Snowbound With The Surgeon

‘Yes, there’s a packet in my bag.’ She looked up at him, her wry grin taunting Joe. ‘I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the list of contra-indications…’

By the time the rescue team arrived, Charlie was awake and alert, seemingly none the worse for his experience. Michael had seemed to gain in strength as soon as he’d seen that his son was doing well, and under Neve’s watchful eye both of them had managed to drink some soup.

‘They’ll be all right?’ Nancy blinked back the tears when she planted a kiss on Charlie’s forehead, before the little boy was bundled up in blankets, ready for his trip to the hospital.

‘I’ll call in the morning and make sure. They’re safe now.’ Neve took her hand and squeezed it. So much had happened this afternoon. Everyone had played their part in keeping little Charlie safe.

‘I guess we should be on our way too…’ Joe was reaching for his coat. ‘We can’t thank you enough, Nancy.’

Nancy shrugged. ‘The word “privilege” springs to mind.’

She’d summed it up completely. Neve had seen her share of people fight for life in a hospital setting, but somehow this was so much more raw, so immediate. Now that it was over, Neve wanted to retreat into a corner and weep at the thought of the sum of human endeavour that had wrought today’s miracle.

Strike that. She wanted to cling to Joe and weep. Then she had a couple of questions for him.

She gave Nancy a brief hug, pulling away before the lump in her throat strangled her. ‘Thanks for everything. I’ll call you in the morning.’

The front door opened and Daryl burst in, bringing a blast of cold air with him. ‘I don’t think you two are going anywhere tonight.’ He dropped Joe’s car keys into his hand. ‘I got the worst of the snow off the car and went to start the engine to clear the windows. The battery’s flat.’