LITMIR.BIZ

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to Darcie. ‘Grab your bag! I’ll do what I can for the casualty.’

      ‘How long has he been down?’ Jack rapped out the question as the two men sped along the veranda to the kitchen.

      ‘Not sure. Couple of minutes at most.’ Warren palmed open the swing doors and jerked to a stop. He swallowed convulsively. ‘It was the electric knife—’

      Jack’s breath hissed through his clenched teeth and in a few strides he was at the chef’s side. The young man was glassily pale, blue around the lips and, worse, he was still gripping the electric knife that had obviously short-circuited and thrown him to the floor.

      ‘I used an insulator and switched off the current at the power point,’ Warren said helpfully. ‘What do you need?’

      ‘What emergency equipment do you have?’ Jack had already kicked the knife away and begun CPR.

      ‘Defibrillator and oxygen.’

      ‘Grab them. We’ll need both.’

      ‘Oh, my God—Nathan!’ Darcie burst in, her horrified look going to the young man on the floor. Dropping beside Jack, she shot open her medical case. ‘Any response?’

      ‘Not yet. Run the oxygen, please, Darcie. I need to get an airway in.’

      ‘I can do CPR.’ Warren dived in to help.

      ‘Defib’s charging.’ Darcie watched as Jack positioned the tube carefully and attached it to the oxygen.

      ‘Breathe,’ he grated. ‘Come on, sunshine. You can do it!’

      Darcie bit her lips together. With sickening dread she waited for some movement from Nathan’s chest. Waited. And watched as Jack checked for a pulse. Again and again. The nerves in Darcie’s stomach tightened. ‘Shocking?’

      ‘Only option,’ Jack said tersely. ‘Everyone clear, please.’

      Nathan’s young, fit body jerked and fell. Darcie felt for a pulse and shook her head.

      ‘Dammit! Shocking again. Clear, please.’ Jack’s controlled direction seemed to echo round the big old-fashioned kitchen.

      Come on, Nathan. Come on! Darcie willed silently. And then...a faint jiggle that got stronger. ‘We have output,’ she confirmed, husky relief in her voice.

      Jack’s expression cleared. ‘Good work. Now, let’s get some fluids into this guy.’ He looked up sharply. ‘Has someone called an ambulance?’

      ‘We’re here, Doc.’ Two paramedics stepped through with a stretcher.

      Darcie looked up from inserting the cannula to receive the drip. ‘Say hello to Dr Jack Cassidy, guys.’ Relief was zinging through her and she gave rein to a muted smile. ‘He’s the new boss at the hospital—only been here a few hours.’

      ‘And already saved a life, by the look of it. Zach Bayliss.’ The senior paramedic held out his hand. ‘My partner, Brett Carew.’

      A flurry of handshakes ensued.

      Nathan was loaded quickly. ‘We’ll see you across at the hospital, then, Doc?’ Zach confirmed.

      ‘We’ll be over directly.’ Jack turned to Warren. ‘You should disconnect all power until it’s been checked by the electrical authority. You might have other dodgy gear about the place.’

      ‘Will do, Doc. Hell, I don’t ever want to see a repetition of this...’

      Jack looked around the kitchen. ‘This will stuff up your meal preparation. Do you have a contingency plan?’

      ‘We do. As it happens, we’d planned to put wood-fired pizzas on the menu tomorrow so we started up the brick oven for a trial run this afternoon. It’s still going strong. We’ll have a line of pizzas going in no time.’

      Jack gave a rueful grin. ‘You couldn’t send a couple across to the residence, could you, mate? We still haven’t have had dinner.’

      ‘Yeah, absolutely. No worries.’ Warren flicked a hand in compliance. ‘On the house, of course. And thanks, Doc. Mighty job with Nathan.’

      Jack waved away the thanks and they walked out together.

      ‘Right to go, then?’ Darcie had tidied up the medical debris and was waiting on the veranda.

      Jack nodded and they went across to her car.

      ‘Nathan didn’t appear to have any fractures,’ she said. ‘But he must have landed with an almighty thump.’

      ‘I’ll check him thoroughly in Resus. Do you know if he has family to be notified?’

      ‘Not sure. But Warren will have got onto that.’

      Jack sent her a quick, narrow look. ‘He said it was your initiative to have both the defib and oxygen located at the pub. Well done, Dr Drummond.’

      ‘I was just being proactive.’ Darcie shrugged away his praise. ‘There’s always a crowd in the pub at the weekends. Accidents happen. The odd nasty punch-up. Even a couple of heart attacks while I’ve been here. Having the defibrillator and the oxygen on site seemed a no-brainer. And the staff at the pub all have first-aid knowledge.’

      ‘Down to you as well?’ Jack asked.

      ‘And our nurse manager, Maggie Neville. You haven’t met her yet.’ Darcie gave a small chuckle. ‘I think she could run the place if it came to it.’

      ‘Good.’ Jack stretched his legs out as far as they would go. ‘Nice to have backup.’

      A beat of silence.

      ‘I was very glad to have your backup this evening, Jack.’

      Jack felt an expectant throb in his veins. What was this? A tick of approval from the very reserved English doctor? And unless he was mistaken, her husky little compliment had come straight from her heart.

       CHAPTER THREE

      WHEN THEY PULLED into the hospital car park, Jack said, ‘I can take over from here, Darcie. Go home. I’m sure you’ve more than earned a night off.’

      She made a small face. ‘If you’re sure?’

      ‘More than sure. I’m pulling rank, Doctor. You’re officially off duty.’

      ‘Thanks, then.’ Darcie felt the weight of responsibility drop from her. ‘I’d actually kill for a leisurely bath.’

      ‘And dinner’s on its way,’ Jack confirmed, as he swung out of the car. ‘Warren’s sending over pizzas.’

      * * *

      Lauren stood with Jack as he made notations on Nathan’s chart. ‘How’s he doing?’ she asked quietly.

      ‘He has entry and exit burns on his left hand and right foot. It’s obviously been a serious shock. We’ll need him on a heart monitor for the next little while.’

      ‘He’s coming round.’ Lauren looked down at her watch to check the young man’s pulse. ‘You’re in hospital, Nathan,’ she said as Nathan’s eyes opened. ‘You’ve had an electric shock. This is Dr Cassidy.’

      ‘Take it easy, Nathan.’ Jack was calmly reassuring. ‘This contraption here is helping you breathe.’

      Nathan’s eyes squeezed shut and then opened.

      ‘Pulse is fine,’ Lauren reported.

      ‘In that case, I think we can extubate.’ Jack explained to their patient what he was about to do. ‘You’re recovering well, Nathan, and there’s an excellent chance you’ll be able to breathe on your own.’ He turned to Lauren. ‘Stand by with the oxygen, please, but let’s hope he

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