LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER FOUR

      EUAN MUST LIVE close by, because his car was only two streets away in a quiet backwater of a road. Sam didn’t have much chance to take in the neighbourhood, because her lungs were bursting from their dash to the car.

      His one concession to her presence was to open the passenger door of the black SUV for her before he got behind the wheel and started the engine. They drove in silence while Sam caught her breath and Euan negotiated the traffic through the centre of the town.

      ‘Where are we going?’

      ‘It’s only another couple of miles. Mel’s heard about someone who might be in trouble...’ He caught her questioning look and puffed out a sharp breath. ‘The clinic’s a community. People look after each other and they’ll often come to us before they go to the authorities if they think there’s a problem.’

      There was obviously a great deal more to it than that, but Euan was keeping his own counsel. ‘They come to you before they go to the police, you mean.’

      ‘Yeah. Which doesn’t mean that we won’t refer things on to the authorities if we need to.’

      ‘Must be a hard line to tread.’

      He shrugged. ‘Not really. We abide by the law. We don’t abandon those of our clients who fall foul of it to the system, though.’ The car slowed as he turned off the ring road. ‘Look, Sam, I want you to stay in the car...’

      No. She’d got this far, she wasn’t staying in the car. ‘Perhaps I can help.’

      ‘If everything’s okay, I won’t need you. If it’s not, then...it may not be the place for you.’

      It was the only place for her. Sally had died alone, as a result of drugs abuse. Sam would have given anything to be able to go back and be there for her friend, but that wasn’t possible. Maybe being there for someone else would help her sleep at night.

      ‘I want to go with you. I understand what that means.’

      A quick, searching look as he slid the car against the kerb. Euan made his decision in the tick of a second. ‘I’m not sure you do. But you can come if you do exactly as I say.’

      ‘It’s a deal.’ Sam jumped out of the car before he could change his mind and followed him up the front path of a large, detached house.

      When Euan rang the bell, there was silence, then a thumping sound from inside and the door was flung open. ‘Hi.’ A tall blonde smiled out into the night, her gaze roving across them and sticking on Euan. ‘Can I help you?’

      ‘My name’s Euan Scott. I’m a doctor, and we’ve had a report that a Carrie Grayson is unwell. At this address.’

      ‘Carrie? She’s in her room, I think.’ The girl looked behind her and shouted back into the house. ‘Paul, have you seen Carrie?’

      ‘Upstairs,’ a bored, male voice said. ‘She came in about an hour ago, said she was going to bed. She looked like shit.’

      ‘Please, will you check on her?’ Euan’s voice was gentle but firm. ‘It’s important.’

      The blonde hesitated. ‘Okay. Stay here.’ She closed the door in their faces, and Sam could hear the sound of voices inside the house.

      ‘Ohh!’ Sam almost stamped her foot in frustration and Euan smiled grimly.

      ‘Would you let two strangers into your house on a Saturday evening?’ He felt in his pocket and handed her the car keys. ‘Here, my medical bag’s in the boot. Would you fetch it, please?’

      Maybe it was a test to see if she really would do as he said. Maybe he just reckoned he was going to need the bag. Whatever. If bag-carrier was the role she was being offered, she’d be the best damn bag-carrier he’d ever seen. Sam hurried to the car, opened the boot and heaved the bulky bag out, staggering slightly as she slung it onto her shoulder.

      Did he really need all this? She supposed so. There were so many different ways a person could die, and that meant a lot of different ways to save them. Sam slammed the boot shut and was halfway back up the front path when the front door was flung open.

      ‘We need help...’ The blonde’s eyes were wide with panic, her hair flying around her shoulders.

      ‘Okay.’ Euan stepped inside without a backward glance in Sam’s direction. ‘Where is Carrie?’

      Sam made the front door at a run, and followed Euan up the stairs and along a wide, well-decorated hallway. The blonde was motioning Euan into a doorway at the far end.

      ‘I think she’s dying...’ The blonde caught Sam’s arm as she went to follow Euan inside.

      ‘We don’t know anything yet. Let the doctor see her...’ Sam prised the clenched fingers from her arm. ‘Stay here and stop anyone else from coming into the room. Can you do that?’

      ‘Yeah. Call me if you need me. My name’s Helen.’ The girl was younger than Sam, a student probably, and she was tearful but resolute.

      ‘Will do.’ Sam took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

      A young woman was lying on the bed, fully clothed, her limbs jerking fitfully. The smell of vomit was sharp in the air and Sam ignored the bile that rose from her own stomach and hurried over to where Euan was examining Carrie, putting the medical bag down next to him.

      ‘Thanks.’ He hardly looked at her. ‘Call an ambulance, please. Let me speak to the controller when you get through.’

      The rapped-out instructions told Sam how grave the situation was. She dialled quickly, watching as Euan pulled a blood-pressure monitor from the bag, wrapping it around Carrie’s arm. She waited until he’d finished and then held the phone to his ear so he still had both his hands free to stop Carrie from rolling off the bed. He spoke quickly, words that Sam half understood and couldn’t comprehend through the sharp misery of having to stand by and watch, unable to help. ‘Okay, thanks... Ten minutes. Good...’

      He glanced up at Sam as she ended the call. ‘Can you hold her still? As gently as you can, just try to stop her from lashing out and hurting herself. And be careful she doesn’t hurt you.’

      ‘Okay.’ Sam was trembling but she crawled onto the bed next to Carrie and put her arms around her. Maybe she should talk to her. She wasn’t sure whether Carrie could hear her or not, but it might be worth a try. ‘It’s all right, Carrie. You’re going to be all right. Just let the doctor do his work.’

      She caught what might have been a brief smile on Euan’s lips as he took Carrie’s arm and injected something into it. Perhaps he thought that she was being stupid, but all the same she kept talking in the hope that Carrie might hear her reassurances.

      ‘Okay, shift over a bit, I need to listen to her heart again.’ Sam moved, and pulled Carrie’s rumpled blouse open so that Euan could press the end of the

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