by Lilian Darcy
It gave her the strength she needed, and she realised, I’m in love with him. Feels like it’s grown out of nowhere, but maybe it was always there in the background, even when I used to think I didn’t like him.
All it had taken was a few extra years of maturity in both of them.
What am I going to do? she thought. He doesn’t feel the same way. He wants an affair. If he wanted more, he wouldn’t shut me out of his relationship with Daniel the way he does.
The way he had done less than an hour ago, she remembered, when this drama had begun.
CHAPTER SEVEN
MAGGIE was chilled to the marrow of her bones.
Her black linen trousers were stained and wet from thigh to ankle, her shoulders were stiff, her neck ached and her fingers were so numb she could hardly move them enough to take Vince’s pulse. This IV bag was nearly empty, and she would have to replace it soon. If, through some further piece of disastrous luck, his cannula came out and she had to reinsert it, she doubted whether her hands could manage it.
Worst of all, she was alone with Vince and it was quite dark now. The ambulance had become bogged down in the mud, a couple of hundred yards down the track from this clearing, and the road-rescue vehicle behind it couldn’t get through. An attempt to tow the ambulance out of the mud using Ray’s truck had failed, and now they were awaiting a second ambulance and a powerful tow-truck.
Constant sounds came from the thickness of the forest, but she had given up trying to interpret them. Had they freed the ambulance after all? Had the tow-truck arrived? Surely it was too soon! What was the time now? Maggie glanced at her wrist, but the darkness in the forest was dense and she couldn’t see her watch any more.
She spoke some reassuring words to Vince and was relieved to hear his mumbled response. His body temperature had dropped another half a degree, despite her best efforts to keep him warm, and his pulse was thready. His body couldn’t take much more of this.
Figures resolved out of the darkness at last. She heard Will’s voice, shouting as soon as he thought he’d be heard. ‘Maggie and Vince, we’re here. We’re bringing equipment from the other vehicles.’ He reached her, breathless, with Ray, the paramedics and road-rescue crew close behind him. ‘Vince, we’re going to get you out of here on a stretcher to meet the incoming ambulance.’
‘You think you can lift this without equipment?’ Maggie asked in a low voice.
She stood shakily, and Will’s voice dropped, too, as he drew her aside. ‘We’ll try. Lord, your hands are like ice!’
Her teeth began to chatter. It was a reaction she’d managed to keep in check before, for Vince’s sake, but suddenly she no longer had the control. ‘I’m f-fine.’
‘You’re not.’ He touched her. The backs of his fingers tested her icy cheek. His arm dropped around her shoulders then slid down her back. ‘I can feel how you’re shaking. You need to get yourself warm somehow.’
‘You must be cold, too.’
‘Not after trying to push that ambulance out!’
‘Will, I have to give these guys a status report.’
‘OK, do that,’ he agreed, ‘and then you’re going to sit in the back of the ambulance while we handle things here.’
Maggie shook her head stubbornly. ‘No. Not when I’m needed.’
She pulled free of his concerned, exploring touch and stumped on stiff legs back to the paramedics, who were leaning over Vince. She reeled off the data on his condition, her lips thick and clumsy with cold. The road-rescue crew was assessing the position and length of the tree-trunk, and she saw a MAST suit, stretcher, ECG machine and oxygen kit sitting on a plastic tarpaulin on the ground.
Behind her, Ray started up his chain-saw, which kicked and vibrated raucously in his hands. Turning, she found that he’d started to slice off the tree’s upper branches to lessen its weight.
‘Six of us,’ she heard one of the road-rescue crew say. ‘We can do it, I think. Just.’
‘Seven,’ Maggie put in.
‘No, you and Tara are staying with the patient,’ the man told her.
It made sense, and was simply a question of male strength versus female. She conceded the fact with a nod.
‘You’re the boss now, Tara,’ Maggie told the paramedic, recognising another of her own patients. Trim and fit and around her own age, Tara Baxter had been in her office twice during the past year or so for routine matters.
‘You’ve got him in great shape, Maggie,’ Tara said.
‘We did what we could, Will and I.’
The men got all the necessary equipment positioned and talked through the plan, their breath pluming in the cold evening air. There were two alternatives, depending on whether the men could pivot the tree-trunk or whether they’d have to move the patient instead.
‘Moving him…I don’t know,’ Tara muttered to Maggie. ‘I want to get the MAST suit onto his lower legs before we can lift. If we have to log-roll him onto the stretcher before we pressurise the suit…How long are these guys going to be able to hold up the trunk?’
‘I don’t know,’ Maggie got out. Her jaw felt like it was wired shut with the cold.
‘OK, lifting slowly on three,’ yelled one of the road-rescue crew. ‘And one, two, three.’
Tara talked in a mutter as she and Maggie worked. ‘All right, now, suit up.’
‘He’s bleeding,’ Will yelled. His face was tight and hard with the effort of lifting.
‘Pressure bandage,’ Maggie said.
‘No.’ Tara shook her head urgently. ‘Let the suit do it. Don’t waste time, or we’ll lose him.’
‘Lord, yes!’ Maggie saw the moment when Vince Licari blacked out as his system went into shock and his blood pressure plunged.
‘Can’t hold this,’ the male paramedic said. All of the men were straining with the huge weight they had levered up.
‘We can pivot,’ Will yelled again. ‘Feel it, it’s moving laterally. Go, go, go! Duck, Maggie. Tara, get down!’
The heavy trunk slowly passed over their heads, then someone shouted, ‘Lower on three!’
They almost dropped it the final foot, the crash of the wood muffled by the mushy carpet of leaves.
‘Inflating the suit,’ Tara said. ‘Let’s roll him.’
‘Watch the IV,’ Maggie rasped, and Tara nodded.
‘On three,’ she said. ‘How’s his pulse?’
Maggie touched Vince’s neck and gave a quick assessment. ‘Thready and fast.’
‘IV intact?’
‘Yes.’
‘OK, we’re there.’
‘Blood pressure’s climbing.’
Vince groaned and mumbled, in a state of semi-consciousness.
‘Let’s get those blankets back in place and get him to the vehicle till our replacement crew arrives,’ Tara said. The temperature was dropping further every minute. Even the men, who’d been working hard, were stomping their feet and shoving their hands into their pockets to keep warm.
‘Great work, Tara,’ Maggie said.
‘Yeah?’ The paramedic gave a rueful half-smile and looked away. ‘Needed to be, to make up for my earlier stuff-up with the vehicle. I misjudged that mud, and got us stuck. Even a few feet to the side, we’d have been all right.’
There was a moment of awkward silence, then the road-rescue crew leader put his beefy hands together in a slow clap and said, ‘Good work, everybody. Now, we’ve got one vehicle stuck and two more that can’t get out. Let’s get the patient out of here and the equipment packed away so we can all get finished with this as soon as possible.’
Will came up to Maggie, flexing and rubbing his ungloved hands as if the rough bark of the tree had grazed them as he’d lifted. ‘Maggie, I’m going to carry some of the equipment back. Go sit in my car till we can get you home.’
‘No, I’m carrying the IV bag.’
He opened his mouth as if to argue, then shook his head. ‘OK. Your turn later.’
‘I’m fine,’ she insisted, recognising his words a
s a threat to take care of her whether she liked it or not.
She liked it, of course. Couldn’t even manage to regret the loss of her independent spirit. When he reached out a roughened palm to touch it to her cold cheek once more, she lifted her face to meet the gesture and closed her eyes like a sleepy cat beneath a welcomed caress.
‘Good girl,’ he whispered.
The second ambulance could be heard as they skirted the first stranded vehicle and the blocked-off road-rescue truck with their patient. Vince’s condition was still critical, but he was strong and fit, with the resources necessary to pull through. He had weathered the dangers of blood loss, temperature drop and shock, and the ambulance crew would work over him intensively on the journey down to Wayans Falls Hospital. His leg would remain temporarily splinted until his condition was stable and satisfactory enough to let the orthopaedic surgeons get to work.
The departing ambulance passed the approaching tow-truck a little farther down the track. Tara took the wheel of the stricken vehicle, insisting, ‘I got this baby stuck, so I’m going to get her out again. Never save my reputation if I don’t.’
Everyone watched as she stubbornly proved her point, assisting the tow-truck with her own engine power at the critical moments to free the mud-bound wheels and heavy chassis. Meanwhile, her partner took a quick look at Ray, then told Will gruffly, ‘He won’t come with us, although I would have liked to get him checked out properly. You’ll see to him and get him home?’
‘Of course.’
‘You can wash this vehicle when we get back to the station, Tara,’ the man then threatened his partner, half grim, half teasing, as he climbed into the vehicle.
‘Yeah, to conceal the evidence,’ Maggie heard from the driver’s seat.
Poor Tara. She’d made a mistake which could have had graver consequences than it had, and she wouldn’t be allowed to forget it. From Tara’s own attitude, it seemed as if she might be the least forgiving judge of all.
Maggie watched the departure of the vehicle, then heard Will say, ‘You OK, Ray?’
‘Sure.’ He nodded, then gulped back a sob. Maggie saw that he was shaking as well.
Cold, or delayed reaction? He’d been absorbed in practical tasks until now, and had seemed to need the activity. Without this distraction, he suddenly lost his strength and focus. Maggie and Will both interpreted his slowly softening knees correctly, and lunged forward in unison to grab him by the elbows and give him some support.
‘I think you should have made use of that muddy ambulance, Ray,’ Will said. ‘Since you didn’t, we need to get you home.’
‘I’ve got to go and see Gina.’
‘Vince’s wife?’
‘Yes. She didn’t want us to come up here on our own. She’s going to be spitting mad.’
‘She’s on her way to the hospital,’ Will said. ‘Talk to her tomorrow. We’ll run you home so you can get some TLC from your own better half.’
‘Did someone tell her, then?’ he asked vaguely.
‘Yes, Marilyn at our practice got onto both Gina and Helen, and Ambulance Dispatch let us know what they were doing. Helen’s waiting for you at home.’
‘Yeah…OK,’ Ray said, and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. They shook and clinked in his hand.
‘No,’ Will said, taking them from him. ‘We’re leaving your truck here overnight, buddy.’ He looked across at Maggie. ‘Of the three of us, I’m the only one who’s fit to drive.’
Will had the car’s heater on full blast the whole way down the terrifying trail, which had been made even rougher by the passage of the heavy emergency vehicles and the tow-truck. Maggie was still cold. Even after Will had dropped Ray at home, seen him safely inside and quickly assessed that he was suffering from nothing more serious than a delayed emotional reaction and a grazed hand, her fingers still felt half-numb and her limbs remained creaky and stiff.
‘You’ve missed my driveway,’ she observed weakly as they headed north from Cromer’s Landing once more. Darkness had fallen long ago, and it was past eight o’clock.
‘Do you have soup at home?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘I do. Some kind of angel left about six cans of it in my pantry a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t used them yet.’ He grinned at her. ‘I’ll run you a bath and you can lie in it while I heat up the soup. Daniel will be in bed already—’
‘I don’t mind if he’s not. I’d love to see him and give him a hug, Will.’
He ignored this, and continued, ‘So it won’t take me long. Cream of chicken maybe, or a rich, thick lentil and vegetable.’
‘You’re seducing me with a bath and canned soup?’ she teased, dropping the issue of Daniel. For the moment, at least.
He laughed. ‘Yes. Will it work?’
‘I expect so. I think you could probably seduce me with tepid tap water.’
‘Or smelly socks? I’ve got those, I think.’
‘So have I!’
Will turned into his long driveway and wound along its three gravelled bends to the lake-front house. Daniel’s nanny, Sonia, a bouncy, blonde, twenty-year-old community college student, met them at the door and reported softly, ‘He just went down. He’s been a little fussy this past half-hour, but I couldn’t get from him what was wrong. Missing you, maybe? He might still just be awake if you want to go in.’
‘Thanks for staying, Sonia,’ Will said. ‘I appreciate it.’
She smiled. ‘My boyfriend has a late class tonight, so it was fine. And Daniel’s so adorable. He was, like, this naughty…’ she held her thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart ‘…for about ten minutes just after he ate, when he didn’t want to get into his jammies.’
‘I’ll go kiss him.’ He didn’t invite Maggie to come with him but, then, she hadn’t expected him to.
‘Goodnight, then.’ Sonia smiled at Maggie. ‘Goodnight, Dr Lawless.’
Will disappeared upstairs and Maggie heard the sound of the bath running.
It was an intimate act, somehow, to run another person’s bath. Especially when you’d just been talking about soup and seduction in the car. She shivered, and for the first time in two hours it wasn’t about feeling cold. She was too rest-less—too impatient—to sit down. If Daniel was already asleep, Will wouldn’t be long. Then, over the sound of the bath upstairs, she heard the little boy fretting and crying, while Will attempted to soothe him without success.
Envisaging an overflowing tub by this time, she went up. Will met her at the top of the landing.
‘I’m sorry. Something’s not right.’ He was frowning, and the hot light of teasing anticipation was gone from his eyes. ‘He won’t let me take out his teeth.’
‘Oh, OK.’ Maggie masked the little jolt of shock she felt. Daniel was such a normal, endearing little boy that she frequently forgot about this aspect of his genetic problem. That cheeky little mouthful of white teeth was false, and they came out each night for cleaning.
‘Can you come and help?’ Will asked.
He sounded stiff and reluctant, and she answered quickly, ‘Of course. What shall I—?’
‘Hell, the tub!’ He ducked into the bathroom and shut off the water. Emerging again, he looked harassed. ‘Just in time.’
His hair was sticking up. It had grown since his initial visit here in August and he hadn’t found time to get it cut. Maggie itched to smooth the thick, silky tufts back into place with her fingers.
You don’t have to ask for my help as if it’s a huge favour, she wanted to say. He’s a little child. It’s the most natural thing in the world for both of us to respond to his needs. Please, let me be a part of his life, or I can never truly be a part of yours…
It sounded so easy inside her head, but she knew it wouldn’t come out that way if she tried to say it.
Will was still frowning.
‘I forgot to remind Sonia about taking out his teeth,’ he said. ‘She hasn’t looked after him at night before. But I’m not sure why he won’t let
me do it now. Doesn’t normally object. Is he just overtired?’ He was speaking more to himself to her, then he added, more firmly, ‘If you could sit him on your lap, I can try and coax him to open his mouth. At the moment, he’s just struggling and crying. If we get his teeth out and he’s still making a fuss, I’m going to get my auroscope and check his ears. I’m really sorry about this.’
‘Please, stop saying that.’
‘Yeah…’ he muttered vaguely, then turned back through the bedroom door.
There was a white wooden glider rocker in the little boy’s room, with a blue cushioned seat. Maggie sat down and Will nestled Daniel into her arms. ‘Daddy wants to see what’s wrong, little guy,’ he said, gently cheerful.
Daniel was warm from his bed, a delicious little morsel of humanity. A writhing morsel of humanity at the moment. Maggie said, ‘Sh.’ She wrapped her arms tightly around him, the way she told mothers and fathers to do when she had to check a toddler’s throat or give a needle.
This was different, though. This wasn’t a patient. This was Will’s child, whom she desperately wanted to take into her heart if Will would only give her the chance. She felt a sudden rush of painful tenderness, and pressed her cheek to the little boy’s fine and almost transparent fuzz of white hair.
‘Let Daddy help you, Daniel,’ she told him softly. ‘Daddy can make it better. Let me help, too.’ She was speaking as much to the father as to the child.
At last Will was able to prise his son’s resistant mouth open and take out the set of specially crafted teeth. Daniel breathed in, gasped suddenly, then spat something into Will’s hand. It was a silver dime.
‘This?’ Will exclaimed, horrified. ‘You put this in your mouth?’
The little boy nodded, his eyes huge and his mouth serious and closed.
‘And it got stuck, right? Between your teeth and your gums?’ Daniel had a little fist pressed to his right cheek. ‘And it hurts?’
Daniel nodded again.
‘Oh, Will!’ Maggie said, both distressed and relieved. She blinked back tears. ‘If he’d choked on that coin…!’