LITMIR.BIZ

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gave her a smile. ‘Trust me.’ He was easing his fingers out of her grip. ‘I’m just going around to your other side so I can support your head as they bring you out. I’ll speak to you again in the ambulance.’

      And with that she had to be content.

      He held her head as they skilfully lifted her, taking charge from the top as they started the slow, painstaking ascent back to the road, relaying his orders in clear, direct tones, carefully ensuring that her neck never moved out of alignment, assuming at all times the worst-case scenario: until an X-ray showed no fracture of her neck it was safer to assume that she had one. And though Meg had never been more scared in her life, never been in more pain, amazingly she felt safe, knew that she was in good hands— literally.

      Strong hands gently lowered her onto the cool crisp sheets on the stretcher, and she felt the bumps as they wheeled her to the awaiting ambulance. Fragments of the conversations between the police and the firefighters reached her as they jolted along.

      ‘…no skid marks…’

      ‘…the witness said she just veered straight off.’

      ‘…just finished a night shift…’

      It was the type of conversation Meg heard nearly every working day, the tiny pieces of a jigsaw that would painstakingly be put together, adding up the chain of events that had led to an accident. Only this time it was about her.

      As they lifted her into the ambulance and secured the stretcher she ran a tongue over her dry bloodstained lips.

      ‘Where’s Flynn?’

      Ken patted her arm. ‘He’ll be here in a moment.’

      ‘He said he’d be here.’ Suddenly it seemed imperative that she see Flynn and tell him what had happened.

      ‘Just give him a moment, Meg, he’s had a rough morning.’ Ken’s words made no sense. She was the patient, after all, and the way Ken was talking it sounded as if Flynn was the one who was upset.

      ‘What’s she moaning about now?’ It was Flynn again, a touch paler and a bit grey-looking, but with the same easy smile and a slight wink as he teased her.

      ‘Are you all right?’

      Meg opened her mouth to answer but realised that Ken’s question had actually been directed to Flynn.

      Flynn muttered something about a ‘dodgy pie’ and, after accepting a mint from Ken, again shone the beastly pupil torch back into her eyes.

      ‘She’s in a lot of pain, Flynn.’ Ken was speaking as he checked her blood pressure. ‘All her obs are stable. Do you want to head off to the hospital now?’

      ‘I’ll just have a quick look first.’ Whipping out his stethoscope, he gently moved it across her bruised, tender ribcage. ‘Good air entry,’ he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. ‘Is it hurting a lot, Meg?’

      ‘I didn’t…’ Her voice was merely a croak, but it was enough to stop Flynn listening to her chest. Pulling his stethoscope out of his ears, he bent his head forward.

      ‘What was that, Meg?’

      ‘I didn’t fall…’ But she couldn’t finish her sentence. Huge tears were welling in her eyes, sobs preventing her from going further as the emotion of the morning, now she was free from the wreckage, finally hit home.

      ‘It’s all right, Meg. Don’t try and talk. You’re safe now. I’m going to give you something for the pain.’ His lips were set in a grim line and she could see the beads of sweat on his forehead, but Flynn’s voice was kind and assured as he continued talking. ‘The main thing is that you’re safe.’ His grey eyes seemed to be boring into her, and Meg found that she couldn’t tear her own away. Even as the sirens wailed into life and the ambulance moved off she found herself still holding his gaze, her eyelids growing heavy as the drug he had injected took effect and oblivion descended.

      * * *

      ‘Meg O’Sullivan, we weren’t expecting you till tonight. Don’t tell me: you just can’t stay away from the place.’ Jess chatted away good-humouredly, her Irish accent thick and strong, as the team lifted her onto the trolley. There was nothing Emergency staff dreaded more than being wheeled into their own department, but unfortunately it happened now and then, and the staff dealt with it with a very special brand of humour—intimate, yet professional.

      ‘Perhaps she’s checking up on you.’ Ken Holmes carried on the joke as they swapped the paramedics’ monitors and equipment for the emergency department’s own.

      ‘Or…’ Jess smiled as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Meg’s bruised arm ‘…she decided that she did want to meet the new consultant after all.’

      ‘She works here?’ Apart from leading the count as they’d lifted her over it was the first time Flynn had spoken since they had arrived in the unit.

      ‘She does.’ Fifty milligrams of Pethidine on top of a sleepless night had not only controlled her pain but also taken away every last piece of Meg’s reserve, and her comment came out rather more sarcastically than intended. She saw his perfectly arched eyebrow raise just a fraction as he skilfully palpated her abdomen.

      ‘And what is it you do here, Meg?’

      ‘The same as Jess.’

      ‘And what does Jess do?’

      God, why all the questions? All she wanted to do was sleep. Closing her eyes, she ignored him, but Flynn hadn’t finished yet.

      ‘Meg, what job do you do here?’ His voice was sharp, dragging her out of her slumber.

      ‘I’m a nurse,’ she answered reluctantly. Maybe now he’d leave her alone.

      ‘What day is it today?’

      The interrogation obviously wasn’t over. He was testing her reflexes now, lifting her legs slightly and tapping at her knees as he repeated the question. ‘Come on, Meg, what day is it today?’

      ‘Pay day.’

      Jess laughed. ‘It is too. Thank God,’ she added. ‘My credit card bill is crashing through the roof. Now, come on, Meg—tell the good doctor here what day it is so he can get off to his welcome breakfast.’

      ‘Tuesday.’ No, that was yesterday. Meg always got mixed up when she was doing nights. ‘Wednesday,’ she said, more definitely. ‘Today is Wednesday.’

      The same small affirmative nod he had used at the accident scene was repeated and Meg gave a relieved sigh.

      ‘Do you remember what happened yet?’

      ‘I had an accident.’

      Flynn gave her a thin smile. ‘You certainly did. I meant before the accident. Do you remember what caused it?’

      She opened her mouth to answer, to tell him exactly what had happened in the hope of finally being allowed to rest, but as she tried to explain Meg felt as if she was trying to recall a dream. Little flashes of the morning would pop into her head, rather like watching a photo develop, but before the picture appeared it would vanish again, and no matter how she fought to remember the images just slipped away.

      ‘Can you remember?’ His voice was gentle, as if he realised how much she was struggling.

      ‘No.’ The simple word terrified her.

      ‘You will. Just give it time, Meg.’

      Turning to Jess, Meg listened as Flynn ordered what seemed an inordinate amount of tests. ‘We’ll get her over for a C. spine and head CT now, and I want one of her abdomen. She’s tender over the spleen. Chest and abdo films, and I want those bloods back from the lab stat, in case she needs a transfusion. It might be better to pop in a catheter.’

      ‘No.’ This time the simple word was said much more forcefully, and Flynn and Jess both

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