‘Let me do it.’ Abby quickly keyed in the numbers then grinned at her. ‘Nice to know you’re as susceptible as the rest of us are, Heather.’
‘Sorry?’ Heather pushed open the door, holding onto it as the wind threatened to send it crashing back against the wall.
‘To the charms of a handsome man, of course. And I have to say that they don’t come much more handsome than Station Officer Tanner!’
Abby laughed but Heather was hard-pressed to hide her dismay. If people were starting to notice her reaction to Ross then the situation really was becoming serious.
She closed the door with hands that were no longer steady. She could try to ignore the effect Ross had on her but that was like putting a dressing over a festering wound: it wasn’t really dealing with the problem. She had to excise him from her mind—and her life—once and for all.
‘Here we go!’
She turned when she heard Abby shouting to tell her the helicopter was in sight. They both huddled against the wall as it set down neatly on the landing pad. The down draught from the rotor blades was tremendous as they hurried to board it. One of the crew gave Abby a hand and hauled her on board then helped Heather, too. They strapped themselves in as the helicopter took off again. It circled the hospital then turned towards the river. Rooftops passed beneath them in a blur and the noise was deafening. It all added to the sense of confusion Heather felt, the feeling that her life was racing out of control.
She took a deep breath. She mustn’t let that happen. She couldn’t! No matter how she felt about Ross or how he felt about her, she had to put a stop to what was happening.
Tears stung her eyes and she turned to stare out of the window because, crazy as it sounded, she knew how hard it was going to be. There was something about Ross that filled all the empty spaces in her life, but that kind of happiness came at too big a cost. She’d loved one hero and she wouldn’t make the mistake of falling in love with another.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘I WANT you to get the roof off that van as fast as possible. We need to get those people out of there. We’re barely managing to contain the blaze as it is. The whole lot could go up again at any minute and they’re directly in the firing line.’
Ross looked around as the men hurried away to carry out his orders. The crew from Hexton had been first on the scene, although he’d been assured they would be receiving back-up very shortly. Two neighbouring fire stations were sending pump engines, along with a variety of specialised cutting and lifting gear.
The explosion had gouged a huge hole out of the ground. Thick plumes of black smoke and flames were billowing from it and the air was redolent with the smell of burning oil. The three men who’d been dismantling the fuel tank were still unaccounted for, but it seemed unlikely that anyone could have survived the explosion let alone the subsequent blaze.
The blast had also caved in the front wall of one of the warehouses surrounding the dock. The building was in the process of being converted into luxury flats and nobody seemed to know how many men had been working inside it at the time. So far Ross hadn’t been able to put a figure on the number of casualties they needed to look for. There could be two or two dozen men trapped inside the building for all he knew.
His mouth compressed as he strode across the rubble-strewn ground to speak to the site manager again. The man had been extremely evasive about the number of people employed on the site. Ross suspected that a lot of them would be migrant workers who weren’t listed in any official records. It helped to cut costs when there was no insurance to be paid for workers who officially didn’t exist. However, it made his job all the more difficult if he didn’t know exactly how many people were missing.
‘A word please, Mr Bradburn,’ he said shortly, tapping the man on the shoulder. Ray Bradburn had spent all his time on his mobile phone since Ross had arrived and he didn’t look pleased about being interrupted now. However, he obviously decided it would be a mistake not to co-operate when he saw the expression on Ross’s face.
‘How can I help you, Station Officer Tanner?’ he said, making an effort to be polite as he cut short his call.
‘You can help by telling me exactly how many men you had working inside that warehouse.’ Ross didn’t bother wasting time on pleasantries. He had a job to do and that was the only thing that mattered, apart from making sure Heather was safe, of course.
His heart knocked painfully against his ribs when he looked round and failed to spot her. She’d already been attending to the injured by the time he’d arrived on the scene. They’d not had chance to exchange more than a couple of words in passing but he’d made sure he’d known where she was at any given time. The situation was extremely volatile and he didn’t want to run the risk of her being in the wrong place if there was another explosion.
It was hard to contain his impatience when he was so afraid that she might have placed herself in danger. He held up his hand when Bradburn started to bluster about it being difficult to give him an accurate figure.
‘Health and safety regulations state that employers must maintain a record of all the people working for them. You must have a system for signing in each day.’
‘Um, yes, of course.’ Bradburn ran a finger around his collar. He looked decidedly uneasy about having to answer the question. ‘But not all the men remember to sign the daily work sheets, you understand.’
‘I do.’ Ross sighed wearily. This could take for ever if he didn’t make it clear that he wasn’t prepared to waste any more time. ‘Let’s stop fencing with words, Mr Bradburn. Frankly, I’m not interested in your business methods. You wouldn’t be the first person who pays workers cash in hand and doesn’t keep records. I need to know how many men are inside that building.’
‘Seven.’ Bradburn seemed to slump as he realised there was no point prevaricating. ‘Two company employees plus five casual labourers—Armenians or something. I’m not sure exactly because they don’t speak much English.’
‘And that’s the lot?’ Ross fixed him with a steely-eyed stare. ‘You’re absolutely sure about that?’
‘Yes. Look, there’s no need to say anything about this to the authorities, is there?’ Bradburn gave him an ingratiating smile. ‘You’re a man of the world and you understand how these things work. On a project like this you have to trim the costs wherever you can….’
Ross didn’t bother hearing him out. He wasn’t interested. The fact that Bradburn had been prepared to risk people’s lives rather than own up to what he’d been doing filled him with disgust.
He went to get the rescue operation organised. Fortunately, the rest of the fire crews had arrived now. There were also a number of ambulances parked nearby and he could see some paramedics loading the first of the injured on board. However, try as he may, he still couldn’t see any sign of Heather.
It was hard to contain his fear that something had happened to her, but Ross was aware that he had a job to do. As the senior officer there that day, he was in charge of the fire ground and it was his duty to deploy the crews where they would be needed most.
He quickly informed his colleagues that there were seven men still inside the warehouse and another three unaccounted for. The crew from Rosedale fire station had brought lifting gear with them so it was decided that they would remove the rubble that was blocking the entrance to the warehouse. The other crew would join the men from Hexton and try to contain the blaze. There were several yachts moored in the dock basin and there was a danger that they could catch fire, too.
Once Ross was sure that everyone knew what they were doing, he went to find Heather. She’d been tending to some of the injured beside one of the Portakabins when he’d last seen her, but there was no sign of her when he went to check. Ross spotted a nurse he recognised from St Gertrude’s and hurried over to see if she knew where Heather had got to.
‘She’s down there.’ The nurse pointed to the slipway leading to the dock. ‘They’ve found one of the men who were working on the tan
k when it exploded and it seems he’s still alive.’
‘Thanks,’ Ross said gratefully, barely able to contain his relief. He ran to the slipway and immediately spotted Heather among the group of people gathered down by the water. He hurried towards her, pausing briefly when the crowd parted to let him through and he saw the condition of the young man she was attending to.
The poor fellow was covered in oil from head to toe and the few places where it hadn’t stuck to him, Ross could see that his skin had been burned away. Amazingly, he was conscious and Ross could hear Heather talking to him while she attempted to insert a cannula into a vein in his left arm. She looked round when Ross crouched beside her and he could see the sorrow in her eyes.
‘How’s he doing?’ he asked softly, although he suspected that he already knew the answer to that question. With burns of this severity it was unlikely the young man would survive. Heather obviously knew that but there was nothing but confidence in her voice when she replied.
‘You’re doing fine, aren’t you, Andy?’ She smiled at the young man. ‘You’ve had something for the pain and you’re feeling a lot better now.’
‘Much.’ The young man could barely speak because of his injuries but it was obvious that he’d been reassured by Heather’s upbeat manner. Ross was suddenly filled with admiration for the way she was handling the incident. She was determined to give the poor lad hope, even though Ross could tell how much it was costing her to do so.
Under cover of helping her by holding Andy’s arm steady while she inserted the cannula, he brushed the back of her hand with his knuckles, hoping that she would interpret the gesture the way it had been meant. He just wanted her to know that he was there and that he understood. People tended to believe that medical personnel became hardened to the horrific sights they saw, but he knew from his own experiences that it wasn’t so. She glanced up and Ross felt his heart fill with warmth when he saw the gratitude in her eyes. It felt like yet another step forward on top of all the others he’d made that day. He wanted to sing for joy, only that would have been inappropriate in the circumstances. Instead, he contented himself with smiling back then wondered how revealing the smile had been when he saw the colour rush to her cheeks. Surely Heather didn’t suspect how important she had become to him?
His heart raced at the idea so it was a moment before he realised that she’d spoken. ‘Sorry?’ he said, cursing himself for getting carried away. If Heather could keep her mind on the job then he must, too.
‘I’m having difficulty finding a vein,’ she repeated quietly so Andy couldn’t hear. ‘He’s in shock and his circulatory system is shutting down. I’ll have to do a cutdown and see if I can find a suitable vein in his ankle. It’s imperative that I get some fluids into him.’
‘What can I do to help?’ Ross offered immediately.
‘Find something to put under him while I cut away his trousers,’ she instructed, taking a pair of blunt-tipped scissors from her bag. ‘There’s all sorts of muck around here and I want to avoid the incision getting infected. I also need a blanket to cover him. The water in that dock is freezing and the loss of body heat is exacerbating the problem.’
‘Will do.’ Ross got up and hurried up the slipway. He ran straight to the nearest ambulance. ‘Dr Cooper needs something to put under a patient while she does a cutdown to find a vein. He’s badly burned and in shock and she needs a blanket as well to keep him warm.’
‘These should do.’ The female paramedic handed him a plastic bag containing a fresh sheet then took a thermal blanket off a shelf. She glanced over her shoulder when her colleague shouted from the cab that they were ready to leave. ‘Sorry I can’t stay and help, but we’ve got one man who’s had a heart attack and another who looks as though he might have a ruptured spleen.’
‘It’s OK. I understand.’ Ross ran back to the slipway as the ambulance roared away. He ripped open the plastic bag and quickly spread the sheet on the ground, taking care not to jolt Andy as he slid it beneath him.
‘Thanks.’ Heather tossed her oil-soaked gloves aside and picked up the thermal blanket. One side looked like a conventional cover but the other was made of lightweight foil which would provide maximum insulation.
‘Help me cover him with this but try to keep it away from his body. We don’t want it sticking to any areas of exposed tissue.’ She passed Ross one end of the blanket and grinned at Andy. ‘We’re going to make a kind of tent with this to keep you warm. OK?’
‘Uh-huh.’ The young man swallowed painfully. ‘They gave me…one like that…after I ran the…London Marathon this year. Maybe I’ll get…another one…next year.’
‘Let’s hope so.’ Heather maintained her smile but Ross could tell how hard it was for her to remain upbeat. There was little chance of Andy being fit enough to run again next year. If he survived…and it was a very big if at this stage…then he would need months of painful surgery.
Ross helped Heather cover the young man with the blanket. She pulled on a fresh pair of gloves then took what she needed from her bag and laid it on the sheet. Ross was surprised when he saw that she’d cut away both legs of the young man’s trousers from just below the knees and removed both his boots. Fortunately, the burning oil hadn’t penetrated Andy’s heavy work boots so the skin around his ankles was unscathed.
‘I might need to have a couple of tries at it.’ She swabbed Andy’s ankles with antiseptic. ‘His veins are collapsing and it’s not going to be easy to find one I can use.’
‘I see.’ Ross nodded his understanding, although it alarmed him that she’d been able to read his mind with such accuracy. He couldn’t help wondering what other of his thoughts she’d correctly interpreted.
It was an effort to dismiss the idea but it was obvious that Heather was anxious to get started. The paramedics were all busy and the nurse he’d spoken to was still attending to her patient. None of the bystanders looked keen to help so it was him or nobody, basically. Maybe it wasn’t part of his job but it was a matter of priorities. Heather needed his help and he wasn’t about to let her down.
‘What do you want me to do?’ he demanded, kneeling beside her on the concrete slipway.
‘Put on some gloves first. Then I want you to hold Andy’s leg steady.’ She smiled at the young man. ‘You shouldn’t feel this because you’re loaded up with pain relief, but feel free to yell if you want to.’
Andy mumbled something but it was obvious that his condition was deteriorating. Ross could tell how worried Heather was as she made a swift incision above the young man’s right ankle. She quickly cut down to the vein and deftly slid the cannula into place.
‘Thank heavens for that!’ She attached a line then took the bag of saline from Ross and fitted it in place. Once she’d opened the valve and released the fluid, she began squeezing the bag. ‘We need to get this into him as fast as possible.’
Ross could hear the determination in her voice and found himself uttering a silent prayer that the treatment would work. He couldn’t bear to imagine how upset Heather would be if Andy didn’t make it after all her efforts. In that moment he realised that if he could be granted just one wish, it would be to stop her suffering any more pain. He wanted to protect and cherish her, erase all the unhappiness from her life—past, present and future—and promise her that she would never suffer any heartache again. But how on earth could he make her a promise like that?
‘I’d better get a move on,’ he said thickly. He cleared his throat but it hurt to admit how tenuous his link to Heather really was. Maybe she hadn’t appeared to be upset when he’d kissed her that morning but he would be a fool to read too much into it. One kiss given and received certainly didn’t constitute a relationship!
‘There are a couple of people trapped in a van and some others inside that warehouse so I can’t hang round here any longer,’ he informed her curtly, hating to admit what an idiot he was. The problem was, he’d never found himself in this position before. Most of the women he’d dated had be
en keen to take the relationship further, but Ross had never been tempted to make that kind of commitment until he’d met Heather.
‘You should have said so,’ Heather said stiffly, obviously misinterpreting the reason for his abruptness. ‘I apologise for being a nuisance and delaying you.’
‘You aren’t a nuisance and I was glad to help,’ he assured her, but maybe he hadn’t sounded as convincing as he could have done.
He bit back a sigh when he saw her shuttered expression but there was nothing he could do. The fact that he was even considering making a permanent commitment to Heather made his head spin. He needed to think seriously about what he was doing, work out what he wanted from Heather, as well as what he wanted to give her.
Did he want to be her friend or her lover? Because that was what it all boiled down to.
Heather knew it was unreasonable to feel hurt but she couldn’t help it. She and Ross had seemed to have worked so well together while they’d been attending to Andy. Even though Ross had only basic medical training, he had anticipated her every need. It was rare to develop that kind of instant rapport with anyone but she realised it would be silly to imagine it meant anything. Ross had simply wanted to speed up the proceedings so he could make his escape.
‘Thank you for your help,’ she said in a tone that made it clear she didn’t expect him to hang around. ‘I’ll have Andy sent straight to St Gertrude’s now that he’s stable.’
‘I’ll tell the paramedics you have a patient ready for transfer.’
‘Don’t bother. I can sort everything out from here.’ She turned to one of the bystanders. ‘Could you ask one of the ambulance crews to bring a stretcher down here?’ Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ross start to walk up the slipway but she didn’t try to stop him. He had more important things to do than worry about her. Maybe it was silly but it still hurt to realise it.
Saving Dr. Cooper Page 7