One Night to Wed

by Alison Roberts

  'The truck's outside.' John directed his partner to fetch the required supplies. 'We've got a helicopter on standby on the other side of the bridge. Callum's father is there, too. I heard him trying to persuade someone to let him come back.'

  Fliss could understand the desperation. 'His brother is still missing. He was with Callum when he was injured.' She caught Ross Stringer's gaze again. 'Do you know anything about anyone else who's out there? Injured? Do I need to see anyone?'

  The detective inspector shook his head. 'Not as yet. We've got a fatality near the river mouth. Middle-aged man. There's another body being retrieved at sea. A couple of minor injuries reported from houses that have been cleared but they're being treated at the first-aid station. There's a lot of people not accounted for yet.' He shook his head. 'No reports of any young children found on their own.'

  John's partner was back with the bag of saline and Fliss moved to help prepare Callum for evacuation. Another complete set of vital sign measurements was taken and Fliss noted another slight drop in blood pressure. It was a relief to transfer her small patient to the stretcher, fluids running full bore, a fresh supply of oxygen and full batteries in the monitoring equipment.

  'They may be able to take two patients in the chopper,' John said. 'Who's next on the priority list?'

  'I've got two more who'll need evacuation to hospital as soon as possible,' Fliss responded, 'but I don't want Callum held up. The others could go by road.'

  'Status?'

  'Three. They're both in mild hypovolemic shock but stable. Roger has sustained an arterial injury to his arm and Maria, who's on the bed in the surgery, has a compound fractured femur and has just given birth.'

  John's jaw dropped. 'You've been busy!'

  'I had some help earlier.' Fliss lowered her voice as she tucked a blanket around Callum. 'Do you know what's happening outside, John? Is it really over?'

  'They wouldn't have let us across the bridge if it wasn't. It's been as frustrating as hell, waiting over there. Did you hear the shoot-out?'

  Fliss nodded.

  'They caught the gang members, who surrendered, but the other guy with the gun—Darren someone?'

  'Blythe. Darren Blythe.' Her nod was curt this time.

  Fliss was holding her breath as she waited for more information.

  'He got cornered, apparently. Did his best to shoot his way out and there's a rumour that one of the SERT members was hit, but then Darren turned the gun on himself when he realised he wasn't going to get away.'

  Fliss barely heard the last part of John's account.

  'Who was hit?'

  'Don't know. There's a few guys apparently not accounted for yet. It's a bit chaotic out there right now, with people trying to find each other and all the extra emergency service personnel coming in.' John picked up the handle at the end of the stretcher. 'Let's get going.'

  But the access to the door of the medical centre was blocked as more people arrived. Two were in police uniform. The third man was Bob Johnston, the father of the twins. He must have finally persuaded the authorities to let him in to find his son and the strain was still obvious. He seemed to have aged ten years since the last time Fliss had seen him.

  'Oh, my God! Is that Callum?' Bob dropped to his knees beside the head of the stretcher. 'Cal? It's OK, son. Dad's here.'

  Callum stirred. His eyes fluttered open. 'Dad?'

  Bob had tears running unheeded down his face. He stroked back the blond hair from his son's forehead. 'Mummy's waiting for you over the bridge, Cal. She can't wait to see you. Where's Cody?'

  But Callum's eyes closed again and his face folded into lines of distress. 'Hurts, Dad.

  'What hurts, buddy?' Bob waited only a heartbeat for the response that didn't come. His gaze flicked towards Fliss and she could feel his fear like a solid object. 'How bad is it?'

  'We're moving him now. He needs surgery, Bob. He's got a bullet wound in his abdomen and we think it clipped a rib and affected his breathing. He's lost a fair bit of blood.'

  'Oh... God!'

  'He's been relatively stable but what he really needs now is to get to hospital and a surgeon.' Fliss put her hand on Bob's shoulder. She couldn't comfort him by offering promises she had no way of keeping, but she had to say something more. 'You can go with him, Bob. It'll help if you're there.'

  Callum's father was struggling with tears again as he stood up and moved back to allow the stretcher to move. 'But where's Cody?' he asked hoarsely. 'How did Callum even get here?'

  'We don't know where Cody is yet.' Fliss nodded at John and his partner, who began to wheel the stretcher. 'It was Jack who saved Callum, though, I do know that.'

  'Jack?'

  Fliss nodded, her gaze unconsciously travelling to the shrouded figure close by.

  'You mean Jack Henley? The old codger with one arm who lives at the top of our road?'

  Fliss nodded again, sadly this time. Was that how Jack was going to be remembered? As a rather eccentric old-timer who spent too much time at the local pub?

  'My oldest customer,' Roger put in. 'Probably my best one.'

  Fliss found herself smiling. 'Mine, too.'

  'I did wonder why he wasn't down at the Hog tonight.'

  'He was sick,' Fliss told them. 'I was doing a home visit to Jack when this all started. We heard the shots and saw Callum hiding under the hedge but when I decided I had to get back to the surgery Jack insisted on going the more dangerous route so he could help Callum.'

  'He carried him? All the way here? How the hell did he manage that with one arm?' Bob was watching the stretcher carrying his son disappear through the narrow doorway.

  'He just did,' Fliss said quietly.

  'Is that what gave him the heart attack?' Roger asked soberly.

  'It wouldn't have helped,' Fliss said, 'but it might have happened anyway. Maybe we're just lucky he lasted long enough to save Callum.' She caught Bob's gaze as he turned back just before stepping through the door. 'And he did save Callum, Bob. There's no way he would have survived until now if Jack hadn't got him here.'

  'The man's a bloody hero,' Roger stated.

  John poked his head back through the door. 'We're ready to roll,' he informed Fliss. 'There's another ambulance coming for your other patients. We've got a doctor waiting at the chopper but do you want to come with Callum?'

  Detective Inspector Ross Stringer had been standing to one side over the last few minutes, alternately speaking to his partner and into his portable radio. He had clearly been keeping tabs on what was happening in the medical centre, however, because he spoke up before Fliss had time to respond to the paramedic's query.

  'We'll need a statement from you, Dr Slade, before you go anywhere.'

  'I'm not going anywhere just yet,' Fliss said. 'I'll stay here until we can evacuate Maria and Roger.'

  And Jack. How long would her old friend have to stay here until arrangements could be made? Long enough for the word of Jack's heroic last act to spread through the whole community perhaps? Would the people of Morriston gather at some point in the near future and honour the contribution Jack had made? Would they see past outward appearances and obvious vices to applaud the man he really had been?

  Blinking hard, Fliss focussed on the open door of the medical centre for a moment to collect herself. The ambulance carrying Callum and his father moved away and its headlights illuminated ,a group of people being shepherded from their homes by uniformed police. A woman—Mrs Carson, probably—was crying. Clutching the edges of a blanket draped around her shoulders to pull it more tightly around herself.

  Another knot of people was moving in the opposite direction. More uniforms and another civilian in their midst. A male, striding purposefully towards the medical centre.

  'Ben!'

  'Who's that?' Ross sounded suspicious. He moved to block the. entranceway.

  'He's the husband of my other patient, Maria.'

  'Ben!' Maria's cry could be heard all the way into the street.


  'Maria!' Ben wasn't about to be stopped, even by the broad, uniformed chest blocking the entrance. 'Let me in, man! That's my wife in there!'

  'He broke through the cordon on the north side,' one of the accompanying police officers told Ross. 'We only caught up with him down the end of this street and it seemed reasonable to let him check to see if his wife was here.'

  Ross muttered something about the operation turning into a circus but he stood back to allow Ben access and then ordered his companions back to their posts. Fliss followed Ben across the waiting room and into the surgery. Maria was smiling.. .and crying.

  Ben stopped just inside the door, taking in the astonishing sight of Maria—her leg in the long splint and her arms holding a now peacefully sleeping newborn baby.

  'It's a boy,' Maria told her husband shakily. 'We've got a son, Ben, and he's fine.'

  'Are you?' Ben strode towards the bed, reaching out carefully to cradle as much of Maria in his arms as he could. 'Are you fine, darling?'

  'I am now.' But Maria was still sobbing. 'It's been awful, Ben. I've been so worried about you and girls. Where are they? Are they safe?'

  'Of course. There's a very nice policewoman looking after them. I took the truck down to where they'd closed off the road and just waited, but when they still wouldn't let me in after they heard it was over, I came in anyway—on foot.' Ben grinned. 'I had to run fast. Just as well I'm so fit, isn't it?'

  'I have to go to the hospital, Ben.' Maria clung to her husband. 'Fliss says I need an operation on my leg. I'm... scared.'

  'I'll be there with you, darling. It'll be all right.' Ben's head swivelled so that he could see Fliss. 'It will be all right, won't it, Doc?'

  Fliss smiled. 'Yes.' The joy of seeing at least part of this family reunited added warmth to her tone. 'Maria needs the wound in her leg cleaned up properly and the bone damage will need sorting out by an orthopaedic specialist.'

  'How did it happen?'

  'I got shot.' The tension of the long night was still taking its toll on the young mother and she dissolved into tears again.

  'What, in here?' Ben sounded appalled and he looked around as though fearful someone else was present in the surgery who might try and harm his family.

  'It was down in the cemetery,' Fliss told him.

  'What?'

  'I saw him,' Maria said hoarsely. 'I was walking up from the shop when I heard the shooting and then I saw him.. .Darren, I think.. .running towards me. And there was someone else. I was trying to hide and I ran into the cemetery but they were shooting at each other.' Maria took a gasping breath. 'I thought they were going to kill me and it was so dark and I was too scared to call out and.. .and I couldn't move and...'

  'How did you get here?'

  'Angus found me. He carried me.'

  'Who the hell is Angus?'

  'He's a paramedic,' Fliss supplied. 'He works with the police in a specialist emergency response team. He's.. .an old friend of mine.'

  'More than a friend.' Maria took another shaky breath and sniffed hard, clearly trying to collect herself. 'I saw the way you two kept looking at each other when you thought nobody could see you.'

  Fliss was quite willing to give Maria some distraction from her own predicament for a moment or two.

  'Yes,' she said quietly. 'He was a lot more than a friend.'

  'Maybe some good will come out of all this,' Maria said. 'And you two can get back together.'

  The hope was too much to allow its gleam to chase away any more of the darkness. What if it came to nothing? If Fliss didn't allow herself to hope, she wouldn't have to cope with the devastation of it being in vain. Wouldn't have to pick herself up and make the effort of starting her life again. She'd been through all that too recently. And not all that successfully if the raw emotions she had experienced tonight were any indication.

  'Some good has already come out of it,' she responded. 'You've got a gorgeous, healthy baby.'

  They all looked at the infant as Ben took him in his arms and admired the newest addition to his family.

  'What will happen to him while I'm in hospital?' Maria asked anxiously.

  'I'll be there,' Ben said. 'I'll take care of him.'

  'But what about the girls?'

  'I reckon Mrs McKay would look after them for us.'

  'How long will I have to be in hospital, Fliss?'

  'I can't say. It will depend on what sort of damage they find. You're going to need a lot of help at home for a while, too.'

  Another ambulance crew was crowding into the small surgery now. Maria was transferred gently onto a stretcher.

  'Can my husband come with me in the ambulance? And my baby?'

  The ambulance officer turned to Fliss. 'Haven't you got another patient on the priority list?'

  'I can wait.'

  Fliss was amazed to turn and find Roger on his feet, his arm on the doorframe for support.

  'You stay with Maria, Ben,' he said. 'And don't worry about the girls. We'll see they're well looked after.'

  His reassurance didn't seem to be enough.

  'Wait!' Maria's command stopped the forward movement of her stretcher. 'I can't go just yet.'

  'Why not?'

  'I need to talk to Angus. To say thank you.'

  'Who's Angus?' The paramedic asked. 'And where is he?'

  Maria looked up at Fliss, waiting for her to explain, and Fliss almost smiled wearily. The paramedic had echoed a question she seemed to be hearing rather frequently tonight.

  Who was Angus?

  Only the man she loved with all her heart and soul. The man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. To share every possible moment they were lucky enough to have together.

  And right now she had no idea where he was. Or whether he was still safe. She had to find out and she could only do that once she had discharged her immediate responsibilities.

  Fliss cleared her throat. 'I'll find Angus,' she promised Maria. 'And I'll pass on your thanks.'

  And she would. It was the perfect opportunity to talk to him again when the tension of this night was well over. When there was no need for either of them to shy away from personal issues that might distract them from the jobs they needed to do.

  'You need to go now, Maria. And you need to go as soon as possible, Roger. You've both got wounds that need stitching from experts and you both need treatment for blood loss.' She turned back to the paramedic. 'We can fit everyone into your ambulance, yes?'

  'You coming with us, Dr Slade?'

  'We need a statement from you.' Ross Stringer was still standing just outside the medical centre.

  'Later,' Fliss told him. She wasn't going to be delayed if she could help it. The rescue base set-up in the domain on the other side of the bridge would be the most likely place to find Angus, wouldn't it? The SERT members probably had to meet for some kind of a debrief after an incident like this. There would be plenty of other pre-hospital emergency medical supplies and personnel available as well. Was that why the injured member of the squad had not been brought to the medical centre?

  'I have to go,' Fliss said firmly. 'I need to stay with my patients until they're transferred to the care of other medics.'

  'I'll come with you, then,' the detective said.

  'Someone needs to stay here.'

  'Oh?'

  Fliss looked over her shoulder, her glance an eloquent reminder that the surgery was not yet emptied of people.

  Ross looked resigned. 'Someone will stay.' He raised an eyebrow at Fliss. 'I'm getting the distinct impression that you're trying to avoid giving me that statement I need.'

  'I've just got other things on my mind right now. Like my patients.'

  And finding Angus.

  'Fair enough. Let's get them all sorted, then.'

  The ambulance was overcrowded and had to move very slowly on its short journey to the outskirts of Morriston, its wheels crunching through the shingle of the unsealed streets.

  Maria was on one stretcher, holding her
baby, and Roger was lying on the other stretcher. Fliss perched on the end and Ben sat up front with the driver. Ross and the other crew member were standing in the aisle, keeping their balance by hanging onto the rail designed for IV fluid clips.

  Fliss glanced through the square windows on the back doors as they pulled away. They were framing her small medical centre and she realised that she could see the outline of her cottage without the aid of artificial illumination. The inky cover that had cloaked Morriston and the horror of the longest night of her life was finally giving way to the first probing fingers of light from a new day.

  It was almost over.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The inhabitants of Morriston were gathered on the domain.

  Vehicles and tents providing bases for the emergency services covered much of the grassy area. The citizens of the small town were vastly outnumbered by rescue personnel and a huge contingent of media was now adding to the light, noise and general confusion.

  Angus McBride was inside the largest tent, which was serving as a mobile first-aid station. He had just seen the ambulance carrying young Callum arrive but had still been too out of breath to chase it when it had closed its doors a few seconds later, having collected a waiting doctor. He could still see the vehicle, its beacons flashing, as it made its way to the helicopter that waited, its rotors turning as it idled, on standby for a rapid take-off.

  Exhaustion was ebbing now. Chased away by a few minutes of rest and easily replaced by the burning desire to move again. To go back in the direction he had just come from. To go and find Fliss and make sure she was safe.

  'You OK, mate?'

  'A hell of a lot better now I've got some of that jungle juice on board.' Seth looked up at his colleague. 'I thought you were supposed to carry stuff like that for when we got mown down in the line of duty.'

  'I'd used it up on the woman with the broken leg, remember? Maria?'

  'Oh, yeah. You've done your bit carrying the wounded tonight, haven't you?'