‘Yes. Daddy says I can have what I want.’
‘Right, well, I’ll see what I can find,’ she promised, wondering where Mummy fitted into the picture.
A few minutes later Kerry collapsed on the sofa next to Archie and tucked into her pasta, giving the little boy some ice cream she’d found at the bottom of the freezer, and both of them sat in silence, one absorbed in the television, Kerry starting to look through her mail and flicking through the newspaper she hadn’t had time to read that day.
The room was warm and she fought against drifting off to sleep—it had been a hectic twenty-four hours, and she was feeling the effects of cramming a lot of things into a short time with little sleep. Archie leant cosily against her like a little hot-water bottle and she looked down at the top of his head. He was such a lovable little boy, even if his father was the arrogant Dr Denovan O’Mara!
She sighed softly. A year ago her future had seemed to be mapped out—a wedding, a loving husband, hopefully followed by children like Archie. Then all that had been taken away from her brutally and swiftly, and the children and family life she longed for were nothing but a faded dream.
She was vaguely aware of the sound of the front door opening just as she closed her eyes in a troubled doze. Denovan walked into the room then stopped suddenly when he saw his son and Kerry relaxed together on the sofa. Archie had his head against her shoulder, and Kerry had one arm round him, her freshly washed dark cloud of hair tumbling over the cushion she was leaning against, mouth slightly open as she dozed. He smiled wistfully at the picture they presented—it twisted his heart to see Archie nestled up against Kerry, for it seemed to highlight the lack of a motherly figure in his precious son’s life.
He sighed and pushed that thought to the back of his mind then leant forward and touched Kerry lightly on her shoulder. ‘Sorry to disturb you when you both seem so comfortable,’ he said.
Startled, Kerry sat bolt upright on the sofa and stared at him in surprise. ‘You’ve hardly been gone any time!’ she exclaimed.
‘I haven’t been able to get to the hospital,’ Denovan explained drily. ‘The wind’s brought down several big trees by the riverbank and the bridge has collapsed—there’s no way over the river now, so getting anywhere out of the village at the moment is impossible. It won’t take much for the river to burst its banks completely.’
‘What?’ Kerry gently put Archie to one side and stood up, staring in disbelief at Denovan. ‘The village is cut off altogether? So what’s happening down by the river now?’
He shook his head. ‘People are working like mad, putting sandbags or anything else round their properties to keep the water out. But the most immediate problem is that a woman’s trapped under part of the bridge wall that’s collapsed.’ His face was grave. ‘I’m sorry to say I’ll have to drag you away. We’re both needed urgently, and this woman needs medical help. There’s no way an ambulance can get through at the moment. There are people trying to free her, but she’s bound to have injuries—we should be there.’
The day she’d thought could get no worse had reached rock bottom, thought Kerry wryly. A disaster in the village and no backup from essential services. Kerry hauled on her cagoule and pushed her feet into some wellingtons—she flicked a look at Denovan’s stalwart figure and suddenly she was extremely grateful to have him with her to help, pompous and arrogant man though he was.
‘We’d better take my car,’ she said. ‘It’s a small estate so we could get her up to the surgery in that if necessary. We keep some equipment there for the Mountain Rescue Team—a stretcher, a collapsible splint, blankets and a neck collar, that sort of thing. We can call in and get them.’
‘A good idea,’ said Denovan. ‘It’s very cold out there.’
Kerry noticed the little boy looking solemnly at them both. ‘We’ll drop Archie off at Daphne’s—she’s only a door or two away and I know she won’t mind.’ She bent down and smiled at him. ‘You know that nice lady who gave you biscuits and hot milk this afternoon? We’re taking you to stay with her for an hour or two while your daddy and I go and help a poorly lady.’
Archie’s mischievous blue eyes gleamed. ‘Will she give me some more biscuits?’
‘I dare say she will.’ Kerry smiled. ‘Come on, let’s go!’
A small crowd had gathered round the bridge where the river started to run through the village. Car headlights were trained on the dramatic scene where the woman lay trapped, with her legs pinioned underneath the collapsed stones. The lashing rain glinted on a million drops in the beams of the light, and the river looked very full; it was obvious that the bridge had been swept away.
Kerry’s eyes widened in horror as the enormity of the situation hit her. ‘Oh, my God,’ she breathed, scrambling out of the car. ‘How on earth will we get her out without equipment?’
Denovan opened the car tailgate and lifted out the blankets. ‘We’ll do it somehow,’ he said confidently. ‘You’d be surprised what a few strong men can do.’ He gave her a quick grin of encouragement. ‘You keep the lady calm and assess her condition and I’ll help these men to lift that rubble.’
Kerry turned to a woman on the edge of the little crowd. ‘Have you any idea who’s under all that rubble?’ she asked.
‘She’s Sirie Patel. She runs the Post Office and shop on the corner, poor woman. She never stops working—if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have a village shop.’
Kerry pushed her way through to the stricken woman, forcing herself into professional mode and forgetting her own shock that it was her friend Sirie who was hurt. She didn’t deserve this, giving so much of her life to the community, allowing those who were hard up to pay her ‘next time’, lending a ready ear to listen to the woes of any of her customers. It wasn’t fair.
In her next life, thought Kerry grimly as she packed the blankets as best she could around Sirie in the howling wind and stinging rain, she would come back as something less stressful than a GP trying to calm a terrified woman trapped under a bridge wall with water gushing over her. Perhaps she’d have a career as a lion tamer or a high-flying trapeze artist!
She pushed a folded blanket gently behind Sirie’s head, all the time talking to her, reassuring her that she was being looked after. Kerry knew the psychological importance of making sure the victim was aware that she wasn’t alone but in safe and capable hands.
‘It’s all right, Sirie, love, we’re here to help you now,’ shouted Kerry above the noise of the rushing river. ‘Try and stay calm. Here, hold my hand and grip it tightly. If you keep as still as possible, there’s going to be no danger.’
Oh, how she hoped that was true! The river was so very close and fast, the roar of it filling their ears. She had a horrible vision that if Sirie were to slip into it when they released her, she could be swept down into the torrent. It was a steep hill, and even though it was raining and dark, the ribbon of lights along the road at the bottom of the valley could be seen clearly, twinkling many feet below.
Kerry looked across at Denovan lying on his stomach close to Sirie as he tried to see where her legs were trapped, and if the two large slabs of stone were actually compressing the limbs. She admitted to herself that she hadn’t expected a man like Denovan to hurl himself into the situation as he had—to be so hands-on. He’d surprised her, but after the way he’d lost his cool with her earlier, she wasn’t about to become his biggest fan. However, she admitted grudgingly, she was
