Italian Doctor, Sleigh-Bell Bride (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 6)

Stefano glanced at Liv. He didn’t want to leave her, but she clearly read his mind because she gave him a push.

‘We’re fine. Go. Be careful.’

‘Stay here,’ Stefano ordered. ‘Call an ambulance, Liv. At the very least she’s going to suffer from smoke inhalation.’

By the time he’d identified himself to the crew, two firemen in breathing apparatus had appeared from the building carrying the child.

Swiftly Stefano carried out an initial assessment. ‘Do we have any idea of the nature of the materials in her flat? Furniture, polyurethane foam?’

Liv appeared by his side, as cool and composed as she always was in a medical crisis. There was nothing to indicate that her own home had been one of those destroyed. ‘Emma?’ She stroked the child’s hair gently. ‘It’s Liv, from upstairs—how are you feeling, sweetheart?’

‘I didn’t hear anything,’ the little girl said hoarsely and then gave a choking cough. ‘I was asleep.’ She made a whistling sound as she inhaled and Stefano saw Liv glance at him.

‘She has a degree of stridor. Do you want to intubate her?’

‘I want to give her oxygen and get her to hospital. If I have to intubate her, I will, but this obviously isn’t the best place.’ Stefano cursed mentally, aware that Liv’s home was burning behind him and he was going to have to make a difficult choice. The shriek of an ambulance siren announced the arrival of the paramedics.

‘Max and I will follow in the car,’ Liv said immediately. ‘We might be able to help and at least we’ll be able to give you a lift back here.’

Stefano thrust a hand in his pocket and withdrew his keys. ‘Use my car.’

‘You’re joking.’ Her expression was comical. ‘I can’t drive a Ferrari. I’ll take the hire car and we can collect yours later.’

At that moment there was a piercing scream and a woman dropped her shopping and ran towards them. Food spilled over the pavement and a milk carton split and slowly leaked its contents into the gutter. ‘Emma!’ The woman stared at the stretcher and then put her hands to her mouth. ‘Oh my God—is she? Is she—?’

About to transfer the child to the ambulance, Stefano cast a meaningful look in Liv’s direction. She slid her arm round the woman, supporting and restraining her so that she didn’t obstruct the transfer of her daughter into the ambulance.

‘Emma’s all right, Susan. But she’s breathed in some of the smoke so we need to take her to the hospital. You can follow in the car with us.’

Susan looked over her shoulder at the smouldering building. ‘Our home…’

‘Let’s worry about Emma first.’ Liv didn’t even glance towards her flat, but Susan started to sob.

‘I’ve lost everything. Everything. All my Christmas presents were in there and I certainly can’t afford to buy another lot.’

Stefano gritted his teeth. Her daughter was lying on a stretcher and she was worrying about her Christmas presents? Deciding that he would never cease to be disgusted by the shallowness of human nature, he climbed into the ambulance, wishing that he didn’t have to leave Liv.

Just before the doors closed, he glanced back at her and saw her speaking reassuringly to Susan, while cuddling Max.

She supported everyone, he thought grimly. But who supported her?

CHAPTER SEVEN

THEY decided to admit Emma, and Liv was helping Susan make a call to the insurance company when Stefano strode into the room.

‘Liv?’

Relieved to see him, she gently extracted herself from Susan’s clutches. ‘Go and see Emma.’ Checking that Susan had everything she needed, Liv followed him out of the room. ‘She’s terribly upset.’

‘I noticed. More upset about her things than her daughter,’ he said in a cool tone.

‘It’s hard for her. Her husband left in the summer and she’s been really struggling.’ Liv ran her fingers over her forehead, trying to ease the throbbing ache. ‘Anyway, Emma will be fine and that’s the main thing. Are you going home now?’ Just saying the word made her feel slightly strange because she realised that she didn’t have a home to go back to. ‘I need to talk to the fire service.’

‘I’ve just done it. The blaze is out but it’s too soon for them to assess the damage. They think it was caused by faulty Christmas-tree lights in a flat on the ground floor.’ He frowned. ‘You look awful. You need to rest. You and Max can stay with me for now.’

Liv was so stunned by his unexpected offer that for a moment she just gaped at him. Then she shook her head. ‘No way. We couldn’t possibly.’

‘I’m not letting you refuse, so don’t even waste time arguing.’ His tone was forceful but she still hesitated.