‘Oh, no!’ she cried in horror. ‘Don’t let it be ours…please!’
The area where it had come down wasn’t far from where Kyle had gone to the house fire, and dread had Hannah in its grip. There would be four of them on board, all of them dedicated to saving life wherever possible. Jack and his copilot, the paramedic…and Kyle. Who would be there to save theirs if it was the Eurocopter that had come down?
Instinct told her to turn around and go to where the crash had taken place, but that would be leaving a critically injured motorist at risk and she couldn’t do that. Kyle wouldn’t want her to in any case.
So she drove on, fear making her blood run cold. If anything had happened to him she would want to die, too, but that wouldn’t do, would it?
She’d told Kyle that she would marry him because of something like this happening. So that Ben would never be left an orphan.
But deep down she knew she should have told him the real reason. That she loved him utterly and completely. He might have taken more notice of that.
The motorist was elderly and of an age when he shouldn’t have been driving, a fact that would have been brought home to him had he been conscious.
He had careered off the road and onto the pavement, hitting a tree in the process. Fortunately there had been no other vehicles involved or injuries to pedestrians, but the driver himself was in a serious condition, due to his age and the force with which he’d struck the tree.
Severe facial and chest injuries were the main concern, and because of that he was having difficulty breathing. Hannah inserted a tube into his lungs to help his breathing and gave him an injection to reduce the pain just as the ambulance arrived.
‘We could have done with the helicopter here,’ she told the crew as they stretchered the pensioner into the ambulance, ‘but it’s out on another call. Or at least it was. I’ve just heard on my radio that a helicopter has crashed.’
‘It won’t be Jack,’ one of the ambulance crew said. ‘That guy could fly a chopper in his sleep.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ she said soberly.
After she’d radioed ahead to Accident and Emergency at the nearest hospital, Hannah made her way towards base with mouth dry and heart thumping.
Every minute was like a lifetime until she heard a familiar roar up above. When she looked up it was there, the Eurocopter, flying back to base.
Kyle was safe. They all were. Theirs wasn’t the only helicopter in use in the city and the crash meant sorrow for someone, but thank goodness the staff of the emergency service weren’t involved.
In those moments she realised that worry over a loved one affected people in different ways. In Kyle’s case it had erupted in frustrated anger and she should have made allowances for it.
It was strange that only twenty-four hours later she’d had to face up to the same dreadful kind of anxiety. They should both be grateful that the fates had been kind to them, and when she saw him next she would tell him that she understood.
When she got back to the operations room there wasn’t a doctor in sight. Charles had been called out while she’d been out and as yet there was no sign of the helicopter and its occupants.
She was chatting to the operations officer with a mug of hot tea in her hand when they came striding in with Kyle at the forefront.
He came straight across and, observing her blotched face, said, ‘What’s wrong? You’ve been crying.’
‘Today it was my turn to be involved in a nightmare,’ she said contritely. ‘I heard on the radio that a helicopter had crashed in the area where you’d gone and I thought that…’ Her voice faltered as the horror of it came back.
He said gently, ‘You thought that it was us.’
‘Yes, I did, and, Kyle…’
‘Hmm?’
‘I’m sorry that I was so insensitive to your anxiety yesterday. I guess that we all have different ways of shedding tension.’
‘You with tears and me blowing my top?’
‘Something like that.’
‘So we’re friends again?’
‘Yes.’
He was smiling. ‘Good. Let’s hope the truce lasts a bit longer this time…and by the way, having actually seen the crash and realised that any survivors might need our services more than the call we’d gone out on, I radioed Charles to go to the house fire emergency while Jack landed us beside the wreck of the chopper. It belonged to a wealthy businessman who was on his way to an appointment. Both he and his secretary were killed. The pilot was the only survivor and I was able to treat him on the spot for heart failure and burns.’
‘Burns?’
‘Yes, the cabin was on fire.’
She shuddered. ‘You didn’t…?’
‘We were the first on the scene, before the fire brigade or the ambulance, so what do you think?’
‘You went inside.’
‘It was just a matter of seconds to drag him out. We could see that it was too late for the other two.’
‘And I suppose that as you’re in charge of the outfit it was all right for you to do that.’
He was smiling. ‘Point taken. And now if there’s any tea going I wouldn’t mind having some. Going into burning helicopters is thirsty work.’ Hannah shuddered again. ‘Don’t worry. It was only a matter of minutes before the fire brigade arrived.’
‘Don’t make light of it,’ she said raggedly. ‘I was so relieved when I knew that it wasn’t the Eurocopter that had crashed, but now you’re bringing all the horror of it back by telling me about the risks you took.’
‘So you care enough to be worried about me?’ Kyle asked in a low voice.
‘Of course I do!’ she said levelly, and if he was expecting anything more personal in front of Jack and the paramedic he was in for a disappointment.
‘I worry about everyone on the fast response teams,’ she went on. ‘It’s dangerous work, very dangerous sometimes. Yet I’ve never heard any of the regulars say they want to quit.’
‘That’s so,’ he agreed, ‘but with regard to the likes of yourself, the ships that pass in the night, I believe you have an interview in Manchester next week. Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I didn’t think you’d be interested.’
‘Thanks a bunch,’ he said sarcastically. ‘By the time you go we will have worked together for almost six months and you don’t think I’m bothered where you go from here.’
‘That’s right.’
He ignored that.
‘Why aren’t you trying to get a placement in London? Is it because you don’t want to be near me? That having been thrown into my company here, whether you liked it or not, you now want to put as big a distance as you can between us?’
‘The interview in Manchester is just one of a few,’ she told him, ‘and you can hardly say that you’ll be weeping on my shoulder when I go. So why all the fuss?’
‘I’m not fussing,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m just trying to see into your mind.’
‘Don’t bother, Kyle. You might see things there that you don’t want to know about.’
‘I would be the judge of that.’
‘Like you passed judgement on me long ago?’
‘I have no answer to that,’ he said. Unzipping the front of his surgical suit, he made his way to the locker room.
CHAPTER TEN
WHEN Kyle and Ben called for her on Saturday afternoon Hannah’s spirits rose.
She’d been longing to see the child again and now he was here, eyeing her shyly and looking just a little bit too scrubbed and clean.
‘Hello, Ben,’ she said softly. ‘It’s lovely to see you again.’
He was smiling now. ‘We’ve just been to buy a new bike, Hannah…without stabilisers.’
‘Great,’ she enthused, feeling that Kyle might have thought that at seven years old Ben wouldn’t need them. ‘When your dad buys this new house that he’s looking for, he’ll have to make sure that there’s plenty of room for you to ride your bike, won’t he?’
> He nodded gravely. ‘Yes, I’d like that, but I won’t know anyone in London, will I, Hannah?’
She agreed with him on that, but wasn’t going to voice her reservations.
‘You’ll soon make friends,’ she said gently, ‘and wherever I’m working I’ll come to see you.’
‘Yes, but you won’t be there to take me to school and give me my breakfast.’
Kyle’s expression was just as grave as his son’s and Hannah was glad that he wasn’t going to answer Ben’s questions with assumed heartiness.
‘I’ll be there,’ he said, ‘or the nice housekeeper that I’m going to find for us.’
You could have had me! Hannah’s rebellious blue gaze said, but just as he read the message in her glance so she understood that his bland regard was his way of telling her that the idea had been considered and discarded.
Don’t let Kyle put you off, she told herself. Forget everything else and enjoy the time with Ben. Maybe they won’t find a house today, and the longer it is before they do, the less Ben will worry about it.
Kyle had picked up a stack of brochures, but the only one he was interested in was a big family-type house backing onto Wimbledon Common.
‘It’s a bit big for just the two of you, isn’t it?’ Hannah questioned when they pulled up in front of a gabled house with the spacious dignity of a bygone age.
The bland expression was still in place as he said easily, ‘Better too big than too small. Just forget the size of it, Hannah, and tell me what you think.’
‘It’s lovely,’ she breathed. ‘Ben would have a super time in those huge gardens. To someone like myself who hasn’t had a proper home in years, a place like this is paradise.’
‘And that’s before you’ve been inside,’ he said whimsically as the estate agent came bustling out to meet them.
As they went from room to room Hannah’s spirits dropped lower and lower. What was she doing here? Inflicting punishment upon herself? And why had Kyle asked her to come? He’d already said that a housekeeper was going to rule the roost.
The master bedroom, decorated in the palest of creams and gold, was the room that she was least anxious to see and when the agent turned to Kyle and said with a look in her direction, ‘I’m sure that you and your wife will agree this is a truly beautiful room.’ Hannah went out onto the landing, deciding that if the man thought her rude it was just too bad.
On the way home, with Ben beside her in the back seat of the hire car, Hannah put the blues to one side and gave her full attention to the little boy who had forgotten his earlier worries and was chattering excitedly about the new house.
Kyle hadn’t made any further comments regarding it and she wasn’t going to ask, but there had been a sense of purpose about him all the time they’d been viewing that had told her his mind was already made up.
‘Let’s go and find something to eat, shall we?’ he said, breaking into her thoughts. And with Ben chirping his agreement, Hannah prepared to enjoy what time was left with the two people she loved the most.
It was the Wednesday of the following week and Hannah’s interview in the great northern city was over. It had been clear that the position as a consultant in accident and emergency in a busy hospital in the centre of Manchester could be hers if she wanted it, but that was the trouble. Did she want it?
There had been no further comments from Kyle regarding the interview, but his earlier remarks were imprinted on her mind. Why wasn’t she looking for a position in London? he’d wanted to know. Was it because she didn’t want to be near him?
To be near him was all she’d ever asked for, but not under the conditions that prevailed at present. Yet as she strolled through the gardens in Piccadilly, beneath the lesser warmth of a late autumn sun, there was no enthusiasm in her.
All around were apartments. Expensive modern developments, many of them on the various waterfronts of the Manchester Ship Canal. They were impressive, and for those employed in the city a convenience not to be sneezed at. She supposed that it would be in one of these that she would live if she took the position.
But all the time in her mind’s eye she was seeing a house in Wimbledon with gracious rooms and gardens that would be like paradise to a small boy. Compared to that, a modern, red-brick apartment came a poor second.
As a tram, that was part of the city’s Metro Link system, glided to a stop beside her, en route for the railway station, she boarded it, having already decided that she didn’t want the job.
She would be out on a limb here in Manchester when her heart was somewhere else.
‘How did the interview go?’ were Kyle’s first words on Thursday morning.
‘Good. I think.’
‘So you might take it, if it’s offered?’
Hannah shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
His face lightened but his next remark was brusque.
‘Why?’
‘I’ve already worked in Manchester. I’d rather go to somewhere new.’
‘I see. So it’s wait-and-see time, is it?’
She smiled. ‘Yes, it is.’
‘About tomorrow night,’ he said, changing the subject, ‘I’m going to be out for most of the day and won’t be coming back here. The show starts at seven-thirty, so I’ll pick you up at your apartment at seven if that’s all right. Will it give you enough time after leaving here?’
‘Just about.’
‘Good. I’ll see you then.’
For the rest of the day Kyle’s step was light and he didn’t have to look far for the reason. Hannah wasn’t going to Manchester!
The thought that she might have interviews in other farflung places he put firmly to the back of his mind. The news was great, and as a fitting climax to a good week tomorrow they were going to the theatre.
For once he was determined to say the right thing and he was hoping that the right answer might be forthcoming. The fact that he was going to be embroiled in meetings for most of Friday was a minor inconvenience compared to what he had to look forward to in the evening.
This would be their first real date in years Hannah thought as Friday took its course, and she had a feeling deep down that it was going to be the most important one…ever.
The unit was quiet during the morning, but in the early afternoon, as was often the case, it began to hot up, with calls coming in all the time and the staff having to decide which should be given the priority of the helicopter.
None of them knew that the petite blonde doctor and their boss had an engagement for that evening, so it wasn’t surprising that when a call came in shortly before sunset they left Hannah to deal with it because she was the first doctor on call for the day.
Hannah glanced anxiously at the clock when the call came through. Normally she would be leaving in half an hour, but with the kind of emergency that had been reported there was no telling how long she would be, and as the others had all drifted off home she couldn’t ask for a favour.
Jack wasn’t too thrilled either as he also had plans for the evening, but with his usual good humour he was ready to lift off within minutes, once the fire crew had checked him over.
Kyle might still be in his meeting, she thought as she picked up a surgical kit. It would only take a second to warn him that she might be late. But when she rang through to headquarters she was told that he’d gone and would be somewhere on his way home at that moment.
There was no answer from his mobile when she tried to get through, and as the pilots were getting fidgety there was nothing else she could do but climb aboard and hope that he might see the Eurocopter in the sky and phone in to check on her whereabouts.
‘You don’t look very happy to be going out at this time,’ Jack said. ‘Have you got a hot date?’
‘Yes, I have,’ she said dismally, and wondered what he would say if he knew who with.
An American tourist, who had momentarily forgotten that the British drive on the opposite side of the road, had stepped off the pavement in the rush-hour
traffic and been knocked down.
At such a time of day it would have taken a long time to transport the victim to hospital by ambulance, so the helicopter emergency service had been called out.
In the crowded city centre it was difficult to find a place to land and the helicopter had to circle the area for a few minutes before a suitable spot could be found.
When Hannah eventually got to her patient she found an elderly woman lying at the side of the road, crying out in pain from what seemed to be a broken hip.
She’d been alone at the moment of impact but was now crying hysterically for her husband who was in their hotel room across the street, unaware of the accident.
A police constable had gone to locate him and a senior officer was talking to the car driver who, obviously in a state of shock, was insisting that she’d walked right into him.
Bystanders were agreeing with what he was saying and one of them said that the woman had been walking unsteadily before she’d stepped into the road.
Hannah was only half listening. The woman did smell of alcohol, but that wasn’t for her to concern herself about. It was her injuries that were her prime concern and at the moment, apart from a possible fracture of the femur, there were deep abrasions to the legs and ankles.
But an examination in a London street amongst the rush-hour traffic wasn’t the easiest place to ascertain the damage done, and the sooner the patient was airlifted to the nearest hospital the better.
The helicopter was two streets away and the police had to clear a path for them to get through with the stretcher, but eventually they were ready to take off and when Hannah checked her watch she saw that she might just about make it to the theatre in time if they got airborne now.
Jack was at the controls and she was ringing ahead with details of the victim’s injuries when the policeman appeared with the distraught husband.
He was in a terrible state and when she saw him his wife cried tearfully, ‘I’m all right, honey. It was the wine.’
Her reassurance fell on deaf ears. His lips had a bluish tinge and he was clutching at his chest as he slid down onto the pavement. The policeman tried to stop his fall, but he wasn’t in time and now he was kneeling beside the man as Hannah flung herself out of the helicopter.
Emergency Reunion Page 15