The Nurse's Wedding Rescue (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 2)

‘How are you doing, Oliver?’ One of the paramedics stuck his head through the other side of the car and Oliver gave him a nod.

‘Steve, can you get Lauren out and into the warm while I finish up here?’ he requested, his expression grim. ‘And then we’ll need a backboard to be on the safe side. I know about the ribs and the lung but I haven’t had a chance to assess the rest of her.’

Because she was going to die if he didn’t act soon.

As he spoke, Oliver unsheathed the cannula and used his other hand to feel for the second intercostal space. He would have preferred anaesthetic and sterile conditions but unfortunately neither was available. ‘This will hurt a bit, Michelle,’ he warned, but she barely flinched as he pushed the needle in. Instantly there was a hiss of gas and Helen released a breath herself.

‘Bingo.’

‘Give me some light on her face.’

Helen flashed the torch again and Oliver was relieved to see that Michelle’s colour had improved immediately and that her breathing was already easier.

‘That’s quite a party trick,’ Helen muttered. ‘I thought you were a GP.’

‘And that makes me brain-dead?’ Oliver glanced at her quizzically. ‘Am I supposed to be offended?’

‘No.’ She laughed and looked a little embarrassed. ‘But none of the GPs who I worked for in London would have been able to do what you just did, I’ll tell you that now. Have you done A and E?’

‘In my youth,’ Oliver said, carefully checking Michelle’s breathing. ‘But I deal with emergencies all the time in the mountain rescue team.’

Despite the steadily falling snow, she was still right beside him, this time holding a roll of tape in her hand. ‘Better secure that cannula,’ she advised, tearing off some tape and handing it to him. ‘Don’t want to undo that good work. Inserting chest drains in freezing weather in the dark isn’t to be repeated, however impressive it seemed the first time.’

He hid his surprise. Less than an hour ago the woman had been in a sodden heap of misery at his sister’s wedding. Now she was brisk and professional, standing right beside him as they dealt with the accident, seemingly oblivious to her high heels and the fact that the weather was bitingly cold.

It was distraction therapy at its most bizarre.

‘Do you want to put a tube in here?’

Oliver adjusted the oxygen mask over Michelle’s mouth and nose, his hands steady and reassuring.

‘No. It’s too cold. I want to ship her and the baby out as fast as possible, Steve—’ He glanced over his shoulder at the paramedic, who was hovering. ‘You can be in the hospital in ten minutes if you don’t skid off the road.’

Steve grinned. ‘I’ll let that one pass because I know you’re baiting me.’

‘Would I?’ Oliver adjusted his position. ‘I’m just going to check her over and then we’ll get her out.’

Ten minutes later Michelle was safely in the ambulance.

Steve looked at Oliver. ‘Are you coming?’

Oliver hesitated. He really had no choice. Michelle’s condition could deteriorate again on the journey. On the other hand, it would mean taking Helen too because there was no way he was leaving her by the side of the road.

Before he could answer they saw headlights approaching and a car slowed down as it approached them.

‘What’s going on?’ Ben MacAllister, one of the A and E consultants who had been at the wedding, wound down his window. ‘I’m on my way to work because they just rang me in desperation. Just dropped off Ellie and the baby. Looks like they’re getting another customer. Do you need help?’

Oliver nodded and quickly told him what had happened. ‘You could go in the ambulance just in case she needs attention. I should get Helen home. She’s not exactly dressed for the hills and I don’t want to have to treat her for hypothermia.’

Ben parked his car next to Oliver’s and climbed into the ambulance without discussion.

Satisfied that his part in the drama had ended, Oliver grabbed Helen by the wrist and guided her across the slippery road and back to

the car.

CHAPTER THREE

THE cottage was down a narrow country lane but Helen was shivering so violently that she barely noticed where they were going. Now that the emergency was over, she suddenly realised that she was desperately cold.