by Joanna Neil
She knelt down beside him and laid a hand lightly on his shoulder. ‘Are you all right?’
He sent her a brief sideways look. Her gaze meshed with his, and in that moment a fleeting, unspoken understanding passed between them.
‘I’m fine.’ With a faint inclination of his head, he indicated the man with the broken jaw. ‘I see you managed to stop the bleeding. That was good work. He looked a mess, but you managed to sort things out and soothe the boy at the same time.’
‘It wasn’t too difficult.’ She was already dialling the number for the hospital. ‘We should tell the lifeboat people that we’re ready to move Shaun and his mother. That will give us more room to manoeuvre. Perhaps a couple of the crew could help us move the father onto a spinal board.’
He nodded, and she set things in motion while he tended to his patient. Soon the men from the lifeboat were escorting the woman and her son from the sailboat.
‘You’re good at this, aren’t you?’ Ethan said glancing up at her. ‘Calm, efficient, focussed. Perhaps my uncle was right when he thought you would slot into this job as though you were made for it. He’s a people-watcher, you know. He doesn’t say a lot, but it’s all going on inside his head.’
All the while he was talking, he was checking his patient’s vital signs, and Amber’s respect for him was growing by the minute. This was a side of the man she hadn’t seen before. This was the professional, the man who was dedicated to his career. She could see it in his every action. He was thorough, taking time to do a good job, making sure that his patient was stabilised before he was moved.
‘Perhaps I should return the compliment,’ she said. ‘You’ve been totally focussed on what we’re doing right from the start. You didn’t waste a second in getting here, and you had all the equipment that you needed right on hand.’
‘It’s essential that you do that,’ he murmured. ‘The emergency car is always stocked for every journey, and we each have a pack of essential equipment. That’s why yours was waiting for you when you decided to come with me. And you made up your mind fast—that was very surprising.’ His gaze narrowed on her. ‘But you didn’t know I would be the one going along with you, did you, back then?’
She didn’t answer him. Why would she rise to his bait?
The lifeboat crew came to help lift the injured man on to the stretcher, and they quickly transported both men to their vessel. From then on it was a matter of minutes before the accident victims were on their way to hospital.
Ethan followed the ambulance. He drove carefully, but fast, and she guessed he was anxious to make sure his patient was safe. They didn’t speak about things that had gone wrong between them or how they were going to proceed from now on. Amber had made her decision to work with the emergency service, and if that meant working alongside Ethan, so be it. She was through with trying to defend herself. Let him do his worst. She had the measure of her opponent, and from now on they would meet on equal terms.
Amber’s working day finished just after lunchtime. It was a good arrangement, as far as she was concerned, because it gave her most of the afternoon to keep tabs on Martyn’s progress, and there was still the glorious opportunity to explore the rest of this beautiful island. The one flaw was that her patients were still in surgery when she had to leave.
‘I’ll give you a call and let you know how they’re doing,’ Kyle told her. ‘Ethan asked to be informed, as well. He had to go off on another emergency.’
‘Thanks, Kyle. I appreciate that.’ The man with abdominal injuries was her main concern, but they had been able to get to him within minutes of the accident happening, and those minutes were precious when lives were at stake.
Martyn met her at the door of the main house when she arrived there about an hour later, after taking time to freshen up back at her bungalow. He seemed to be in a thoughtful mood, as though he was preoccupied with something.
‘How was your day?’ he asked. ‘I heard you met up with Ethan.’
‘How did you know that?’ She was astonished. ‘I didn’t know myself that we would be working together until shortly after I started my shift.’
They walked into the sitting-room. ‘It was on the local news. The press were in touch with the lifeboat crew, and they broadcast it on the local radio station and on the TV.’
‘Good heavens. It’s a small world, isn’t it?’
‘It certainly is.’ He sat down on an elegant creamcoloured sofa and waved a hand towards the chair opposite. ‘Sit down, and tell me about your day. How did you and he get on?’
‘We were fine,’ she murmured. ‘It came as quite a shock to me, I can tell you, to find that we were working together, but when you have to look after people who are ill or hurting, the job is really all that you have in mind. It’s a bit like being on autopilot, I think.’
He looked faintly relieved. ‘He’s a good doctor, Ethan. His colleagues were upset when he had to leave his job at the other hospital, but they’re hoping it won’t be too long before he decides to go back.’
Amber sent him a guarded look. So he had known all along that Ethan had changed hospitals. Still, why would he think it mattered one way or the other to her? She had been out of work, and a job in Hawaii was a prize by any standards.
‘You look as though you’re mulling something over,’ she said, studying him. ‘I could see from your expression when you opened the door that you were preoccupied. What’s troubling you? Anything in particular?’
His expression sobered. ‘I’m not quite sure how to tell you this,’ he said. ‘It’s good news for me, but I’m not sure that you will feel the same way.’
She frowned. ‘Have you found someone to replace me? Is that what you’re trying to say?’ Perhaps he had taken on board Ethan’s doubts about her and decided that since they weren’t getting along, things would have to change. They hadn’t drawn up a contract of any sort after all, and the only concrete things she had were the job at the hospital and her airfare home.
His brows shot up. ‘Good heavens, girl. Why on earth would you think that way? Is it something Ethan said? You shouldn’t take any notice of him. He has his own ideas about how things should be, but they don’t always match up with mine.’
Amber stared at him. So Molly was right. He did know what was going on between her and Ethan, but he wasn’t putting any store by it.
‘No, it’s nothing to do with Ethan.’ It was only half a lie, but she censored it with herself because she didn’t want anything to disrupt the harmony that existed between the two men. ‘I was never quite sure why you asked me to come out here. You don’t really need me. You have all these people to help you out, and you have your own doctor on the island, as well as Ethan to watch over you. I accepted because I’d really taken to you as a person, and because Hawaii seemed like the answer to my prayers.’
He gave her a thoughtful look. ‘And you had split up with your boyfriend, James. I admit to feeling a bit guilty about that, because it was my own daughter who came between you…but, to be honest, I never thought you and he were right for each other.’
Her eyes widened. ‘You don’t miss anything, do you?’
‘Well, it was fairly obvious. And that friend of yours, Sarah, told me a bit about what was going on…only because I prised it out of her, you understand. I’m a nosy soul. Always have been. Grace used to say to me, “Stop interfering. Let people get on with their own lives. They won’t thank you for intruding.” But I’ve always been the same. I need to know what’s going on around me, and if I can help people out, or change things for the better, that’s what I’ll do. Ethan’s the same in some ways. He knows what he wants and he sets out to get it.’
‘Hmm.’ He was certainly right about that. Ethan had tried several devious ways to detach her from his uncle, and when they hadn’t worked, he had taken a step back. She didn’t imagine for a minute, though, that he had given up. ‘But you still haven’t told me your news. What is it?’
He frowned. ‘I don’t want yo
u to be upset by this. I never thought that James was the right man for you. It seemed to me that he couldn’t quite cope with your ways of handling things. You were always in control of a situation, and you were good at exams, good at your job, whereas he always seemed to be a little bit in your shadow. I’m sorry to say that, Amber, because he’s a good man, just not the man for you.’
She looked at him, a slow chill creeping down her spine. ‘Are you saying your news is about James? Is that what this is about?’
‘I am. I’m sorry.’ He leaned forward in his seat as though he wanted to be closer to her, to comfort her. ‘You see, Caitlin called this morning. She said that James has asked her to marry him, and she said yes to him. They want to hold the ceremony out here on Oahu.’ He frowned. ‘I know how difficult that will be for you.’
Amber pulled in a sharp breath. This couldn’t be happening. Not here, not now. She had come all this way to where she’d thought she was safe. And now her world was crashing down around her. How could James do this to her? It was like rubbing salt in the wound.
‘When is this supposed to happen?’ she asked.
‘Next month. They don’t want to wait. They made up their minds that this is what they want to do, and they say can fit in the wedding and honeymoon before they both start work at the university over here. Apparently James has secured a research post alongside Caitlin.’
‘Oh…oh.’ It was more of a shudder than a word. She felt her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach. Not only were they getting married out here, they would be living and working here, too.
Her head was in a whirl. ‘I need to think about this,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what to do. Perhaps I should go away.’ She twisted around as though she would make her escape right there and then. ‘I can’t stay here and watch this happen.’
He began to shake his head. ‘That’s not the real you talking, the girl who takes control of her life and gets things sorted.’
‘Oh, but it is,’ she said. ‘Don’t you see? I’m a coward. I don’t have any backbone. I ran away once, and I can do it again.’
‘But you won’t.’ He spoke softly, his voice gentle with understanding. ‘And it wasn’t as though you were actually running away from James, was it? It might have seemed that way, but there were other things going on at the time.’
She stared at him dazedly. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I don’t think James was the crux of things. After all, you stood by and watched what was happening and said nothing. You could have kicked up a fuss and tried to work things out between you, but you didn’t. You accepted what was going on.’
He paused. ‘Why should you blame yourself for finding an easy way out? Your career had been messed up through no fault of your own. Who wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to come and live in a land of sunshine and be pampered for a while? You’re simply human, and you accepted the perfect solution when it was offered to you.’
She hadn’t spoken and he looked at her to see if she was listening to what he said. ‘Amber, please don’t act hastily. It may seem like the end of the world to you right now, but it may not be as bad as you think.’ He hesitated, letting his words sink in. ‘Besides, I really do need you here with me, you know. A wedding is a big thing to organise, and just the thought of it makes me feel drained of energy. You have a way of revitalising me, and I don’t like to ask this of you, but this is my daughter, and I have to give her my support. I can’t do it on my own, Amber. Please don’t run away again.’
‘Run away?’ Ethan’s voice ricocheted around the room as he pushed open the door. ‘Why would she be running anywhere?’ He walked towards them, looking from one to the other, a deep frown drawing his brows together. ‘What’s going on?’
Amber stood up, a wave of nausea threatening to overwhelm her. She wasn’t at all sure what to make of Martyn’s announcement, but to have Ethan witness her discomfiture was more than she could bear right now.
‘This has nothing whatever to do with you,’ she said. ‘This is a private conversation between me and your uncle.’ She knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as she’d said it, it was ill mannered and intolerable, but her mind was reeling in shock, and Ethan’s arrival had sent her spinning into a vortex of confusion.
Why did he have to turn up like a bad penny when she was at her lowest ebb? How could she fight her demons with him around? Wasn’t he the worst demon of all?
She needed to get away from here and go somewhere to lick her wounds in private. Why should Ethan witness her downward spiral? It wasn’t fair. Life wasn’t fair. It was full of trip wires and traps that had been laid for the unwary and she was finding herself tangled up in every one of them.
‘Amber? What’s happened? What’s wrong?’ Ethan was frowning, his gaze homing in on her as though he would pin her down right there and make her give him an answer.
Amber stared at him, caught in the glitter of those blue eyes like a trapped animal. He, of all people, would rejoice in her downfall.
Then she looked at Martyn, and saw how pale he had become, and her heart crumpled. He was ill, and it was up to her to ensure his well-being, but she had let him down at the first hurdle. His glow of happiness had been blotted out by a grey cloud, and it was all her fault.
‘Martyn, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to cast a shadow on your good news. I just need to think this through.’
‘It’s all right,’ he murmured. ‘I understand.’
‘I’m glad someone does,’ Ethan said in a brisk tone, ‘because I certainly don’t. Is anyone going to enlighten me?’ He glared at both of them, his brows drawing together in a dark line, his stare threatening retribution.
‘Not now, Ethan,’ Martyn said wearily. ‘Just give it a while, will you?’
Amber had been glued to the spot, but she suddenly found that strength had surged back into her legs. She turned away and hurried out of the room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘YOU still haven’t told me what caused the upset the other day.’ Ethan threw Amber a sideways glance. He was at the wheel of the emergency vehicle, heading at top speed towards the coast, and all Amber could see of the landscape was a blur of trees and blue sky. ‘Why would you be thinking of running away?’
‘Would you just concentrate on your driving instead of asking questions?’ She gritted her teeth. ‘I’d as soon get there in one piece.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with my driving.’ He raised a dark brow. ‘I took an advanced driving test and passed with flying colours.’
‘Yes, and I suspect flying might be the operative word.’
His mouth quirked in response, but Amber was relieved when he slowed down to a pace that she could cope with. ‘Is that better?’ he asked.
‘Much better. Thank you.’ She began to breathe more easily. ‘I know we have to get there quickly, but there’s a limit to how much risk I want to take.’ She frowned. ‘The lifeguards are already on the scene, aren’t they, and they’re trained in resuscitation methods?’
‘That’s true, but we’re closer at hand than anyone else, and if we can get there before the ambulance, the boy has a greater chance of survival.’ He glanced at her. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’
By now he was slowing down even more, turning the car on to the slipway used for towing boats on and off the beach. He applied the brakes.
Amber had the passenger door open as soon as the vehicle stopped, and then she sprinted across the flat, smooth sand to where she could see the lifeguards at work. Ethan kept pace with her.
‘How’s he doing?’ Amber asked the lifeguard who was working on the boy. She put her medical bag down on the sand.
‘Not too well. We brought him out of the water as quickly as we could, but he was already unconscious. We’ve been working on him for a couple of minutes and there’s been no change.’
The lifeguard continued with chest compressions while Ethan went down on
his knees and started to assess the boy’s condition.
Amber guessed the child was about ten years old, and there was a graze across his temple where the surfboard had hit him as he overturned in the water. His worried parents were standing nearby, looking ashen faced and weepy.
She checked for a pulse. ‘It’s barely discernible.’
Ethan quickly introduced an endotracheal tube into the boy’s throat. ‘I need suction,’ he said, but Amber was already by his side, ready to clear the boy’s airway and enable Ethan to attach the oxygen supply.
Once the child’s airway was assured, Ethan inserted a gastric tube so that they could draw water or debris from his stomach. Amber started to set up two intravenous lines, so that he could be given fluids and medication, while Ethan taped electrodes in place on the boy’s chest so that his heart rhythm could be monitored.
‘Let’s get him warmed up,’ Ethan said, as soon as they were finished. They could already hear the sound of the ambulance siren in the distance, and by the time the paramedics arrived their patient was wrapped in a blanket. They worked together to carefully transfer him to a body board to protect his spine. Then they strapped him securely in place.
Ethan handed over their patient into the care of the paramedics, while Amber tried to comfort the boy’s tearful parents. ‘We’ll get him to hospital straight away, and the medical team will take over as soon as he arrives. They’ll take good care of him.’ She knew that the boy’s problems were far from over. He would need careful nursing to ensure that his heart rate and blood pressure returned to normal, and any lung complications could be averted or dealt with.
‘I’d like to follow up on him at the hospital,’ she told Ethan, when the ambulance started to pull away. ‘We don’t have any immediate calls to make, do we?’
‘No. I’m with you on that one,’ he murmured. ‘I always follow up on the patients I’ve brought in. I like to know what happens to them.’
They went back to the car and Ethan set the engine in motion. ‘It’s uplifting whenever there’s a good outcome.’