranks so fast.

I have already wasted twenty minutes explaining to him why I was late back from leave. I had spent six glorious months travelling the remotest parts of the world my credit card would take me. Six months of total bliss where I knew no one, and more importantly, no one knew about me.

Unfortunately, one last meal of chicken mo-mo's at the mould infested lodge I was staying in at Lukla meant my return to reality had been delayed. One measly week stuck on a mountain and my bliss had been squelched like a bug under a hiking boot.

Mitz dropped his gaze to his desk, avoiding my eyes like the little rat I knew he was.

"Cate, I can give you back your position in Mount Crawford. There are not many people wanting a country posting at the moment."

My skin crawled at the thought of going back there. Another year in the insular little town where I would wake every morning pleased if no one had firebombed my car. No thank you. I was going back to that particular shit-hole over my dead body. I took a deep, cleansing breath. Stay positive.

"I can't go back there Mitz. You know the situation - too many bad memories. I am sure there are other options."

"But we have two spots to fill there" he whined, looking at me accusingly.

"That isn't my fault."

I am offended, but not particularly surprised by his insensitivity.  I am pretty sure that he is not the only person who blames me for the sudden exodus of the only staff at the Mount Crawford Ambulance Station. Still, I needed to focus on the future, and my future needed a steady income.