by Lucy Clark
‘Go!’ she urged when he stood still for a split second, his world clearly falling apart. ‘Check her. I’ll bring the medical kit over.’
‘Uh…’ Pierce nodded as though his mind was unable to compute which action he should take next. ‘Yeah…yeah.’ With that he all but sprinted over to where his sister lay.
Stacey turned her attention to her siblings. ‘George, Lydia.’ She bent down to hug them both, her words fast and stern. ‘I need you to stay right here. Right here.’ She pointed to their rug, which was on the opposite side of the park from where the explosion had occurred.
People were beginning to gather their belongings and leave, others were on their cellphones, hopefully calling the emergency services, others were taking photographs. There was a hive of activity, but the first thing Stacey had to do was to make sure her brother and sister were out of harm’s way. Their safety was paramount.
‘Wait for Samantha to get back from the car and then do exactly as she says.’
‘Yes, Stacey,’ they both answered, their little eyes wide with fear.
People were everywhere, and when Samantha came rushing back with the large emergency kit, Stacey nodded her thanks.
‘Can you stay with the kids, please?’
Before Samantha could answer, Stacey took the backpack and raced over towards the man who was still screaming, writhing around on the grass. She could smell burning clothes and flesh. Whilst only seconds had passed since the explosion it felt a lot longer, with her mind trying to process too many things at once. For now, though, Pierce was attending to Nell, and although Stacey wanted nothing more than to check Nell herself, she had to prioritise.
The initial fireball which had scared them all was still burning, but thankfully the man hadn’t put the portable barbecue beneath any trees, so although it was extremely hot the flames were now shooting upwards rather than billowing outwards. The man had stopped rolling and she realised he was no longer on fire, but his body might be going into shock or worse.
She knelt down beside him, placing the emergency kit nearby. She called to her patient but received no response. She pressed two fingers to his radial pulse, relieved when she felt it—faint, but there. She was fairly sure he hadn’t sustained any spinal damage, especially with the way he’d been rolling on the grass before losing consciousness. She opened her kit and quickly pulled on some gloves before finding a soft neck brace to help secure the man’s spine, knowing that paramedics would replace it with a more rigid one. She called to the man again, telling him what she was doing, but he remained unconscious.
‘Are you a medic?’ she heard a woman ask.
‘Yes.’ Stacey glanced up for a moment.
‘Good. I’m a volunteer firefighter.’
‘Excellent.’ Stacey inclined her head towards the blaze. ‘You OK to deal with that?’
‘My friends and I are. All the emergency services have been called. My friend’s just getting an extinguisher from my car.’
‘Great. Thanks.’
True to her word, the firefighter and her friends concentrated on dealing with the blaze, keeping it contained. Less than five minutes had passed since the initial eruption, and even as she concentrated on her patient Stacey could also hear several other people taking charge, marshalling families together and generally controlling the situation. It was good, because it made it far easier for her to concentrate.
Nell wasn’t lying too far away and she could hear Pierce speaking to her and Nell talking back. Stacey breathed an inward sigh of relief to know that Nell was OK.
‘You’re all right,’ she heard Pierce say. ‘You’ve just hurt your ankle, so I want you to stay as still as possible. I’m going to get some bandages from Stacey’s medical kit and take care of it.’
Stacey glanced over and saw Pierce kiss his sister’s forehead before looking over his shoulder at her. Their gazes held for a brief second and she could see the relief in his eyes. His sister was going to be all right.
Stacey was also aware of Jasmine in the background behind Pierce. She was still standing in the same spot, hands still across her mouth, as though she were unable to move or think, horror reflected in her eyes. Stacey wanted nothing more than to put her arms around her, to tell her that everything would be OK, to comfort her when she needed it most, but instead Stacey called again to her patient, still receiving no response.
‘Trev? Trev?’ A woman crawled along the grass, coming towards Stacey. ‘Trev! Get away from him!’ she demanded, her words slurred, her eyes narrowed and filled with all the protectiveness of a possessive lioness.
‘I’m a doctor,’ Stacey told her. ‘His name is Trev?’
‘Yes.’ The woman’s attitude changed to one of hope as she came closer, reaching out to touch his head. ‘What’s wrong with him? Why isn’t he moving?’
‘I want to find out, but I need you to stay back. Give him some room.’ Stacey kept her tone firm and direct. She mentally ran through what needed to happen next: do Trev’s obs and assess the severity of his burns.
Thankfully, due to the volunteer firefighters, the blaze was now almost under control.
As she looked down at Trev, Stacey knew she was going to need further assistance. ‘Pierce. I need you,’ she called, glancing over at him before checking Trev’s airway was clear.
‘Acknowledged. I’ve just finished Nell’s bandage.’ Pierce wrapped Nell in a big hug and whispered something in her ear before he looked over and called to Jasmine, who was still rooted to the spot, unable to move. ‘Jasmine? Can you come and help Nell, please?’
Jasmine shook her head from side to side before turning and running away.
‘Jasmine! Jasmine!’ he called, but the teenager wasn’t listening. Pierce looked across at Stacey, unsure what to do.
Stacey stared wide-eyed at her sister’s retreating back. There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t go after Jasmine, which was her initial instinct. She needed to stay with her patient. She just had to trust that Jasmine’s common sense would kick in at some point and she wouldn’t stray too far from where they all were.
‘I’ll have to deal with her later.’ The words were like dust in her mouth and her heart broke that she couldn’t be there for Jasmine when she needed her most. ‘Get Nell over to the rug with the others. Samantha, George and Lydia can look after her,’ Stacey called, knowing she needed to focus completely on Trev rather than having her attention diverted by other personal matters.
‘Right.’ Pierce stood and scooped Nell up into his arms, carrying her over to the rug, where George and Lydia instantly rallied around her. Poor Samantha was doing her best to try and marshal some of the other children together—especially the two boys who had been kicking the football around with Pierce and were now quite distraught about their father—the man called Trev.
‘I want to see my mum!’ one of them yelled.
‘What’s wrong with my dad?’ the other one questioned.
Stacey closed her eyes for a split second, focusing her thoughts on Trev and Trev alone. When she opened her eyes Pierce was coming round to Trev’s other side.
‘Status?’ He pulled on a pair of gloves and reached for the stethoscope.
‘Airway clear. Burns to hands, arms, both legs, and minor damage to the face. No response to calls. Trev?’ she called again as she reached into the emergency medical kit to find a bag of saline and a package of IV tubing. ‘We’ll replenish fluids to avoid the possible complication of shock.’
‘I love that you have such a well-stocked emergency kit,’ Pierce commented as he unhooked the stethoscope. ‘Heart-rate is mildly tachy. Pain meds?’
‘Suggest ten milligrams of IV morphine followed by methoxyflurane.’ Stacey’s hands were busy, opening the packets of tubing and then looking for the best place to insert the line.
‘Agreed. Allergies?’
Stacey looked over to where Trev’s wife was sitting, rocking back and forth. Someone had had the presence of mind to wrap a blanket around her.
‘Is Trev allergic to anything?’ Stacey asked.
‘Left arm isn’t as badly damaged as the right arm,’ Pierce commented as he assisted Stacey with setting up the drip.
She looked over to where the volunteer firefighter was standing back. The fire situation was now under control, the gas in the bottle having almost expired.
‘Can you help?’ Stacey called the woman over, indicating the saline bag, which would need to be held.
The woman nodded and made her way to Stacey, pleased to be of further assistance.
‘Is Trev allergic to anything?’ Pierce asked Trev’s wife the question again, sharing a brief concerned look with Stacey.
The woman was clearly shocked at what had happened but hopefully wouldn’t go into shock completely. The right side of her face was starting to droop, which might indicate nerve damage. First, though, they needed to stabilise Trev as best they could.
‘Uh… Um…allergies? Um…I don’t know. Is he going to be all right?’
‘Does he take any regular medication? Has he had any alcohol today?’
‘He’s had two light beers and…uh…he takes…um…fish oil tablets. The doctor said his cholesterol is high.’
‘Has he had any operations? Been hospitalised?’ Pierce asked.
‘No. No. He…uh…no.’
Stacey nodded and pulled out a pre-drawn syringe labelled ‘morphine’. ‘Check ten milligrams,’ she stated.
‘Check,’ Pierce replied, and as soon as the saline drip was working Stacey administered the medication while Pierce told the still unconscious Trev what they were doing.
‘Is that going to help him?’ his wife wanted to know, watching everything they did with eyes as wide as saucers.
‘It’s going to relieve his pain,’ Stacey offered, before they set to work on carefully bandaging the worst of Trev’s leg wounds. She was ecstatic when the faint sounds of sirens could be heard in the distance. Whether police, fire brigade or ambulance, she didn’t care—at least help was on the way.
Pierce took Trev’s pulse again. ‘A definite improvement.’
‘And just in time to be transferred to an ambulance. Trev, help is here,’ she told him as Pierce continued to perform neurological observations.
Stacey had just finished applying the last bandage when the paramedics came racing over. Pierce gave them a debrief while Stacey pulled off one set of gloves and pulled on another, moving quickly over to where Trev’s wife sat, still staring at her husband.
‘What’s your name?’ Stacey asked as she checked the side of the woman’s face.
‘Rowena.’
The word was barely a whisper, and the side of her mouth was drooping down. Stacey reached for a penlight torch and checked the woman’s pupils, relieved when both responded to light.
‘What are they doing to Trev?’ Rowena asked, trying to look around Stacey, who was blocking her view.
‘They’re transferring him to a stretcher so they can get him into the ambulance. Just sit still for me a moment, Rowena.’ Stacey spoke calmly but with a firmness that made Rowena look at her. Stacey pressed gloved fingers gently to Rowena’s face, looking carefully.
‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ she asked.
Stacey lifted the blanket off Rowena’s shoulders and checked her right arm and side, realising there were several cuts and abrasions down the left side of Rowena’s body. ‘Rowena? What happened when the fire started? Do you remember?’
‘Uh…’ She looked at Stacey with scared eyes. ‘What is it? Just tell me.’
‘The left side of your face is drooping. That’s why you’re slurring your words.’
‘I’m slurring?’
Rowena immediately went to lift a hand to touch her face, but Stacey stilled her arm and Rowena winced. Stacey immediately felt her ribs, gently checking to see if any of them were broken.
‘Does it hurt when you breathe in?’
Rowena tried for a deep breath and immediately winced in pain. ‘What is it? What’s wrong with me?’ The paramedics were securing Trev to the stretcher and Rowena’s gaze followed her husband’s supine form. ‘Oh, why did this happen? Why?’
‘Can you remember what did happen?’ Stacey prompted again.
‘I heard Trev yelling and I looked over and it was as though he was on fire—but only for a moment, and then he just dropped and…and…started rolling and yelling and…and…he was moving at an odd angle and it was all blurry and then I crawled over and you told me to get back.’
‘Do you remember falling down?’
Stacey also thought back to that moment when the world around her had seemed to slow down. Where had Rowena been? Stacey looked over to where two folding chairs were still on the ground, unpacked. They were the new kind of folding chair, with firm metal rods for stabilisation. Had Rowena landed on the folded-up chairs? Had she stumbled or been thrown backwards slightly, and ended up breaking a rib and possibly damaging a nerve in her face? Stacey could definitely remember seeing her lying down, so the scenario wasn’t completely absurd.
Trev was now securely strapped to the stretcher, his neck in a firm neck brace, an IV pole holding the saline drip up high, releasing life-giving fluid to a patient who still hadn’t regained consciousness.
‘Where are they taking him? I want to go with him,’ Rowena stated.
‘I need to finish checking you over,’ Stacey told her as she took Rowena’s pulse, knowing the woman’s elevated reading might well be due to the fact that she was highly concerned about her husband.
‘But I can walk. I can move. I can stand.’ As though to prove it, Rowena tried to get to her feet but instantly wobbled.
Stacey put out a hand to steady her. ‘Perhaps just stay still for a moment and let us get organised.’ Stacey beckoned to one of the paramedics, who instantly came over, his own emergency medical kit on his back. ‘This is Rowena,’ she told the paramedic, whose green jumpsuit declared his surname was Wantanebe. ‘Suspected L3 L4 fracture, possible damaged facial nerve. Neck brace, Penthrane green whistle, then stabilise and stretcher.’
‘Yes, Doctor.’
‘Pass me a stethoscope, please?’ She held out her hand and had the instrument immediately provided for her.
She was listening to Rowena’s breathing when Pierce came over, Trev now being secure in the ambulance.
‘How are things going?’ he asked as he knelt down beside Stacey, the stethoscope from her own kit still slung around his neck.
‘Breathing is a little raspy on the left due to possible rib fracture.’
‘How’s my Trev?’ Rowena asked anxiously.
Pierce smiled warmly at her. ‘I’m pleased to announce he regained consciousness a moment after we’d secured him in the ambulance.’
This news definitely seemed to calm Rowena down. ‘That’s good, right? That’s good, yeah?’
‘It is good news,’ Pierce confirmed as he pulled on a fresh pair of gloves and reached for a bandage. ‘Let’s get you stabilised and into the other ambulance. Is there someone who can come and be with your boys?’ he asked.
It was only then that Rowena even seemed to remember her children, and Stacey was thankful the paramedic had already secured a neck brace in place, otherwise Rowena might have done some damage with the way she tried to whip her head around.
‘Jeremiah and Lucas? Where are they? Oh, how could I have forgotten them?’
‘They’re fine.’ Stacey needed to calm Rowena immediately. ‘Our friend Samantha is looking after them. Just over there. On the rug under the big eucalyptus.’
She pointed to where Samantha seemed to be surrounded by several children, including Rowena’s boys, George and Lydia, Nell, and thankfully Jasmine, too. Stacey wasn’t sure when her sister had returned to the rug but she was relieved to see her there.
‘They’re all right? They didn’t get hurt?’
‘They’re both fine. Do you want them to come in the ambulance with you?’
‘Yes, and I’ll…I’ll call my neigh
bour to come and get them from the hospital.’
‘That sounds like a wonderful plan,’ Pierce told her, his deep voice sounding like a comfortable blanket.
Rowena seemed more capable of relaxing now, and even managed a small lopsided smile in his direction. What was it about this man that seemed to cause women to relax and melt? Was it the sound of his rich baritone? Was it the comfort in his gaze? Was it the tug of his lips into a reassuring smile?
As they managed to settle Rowena onto a stretcher and get her and her boys installed in the ambulance Stacey felt the beginnings of fatigue starting to set in.
‘You’re not coming with us?’ Rowena asked, looking at Stacey from the stretcher.
‘We’ll meet you at the hospital,’ Stacey consoled her. ‘You’re in good hands.’ With a warm smile, she waited while Pierce closed the rear doors of the ambulance, then stepped away from the road, able finally to turn her attention to her own situation.
Why had Jasmine been so scared? Was Nell really OK? Were George and Lydia traumatised? Had Samantha coped all right?
She turned around, expecting to find Pierce next to her, but instead he was already heading over to where Nell was sitting on the picnic rug, still looking completely dazed. He carried her emergency kit on his back and the instant he reached Nell’s side he knelt down and opened the bag.
‘Let’s take a closer look at your ankle,’ he told her, brushing some hair from his sister’s eyes.
‘What happened? Why was there a fire?’
‘She’s been asking the same questions over and over,’ Samantha volunteered as Stacey knelt down next to Pierce.
‘She does that when she’s upset. Even if you give her the answer it’s too much for her to process.’ Pierce gave his sister a hug. ‘It’s OK, Nell. Pierce is here. Pierce will look after you.’
‘Always?’ Nell’s voice was soft, small and very little. It was as though the child within her was all that was available, and it showed just how vulnerable Nell really was when her world was unbalanced from its axis.
Stacey watched as Pierce smiled brightly at his sister. ‘Always.’
She understood the bond between brother and sister and she was incredibly proud to see it. He was an honourable man who understood the importance of family. As she watched him tenderly review Nell’s ankle, re-bandaging it and then scooping her up and carrying her to his car, Stacey felt her heart fill with a quiet, unassuming love. She wanted this man in her life. No. She needed Pierce in her life. She loved him with all her heart and she never wanted him to leave her.