Tempted by the Hot Highland Doc

Kai shook his head. ‘No way. I can’t stand the water pounding on my leg.’

Rhuaridh pulled out some kit. ‘There’s a metal hoop that fits on top of the stretcher. This plastic can go over the top of the hoop. It will keep the water off your leg, and hopefully protect you.’ He looked at the water cascading past his shoulder. ‘There is no other way out of here. We can get you in the stretcher, but we couldn’t manoeuvre it upright to slide you through the space at the side.’

He shook his head as he looked at it. ‘I had to imitate a spider to get in here, and I still got soaked by the waterfall on the way in.’ He turned to Des. ‘You’ve been around here just as long as me. Can you think of any other way to get him out?’

Des shook his head too. ‘Not a chance. He’s almost the same size as you and me. There’s no way we could manoeuvre him. We just need to go straight through the waterfall.’

Rhuaridh calculated how much pain relief to give Kai and administered it quickly. ‘We’ll give it some time to take effect before we get you onto the stretcher.’

The radio at his waist crackled. ‘Rhuaridh? Rhuaridh, are you there?’

Kristie’s voice echoed around the cave. ‘Who’s that?’ asked Des.

Rhuaridh pulled the radio from his waistband. ‘What’s up, Kristie?’

‘They’re not here yet and he’s starting to wake up.’

‘The ambulance crew haven’t arrived?’ He was surprised. He’d expected them to arrive a few minutes after he left.

‘No.’ Her voice sounded kind of strained. ‘Gerry’s here. He got dropped back at our car and came himself. Apparently the ambulance had to stop at a road accident. They’ve taken the people to the hospital.’

Rhuaridh shook his head. Typical. Everything happened at once. The ambulance hadn’t been used at all in the last week and now two simultaneous calls.

‘Kristie, tell me the numbers on the monitor.’

There was silence for a few seconds, then her voice came through. ‘The P is eighty-six. That’s his pulse, isn’t it?’

‘That’s fine. What’s the other one?’

‘It’s ninety-seven.’

‘That’s his oxygen saturation. That’s good. It means his breathing and lungs are okay.’

‘Uh-oh.’

Rhuaridh sat up on his knees. ‘What do you mean, “uh-oh”? Kristie?’

There was a crackle. Then a rumble of voices—all muffled. It was hard to hear anything with the constant background roar of falling water. Rhuaridh exchanged a look with Des. He’d never met the other instructor at the centre. Throughout the year many instructors from different countries came to help at the centre—Des was the only real constant. ‘Your guy. Anything I should know about him?’

Des’s brow wrinkled. ‘Ross?’ He shook his head. ‘Don’t think so. He’s been here about three weeks. Worked in a similar place in Wales.’

‘Any medical history?’

Des pulled a face. ‘To be honest, I can’t remember. But if there had been anything major it would be on his initial application form.’

Rhuaridh knew that all the paperwork for the centre would be up to date. Des’s wife dealt with that. But he also knew that Des wouldn’t recall a single thing about it. He’d never been a paper person.

‘Rhuaridh!’ The shout came through the crackling radio and made all three in the cave start.

‘Kristie, what’s wrong?’

Even though it was difficult, he was on his feet, crouching in the cave. Staring at the rushing water that was currently between Kristie and himself.

‘He’s thrashing about. I think he’s having some kind of seizure, what do I do?’

He could hear the panic in her voice. He signalled with his head to Des, who immediately pulled the prepared stretcher alongside Kai, knowing they would have to get out of there quickly.

‘Do you know the recovery position?’ he radioed to Kristie.

‘W-hat?’

‘His side. Turn him on his left-hand side. Get Gerry or some of the older kids to help you if need be. Once he’s on his side pull up his right leg slightly and bring his right arm over so his hand is on the ground in front of him.’

And then there was nothing. No reply. No chatter. Just silence as his stomach churned. Either Ross’s head injury had caused agitation and Kristie was mistaken, or he was having a full-blown seizure—neither of which were good signs. Kai would already need to be sent to the mainland for surgery. Now it looked like Ross would need to be airlifted. The nearest head injury unit was in Glasgow—it would take too long to get there by ambulance and ferry.

‘Ready, Doc?’

Des had moved to Kai’s head and shoulders, ready to slide the lad onto the stretcher. Rhuaridh bent down straight away. ‘Sure. Kai, your painkiller should have started working by now. We’re going to slide you over onto the stretcher. It should only be a bit uncomfortable, and once you’re on the stretcher the metal hoop will mean that nothing will touch your leg.’

He was trying hard to stay very calm, all while his brain wondered how Kristie was doing. He’d left her out there. He knew she wasn’t medically qualified at all, but he’d felt duty bound to come and assess his other patient. Would he have left her out there if he’d known the ambulance would be so long?

His mouth was dry. He couldn’t help but remember that momentary glance in her eyes when she’d told him hospitals freaked her out. He’d wanted to ask more, but there hadn’t been time. He was drawn to this woman. He liked her. He couldn’t ignore the flicker of attraction that seemed to permeate the air around them. But the truth was he barely knew her.

He was moving on autopilot. ‘Ready?’ he asked Kai.

The teenage boy screwed up his face and Des held him by the shoulders and Rhuaridh gently took the weight off his legs. The movement was swift, with only a minor yelp from Kai. Des helped move the plastic casing quickly over the stretcher, zipping it closed, protecting the rest of Kai’s body and only leaving his face exposed.

‘Who is going first?’ Des asked as he eyed the cascading waterfall. Each of them was going to have to step through it carrying the stretcher.

‘I’ll do it,’ said Rhuaridh quickly. He tried the radio again. ‘Kristie, how are you? How is Ross? Have you got him in the recovery position?’

There was an agonising pause.

‘I think so. But he’s still...twitching.’

‘I’ll be right there.’ He could hear the tension in her voice. He wanted to jump straight through the waterfall and be by her side. But he was a doctor. He was so used to taking the emotion out of things and doing the duty he was bound to—like now, when he had to try and take care of two injured patients. Where was that darned ambulance?

Before he had chance to let his brain churn any more he signalled to Kai and Des. ‘Are we ready?’

They nodded. Rhuaridh looked at Kai. ‘When I give you the signal, take a deep breath. I’ll have the front end of the stretcher and we’ll literally just need to walk through the waterfall. You know the pond isn’t particularly deep. This isn’t dangerous. Just a few moments of pounding water around your ears.’

Kai nodded. ‘I’ve been through it once when Des pulled me back in here. I’ll be okay. Let’s get this over with.’

Rhuaridh put the rest of the equipment back in the rucksack and put it on his back. He jumped down into the pool with the waterfall directly at his back. The noise was deafening, so he used signals to grab the stretcher above his shoulders and gesture to Kai. Des was ready and they moved swiftly through the waterfall and back out into the pool. Water cascaded over them, but it only took a few seconds to be free of the noise and clear their noses and mouths.

From the crest of the hill he could see a flash of bright green. The paramedics had finally arrived. Most of the kids were still crowded around the sides of the pool. They waded

slowly across, setting Kai down gently as his friends surrounded him. One of the paramedics knelt beside him, and the other joined Rhuaridh at Kristie’s side.

Her eyes were glinting with fear. ‘He’s literally just stopped shaking. He seemed to wake up for a few seconds, thrashing his legs and arms out, then he started shaking again.’

There was a red mark on the side of her cheek.

‘Did you get caught by his arm?’ asked Rhuaridh.

She shook her head. ‘I’m fine. It doesn’t matter.’

But it did to Rhuaridh.

It only took a few moments to assess Ross and to arrange an air ambulance for him. His pupil reactions were sluggish now and it was obvious the knock to the head had been harsh. He needed proper assessment in a specialist centre.

Rhuaridh then took time to recheck Kai before loading him up in the ambulance with the paramedics, ready for transfer for surgery.

By the time the ambulance had left with both patients, Des had gathered the teenagers together to take them back to the wilderness centre. Gerry was still chatting to a few that he’d caught on film.