Emergency at the Royal

‘Take care of my little boy. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.’

‘I will. I’ll see to him as soon as possible.’

She climbed up into the cab of the van, accessing it from the side that was still intact. The driver made a mumbled, incoherent response when Katie spoke to him, and when she checked him over she discovered that his reflexes were poor and that his limbs were weak on one side. He was in a very bad way and she was concerned about his condition, but she was worried about the others, too. All of these people needed help urgently, but she was only one person, and she had to deal with the most seriously injured first.

As she twisted around in the cab of the van, she saw that a man was approaching. Was he going to be able to help her? From her position, peering downwards, all she could see was a pair of long legs encased in crisp chinos. His stride was brisk and pur poseful, and as she glanced up she saw that he was wearing a dark blue shirt made of good-quality linen.

He said briskly, ‘Can I do anything to help?’ His voice was deep and firm, easy on the senses.

‘I hope so.’ Katie looked at him properly then, and her mouth dropped open a little in sudden recognition. He had night-black hair, cut short in an attractive, stylish manner, and his features were strong and bone-meltingly familiar. His blue-grey eyes met hers steadily, and after a moment she realised that she was staring. She recovered herself quickly, clamping her lips together in an attempt at control.

‘Drew?’

What was he doing here? How many years had it been since she had last seen him? She didn’t stop to voice her thoughts, though. This was no time to start asking questions, and instead she made an effort to pull herself together and concentrate her attention on her patients.

‘Katie. It’s not the best circumstance for us to meet up again, is it?’ His mouth made an odd, rueful shape. ‘I was driving through town and I saw what happened. Have you checked everyone?’

She nodded. ‘I think the driver must have had a stroke of some kind. The ambulance is on its way. He needs oxygen and we need to get him to hospital fast.’

She noticed that Drew had his medical bag with him. He saw her glance and said evenly, ‘I keep it in the car for emergencies, along with other things that I might need. I can grab whatever else we might want from the boot. I’ll start by giving him oxygen and I’ll set up an IV line.’

‘Good. I’ll go and see to the others. I think the little boy has a fractured femur. He’s probably bleeding internally and he’ll need fluids and something for the pain. I’ll secure the leg with tape and padding to make sure there’s no further damage.’

‘Help yourself to whatever you need. What about the man on the pavement? Have you examined him?’

‘Only very briefly. He has an abdominal injury, broken ribs and possibly a ruptured spleen, so I’ll give him replacement fluids, too. We’ll need to notify the surgeon to be prepared. The woman was lucky. She seems to have escaped with cuts and bruises.’

‘Shout if you need me.’ Drew was already turning away to minister to the van driver.

‘I will.’ She hurried away to tend to the child and his father. She was still overwhelmed by the shock of seeing Drew here, out of the blue, and as if the suddenness of the accident hadn’t been enough to make her adrenaline surge, the mere fact of his presence had sent her pulse into overdrive.

She was confused and edgy because of his unexpected arrival, but she was glad that he was by her side in this. He was resourceful and skilled, and the perfect man to have around in a crisis. She just couldn’t get used to the idea that he was here in Devon at all. The last she had heard of him was that he had taken the job of A and E consultant in the north of the country.

The sound of an ambulance siren came to her as she was taping the IV line in place on the little boy. She had covered him with her jacket to keep him warm, and the painkilling injection she had given him was beginning to do its work.

‘Who’s in charge here?’ the paramedic asked, looking from Katie to Drew.

‘I am,’ she answered, and filled him in on details of the condition of each patient. ‘The man on the pavement and the boy will need to be taken to A and E. I think the van driver has suffered a stroke, so the stroke unit should be contacted as soon as possible. As for the woman, she’s in shock, and has a head wound, so she also needs to be looked at more closely. But I believe all but the stroke victim are stable for the moment. Shall I come with you to the hospital?’

He shook his head. ‘You don’t need to do that. It looks as though you’ve done everything possible for them, and we’ll manage the rest. It’s only a few minutes’ drive from here after all. Thanks for your help.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Katie stood back and watched as the patients were transferred to the ambulance. Drew came and positioned himself next to her, his arm accidentally brushing hers, and her body reacted like quicksilver, as though he had lit a fuse in her.

Nothing had changed. She had always responded to him this way, and it seemed as though the intervening years had done nothing to extinguish the instant flame that seared her flesh and made her heart pound whenever he was close.

She had hoped that time would change the way she felt about him, but now she accepted that was a vain hope. All those feelings had come rushing back in full force, along with the memory of how their relationship had abruptly ended. There could never be any going back.

She shifted away from him, just a fraction, so that there was no possibility of him touching her any more, and she tried hard to control her breathing, until it was a little more calm and even and no longer coming in quick spurts.

She remembered the last time she had seen him, when he had been moving on to begin his specialist training. How long ago had that been...seven, eight years? That had been when she had been just eighteen and she had been getting ready to go to medical school to prepare for her own career. It hadn’t been a happy time for her back then. Harsh words had been said on both sides when they had parted, and she knew that things could never be the same between them.

‘You must have qualified as a doctor, then? Are you specialising in A and E?’ he asked, his glance flicking over her.

She nodded.

‘I imagine you would have done very well,’ he murmured, ‘because I thought you handled the situation here with great skill and expertise. It would have been daunting for anyone, but you were exceptionally cool and organised. It was impressive.’

Her smile was strained. ‘I can’t say that I felt that way. I didn’t have time to stop and think or I might have been even less sure of myself. I was worried about the little boy. He looked so helpless lying there, so young and vulnerable, but I knew I had to attend to the driver first. His condition was the worst.’

‘They’re all safe now, thanks to you.’

She made a face. ‘Thanks to your medical equipment, more like. I think I shall have to start carrying emergency supplies with me, just in case.’

‘It helps to be prepared for anything.’ He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Are you working locally?’

‘Yes. I’ve just finished my senior house officer year, and now I’m working in A and E at the Royal. It’s a bit daunting, because there have been some staff changes lately, with promotions and people moving on, but I’m glad to be able to work in a place that I’m familiar with.’

She sent him a quick glance. ‘I hadn’t expected to see you again. What are you doing in this neck of the woods? I heard on the grapevine that you were working as a consultant up north.’

‘That’s true. I’ve been running my own department for a couple of years now.’

‘That was what you always wanted, wasn’t it?’ Her mouth moved in an odd shape. ‘I thought you would do well for yourself. You worked hard and you were very determined.’

She had never known him to fail at anything. ‘You still haven’t told me what you’re doing down here. You’re a long way from home.’

‘Not really. My family still live hereabouts. In fact, I was passing through on my way to a meeting.’ He grimaced and glanced at his watch, and as he lifted his arm she saw that his wrist was faintly bronzed by the sun and was covered by a smattering of dark hairs. His hands were strong and capable, and now her breath caught in her throat as she remembered the way those hands had once gently caressed her.

She looked away. That was all over now, finished. ‘Will you be too late for your meeting now?’

‘Maybe not. I’ll be a bit late, but that can’t be helped.’ He studied her features. ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’

‘Haven’t I? I feel as though I’m a lot older and wiser.’

He smiled. ‘Maybe, but you still look the same. Your hair is still glorious and untamed and glowing like fire. I always thought there was such a contrast between that fiery auburn and the calmness of your eyes. They’re such a soft, peaceful green.’

‘They don’t necessarily reflect how I feel.’ She watched the ambulance pull away and hoped that the people inside would be all right. There was nothing more that she could do for them.

‘I should go now,’ she said. His words had unsettled her, made her think of things that could not be. He was just passing through, and even if that hadn’t been the case she couldn’t have stayed with him and chatted as though all was well. Things would always be fraught between them. ‘Time’s getting on and there are some things I need to do.’

‘Is your car nearby?’

She nodded, and he said, ‘I’ll walk with you to it.’

‘If you like.’ She was feeling a little shaky after the events of the afternoon, and for all her conflicting emotions it wouldn’t do any harm to have him accompany her for a bit longer, would it? She turned and began to head towards the parking bay.

‘Do you still live with your family in the old farmhouse?’ he asked.

She shook her head. His question troubled her. Didn’t he know that they had been forced to sell the house? ‘I decided that I needed a place of my own. The farm cottage came up for sale a couple of years ago, and it seemed just about the right size for me, so I snapped it up when I had the chance.’