A Courageous Doctor

by Alison Roberts

  ‘Oh, God!’ Maggie whispered. ‘What have I done? I’m so sorry, Hugh.’

  ‘Listen to me, Maggie.’ Hugo’s voice was comforting. They were still alive…for the moment. He didn’t need to worry about Maggie moving. She was frozen now. Absolutely petrified.

  ‘Are you listening, love?’

  Maggie remembered not to nod her head. ‘Y-yes.’

  ‘We need to get some more weight towards the back of the car. I’m going to release my safety belt and then yours. Then we’re going to tilt our seats back very slowly. Don’t do anything sudden, OK? And especially don’t try and open your door. That could change the weight distribution too much to the front.’

  ‘OK.’ Maggie closed her eyes again. She knew what would happen if the weight distribution changed even a little in the wrong direction. A prickle of perspiration broke out on the back of her neck as she felt the car rock again when Hugo let go of her hand and undid the catch of his safety belt. The release of her own restraint made her feel even more vulnerable and she couldn’t stifle a whimper of fear.

  ‘It’s OK, Maggie. We’re OK.’ Hugo continued making soothing sounds as he slowly tilted his seat back. Then it was her turn. ‘Reach carefully for your tilt control and lean back very slowly.’ Hugo kept his hand on the back of her seat as Maggie somehow found the courage to comply.

  Then they were both lying back, their faces only inches from each other. Tiny sounds of stone and earth being dislodged from the road’s edge ceased and the car remained still. This felt safer but Maggie’s eyes were still glued to Hugo’s face, seeking reassurance.

  ‘Now we’re going to crawl into the back of the car,’ Hugo told her gently.

  ‘What? Can’t we just wait here until some help comes? Like another car?’

  ‘How many cars have we seen this afternoon, Maggie?’

  None. That was how many. They had been alone on the road. It was a popular tourist route from later spring to autumn, but not many people were adventurous enough to try Skippers Canyon at this time of year.

  ‘Even if we phone for help it would take a lot longer than we can afford to wait. We don’t know how long the car can stay this stable. We’ve got to try and get out of this ourselves, Maggie. By ourselves.’

  Maggie wanted to cry. She had done this. Hugo had been right to be cautious and now Maggie was in the deepest trouble she had ever found. And she had dragged Hugo along with her. And she was too scared to do anything.

  ‘You can do this, sweetheart,’ Hugo whispered. ‘We can do this together.’

  He made Maggie go first. She felt the car move and heard the awful grinding of metal on rock as the vehicle shifted an inch or two during her crawl over the back seat and into the space beneath the hatch. Then the movement stopped again and all they could hear was the sound of their own breathing.

  ‘I’m going to move now,’ Hugo warned her. ‘Then we’ll break the window of the hatch and get out the back.’

  The car rocked and slid a little again as Hugo eased his body through the narrow gap between the front seats. Maggie started shivering with fear and it was hard to catch her breath. She knew it would help when Hugo was close enough to touch again. His warmth and solidity would give her strength, his words close to her ear would give her the courage she could feel ebbing too rapidly. But there wasn’t room for Hugo to get over the back seat.

  ‘You’ll have to break the window, love,’ he said quietly. ‘Aim for the corner and move carefully.’

  Maggie’s mind went blank. ‘I haven’t got anything to break it with.’

  ‘Your first-aid kit’s in the back there with you. Haven’t you got a metal torch or something?’

  Maggie didn’t want to move again even to reach out and touch the kit.

  ‘Come on, darling. You can do this.’

  Maggie touched the familiar box and made a sound that was a cross between a sob and a chuckle. ‘I’ve got a window-breaker in here,’ she said brokenly. ‘How could I have forgotten?’

  The small stainless-steel implement was not much larger than a ballpoint pen and it lived with the small torch and artery forceps in the top tray of her kit. Maggie positioned the blunt tip and then hit the end with her other hand, compressing the powerful spring fitting inside. The sound of the hole being punched through the glass echoed like a gunshot and Maggie flinched violently. The view of the sky and the top of the rock face on the other side of the road vanished as the window disintegrated into thousands of tiny glass blocks. The car rocked yet again and Hugo’s voice shook just a little when he spoke a split second later.

  ‘Good girl, Maggie. We’re almost there.’

  And Maggie knew what to do now. She pushed at the edges of the hole and the fragments of window fell away in chunks until there was enough space to crawl through. She moved as carefully as she could and Hugo moved at the same time. He couldn’t afford to have his weight anywhere near the front of the car as Maggie’s weight was removed. As Maggie’s legs vanished through the window following her body in a fall to solid ground, Hugo dived after them, the need to avoid sudden movements reversed as the car teetered and then tilted forward and down. The movement of the vehicle caught Hugo’s leg. He could feel himself being dragged up and he twisted sideways in a roll to pull his foot clear with only a fraction of a second to spare. He landed on top of Maggie as the back wheels rose over their heads and the vehicle vanished over the lip of the canyon.

  They could hear it, bouncing against rock and tearing through scrub and gravel. Echoes of the sounds came back from the other side of the canyon like rolls of thunder. The sound was horrendous and Hugo gathered Maggie into his arms and shielded her head with his own until the terrible sounds ceased and they were alone in a silent world, holding onto each other as though they still needed to save their lives.

  Maggie was crying now, racking sobs that released the awful fear of the last long minutes.

  ‘Are you hurt, Maggie?’

  She could only shake her head. It was going to be some time before she could speak. Hugo simply held her, his soothing words and stroking changing gradually until his fingers could brush the last of her tears from her face and his lips could stifle the last hiccuping sobs.

  ‘We’re safe, Maggie. You’re not hurt and neither am I. We’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of us or a wait for help to arrive but we’re quite, quite safe.’

  ‘This was my fault,’ Maggie said brokenly. ‘I nearly killed us.’

  ‘It was an accident. And we’re still alive. I don’t know about you but I feel rather glad to be alive. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so glad to be alive in my whole life.’ Hugo’s smile was only slightly shaky. ‘I guess there is something to be said for being reckless.’

  ‘No.’ Maggie shook her head firmly. ‘From now on I’m going to listen to you, Hugh. I’m going to be so sensible you won’t even recognise me.’

  ‘Oh, no, you don’t.’ Hugo kissed her gently. ‘I love you just the way you are, Maggie Johnston. I’m relying on you to make sure I get the most out of my life.’

  ‘I think I do need toning down,’ Maggie said soberly. ‘I’m dangerous.’

  ‘Only occasionally.’ Hugo smiled again. ‘And when you are, I’ll be there to get us out of trouble.’

  ‘Promise?’

  ‘I promise.’ And Hugo kissed her again. ‘You’ll keep life exciting. I’ll do my best to keep it safe. We’re a perfect match.’

  Maggie snuggled into Hugo’s arms, oblivious to the discomfort of the shingle road they sat on and the rapidly deepening chill of the air around them.

  ‘We’re in trouble now, aren’t we?’

  ‘Not too much,’ Hugo said comfortingly. ‘I’ve still got my mobile phone. I’ll call the police now and let them know there was no one in the car. I imagine that crash was heard for miles. They may be on their way here already and we’ll be able to keep warm by starting to walk to meet them.’

  Hugo helped Maggie to her feet. She found her legs were still
wobbly and she looked at the scars on the side of the road where the car had gone over and shook her head in renewed horror.

  ‘I nearly killed you,’ she whispered. ‘I nearly killed both of us.’

  Hugo’s grip on her hand was warm and strong. ‘At least we would have gone together.’ He turned Maggie away from the edge and kissed her again. Very slowly and with infinite tenderness. ‘I don’t ever want to live without you, my love. My first thought in that teetering car was that I’d missed out on the one thing I wanted most in my life.’

  ‘Which was?’

  ‘You.’

  ‘You’ve got me, Hugh. For ever. You already had—you just didn’t want it.’

  ‘Well, I want it now. All of it. Just wait until I get you home. To our house.’ His smile was a seduction all by itself. ‘To our bed.’

  Maggie finally drew in a breath that didn’t shake. ‘I can’t wait.’

  ‘Neither can I.’

  ‘We’d better start walking, then, hadn’t we?’ Maggie looked at the long winding road ahead of them and bit her lip. ‘I hope we’re not too tired by the time we get home.’

  Their eyes met and their gazes locked. They both knew they could never be that tired. They smiled and then laughed aloud as they joined hands and started walking along the road. They had cheated death. Together.

  And now they were about to start really living.

  Together.

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-5790-3

  A COURAGEOUS DOCTOR

  First North American Publication 2004

  Copyright © 2004 by Alison Roberts.

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