‘Hannah... This way...’ She heard Matt’s call, and turned, running towards him. His trajectory was more determined now, and she guessed he must have heard or seen something.
‘I thought I heard someone calling out...’ He was suddenly silent and Hannah heard it too. A woman’s voice, shouting for help.
‘I think it’s coming from over there. Must be on the other side.’ The voice was too faint to be coming from any of the doorways that they could see.
Matt nodded and they jogged together across the rubble-strewn ground towards the end of the row of buildings. Hannah felt her foot turn, and pain shot through her knee. Then she yelped in surprise as her downward trajectory suddenly reversed itself.
Matt had caught her, and she was pinioned against him. One arm wrapped firmly around her waist and the other hand... He moved it quickly away from the curve of her hip but it was too late. She’d already felt the pressure of his fingers.
‘Um... Sorry. Are you okay?’
Maybe. Hannah wasn’t quite sure. Maybe it was the sudden close-up of his blue eyes that had turned her legs to jelly, or maybe the shock of almost falling face first onto the sharp stones. Maybe that fleeting touch, but she could hardly blame him for that. Matt hadn’t had the time to check exactly where he was putting his hands, and he was clearly a little embarrassed about it.
‘Yes. Fine. Thanks.’ He could let go of her now. Even if every fibre of her body was clamouring for his.
He nodded, hesitating for just one moment before he stepped away from her. In that moment, Hannah could have sworn that he felt it too. The heat of an attraction that stubbornly failed to respond to reason. Matt turned to retrieve her hard hat, which had spun out of her hand, landing some feet away.
Her knee hurt. But she could keep going. ‘You go on ahead, I’ll catch you up.’
‘I’ll wait.’ There was no trace of impatience in his tone.
He was right, they should stay together, and Sophie would have done the exact same thing in these circumstances. But when Matt did it, all Hannah could think about was that she’d had no more than a taste of his strong arms, and she wanted more. She tried to concentrate on her knee, flexing her leg, and the pain subsided a little. When she took a couple of steps it felt better still.
‘I’m good.’ She started to walk again, and Matt fell into step beside her, still watching her. When they reached the other side of the warehouses, which faced the road, the voice became louder and clearer.
‘Up there.’ Matt was the first to see it. A f
lash of red at one of the upper windows. As they ran closer they could see it was a woman waving a red scarf.
‘Are you okay?’ Hannah shouted up to her. The woman was making a great job of appearing panicked and distressed.
‘I’m all right. My boyfriend... He’s hurt...’ The woman seemed about to climb out of the window.
‘Stay there. Don’t try to climb down, we’ll come to you. What’s your name?’ Matt was already on his way towards the door, leaving Hannah to deal with the woman.
‘Isobel. You can’t get up here...’
‘Okay, Isobel. Leave that to us. Are you safe where you are right now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you see your boyfriend?’ Hannah knew that when dealing with someone who was panicking and probably in shock, she had to give clear, step-by-step instructions.
‘Yes...’
‘Listen to me carefully, Isobel. Put your hand on the windowsill.’ Isobel hesitated, but she did it. ‘Good. Now turn and look at him. Tell me what you see.’
‘He fell... There’s blood and I think he’s broken his leg.’
‘Is he breathing?’
‘Yes...’
‘What does his breathing sound like, can you hear a rasping sound?’
‘No, he’s breathing easily.’
Hopefully so. ‘That’s good, Isobel. Have you got a phone on you?’