be dealing with six or sixty casualties so we need to be prepared for every eventuality. Ambulance Control has been instructed to send only the most severely injured patients to us during the course of the next twenty-four hours so that should help, but if the numbers are high, we are going to be pushed to our absolute limit. Just do your best. That’s all any of us can do.’
There was a murmur of agreement before everyone started to leave. Seb didn’t go with them. They knew the drill and he didn’t need to check up on what they were doing. Every single member of the team would do his or her job without him having to badger them. It was what made them work so well together: they trusted each other and had the kind of confidence that came from knowing they were trusted, too.
His gaze went to Libby again and his heart ached with a searing pain. Libby had also trusted him at one time. She’d trusted him to be there for her and he had let her down. Maybe it had been his dream to work in a job like this, but could he put his hand on his heart and swear that it had been worth doing it when it had added to the demise of his marriage?
He wished he could, wished with every fibre of his being that he could say that his job had made up for what he’d lost, but he couldn’t. He may have fulfilled his ambitions but he had lost Libby, and nothing could ever make up for that.
‘I really think I should leave.’
Libby edged towards the door. It was obvious that Seb didn’t have the time to talk to her right now so it would be better if she got out of his way. Maybe she could find a hotel in the town and stay there until the crisis was over? Now that she’d come all this way, she would prefer to get everything settled, but it wasn’t fair to expect him to deal with the issue of their divorce when he had so much else going on.
‘Nonsense! Of course you can’t leave. You’ve only just got here.’
Seb’s tone was brisk and her heart sank when she heard it. She didn’t want to cause a scene but she knew it would be better if she left. Deciding to get divorced was a big step for any couple and they needed time to talk about what it entailed. She was just about to tell him that she would book into a hotel when the phone rang and she stopped as he picked up the receiver.
‘Seb Bridges.’
Libby waited in silence while he listened to what the caller was saying. Even though she couldn’t hear what was being said, she could tell it wasn’t good news. He looked extremely troubled when he hung up.
‘That was the coastguard again. Apparently, the tanker is carrying some sort of organic compound used to make pesticides. It’s highly toxic and also believed to be carcinogenic even in fairly low doses.’
‘Is it water soluble?’ she exclaimed in dismay.
‘They’re not sure. However, in the absence of any information to the contrary, we shall have to assume that it isn’t. Which means if any of the containers rupture, the chemicals could be washed ashore.’
‘It’s a real nightmare scenario,’ she agreed worriedly. ‘It’s coming up to the weekend and I expect a lot of people still use the beaches around here even at this time of the year.’
‘And every single one them will be at risk if they come into contact with any of those chemicals,’ Seb concluded, grimly.
Libby shivered. It didn’t bear thinking about so she focussed on practicalities instead. ‘Are you going to tell your staff?’
‘Of course. They need to be fully informed about all the facts. One of our nurses has just found out that she’s pregnant and I certainly don’t want her coming into contact with a substance like that,’ he said, heading for the door.
‘Of course not.’ She quickly stepped aside, shrugging when he paused beside her. ‘I just wish there was something I could do to help.’
‘If you mean that, I can easily find you a job. We’re going to be really stretched when things start moving around here. Another pair of experienced hands would come in very useful.’
‘Are you sure? You don’t think it would be…well…awkward having me here?’ she said doubtfully. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, because she did. She just didn’t want to make his life any more difficult if he was involved with Cathy or some other member of the team. Her heart hiccuped painfully at the thought, but the truth had to be faced.
‘Awkward?’ He frowned. ‘You’re a first-rate doctor, Libby, and you know your way around an A and E unit better than most. Maybe you haven’t worked in emergency care for a couple of years but you won’t have lost any of your skills. You’d be doing me a favour if you agreed to help.’
‘Thanks.’ Libby smiled, deeply touched by the compliment. She’d often wondered if it had been a bone of contention between them that she’d decided to opt out of emergency care and go into general practice. However, there’d been nothing in his tone to indicate that…unless he no longer cared what she did, of course.
‘I’ll be happy to help any way I can,’ she said, determined not to let the idea gather momentum. They were heading towards a divorce so what difference did it make if he cared or not?
‘Great.’ He opened the door. ‘I’ll give you a quick tour so you can get your bearings. There’s nothing worse than the sticky stuff hitting the fan while you’re still trying to muddle your way around.’
‘Like our first day at the Royal, you mean?’ she said, and he laughed.
‘Exactly like our first day at the Royal!’ He grinned down at her, his hazel eyes warm with the memory. ‘Remember when we were told to take that old lady for an X-ray? It took us half an hour to find the radiology unit!’
‘And when we got there we discovered there were no radiographers on duty because they’d gone for lunch and we had to take her all the way back to Casualty.’ She shook her head. ‘You’d have thought someone would have warned us the department closed at lunchtime, wouldn’t you?’
‘Ah, but that would have meant them actually helping us. We were trainees, don’t forget. The lowest of the low. I can’t remember anyone actually talking to us—they just snapped orders.’ He smiled at her. ‘It’s a good job we had each other for support or we’d have gone completely mad!’
‘Probably.’
Libby felt a sudden tightness in her chest and turned away, but the damage had been done. Remembering how close they’d been was just too painful when it only served to highlight how far apart they’d grown in recent years. As she followed Seb through the unit, she found it hard to concentrate on what he was saying. What did it matter if the state-of-the-art radiology department came complete with its very own CT scanner? And why should she care if bloods were cross-matched in the unit’s own lab? None of those things had any bearing on what really mattered, which was the state of their marriage.
When she had made her vows eight years ago she had meant them. She had promised to love Seb until she died and in her heart she had promised to love him long after that, too. Yet here she was, just biding her time until she could tell him that she wanted to renounce those vows, sever the bonds that joined them together. How could anything matter more than that?
‘And last but definitely not least we have our very own theatre.’
Seb stopped so Libby could look through the glass panes set into the top of the doors outside the operating
