Mike had stepped back, away from the mouth of the cave, and Kate could hear him on his phone, quietly calling their position in. There would be others here soon, but in the meantime they had to keep the old couple warm.
‘I could do with a cuppa. I’m cold.’ Fred’s voice seemed suddenly thin and frail. Ethan turned for a moment, taking off his coat and leaving it on the ground beside him.
‘What about this, then?’ Kate reached forward, picking up the coat and wrapping it around Fred’s shoulders. He seemed to like it a bit better than the blanket, and tried to push his arms awkwardly into the sleeves. Kate helped him, fastening the zip at the front.
‘When he asks yer to marry him...’ Fred leaned forward ‘...don’t say no, now. You girls...you play hard to get and a man can get the wrong idea.’
Fred seemed to have no regard for the fact that Ethan must be able to hear every word of their conversation, and Kate wondered what he was thinking. Probably just the same as she was, that keeping Fred warm and quiet was the main thing right now.
‘He hasn’t asked me yet. I think he might, though.’
She pulled the flask out of her rucksack, hoping that tea might divert Fred’s attention a little. Pouring a mouthful into the lid, she handed it to Fred, steadying it as he raised it to his lips.
‘I can do it.’ Fred glared at her but he drank his tea. ‘Not much there. What are you going to say when he asks you?’
‘Yes. I’ll say yes. Here, have some more tea.’ Kate poured another mouthful into the beaker and gave it to Fred, watching as he drank.
Ethan had his back to her. Edie wasn’t moving.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE SMALL FIRE in the cave was burning brightly and had been well tended. Fred was obviously intent on protecting his wife, and in his confused state he could so easily have jabbed the burning branch in Kate’s direction.
But she hadn’t faltered. She’d calmed Fred, her smile charming the old man into allowing her to tend to him while Ethan concentrated on Edie.
Fred had done a good job there, too. His memory might be patchy, but the details of how to make a warm bed had somehow stuck. Edie was lying on a makeshift bed of soft bracken and when Ethan felt her hand it was warm under the coats.
‘Edie, Edie.’ He spoke to her softly and Edie didn’t respond. Her pulse was strong, though, and she was breathing steadily. In the torchlight, he could see that a dark bruise was forming on the side of her face and it looked as if she’d taken a fall. Ethan didn’t dare move her.
Suddenly her eyes fluttered open. ‘Fred?’
‘It’s all right, Edie. Fred’s right here.’ He smoothed her tousled hair back from her face, trying to give some comfort to the old lady. It was a wonder that she and Fred had got this far and she must be confused and in pain.
‘I’m Ethan, and I’m a doctor. My friend Kate is with Fred and he’s okay.’ Ethan wondered whether he should get his story straight with Kate’s and call her his girlfriend. It was tempting. ‘Are you in any pain, Edie?’
‘My arm.’ Edie looked up at him placidly.
‘Okay, let’s take a look.’ He carefully moved the coats, looking at Edie’s arm. It was bruised and swollen, almost certainly fractured. ‘Anything else, my love?’
‘No.’ Edie tried to move and Ethan gently stilled her. Glancing quickly at her legs, he saw that she seemed to be able to move them without pain. That was a good sign.
‘Can you do something for me? I just want you to lift your leg a little.’ He put his hand gently under Edie’s knee to support it. Edie obligingly lifted her leg an inch and he nodded. ‘That’s great. Perfect. Now the other one.’
No symptoms of a hip fracture. Edie was breathing and, when Ethan pulled his stethoscope out of his rucksack and listened to her heart, it was beating strongly.
‘Are you bleeding anywhere?’ The notes which Grant had handed him included a reference to Edie being on warfarin for a blood clot.
‘No.’ Edie’s soft gaze found his. ‘I know I mustn’t bleed. I take warfarin, you know.’
It seemed that Edie was a lot more aware of her situation than Fred was. Ethan wondered what it might be like, knowing that they were stranded and alone and that her husband was unable to remember what they were doing here.
‘Okay. I’m just going to check you over a bit. Make sure everything else is all right.’
‘What about Fred?’ Edie lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘He can’t remember, you know.’
‘Yes, I know. And he’s fine. Kate’s looking after him. Just relax and let me look after you.’
Edie nodded, tears forming in her eyes. ‘He just got off the bus and I followed him. He wanted to come here, and... I fell. He kept me warm.’