Mike Dixon

CHAPTER 20
Trauma
ary Longboat examined the
M strange young man who had
arrived so unexpectedly in their
midst. He was in a state of exhaus-
tion when they found him naked and
muttering incoherently about a diving
accident.
She had removed his contact lenses
and treated his many jellyfish stings.
For good measure, she had given
him a shot of penicillin and started
him on a course of antibiotics.
He was an immensely fit young man
and she had no fears for his physical
wellbeing. It was his mental state
that worried her. David was clearly in a state of shock. It
was the sort of thing she had witnessed in road accident
victims in the casualty ward of the hospital in Townsville
where she worked.
The standard procedure was to refer them to a counselor
but that was not an option in this case. Instead, she had
asked Rebecca to talk to him and try to find out the cause
of his traumas. So far her daughter had made little pro-
gress.
154