The Doctor She Left Behind

Ron gave a small nod. ‘I think you’re a genius, Doc. Let’s get to work, guys.’

They moved quickly, trying to get things in position.

Nathan took a deep breath and moved forward. ‘Rach?’

Her voice echoed towards him. She sounded stressed. Climbing in amongst the barrels was probably starting to feel like a bad idea. ‘It’s harder than I thought. Chest clear and inflating on one side, but I can’t get access to the other—he’s lying on that side.’ There was a definite waver in her voice. What he really wanted to do was crawl in beside her. But unless that space got about two foot wider there was no physical possibility of that—not without putting the already teetering pile at further risk.

He signalled to Ron. ‘How soon will you be ready?’

Ron’s face was red and sweating. He gestured towards the other guys. It might look like chaos around them but everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing. They all had a purpose. ‘Two minutes.’

Nathan crouched down, pushing himself as close to the entrance as he could. ‘Good. Rach, listen to me. We need to get you and Jack out of there. The barrels aren’t safe; they could fall at any minute. But we think we’ve got something that could help.’

‘What is it?’

‘Ron and the guys are going to manoeuvre some inflatables in beside you. They’re rolled up like sausages and should squeeze through the gap. One will be in front of you and Jack, and the other behind. I’ll give you a signal and we’ll flick the switch to inflate them. It’s quick. It only takes ten seconds, and once they inflate they should push all the surrounding barrels outwards. You need to keep your head down. Are you okay with that?’

‘Is there any other option?’ Her voice sounded shaky.

Nathan bit his lip. He was trying to make it sound as if this was perfectly planned when they both knew it wasn’t. ‘This is the quickest and safest option. You’ll be out of there soon.’ He switched back to doctor mode. ‘How’s the patient?’

He tried to shut out all the outside noise and just focus on her. How was she feeling in there? Any minute now the whole pile could come crashing down on top of her. He didn’t even want to give that head space. He couldn’t give that head space. Because it might actually make his hands shake. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t seen her in years. It didn’t matter he had all this pent-up frustration and rage wrapped up in memories of her. This was Rachel.

He didn’t want her to come to any harm. No matter what else went on in this world. He couldn’t push aside his protective impulses towards her. He didn’t dare to think about anything happening to her.

He’d just managed to see her for the first time in eight years. And, no matter how he felt about anything, he wasn’t ready for that to be over.

Her bravado was obviously starting to crash. ‘He’s still unconscious. We’ll be able to assess him better when we get out.’

Ron tapped him on the shoulder, standing in position with the bright yellow, tightly coiled inflatables in the crew’s hands.

‘Rach, hold on. Ron’s ready. Get yourself in position.’

He couldn’t imagine what it must be like in there with the heavy barrels stacked all around. It took a good ten minutes for Ron and the rest of the crew to slowly edge the giant sausage-like inflatables into position and connect them to the air pressure machines.

It was the first time in his life Nathan had ever cursed his muscular frame. He should be the one in there. Not her.

He spoke in a low voice. ‘Are you sure the rest of the barrels will fall outwards? None are going to land on them?’