‘You’re also going to need to find a stick to go on the underside of his foot and several lengths of something to lash them together. Rip up material if you have to.’
‘What about belts? I bet his friends would give us theirs.’
‘Good,’ Louis said approvingly. ‘If we pad the area, that could work. We need to pad the area where the sticks will go so get as much clothing together as you can.’
Galvanised, Alex cast around and grabbed a few of Florien’s friends. Telling one of them to start collecting spare coats, jumpers, any clothing he could, and thrusting a lamp into the hands of another so that they’d be able to see what they were looking for, Alex managed to get the others to follow her as she headed to the wooded area a short way away. Once she got there, she could use the branches around her to get across to them what they were looking for. As far as she was concerned, the more eyes there were, the better.
It was easier than she’d expected to find a selection o
f branches, especially with the help of Florien’s desperate friends. Discarding those she knew wouldn’t be suitable, they gathered the rest up and headed back to where Louis was to select whichever he thought would work best.
She’d planned to sort out the rest of the clothing once she got there, but was hardly surprised to see Louis already had it in hand, as well as consistently checking on his patient and looking for a pulse. He looked up as soon as she approached.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Not bad.’ She tried not to let her heart kick. ‘What about Florien?’
He kept his expression deliberately neutral for those around them, but the look he exchanged with her was one of mutual understanding.
And something else. The former bonds of connection were returning.
‘I’ll be happier when I get the traction done and there’s a good pedal pulse.’
‘The branches are there.’ She indicated them, understanding his concern. ‘Hopefully there’ll be some useful lengths in there.’
‘Great.’
Reaching over, he ran an expert eye over the selection and then chose two longer pieces, offering each up to the outer side of Florien. Quickly he discarded one and then, after a quick word to the group, which promptly produced an army-style knife, he began to dig out a notch in one end of the other branch.
Alex watched fascinated as he did the same with a shorter branch, offering them up to the boy on either side of the leg requiring traction. Then he began to secure the longer branch to Florien by sliding padding and a belt around the boy’s waist.
‘Can you reach?’
Hastily, Alex slipped her hand under to find the other end of the belt that Louis was passing under their patient’s back, and as she caught on to what he was doing, he left her to it as he moved on to tie another, securing it around the top of the boy’s leg, this time including the shorter branch. When she was done at Florian’s waist, Alex moved lower, making sure not to tie anything on his knee but keeping well above and below, still padding as she went.
It felt easy and natural to be working together, Alex realised. They instinctively knew each other, could anticipate the other, taking it in turns to soothe Florien and try to reassure him, despite the pain he had to be in. A little of the earlier trust was back. Working together just as they had in Theatre was reminding them both of the connection they’d shared.
At least, Alex hoped it was.
And then they were at the ankle, and Louis produced a long length of bandage.
‘First-aid kit in the car.’ He half smiled as she glanced at it in surprise. ‘I need it for this bit more than anywhere else.’
‘You’re going to tie the ankle,’ she guessed.
‘Yes, but watch.’
Curious, Alex observed as Louis tied it around Florien’s ankle, then twisted each end around the final small branch, which he fitted under the boy’s foot. Then he slid in a winching stick.
‘Now.’ He leaned in to Alex’s ear. ‘You twist, I’ll deal with Florien. Whatever you hear, keep twisting until his legs are the same length and you know the bone is realigned. The quicker you can do it, the sooner the worst of the pain is over for him, understand?’
Louis was trusting her, depending on her, and that felt good. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to help this poor kid as much as she could. Lifting her eyes briefly to Louis’s, she gave a sharp dip of her head.
‘Ready,’ she murmured.
And then she twisted. Over and over and over, blocking out the sounds of Florien’s screams as Louis talked to him and reassured him. She only knew that the smoother and faster she could perform her role, the better in the long run. And then she had done it. His leg was straighter, the femur realigned as close as they were going to get it, given the crude equipment they had, and Florien’s legs were the same length.
‘Okay.’ She raised her voice loud enough for Louis to hear, shaking away the stray hairs that clung to the sweat on her face.