to get his dog out of trouble.’
There was a nagging voice at the back of her head telling her that she deserved the brush-off. How many times had she done that to Jack after the accident, when he’d tried to visit her?
But not being part of the team any more had made it too painful to be reminded of how devastating the loss of this part of her life had been. And he’d given up eventually, just the way everybody else had stopped talking about it. Harriet couldn’t actually remember the last time she’d heard Jack’s name mentioned.
‘Hiya, Eddie. I’m Jack Evans. I’ve come to get you out of here, mate. How are you feeling?’
‘Gotta sore leg.’
‘Fractured mid-shaft femur,’ Harriet put in. ‘Limb baselines are intact.’
‘Anything else I should know about?’
‘Head injury. I’m pretty sure he was unconscious when I arrived on scene and he’s been complaining about a headache.’
‘And that arm?’
‘I don’t think it’s fractured but it’s badly bruised and there’s a fair bit of skin missing. Blood loss was minimal as far as I can tell.’
It could have been worse. If Eddie had been bleeding badly, she could have stopped that. Did that justify her putting herself in so much danger and giving the rescue crew another person to manage? She hadn’t really thought about the consequences when she’d started that climb down, had she?
Instinct had overridden sense.
Or maybe it was because she hadn’t been able to resist the pull of being that person again. The one that did the dangerous stuff because she could potentially save a life.
‘Can you find some dressings in that pack? I’d like to get an IV in and some pain relief on board before we get a traction splint on that leg.’
It wasn’t just Eddie who had a sore leg. The jolt of pain as Harriet moved to open Jack’s pack was almost enough to make her stumble. Maybe it was a good thing that they were on a relatively narrow ledge above a dangerous drop so it was a perfectly normal thing to do to crawl carefully from one point to another.
Jack wouldn’t have even noticed.
‘You okay, Harry?’
The swift glance from those dark eyes and the furrow between them told Harriet that he’d noticed her wincing, all right. She broke the eye contact abruptly. She didn’t want anybody’s pity but to be pitied by Jack was worse, somehow. He was one of the younger members of the SDR team and one of the best. He was going places, young Jack Evans, but he wasn’t cocky about it. He was, in fact, one of the nicest people Harriet had ever known.
In her old life...
‘Be careful,’ was all Jack added. ‘We’re a long way up. Hand me that IV roll, would you?’
She handed over the roll that contained everything Jack needed to insert an IV. The wipes, cannulas, Luer plugs, flushes and adhesive covers. She didn’t need reminding of how far above sea level they were. Every few seconds, even given the sound of the helicopter hovering nearby, she could hear the rolling crash of a huge wave below.
‘Sharp scratch, Eddie. There you go... Are you allergic to anything that you know of?’
‘Nah...not that I know of.’
Harriet had all the sterile dressings and a bandage in her hands so that she could cover the raw wounds on Eddie’s arm but she stayed by the pack for a moment longer. Jack was going to need a giving set and a bag of saline to set up fluids that would keep Eddie’s vein open in case he needed more intravenous drugs. The morphine would definitely be helping his pain level within the next few minutes.
‘What score would you give your pain now, Eddie? Out of ten, like before?’
‘I reckon it’s only a five now. Maybe even a four.’
‘Good man. We’re going to get that splint on your leg in a tick. And then I’m going to get you up into our nice comfy chopper.’
‘But what about Harry?’
‘We’ll take her, too, don’t you worry. I’m not about to let her try climbing up this cliff by herself. God knows how she managed to get down to you in the first place.’ Jack was waiting for Harriet to look up as she snagged the bandage she’d wound around Eddie’s arm with a crocodile clip to keep it secure. ‘Good job,’ he added as he finally caught her gaze.
He sounded impressed. And not the least bit cold. Quite the opposite, in fact.
‘No.’ Eddie shook his head. ‘I meant Harry—my dog...’
‘Oh...right...’
‘He’s a hero,’ Harriet said. ‘I wouldn’t have found Eddie if it hadn’t been for Harry. He came and got me and made me follow him.’
Jack grinned. ‘Like Lassie, huh?’
Harriet found herself smiling back. ‘Just like Lassie.’
The shared smile broke whatever odd tension she had been aware of ever since Jack had touched down on this ledge. It was a link back to the very real friendship they’d shared during their time together with the SDR team. A friendship that Harriet couldn’t deny she’d shunned since her accident because it was such an integral aspect of the part of the life she’d lost for ever.
But maybe there was a way back? To a small part of what she’d lost, anyway.
And that felt good.
‘In that case, I’ll call the crew.’ Jack nodded, reaching for his radio. ‘We’ll get someone to head up the track and find him. Don’t you worry, Eddie. He’ll be well looked after until we can get him home for you.’
Whether it was the relief of knowing his pet would be rescued, or the effects of the narcotic pain relief, Eddie seemed to relax into the care they were giving him. It was painful to get the traction splint locked into place and doing its job but, for this kind of fracture, it was essential to get control of any internal bleeding and added pain of the movement that would be happening very soon.
‘I’ll take Eddie up on the stretcher and then I’ll come back down for you and the pack.’ Jack raised his arm to signal the crew in the hovering helicopter that he was ready for the winch line to be lowered again. ‘Okay?’
Harriet nodded.
For several long minutes, she was alone on the ledge, watching Jack control the swinging of the stretcher Eddie was strapped onto as it was lifted skywards. And then she saw it being tipped and dragged into the cabin of the helicopter. It seemed to take a long time until Jack was standing on the skid again, ready for his second descent, but she watched him coming down with an increasing sense of relief.
There was no way she could have climbed back up that cliff.
It was no wonder that Jack had been impressed that she’d managed it at all. The last time he’d seen her, her leg had been skewered with long pins and encased in the rods
