The Doctor's Engagement

‘Yes!’

She dragged a small packet out of the bag with a crow of triumph and the man looked at her.

‘What’s that?’

‘A space blanket,’ Holly muttered, ripping it open ready to be used. ‘That boy is going to need warming up. Has anyone got any other spare clothing?’

‘We’ve got towels,’ someone said, and Holly nodded swiftly.

‘Put everything that you’ve got in this pile. The more windproof and waterproof stuff the better.’

‘But it’s June. Surely it isn’t that cold,’ one of the women murmured, and Holly pulled a face.

‘It is in the sea. He’ll be chilled to the bone.’

Seeing that Mark was near the rocks she scrambled down to him, being careful not to slip.

‘What do you want me to do?’

He ran a hand over his face to clear his vision of sea water, his dark lashes clumped together and his handsome face drawn and tired from the exertion.

‘I need to get him out but, Holly...’ He paused to catch his breath, his voice slightly hoarse. ‘We need to keep him horizontal. That’s very important.’

‘I remember.’ Holly gave him a brief nod to indicate that she understood and turned to the men. ‘Quickly, he needs help to lift him out. Keep him flat. Flat, OK?’

Between them the men managed to lift the teenager out of the water and lay him on a smooth rock away from the waves.

‘Did you phone for help?’ Mark squatted down next to their patient, his expression grim.

Holly nodded. ‘Coastguard and air ambulance on the way.’

r /> Mark placed his fingers on the young man’s neck, feeling for a carotid pulse. ‘Come on, come on,’ he muttered, glancing at his watch. ‘Give me a pulse.’

‘Shouldn’t we be starting resuscitation?’ someone murmured and Holly shook her head quickly.

‘People who’ve been in the water can have a slow pulse that’s very difficult to feel—it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.’

She knew as well as Mark that if they started CPR when the heart was still beating they could trigger a fatal arrhythmia.

She glanced at her watch. ‘Fifty seconds, Mark,’ she said softly, and his mouth tightened.

‘Come on—give me a pulse, damn it!’ He gave a low growl of frustration and shifted his fingers slightly.

Holly bit her lip and checked her watch again. ‘Sixty seconds, Mark. We ought to—’

‘He’s got a pulse,’ Mark interrupted her triumphantly, glancing up as the sound of a helicopter cut through the summer evening. ‘And we’ve got some help. One of you...’ He jerked his head to one of the men again. ‘Can you sprint up that path and say we need a nasogastric tube to relieve gastric dilatation and equipment to set up an IV?’

The man repeated it back to be sure he’d got the right message and then set off at a steady jog to meet the paramedics.

Mark slipped a hand inside the teenager’s shirt, frowning as he touched the skin under his armpit.

‘He’s cold as marble. Let’s wrap him up, Holly.’ He nodded his approval as she produced the space blanket from his first-aid kit and started to cover their patient. ‘Leave me an arm—I need to get a line in. If I can find a vein, that is. His entire peripheral circulation’s probably shut down in the cold.’

As the paramedics scrambled and slid their way to the bottom of the slope, the police arrived along with the coastguard.

‘Everyone’s here now the rescue bit’s over,’ one of the men observed dryly, standing aside as uniformed professionals suddenly surged all around them.

‘Dr Logan!’ One of the paramedics dropped to his knees next to the patient and nodded to Mark. ‘Glad to see you here. What do you need?’