LITMIR.BIZ

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strode out of the water, carrying the boy level in his arms. ‘I’m going to try tipping him upside down.’ His expression was grim. ‘He was stuck on the bottom. He must have caught his foot in seaweed. It took me several goes to free him.’

      ‘No!’ The mother was screaming with horror and another holidaymaker took her to one side and put her arms around her, giving the medical team space to work.

      ‘Evanna?’ Logan’s voice was sharp as he laid the boy flat on the rug. ‘Did you get my stuff from the car?’

      ‘Fraser did. It’s all here.’ She flipped open the case. ‘His name is Jason and he’s six years old. Do you want to start CPR?’

      ‘Not yet.’ Logan felt for a carotid pulse. ‘I’m hoping he’s just bradycardic. Come on, Jason. Wake up, for us. Damn. He’s in respiratory arrest.’

      ‘Logan—’

      ‘Respiratory arrest precedes cardiac arrest in drowning. He’s got a pulse.’ Logan started to examine the boy more thoroughly, his hands swift and skilled. ‘Did Fraser manage to bring the oxygen?’

      ‘It’s here.’

      There was a clacking sound overhead as the helicopter arrived but Logan was focused on Jason, leaving others to deal with the arrival of the helicopter. ‘He’s breathing but his core temperature is thirty-four degrees. We need to warm him up. What layers do we have?’

      Evanna reached forward and covered the boy, noticing that his face was chalky white. ‘Do you want to aspirate his stomach?’

      Just then the boy screwed up his face and started to cough violently, and Logan gave Evanna a swift nod. ‘We have lift-off. Jason? Speak to me. You’re worrying your mother. Wake up.’

      The boy’s eyes fluttered open and he started to cough again.

      Logan turned him into the recovery position. ‘Good boy. You’re all right. You’ve swallowed a bit of seawater but you’ll soon be feeling better. Evanna, this oxygen mask doesn’t fit properly. I need something smaller.’

      The paramedic from the helicopter sprinted across to them with a case of equipment. ‘How’s he doing?’

      Logan wiped a forearm across his forehead. ‘Better than we could have hoped. He’s breathing but he’s very cold still and he seems to have aspirated water so he’ll need to go to hospital for a check.’

      The mother sank onto the sand beside Jason, tears pouring down her cheeks. ‘He needs to go to hospital? Can’t you just watch him here?’

      ‘This is a small island,’ Logan said gently, ‘and while we are capable of dealing with dire emergencies if the need arises, we do try and anticipate and avoid them whenever possible. I’m sure Jason is going to make an uneventful recovery but, to be on the safe side, I’d rather he made that recovery in the hospital. I’m sure they’ll only keep him in for a night.’

      ‘They have rooms for parents,’ Evanna said quickly as she found a smaller oxygen mask, ‘so you can be with him the whole time.’

      ‘I can go with him in the helicopter?’

      The paramedic helped switch masks. ‘Of course, but you can’t bring the baby.’

      ‘I can leave her with my husband. He’ll be fine with her for a day, although the crying will probably drive him mad. We’re in one of the beach houses just up there.’

      ‘Go and give the baby to your husband and then you can come with us.’ The paramedic squatted down beside Logan. ‘Do you want to get a line in just to be on the safe side?’

      ‘Yes, ideally, although he’s so cold it’s going to be pretty hard getting in a peripheral line.’ Logan picked up one of the boy’s arms and rubbed the skin. ‘We might be lucky.’

      With a last, frightened look towards Jason, the mother sprinted across the beach to Kyla who was still holding the baby. Kyla’s husband Ethan, the other island GP, arrived and immediately took in the situation. ‘You’ve had one trip to the mainland already today. I’ll take this one, Logan.’

      ‘I wouldn’t mind, if that’s all right with you.’ Logan slid the needle into the vein and gave a nod of satisfaction. ‘Good. Tape it firmly, Evanna. I don’t want to have to try that again.’

      Ethan went to supervise the helicopter landing and Kyla turned her attention to the mother.

      ‘His colour is better.’ Logan checked the child’s pulse again.

      ‘We’re ready to transfer him.’ Ethan arrived with a stretcher and they carefully lifted the boy, covered him with blankets and secured him. ‘You’d better give me a handover.’

      Leaving the paramedics to transfer the child into the helicopter, Logan pulled his colleague to one side, told him what had happened and detailed the first aid they’d given.

      Watching the helicopter take off, Evanna suddenly realised that her legs were shaking. ‘What a day. I think I’ve aged twenty years and I’ve only been back on the island for ten minutes!’

      Logan sat down next to her. ‘I only came down to the quay because I was trying to accidentally on purpose bump into Doug McDonald. I wanted to see how he was doing without looking too obvious.’

      ‘If you hadn’t been in the café, the child would have drowned. You were amazing.’

      He brushed some sand from his legs and pulled his shirt back on. ‘I was doing my job, Evanna. Stop making me sound like some sort of hero.’

      ‘First aid for a drowning incident, that’s your job, but going into that water to save a child?’ Evanna’s voice was soft. ‘That’s not your job, Logan.’

      But he’d do it anyway because that was the sort of man he was.

      Logan stood up and pulled on his trousers. ‘Fraser was the one who saved the boy. If he hadn’t had his eyes open and acted swiftly we would never have found Jason in time.’ He lifted a hand and the boy came running over.

      ‘Dr MacNeil. I did everything you said.’

      Logan put a hand on his shoulder. ‘You’re a hero, Fraser.’ His voice was gruff. ‘You kept a clear head and you didn’t panic.’

      ‘You never panic.’

      ‘I’m thirty-one years old. You’re twelve.’

      Fraser shrugged. ‘Bet you didn’t panic when you were twelve either. Will that boy be all right? Is he going to die, Dr MacNeil?’

      ‘Thanks to you, I don’t think he’s going to die.’ Logan ran a hand through the boy’s hair. ‘How’s that scar of yours?’

      Fraser grinned. ‘Wicked. The girls all want to look at it.’

      Logan winked and grinned at him, man to man. ‘Then let them look. See you around, Fraser.’

      ‘Yeah.’ Fraser hooked his fingers in the waistband of his oversized surf shorts and scuffed a foot across the sand. ‘The boys and I are going up to the ruins this afternoon. Just to look.’

      ‘Well don’t go falling into the dungeons.’ Logan watched him go and gave a shake of his head. ‘He’s growing up.’

      ‘Aisla will be so proud of him.’ Evanna stood up, wiped her damp hands down her shorts and started gathering up their equipment.

      ‘I ought to be going. I’ve got a surgery this afternoon and I haven’t even been home yet. My luggage is still in my boot.’

      He turned to look at her, his blue eyes searching. ‘It’s good to have you back. You’re always good in a crisis.’

      Evanna blushed slightly. And that was how he saw her, of course. Sensible, practical Evanna. Good-in-a-crisis Evanna. What would he say, she wondered, if she told him that she didn’t want to be good in a crisis?

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