His Diamond Like No Other (Mills & Boon Medical)

by Lucy Clark

  ‘I believe it was about four months after she’d come to see me about wanting me to terminate her pregnancy.’ She stared down at her hands, surprised to find them quite relaxed. Usually when she spoke about Daina her hands would be clenched tightly together, but not this time. Was it because she knew that, whatever she said, Sean would accept her words as truth?

  ‘She turned up on my doorstep in Melbourne, no baby in tow. Figure back to perfection. She said she was flying overseas the next day and just needed to stay for the night. She was more than happy to show me one or two pictures of Spencer, to rub in the fact that she still had everything. She was married and she had a baby and I was still her weird freak of a sister, who would always be alone. That was the first I knew of Spencer’s name and his birth date. She said he was still in hospital and she didn’t have time to sit and wait around. That she’d met a modelling producer and he wanted to do a professional photographic session with her in Bali. She left early the next morning and I heard nothing else until two days before her funeral, and even then it was quite by accident.’

  Jane shook her head. ‘I found out my sister had died because I bumped into a friend of hers. She was distraught, calling me unfeeling and ungracious, especially after everything Daina had done for me. I had no idea what she was going on about until she told me Daina had been killed in a car accident.’

  ‘Jane.’ Sean looked to her, a worried frown on his brow. ‘I’m sorry. I would have told you but I had no idea where you lived or how to contact you or anything.’

  Jane shook her head. ‘It’s over. Her death made it over. As horrible as it is to say, with Daina gone I knew she wouldn’t be able to hurt me any more.’

  Sean reached over and cupped her face with his hand, the warmth of his touch, the caress of his fingers making her heart soar with possibilities. ‘It is over,’ he agreed. ‘And we are free to move forward with our lives.’ His smile was encouraging, promising and with a small hint of excitement in his eyes. He dropped his hand and looked back at the traffic before them. The light had turned green but no one had moved, the intersection blocked with other cars. ‘Something’s wrong.’

  Jane noticed the change in his tone of voice and when she looked out at the gridlocked traffic, she frowned. ‘Roadworks?’

  ‘Or an accident.’ Sean reached for his cellphone and called through to the Adelaide General Hospital. He spoke for a moment to a colleague in the emergency department. ‘The ambulances can’t get through,’ he told Jane as he waited another moment for further information. ‘We’re close,’ he told the person on the other end of the phone. ‘Right. OK. No problem.’ He made sure they had his cellphone number before he disconnected the call and drove his car up onto the wide grassed median strip in the middle of the road.

  ‘We’ll have to help out,’ he told Jane as he unbuckled his seat belt.

  Jane swallowed as she felt all the colour drain from her face, dizziness swamping her. ‘A car accident?’ Her words were barely a whisper.

  Sean shifted in his seat to look at her. ‘Jane, I know attending a car accident must be difficult for you because you lost your parents in a car accident, didn’t you? Or was that another one of Daina’s fabrications?’

  ‘No. That was true but…’ Jane swallowed her words. How could she explain to Sean what she’d endured? All those surgeries, being in and out of hospital…the pain. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her wayward thoughts. Facts. Focus on the facts. There was a car accident. People were hurt, they were in pain, just as she’d been. Jane knew if it hadn’t been for the paramedics who had attended her at the accident site, using their knowledge and expertise to save her, she would not have survived. Wasn’t it only right that she now did the same for others who needed her, used her own knowledge and expertise to make a radical difference to someone’s life?

  She opened her eyes, looking directly at Sean. ‘Those people need our help,’ she stated, more to get the words through her own foggy mind than to point out the obvious.

  ‘Yes.’

  Jane clutched her trembling hands together, surprised when Sean put his hands over hers, channelling his calmness into her. ‘You’re an amazing woman and an amazing doctor, Jane.’

  Jane nodded, unable to reply to his words.

  ‘Ready?’ he asked, and she could see the urgency in his eyes, his desperate need to get to the people who were in trouble and to help them. He wanted to help others, just as he’d been helping her by introducing her to Spencer and his family.

  ‘Ready,’ she confirmed.

  His smile was bright and he winked at her before releasing her hands. ‘Atta girl.’ He turned and climbed from the car, retrieving his medical kit from the boot. ‘I’m glad I had the presence of mind to shower and change before we left the beach,’ he remarked when Jane came to stand next to him. He was pleased she was coming with him, pleased she was offering her expertise and proud that she was pushing through whatever mental blocks she still had about car accidents. Even though he’d watched her go incredibly pale, had seen the internal struggle within her, she was fighting past whatever barriers were in her way. She was doing what she knew in her heart was right. He took her hand in his. ‘You’re extraordinary, Jane Diamond.’

  She opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. Speechless. He’d left her speechless with his lovely, heartfelt words. Sean believed in her.

  Together, they made their way through the stopped traffic, hearing sirens in the distance. ‘The accident couldn’t have happened any longer than five minutes before we hit the gridlock,’ Sean pointed out, and Jane noticed his tone was becoming more clipped, more detached, more professional.

  She was the same usually, all brisk and professional…but not around car accidents. They were her weakness. However, she now had Sean to help provide her with the strength she needed and as they made their way briskly towards the wreckage, Jane tightened her grip on his fingers. He didn’t pull away, didn’t let her go, and as they came closer to where they could begin to see what had happened, Sean gave her hand a squeeze, stopping her for a moment.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, her already heightened senses bringing worry into her tone.

  ‘If you’re not able to handle things, just tell me, Jane. Nothing wrong with that. Remember, I believe in you. You’re far stronger than you think.’ His words were soft yet still quick, as though he wanted to give her that final reassurance.

  Jane stared into his eyes for what seemed an eternity yet was no more than a few seconds. ‘I’ve got your back.’ She nodded, realising that, no matter what they were about to face, she wasn’t going to let Sean down.

  ‘Let’s do our jobs,’ she said. He let go of her hand and led the way closer to where a few other people had climbed from their cars and were attempting to help out in whatever way they could.

  ‘Two cars. No, three cars, but one is parked and empty,’ Sean commented on first glance as he scanned the area. It appeared that one car and a mini-van with three occupants had crashed into the parked car. The other car had one occupant but the battered front windscreen and dented bonnet indicated that something had hit that car with force. Jane scanned the area and it was then she saw the figure of an elderly man supine on the road.

  ‘One patient on the road. Hit by car,’ Jane said to Sean.

  ‘The paramedics are almost through.’ Sean pointed to where the ambulance was driving up the grassy median strip towards them. ‘Do a quick triage on this patient, instruct the paramedics and find me.’

  ‘OK.’ Jane nodded and headed towards the man lying on the road, arriving a whole thirty seconds before one of the paramedics.

  ‘I saw the whole thing,’ one woman said. ‘I was walking to my car and this man was just too slow crossing the road. It wasn’t the driver’s fault. He didn’t see him until it was too late and then that other car swerved and—’

  ‘Thank you,’ Jane said. ‘Please give him some room.’ She quickly introduced herself to the paramedic while he ope
ned the emergency medical kit for her. She pulled on a pair of gloves and addressed the patient. ‘Can you hear me?’ she said to the man. ‘My name’s Jane. I’m a doctor.’

  ‘I can hear. I can hear,’ the man returned.

  ‘What’s your name?’ The man started to move but she quickly put her hand firmly on his shoulder, wanting to keep him still. ‘Just stay there. It’s all right.’ Her tone was now calm and placating, needing him to understand but also to be reassured by her words. ‘What’s your name?’ she asked again.

  ‘Roderick.’ His words were slightly slurred but she understood him.

  ‘How old are you, Roderick?’ the paramedic asked, as Jane started to feel bones, trying to ascertain if he’d broken anything.

  ‘Eighty-five,’ he slurred again.

  ‘Have you been drinking, Roderick?’

  ‘No, no drinking. My tongue.’

  ‘Your tongue is sore?’ she asked, as she checked his pulses, pleased there didn’t seem to be any problem with his circulation.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You might have bitten it.’

  ‘Too slow. I was too slow on the road.’

  ‘No need to worry about that now,’ she remarked. ‘It feels as though you may have done some damage to your left leg but nothing that can’t be fixed. I think you may have landed on your right wrist. Stay still, Roderick.’

  The paramedic held Roderick’s head still while Jane quickly looked at Roderick’s tongue, listened to his breathing and ensured his pupils were equal and reacting to light. ‘Stabilise and transfer,’ she instructed the paramedics, feeling more comfortable with her role at the scene.

  ‘Can you check out the driver of the car? He’s over there.’ She pointed to a man sitting on the grassy median strip, a few people gathered around him. ‘I’ll be over with the other patients in the mini-van.’ Jane looked around for Sean but couldn’t see him. The police and fire-brigade vehicles were making their way through, the police determined not only to assist with the accident but to get traffic sorted out as soon as possible. Good. At least that part of the accident scene was under control. Jane looked around for Sean, expecting to see him over at the mini-van, but he was nowhere in sight.

  ‘Sean?’ she called.

  ‘Over here,’ he replied, and Jane went up onto the footpath near the row of parked cars and it was then she saw him, attending to another person who was also lying on the ground. It was a woman of about twenty-two and she was clearly pregnant. ‘Where did she come—?’ As Jane asked the question she looked towards the road and it was then that she realised the mini-van’s front windscreen was practically missing and that was because the young woman before her had gone all the way through it.

  ‘She’s been thrown from the car!’ The words were a horrified whisper and when Jane closed her eyes she could see far too clearly, feel far too realistically the way the woman would have exited the car, head first, her face and arms scratched from the exploding glass, the dreaded sensation of being airborne and knowing there was nothing you could do to stop the impending pull of gravity as the ground loomed closer.

  ‘Jane. Jane.’

  Her eyes snapped open and she stared wild-eyed at Sean.

  ‘Jane?’ From her expression, Sean began to realise just what had happened to Jane in the car accident. ‘You were thrown out,’ he said softly, his words a statement of fact. He also knew that if he didn’t manage to get Jane to focus on him rather than on the situation, she’d be of no use to him whatsoever and right now he really needed her assistance.

  ‘Breathe, Jane. Breathe. Look into my eyes. Focus on my words.’ He held her gaze, his words calm but firm. ‘It’s OK. You can do this. Just…breathe.’

  Jane stared into his beautiful blue eyes, eyes that had often managed to turn her insides into mush, but this time they were silently telling her that he believed in her, that he needed her help and that she could get through this. He wouldn’t leave her alone. He would be right beside her every step of the way and, to her utter amazement, she felt the panic and fear that had gripped her beginning to subside.

  ‘That’s it.’ Sean glanced at his patient then back at her. ‘Better?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good. This is Carly. She’s twenty-two years old and thirty-three weeks pregnant. She’s lying as still as possible, waiting for the next ambulance to make its way through.’ Sean smiled down at the young woman, who seemed to relax a bit more beneath his soothing gaze. Jane couldn’t blame her. Sean had a gorgeous smile and comforting eyes.

  He lifted his head and looked at Jane again but this time something changed in his eyes. Worry. He was clearly worried and he wasn’t worried for her but for Carly. This realisation helped Jane to take a deep breath and pull on her professionalism. If she could help Sean, if together they could help Carly, do everything they could to save this young woman’s life, then she knew it was one enormous step towards healing the hurt she’d been carrying around for far too long.

  Sean angled his head slightly, indicating he wanted her to come over and give him a second opinion on Carly’s injuries. ‘What’s the situation? Police on the scene yet?’ His tone was still calm and she picked up on the fact that he was trying not to scare or worry Carly too much, especially in her present condition.

  ‘Just arrived. First ambulance is through. Paramedics attending.’ She kept her words calm, logical, professional. Sean was right. She could do this. She stepped forward and reached into his medical kit, pulling on a pair of fresh gloves. ‘Hi, Carly. I’m Jane. Just stay as still as possible.’ She hoped her tone sounded reassuring and when she glanced at Sean and saw that proud smile on his face, her confidence soared.

  ‘We have some cuts and abrasions to the legs and face.’ Jane felt Carly’s arms and checked her hands. ‘Both wrists need splinting and possibly right elbow.’ She took the stethoscope he proffered and listened to Carly’s breathing. Then she pressed the stethoscope to Carly’s abdomen and listened closely for ten seconds. She looked up, staring directly at Sean, realising that what she heard were the sounds of a baby going into distress. ‘Carly, we need to check your blood pressure before we can get you stretchered up.’

  Jane stood up and spotted a paramedic, carrying one of the usual large emergency kits they always used, heading in their direction. ‘Over here,’ she called, and within a moment the paramedic was putting a cervical collar around Carly’s neck while Sean took Carly’s blood pressure and Jane found an extra blanket.

  ‘We need to put a blanket beneath her hip so we can keep the baby off the vena cava and stop the risk of deoxygenated blood.’

  ‘Agreed.’ Sean called over a few of the police officers to help.

  When Carly was stabilised with her neck brace and a non-rebreather mask fitted over her mouth and nose, Sean put his hands on either side of Carly’s head. ‘On my command,’ he said as the emergency workers and Jane got into position, ‘we’ll brace and roll.’ Sean looked at the team before giving the command. With brisk but careful movements they rolled Carly to her side while Jane placed the blanket into position before Sean gave the command to roll Carly back.

  ‘Carly, have you felt the baby kick since the accident?’

  ‘Yes,’ the frightened woman replied, her words a little muffled beneath her mask.

  ‘That’s very good news,’ Jane reassured her. ‘I’d just like to have another feel of the baby. OK?’

  ‘Yes,’ Carly said again.

  Jane concentrated, carefully feeling around Carly’s abdomen, visualising the different body parts of the baby, checking where they were. ‘Head’s definitely engaged,’ she remarked a moment later.

  ‘OK. I think we can get Carly stretchered up,’ Sean said, ‘then off to the hospital. I’ll phone ahead and speak to the obstetric registrar.’

  The paramedic nodded and started taking Carly’s observations. Sean and Jane stood and ripped off their gloves, walking a little way away from their patient. ‘The baby’s not liking this at all,’ J
ane remarked.

  ‘Carly’s BP is not where I’d like.’

  ‘We’ll need to watch her,’ she agreed. ‘Perhaps get a cannula in now.’

  ‘Good idea. We’ll need to put it in her ankle as both wrists are fractured.’

  They turned and went back to Carly, letting the paramedics know they needed that extra line in, just in case. Jane took Carly’s blood pressure again and agreed with Sean’s assessment that it was a little low. She assisted the paramedics as they shifted Carly to the stretcher, Jane once more doing obs and checking the portable baby sphygmomanometer, which showed Jane that the baby wasn’t taking too kindly to what was happening to its mother.

  When they had Carly safely in the ambulance, the paramedics doing observations once more, Jane inserted the cannula into Carly’s ankle.

  ‘I’m going to get an update on what’s happening with Carly’s friends in the mini-van,’ Sean told her. ‘She keeps asking and the information might help to settle her down if she knows her friends are all right.’

  ‘Yes. Good thinking,’ Jane replied, and pointed to a nearby police officer. Sean jogged over and spoke to the sergeant then headed back.

  ‘Hi, Carly,’ Sean said as he came into the ambulance and sat next to her. ‘Your friends who were travelling with you are fine. The driver, Kieran, has a broken nose and a few cuts and bruises. The people in the back have seat-belt bruises and a bit of whiplash. That’s it.’

  Carly seemed to relax at this news, closing her eyes and breathing out with relief. ‘They’re OK,’ she murmured.

  ‘Let’s monitor oxygen saturation and repeat fifteen-minute obs,’ Jane instructed. ‘I want to take a closer look at the baby.’ She used an amplified stethoscope to obtain a more accurate reading of the baby’s heartbeat, not liking what she heard. She felt the outside of Carly’s abdomen and decided it might be best to do an internal.