A Familiar Stranger

‘Are you changing the subject, Lindsay?’ Janna asked, trying to ignore the soft colour flooding her cheeks.

‘Yes,’ her friend replied, eyeing her blush with interest. ‘Are you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Nice weather for July.’

‘Isn’t it?’

‘Janna?’

‘Mmm?’

‘Are you still in love with Finn?’

Janna stirred her tea absently. ‘Why would you think that?’

‘Because I know you. You look strained.’

‘Finn said that.’

‘He’s right.’

‘So am I—Lindsay, you can’t have that baby at home.’

‘I can.’

Janna sighed. Why was everybody so determined to be difficult today? She left Lindsay, still adamant about a home birth, and went home to examine the sparse contents of her wardrobe. Heavens, there were still things in there Finn would recognise! Still, it was only the local pub they were going to, and she was damned if she was going to try and impress Finn! She dug out a silk shirt, jeans, and a newish sweater in case it got chilly later, showered in double-quick time and arrived in the hall just as the bell rang.

Carefully arranging her face into a non-committal smile, she opened the door expecting Finn, and found instead Sue, the landlord’s daughter. ‘It’s Julie Harvey,’ she said frantically. ‘They were in the pub having supper and she keeled over. She looks dreadful! You must come!’

Janna picked up her bag, scribbled a note for Finn and stuck it on the door, and ran down the road after Sue. By the time she arrived at the pub Julie had been put into a little back room, and had been violently sick several times.

‘Oh, Nurse, thank God you’re here,’ Mrs Harvey said fervently. ‘I can’t understand it—she was so much better.’ And she started to shake all over.

Moving her gently out of the way, Janna looked at the little girl’s flushed face and glazed eyes, and took her temperature.

‘It’s up now, quite a bit,’ Janna told the girl’s mother. ‘I think she’s got appendicitis, but Dr McGregor will be here in a minute and he’ll confirm it. It’s all right, sweetheart,’ she said gently to the little girl as she was sick yet again. ‘You’ll soon be OK. We’ll look after you.’

Just then she heard Finn’s deep, soft voice, and he came into the room, glanced at the child and then at Janna, and raised his eyebrows.

‘Appendix, I think,’ Janna told him.

He nodded, examined her quickly and turned to the parents. ‘Yes, it looks like a classic appendicitis, so she’ll need to go to hospital straight away, and I imagine they’ll operate as soon as she arrives. I’ll go and make the arrangements.’ He went out to the bar, and a few minutes later came back with a little towel—wrung out in warm water. ‘They’re on their way,’ he told everyone generally, then crouched down by the little girl on the bed, wiping her face and hands gently with the damp towel. ‘Can you hear me, sweetheart?’

The little girl opened her eyes and nodded, a shiver running through her.

‘Julie, inside your tummy there’s a little thing like a curly tail, called an appendix. Have you ever heard of it?’

She nodded, her eyes wide. ‘A boy in my class had one of his out.’

Finn suppressed the smile. ‘Well, sweetheart, I think you might have to have yours out, too, because I think it’s gone bad, and it’s making you feel poorly, isn’t it?’

She nodded again, her eyes filling with self-pity. ‘I feel ever so sick,’ she whispered.

‘I expect you do, poppet. Now, tell me, how do you fancy going in a helicopter?’

Her eyes rounded. ‘A helicopter? I’ve never done that before.’

‘Not many people have—and I bet when the boy in your class went to hopsital to have his appendix out he just went in an ordinary ambulance, didn’t he?’ Julie nodded. ‘Well, you’re going to have something to tell him when you get home, aren’t you?’

She smiled faintly, and Finn squeezed her hand and straightened up, turning to her mother and father.

‘You will have gathered the air ambulance is on its way from Inverness—it’ll be here in about half an hour, and it will be able to take Julie and one other person.’

‘Inverness!’ Mrs Harvey exclaimed. ‘Isn’t there a hospital closer?’

‘No. Well, there is, but it takes longer to get there by road, and I think time is of the essence. Your little girl’s pretty sick, Mrs Harvey. You don’t want to waste time.’

As the significance of Finn’s comment sank in, Mrs Harvey collapsed on to a chair, her face ashen. ‘Is she really that ill?’ she asked. ‘I thought she was just worrying about the rabbit!’

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘Is it critical that she’s hospitalised so fast?’ Mr Harvey asked Finn. ‘It will make visiting them so difficult. Can’t they deal with something so common here?’

Finn shrugged. ‘They can, of course. I could take out her appendix myself with anaesthetic cover. However, I don’t have it, and although it’s a common complaint it can be quite serious if it’s neglected or if treatment is delayed. She’ll be fine once she’s had her appendix out,’ Finn assured them. ‘I just don’t think you want to jostle her about on the road unnecessarily in case it perforates. Now, will one of you be going with her? You might just have time to get a few things together before they get here.’

Mrs Harvey looked at her husband. ‘I’ll go—can you find us a change of clothes and wash things?’

With a nod he left, and a few minutes later they heard the steady beat of the helicopter rotors. Within minutes Julie was strapped to a stretcher, Finn had handed over to the team doctor and they were loading Julie and her mother into the helicopter in the field behind the pub. Mr Harvey returned in the nick of time and handed a bag to his anxious wife. ‘I’ve probably put in all the wrong things,’ he told her.

‘It doesn’t matter. Take care of the other two—come up and see us tomorrow.’

‘I will. Ring me.’

He hugged her briefly, then Finn led them all back out of the way and the helicopter roared into life, the steady wop-wop-wop of the rotors fading gradually into the distance.

Mr Harvey, one arm round each of the two younger children, turned to Finn. ‘Will she really be all right?’

‘I’m sure she will,’ Finn said confidently. ‘Don’t worry—the helicopter seems very dramatic, but it’s just a case of distance and terrain. People round here soon take it for granted.’

He nodded. ‘OK. Thanks. Will it be all right to ring the hospital later on?’

‘Of course—try them about ten o’clock. OK?’

‘I’ll do that. Thanks again. Come on, kids, let’s get you home to bed.’ As Mr Harvey led the other two children towards his car, Finn turned to Janna.

‘Well, hi there,’ he said with a smile.