over the roar of the waves to hear what it was but suddenly Jack veered away from escorting him back and made for the bobbing head of the dog. There was a groan of dismay from the crowd.
‘Don’t do that!’ shouted Sally desperately. ‘You’ll drown! Oh, you stupid, stupid man!’
He didn’t hear her, of course, and continued doggedly making his way towards the animal. By a miraculous sudden stroke of luck the swell pushed the dog towards him. He grabbed its collar and slowly, very slowly, managed to gain ground towards the shore. Sally started to make her way carefully down the slippery steps, ignoring people’s cries to keep back. She bent down to grab the animal as Jack, the van driver and the rescued man were hauled up by one or two of the onlookers. She kept hold of the dog with grim determination, soaked by the spray from breaking waves against the wall, and then she too was helped back up the steps.
An overwhelming sense of relief flooded through her—they were all safe! Jack was standing feet away from her, bent over double, his hands on his knees, chest heaving as he caught his breath. Then he was handed a towel and started briskly towelling himself dry. There was no disguising his impressive physique: he was still as tautly muscled as he’d been when he and Sally had been together. He stood up and looked across at her, feeling her gaze at him, and Sally turned away abruptly. What a stupid observation to make, she told herself crossly. There was an emergency to be dealt with!
She squatted down by the rescued man, now laid out on the ground on someone’s coat, and recognised him immediately as a patient at the Harbour Practice—a man of over seventy. She put her fingers on his wrist, checking his pulse, noting his shallow breathing and that his lips were tinged blue. His eyes tried to focus on her, but he seemed confused and rather drowsy.
‘Callum,’ she said loudly, trying to rouse him. ‘We’re going to try and warm you up a bit before the ambulance gets here.’ She turned round and saw Sharon hovering anxiously nearby.
‘Get plenty of blankets from the surgery, Sharon, and bring a few mugs of warm coffee—not too hot.’
Sharon tottered off in the high heels she always wore to work, then in the distance Sally heard the whine of an ambulance siren. She took hold of the man’s hand and squeezed it. ‘You’ll be all right—the paramedics are here.’
The man mumbled something and she bent down to hear him. ‘The dog. What happened to the dog…and my little granddaughter?’
‘The dog’s going to be fine. Don’t worry, he’s wrapped in a blanket and I can see him wagging his tail now! And as for your granddaughter, she’s in the surgery across the road, being well looked after.’
This was no time to tell Callum how foolish he’d been in trying to rescue the dog by himself—and she reflected grimly that two other people could have drowned trying to rescue the man in trouble.
A few minutes later the ambulance drew up in front of them and a paramedic leapt out, quickly assessing the scene before him. He recognised Sally and came up to her, squatting down next to Callum and feeling the man’s pulse.
‘Hello, Dr Lawson.’ His eyes swept round the group of people. ‘Looks like a few of you are rather damp. I take it this gentleman’s been in that cold water for a while—do you know his name?’
‘Yes, it’s Callum Brody, he’s a patient of ours and he’s about seventy-three years old. His pulse is slow, about sixty-five per minute, and as you can see he’s cyanosed and drowsy.’
‘Definitely hypothermic,’ agreed the paramedic. He slipped his hand into the man’s armpit. ‘This is an area of his body that should be warm, but it feels quite cold.’
He turned to his colleague who was standing nearby, watching them. ‘Get some space blankets out of the van—enough for this patient and the two men over there,’ he said, indicating Jack and the van driver. He looked at Sally. ‘Looks like you could do with a blanket too—you’re shivering. We’ll get you one, and then you go straight inside.’
Sally didn’t object when she was wrapped in a space blanket with its layers of heat-reflecting material. She felt exhausted and her whole body shivered. Jack came up to her, also enveloped in a blanket.
‘That was a narrow squeak,’ he remarked.
Relief at their safety made her sound waspish. ‘You shouldn’t have gone in until we’d got you a rope,’ she said brusquely to Jack. ‘And you’re to go in the ambulance to be checked out at the Rannoch Hospital.’
Jack laughed. ‘Certainly not! I’m a bit chilled, but I’ll get warm in the surgery and my clothes are dry.’
‘But you ought to—’
‘No “ought to” about it. I’ve come to start work today, and that’s what I’m going to do.’
The paramedics had loaded Callum Brody into the ambulance and came forward to try and persuade Jack and Des, the van driver, to come with them to be checked over, but they both refused, Des saying he preferred to go home and get warm. Sally was left alone with Jack.
‘You should have gone for a check-up—you were in the water for ages,’ she said brusquely.
‘You’re a doctor—you can check me over,’ he replied cheekily with a grin.
She couldn’t help smiling back at him and briefly there was a tremor between them of…what? A slight rapport, a ripple of the old attraction? Perhaps it was just relief. The incident had had a happy conclusion—with-out Jack’s quick intervention Callum and the dog would probably have drowned. It had been foolhardy of Jack, but courageous to say the least. He hadn’t stopped to think of his own safety, she had to acknowledge that.
‘You…you were very impetuous, but very brave,’ she murmured. ‘You must be freezing.’
He turned to look at her, eyes steely blue through dripping dark hair. ‘You can’t be too warm yourself. Look at you—you’re shivering despite that heat blanket.’ Someone had handed him a towel from the practice and he put it round her head, rubbing her hair to dry it. ‘You must get those wet things off. Go inside like the paramedic said,’ he remarked.
Of course she should go inside, thought Sally, but for a few seconds she stood absolutely still, bowing her head as Jack’s strong hands massaged her head and neck with the towel. God, that felt good. She almost forgot she was out on the pavement on a cold and windy day. It was wonderfully relaxing after the tension of the last quarter of an hour. Her body still shook slightly. Perhaps it was a reactive response to the situation they’d been through; perhaps it was because he’d pulled her against his shoulders, hugging her comfortingly.
For a brief second time went backwards and she was supported against Jack’s familiar hard-muscled body once again. A funny mixture of longing mixed with loss went fleetingly through her. This was how it had once been between them—she leaning against his chest, solid and dependable. She bit her lip, reminding herself that he hadn’t been dependable at all. He’d told her he loved her, but that had been a lie. She pulled roughly back from him in embarrassment, flicking her damp hair back from her face. Why the hell had she allowed herself to loll against him in that ridiculous manner? she thought angrily. He mustn’t get the impression that he still had any place in her heart. That was in the past now, and her life had turned in a different direction with Tim.
Jack put his hands on her shoulders and smiled down at her. ‘Go inside and get warm,’ he said gently, not giving
