A Night to Remember

by Jennifer Taylor

  Seb’s heart began to pound. He knew immediately that the moment he’d been dreading had arrived. He didn’t say a word as she came towards him—he couldn’t. He felt like a condemned man about to meet his fate—completely powerless to stop what was happening. She stopped in front of him and his heart beat even faster when he saw the determination in her eyes. He knew then that nothing he said or did would stop her going through with it.

  ‘I’ve put this off for as long as I can, but I need to talk to you, Seb.’

  ‘Libby,’ he began desperately, even though he knew he was wasting his breath.

  ‘Don’t.’ She held up her hand and there were tears in her eyes. ‘There’s no point saying anything, Seb, because I’ve made up my mind. I want a divorce.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  LIBBY felt as though she could barely breathe. Even though she had been building up to this moment all day long, it was still a shock to hear herself say the words out loud. All of a sudden she was beset by panic. What if she was making a mistake? What if Seb agreed to the divorce and it wasn’t what she truly wanted?

  ‘It really isn’t the right time to talk about this, Libby.’

  Seb’s tone was harsh and she flinched. She could see how grim he looked as he got up and walked to the door. She knew that he was going to leave before she could say anything else and the thought of having to go through this all over again was more than she could stand.

  She hurried after him. ‘Wait! You can’t walk out on me like this. We need to talk…’

  ‘What is there to talk about?’ He swung round and her heart ached when she saw the hurt and the anger in his eyes. ‘You’ve just told me that you’ve made up your mind that you want a divorce, Libby. It doesn’t sound as though there’s much I can say to dissuade you.’

  She wasn’t sure what to say in her own defence and shrugged. ‘I don’t want you to dissuade me. I just want us to deal with this the best way we can.’

  ‘And so we shall. But not here and not now. OK?’

  He opened the door and this time she didn’t try to stop him leaving. There was no point. If she had made up her mind about the divorce then he had made up his mind that he wasn’t going to talk about it at the moment. Maybe he was right, too. There was a lot they needed to discuss and it would be better if they talked in private.

  She followed him out of Resus, uncomfortably aware that she’d made a complete mess of things. Cathy was coming out of the cubicles and she stopped when she saw them walking along the corridor.

  ‘I was just about to page you,’ she said to Seb. ‘There’s a patient I’d like you to see.’

  ‘Of course.’ Seb headed towards the cubicle then paused and glanced back. Libby shivered when she saw the chill in his eyes. ‘The rest of the team are taking a break so why don’t you join them? I’ll give you a shout if I need you again.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she murmured, refusing to let him see how painful it was to be treated that way. She sighed as he disappeared into the cubicle because how else did she expect him to treat her after what had just happened? They were no longer a couple, a pair, but two people poised on the brink of leading separate lives. Maybe they had been living apart for almost a year, but it would be vastly different after their divorce was finalised. Legally and morally they would be free of the bonds of marriage. It was what she’d wanted when she had set out that day yet the thought filled her with a sudden sense of dread. She couldn’t imagine ever being completely free of Seb.

  ‘He’s going to need dialysis to give his kidneys time to recover. Can you get onto the renal unit and see if they have a bed available? If they haven’t, he’ll need to be transferred to another hospital.’

  Seb left Cathy to make the arrangements and went to speak to the patient’s wife. Mike Buchanan was an engineer on the gas rig. He’d been injured when one of the metal supporting struts had fallen and trapped him beneath it. Although the X-rays had shown no sign of any fractures, there was extensive muscle damage. His right leg was badly swollen, his blood volume had fallen and there was a definite rise in the amount of urea and potassium in his blood. It was a classic case of crush syndrome and could prove fatal if Mike wasn’t treated quickly enough.

  Mrs Buchanan was in the relatives’ room. There was quite a crowd in there because a lot of family members had rushed to the hospital when news of the incident had been broadcast over the radio and television networks. Seb escorted her outside, seeing the dread on her face. She obviously feared the worst so he wasted no time in reassuring her.

  ‘Your husband is alive and we’re aiming to keep him that way,’ he said firmly, guiding her into an alcove so they could have some privacy.

  ‘Oh, thank God!’ Tears welled to her eyes and he patted her arm.

  ‘Mike isn’t completely out of the woods, though, I’m afraid. He suffered extensive muscle damage when he was trapped beneath a girder. That has led to a condition known as crush syndrome, whereby large amounts of protein pigments are released into the bloodstream from the damaged muscles and prevent the kidneys from functioning properly. He’s going to need dialysis until his kidneys recover so I’m trying to get him a bed in the renal unit here.’

  ‘But he’ll be all right after that?’

  ‘There’s a chance that his kidney’s might not recover fully but I’m hopeful that we’ve caught it in time.’ He smiled at her, doing his best to appear upbeat. ‘We just have to keep our fingers crossed for now.’

  Seb showed her to the cubicle so she could sit with her husband then went to see how Cathy had fared. Fortunately, the renal unit was able to offer them a bed so he signed off Mike Buchanan and left Cathy to organise the transfer. The queue in Reception had thinned dramatically so he hoped that they were nearing the end of the really busy period. There were bound to be more casualties brought in but with a bit of luck the worst might be over.

  The thought had barely crossed his mind when Gary came chasing after him. Seb groaned. ‘What’s happened now?’

  ‘One of the search and rescue helicopters has crashed. There’s no more details yet but it came down on the outskirts of town. There were three crew on board plus another three guys who they’d rescued from the tanker.’

  ‘Let’s just hope it hasn’t hit any of the houses,’ he said fervently, heading straight to Resus. Marilyn was already there and Jayne, although there was no sign of Libby, unsurprisingly enough. He knew he’d been rather hard on her before but even though he’d guessed what had been coming, it had been a shock to hear her say the word divorce. It was a moment that would be forever imprinted on his mind, like their wedding day. He could recall everything that had happened on that day, too—how beautiful Libby had looked and how happy she’d sounded—and it was the worst kind of torment to compare the two events. It made him see how hard it must have been for her to tell him about her decision and he was instantly contrite. He’d had no right to treat her that way.

  ‘Anyone know where Libby has got to?’ he asked as casually as he could because he didn’t want his team to know how wretched he felt.

  ‘She’s left,’ Marilyn informed him cheerfully. She frowned when she saw the shock on his face. ‘Didn’t she tell you she was leaving?’

  ‘I…um…Yes, of course, she did. I just wasn’t sure if she’d already gone or not.’

  Seb turned away, making a great production of taking a fresh pair of gloves out of the dispenser to give himself time to think. Libby had left the hospital and every instinct was telling him to go after her and apologise for the way he had behaved, but how could he? He couldn’t desert his post because his marriage was on the rocks. He had to stay until this incident was over. And by that time, she could be miles away.

  He groaned under his breath. What a mess this was turning into!

  Libby leant forward and peered through the windscreen. Surely she should have seen a sign directing her towards the motorway by now?

  She slowed as she came to yet another junction and was forced to face the fact
that she was lost. She must have taken a wrong turning after she’d left the hospital and now she had no idea where she was heading—except that it was away from Seb.

  A sob caught in her throat but she forced it down. There was no point crying. The whole reason she’d decided to leave had been so she could stop herself getting upset. She and Seb needed to discuss their divorce calmly and rationally, and it was too much to expect that they could do that tonight. It would be better if she let him mull over her decision—he would realise then it was the only solution. They needed to cut their losses and move on, and hopefully he would come to understand that himself.

  The thought of him coming to terms with their divorce unsettled her so she hurriedly dismissed it. At the present moment she had a more pressing problem to worry about, namely in which direction she should be heading. She pulled over to the side of the road and checked her map. She was just trying to work out which way she should go when there was a deafening noise overhead. It sounded very much like a helicopter passing over her, although she had never known one to fly so low.

  Rolling down the window, she peered out and gasped in horror when she saw the helicopter just skim the tops of the trees near to where she was parked. It disappeared from view and a moment later there was a tremendous crash and the whole sky suddenly lit up.

  Libby’s hands were shaking as she started the car and pulled out onto the road. She couldn’t believe that another disaster had occurred tonight of all nights. She could see people running out of the houses that lined the road so she followed them and soon found herself on the edge of a playing field. The helicopter had crashed into some trees that bordered the field and it was now on fire. There was no way of knowing how many people had been on board but she could see several bodies lying on the ground.

  She parked her car and grabbed her medical bag out of the boot. A crowd was already gathering and she had to push her way through them. She ran over to the first of the casualties and knelt down beside him. He was unconscious but breathing so she placed him in the recovery position then called over one of the bystanders and asked her to stay with him. There was another man lying on the ground a few feet away so she ran over to him. A police car had arrived now so she quickly explained that she was a doctor when one of the officers came over to her then carried out a rapid examination, but there was nothing she could do for the man: he was dead.

  ‘There’s another guy over here, Doc. He’s one of the crew and he’s in a really bad way.’

  Libby snatched up her bag and followed the policeman to the edge of the woods. She could feel the heat that was coming off the helicopter as it burned and sincerely hoped there wasn’t anyone left inside. Kneeling on the ground, she took a quick look at the man and felt her heart sink when she saw the piece of metal that was sticking out of his side. He was conscious and obviously in a lot of pain, but he still managed to speak to her.

  ‘Have they got everyone out? I tried to land but the main rotor had packed up…’

  ‘Shh. Don’t worry about that now. Just lie still while I check you over.’

  She carefully examined the wound but it was impossible to tell how deeply the metal had embedded itself into his flesh. She glanced at the police officer and shook her head when she saw the question in his eyes. ‘I can’t do anything for him here. He needs to go to hospital. Are the ambulances on their way?’

  ‘I hope so, but it’s been a bit hectic tonight and there’s no way of knowing how long it will take them to get here.’

  Libby didn’t say anything as she opened her bag—she’d seen at first hand how stretched the emergency services had been. Her job now was to make the patient as comfortable as possible and hope that help would arrive sooner rather than later.

  She gave the pilot a shot of morphine to ease the pain then left him in the care of another of the onlookers. There were three more men to see and they had a variety of injuries ranging from fairly superficial cuts to extensive burns. She did what she could but she was very aware how little it was. What they really needed was someone with specialist skills to deal with their injuries, like Seb.

  Her heart bunched up inside her because it wasn’t just the casualties who needed Seb. She needed him, too, needed him there to reassure her that she was doing all she could to help these poor people. She also needed him because of who he was—the man she loved with all her heart—and it was a shock to face up to her true feelings when she had tried so hard to bury them.

  She still loved Seb and probably always would love him. It was living with him that had proved to be so difficult, or rather living without him. These past twelve months had been the worst time of her entire life and that was why she had decided to end their marriage. She couldn’t keep on living this way—neither really married nor single. Either Seb wanted her with him or he didn’t, and he’d made his choice when he had moved here and left her behind.

  Tears pricked her eyes but she had accepted the truth some time ago and nothing had changed. Seb didn’t want her any more and she mustn’t make the mistake of thinking that he would change his mind.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Saturday: 1 a.m.

  ‘THIS is Alistair Roberts—the pilot of the helicopter that crashed.’

  Libby rattled out the information as the stretcher was rushed into Resus. Seb did his best to follow what she was saying but it wasn’t easy. Having her reappear like this was the last thing he’d expected to happen. It took every scrap of will-power he could summon to keep his mind on the job.

  ‘How much pain relief has he had so far?’ he rapped out as the paramedics lined up the trolley beside the bed.

  ‘Ten milligrams of morphine administered just over half an hour ago,’ she explained crisply. ‘Plus another five milligrams on board the ambulance.’

  ‘Fine. Let’s give him another five milligrams before we move him onto the bed.’ He turned to the patient. ‘We’re going to get this over as quickly as possible, Alistair, but it’s still going to be uncomfortable, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I understand,’ the man muttered.

  Seb waited while Marilyn administered the drugs. The paramedics had placed the patient on his left side so that the shaft of metal wouldn’t be forced deeper into the abdominal cavity. However, he knew they would have to proceed with the utmost caution. Seb turned to his team, his gaze lingering on Libby before he forced himself to get a grip.

  ‘We need to be ultra-careful when we move him onto the bed. No sudden movements, guys—just nice and smoothly does it.’

  Everyone nodded, including Libby, but he didn’t allow himself to wonder if it meant that she intended to stay and help. It was up to her if she decided to stay, although if he’d had any choice in the matter, he wouldn’t have let her leave again…

  ‘Seb?’

  He jumped when Marilyn reminded him that everyone was waiting for his instructions. ‘On my count,’ he said firmly. ‘One, two, three.’

  They moved the patient onto the bed with the minimal amount of fuss. ‘I want a second line put in,’ Seb instructed. ‘And a urinary catheter, too.’

  He left the nursing staff to get on with their jobs while he concentrated on his own. He did a quick primary survey—airway, breathing, circulation—then checked the actual site of the injury. The metal spike had entered the body on the rear right-hand side, just above the right kidney. This type of wound was associated with injuries to the retroperitoneal organs—the colon as well as the kidney and the lumbar vessels. More rarely, it could cause damage to the pancreas, aorta and inferior vena cava, so his number-one priority was to find out what they were dealing with. Then, as soon as he was happy that the patient was stable, he would hand him over to the surgical team.

  He called Ben Robertson over and asked him to do the X-rays then put a call through to Theatre. Everything had to be done a step at a time, which could be frustrating. However, he’d learned by experience that it paid to be patient sometimes. Rushing in headlong often made a bad situation turn out
even worse.

  His gaze went to Libby, who was setting up a second intravenous line, and he sighed. He should have applied that dictum to his own life. If he’d stopped and considered the damage he’d be doing by taking this job, he might not be in this position.

  Libby moved out of the way while the radiologist set up his equipment. The X-ray machinery was mounted on ceiling tracks and all it took was a few touches of the various buttons to position it over the bed. Everyone moved out of the way while the films were taken and when they returned to their posts, she didn’t go with them. There was very little she could do now for the pilot. Once Seb had established the extent of his injuries and stabilised him, he would be rushed to Theatre. She was, in effect, surplus to requirements, yet for some reason she felt reluctant to leave and resume her journey home.

  It had been wrong of her to drive off like that, she admitted as she slipped out of the room. She should have waited until Seb had finished work then gone back to his house with him. They needed to sort things out and it would be better if they did it themselves rather than employ a third party. Once their solicitors became involved, the matter would be taken out of their hands, and she hated the thought of a group of strangers ending their marriage for them. She and Seb had made the decision to marry and they should be the ones who ended it.

  She made her way to the rest room. There was nobody in there so she had the place to herself for once. She filled the kettle then sat down and waited for it to boil. She felt bone-tired and depressed now that the adrenaline rush that had kept her going while she’d been helping the helicopter crew had disappeared. It was a feeling she remembered only too well from the time she’d spent working in Accident and Emergency after she’d qualified. It was one of the reasons why she’d decided to go into general practice, in fact. She’d hated the emotional ups and downs of the job, although Seb had thrived on it. He seemed to come into his own when he was under pressure and the thought made her feel more depressed than ever. No wonder they had drifted apart when they were such opposites.