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  ‘Haemotympanun,’ Joe told Maggie quietly. ‘But her neurological status seems stable.’

  ‘I can’t be sure if it’s a fracture or muscle injury to her leg but it’s swollen and painful enough to make me query compartment syndrome. Limb baselines are lower than they were when the first crew arrived.’

  ‘We’d better get this show on the road, then.’ Joe reached for his radio. ‘Nick? Could you bring the stretcher, please?’

  Maggie splinted Caroline’s leg. As the ambulance crew helped Joe lift their patient and then secure her to the helicopter’s stretcher, she turned to talk to Caroline’s husband.

  ‘We’re going to take Caroline in to the emergency department of the Royal. She’s going to need a scan to rule out a possible skull fracture and an orthopaedic specialist to deal with the leg injury.’

  Lucy burst into tears. ‘No...don’t take my Mummy away.’

  ‘It’s okay, Luce,’ Barry said. ‘We’ll go in the car. You’ll see Mummy again very soon.’

  ‘You will,’ Maggie said. ‘But would you like to give her a big kiss first? And tell her how brave she is?’

  From the corner of his eye, as Joe did up one of the strap buckles that would keep Caroline secure on the stretcher if they hit any turbulence, he could see Maggie hold out her arms and the little girl respond by reaching back. Maggie settled the child on one hip and then held out her hand again to the silent, scared-looking boy.

  ‘I’ll bet Mummy needs a kiss from you, too.’

  ‘I do...’ Caroline’s voice wobbled but she managed to hold it together while she exchanged kisses and reassured her children. Then it was Barry’s turn to lean over the stretcher and kiss his wife.

  ‘We’ll be there as soon as. Love you...’

  Caroline just nodded, clearly unable to trust her voice as Joe and Nick began to carry her towards the helicopter. Joe looked back to see Maggie giving Lucy a cuddle before transferring her back into her father’s arms. For just a moment he saw her as part of that family picture of a man and woman and two gorgeous kids.

  Add in a few more kids and it was exactly what she wanted in her own life.

  Exactly what he might have wanted in his life, if things had been different. And Maggie would have been the woman he might well have chosen to be the mother of those children.

  But that was never going to happen and if he was a true friend he’d be encouraging her to get out there and find the partner—hopefully the love of her life—who would be able to give her what she wanted so much. He shouldn’t be wasting her time by keeping her distracted with a relationship that was no more than a ‘friends with benefits’ one that really shouldn’t have started in the first place.

  He was still watching as Maggie began to run towards him to catch up. The sound of the rotors got louder as Andy readied the aircraft for take-off.

  She looked different for some reason, he thought, turning back to direct the loading of the stretcher into the helicopter. Some kind of glow about her despite the lines of concern on her face that he knew were all about their patient and her family. Or was it just because he’d started to see her as so much more than simply his friend or colleague? Like the way he’d noticed different things about Maggie when he’d realised how attractive she was.

  Maggie Lewis was just a stunning human being, that’s what it was. And if he could have given her what she wanted, Joe would have been at the head of the queue. He knew perfectly well how easy it would be to fall in love with Maggie if he stepped past that roadblock. But he also knew that that wasn’t going to happen, which meant he would never be in any queue of potential life partners.

  It wasn’t fair to hold Maggie back. They needed to stop what was happening between them before it went on too long.

  Before it got too difficult to stop because it was so damn good?

  Maggie pulled the door shut behind her, gave him a thumbs-up sign and settled herself in the seat at the head of Caroline’s stretcher where she could both monitor her patient’s condition and supply any needed reassurance.

  Joe buckled himself into the seat at the side of the stretcher where he was in a good position to reach any equipment and provide any treatment needed on the short flight to the hospital.

  He spared only the briefest of another thought concerning Maggie.

  Yes, it had to stop.

  But hopefully not just yet...

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘WE’RE JUST GOOD FRIENDS.’ But Joe’s sideways glance at Maggie held a question. Have you been talking to someone about us?

  Her subtle headshake served as both a reassuring response to Joe and a sign of impatience with Adam, the Aratika HEMS doctor on duty with Cooper today, who’d asked if there was something going on between Joe and Maggie.

  ‘Looked like more than that when I saw you both out dancing in that bar last week,’ he persisted.

  Maggie shrugged. ‘We’re both single. We felt like a night out. It’s no big deal.’

  It wasn’t a big deal. Yes, she and Joe saw each other once or twice a week and sometimes went out and always enjoyed great sex and, yes, it should have stopped by now after nearly two months but it was still fun and neither of them had anyone else waiting in the wings, so why not?

  ‘Oh...beware...’ Fizz turned from where she was reading notices on the board in the staffroom. ‘That’s how it started with me and Cooper. We were just good friends and look at me now...’ She patted her protruding belly.

  ‘How long now, Fizz?’ Joe sounded like he was keen to change the subject.

  ‘Three months. And I was three months along when I got married, which means... Hey, Coop. It’s our three-month anniversary today. Where are you taking me to celebrate?’

  ‘That’s why I’ve snuck you on base for one of Shirley’s Sunday roasts. Best meal in town.’

  ‘Aww...’ Shirley was stirring a large pot on the stovetop. ‘You’re a good boy, Cooper Sinclair. I knew you were going to be from the moment you arrived here. I’ll be ready for you to carve this meat soon. I’m just finishing the gravy.’

  ‘Can I help?’ Maggie joined Shirley at the bench.

  ‘You could drain those carrots and then put some butter and parsley on them.’

  ‘It’s no wonder I’m putting on weight, Shirley. Between your roast dinners and all those cakes and cookies, I’ve got no hope.’ She might have to make a bit of an effort, in fact. Her uniform trousers had been noticeably tight when she’d put them on this morning.

  ‘You just need to do a bit more dancing, then.’ Shirley’s glance implied that she knew exactly what was going on between Maggie and Joe and wasn’t about to have any wool pulled over her eyes.

  Maggie made a mumbled sound of agreement. She threw a knob of butter and the already chopped parsley on top of the carrots and put the lid of the pot back on.

  ‘I’ll put the plates in the warming drawer, shall I?’

  ‘They’re already in there.’

  Shirley was a stickler for doing things the right way and that included warmed plates for her food. And despite the unspoken rule that places at the table for Sunday lunch were only for the crews on duty that day, nobody was going to complain about Cooper’s wife being included. Fizz had had to give up her shifts on base while she was pregnant and everybody missed her company, especially Maggie.

  She leaned her head against her friend’s shoulder for a moment as Fizz came up and slung her arm over Maggie’s shoulders.

  ‘Glad you came,’ she murmured. ‘I don’t get to see you that often these days.’

  ‘You should come and visit, then. Instead of going out dancing with Joe.’ Fizz’s tone was teasing. She didn’t think there was anything going on between them and why would she? Everybody knew that Maggie and Joe had worked together for years with nothing happening. What had changed to make Adam suspicious, not to mention Shirley being conv
inced? Was the new bond that had made them a closer team than ever somehow visible from the outside?

  Fizz was sniffing appreciatively. ‘I’m starving. That gravy smells divine, Shirley.’

  ‘Secret ingredient.’ Shirley nodded. ‘And you should be starving. You’re eating for two.’

  ‘That doesn’t excuse my current gluttony.’ Fizz grinned. ‘So what’s the secret ingredient, then?’

  ‘If I told you that, it wouldn’t be a secret any more, now, would it?’

  Maggie laughed along with Fizz but she took a deeper sniff, wondering if she could work out what the mysterious ingredient could be. Oddly, none of the aromas from the food smelled as nice as they usually did. There was a note in the mix that made her feel slightly queasy, in fact.

  Fizz had her head much closer to the pot as she sniffed. ‘Aha...could it be garlic?’

  Shirley’s chin came up. ‘Not telling. Cooper? You want to come and carve this meat?’ She opened the oven door with one hand, picking up her oven gloves with the other. ‘Adam, why don’t you make yourself useful and come and get these veggies out of the oven and onto the table? I’m too old to be lifting that heavy tray.’

  The laughter was more general this time. Shirley might be in her seventies but she was ageless. A much-loved institution now and nobody wanted to think about her not being an honorary member of the staff. She’d been a part of Aratika for longer than Maggie had been, having started to supply the crews with her wonderful baking after her son’s life had been saved by a helicopter crew many years ago. She’d started coming in to cook breakfast just after Maggie had been lucky enough to join the team five years ago and the Sunday lunch tradition had begun not long after that.

  Adam pushed his chair back and came towards the kitchen area but Shirley was already pulling a tray from the oven—the muffin tin that had a dozen of her famous Yorkshire puddings in it. The heavier oven tray with the delicious array of roasted potatoes and other vegetables was on a lower rack.

  ‘I’ll need those oven gloves,’ Adam said.

  Shirley straightened, holding the muffin tin in her hands. Cooper was off to one side, sharpening the carving knife, and Maggie and Fizz were still standing by the sink when it happened. The muffin tray slid from Shirley’s hand to crash on the floor, sending the Yorkshire puddings flying in all directions. At almost the same instant, Shirley crumpled, clutching at her chest. Adam caught her.

  ‘Here...sit down, Shirley.’

  Maggie was crouched in front of the older woman by the time Adam had lowered her to sit on the floor with her back against one of the kitchen cabinets.

  ‘What’s happening, Shirley? Have you got chest pain?’

  Shirley nodded. ‘Right here...’ Her fist was pressed against the centre of her chest. ‘Oh...it feels like I’ve got an elephant sitting on top of me. It’s hard to breathe...’

  ‘I’ll grab a life pack...’ Joe ran from the staffroom, Cooper on his heels.

  ‘Do you have any medical conditions we should know about?’ Fizz had her hand on Shirley’s wrist. ‘High blood pressure? Angina?’

  Shirley nodded. ‘I take pills for my blood pressure. I don’t have angina. That’s what my Stan had, before he died with his heart attack.’ She had gone very pale now and Maggie could see beads of sweat on her forehead. ‘Is that what this is? Am I having a heart attack?’

  ‘That’s what we’re going to find out.’

  Joe and Cooper were back with a life pack, a medical pack and an oxygen cylinder. They took cushions from one of the couches in the staffroom and made Shirley more comfortable, propping her up with an oxygen mask in place as they all tried to contribute to finding out what was happening and treating it by getting vital signs, including a twelve-lead ECG and putting an IV line in so they could give her some pain relief.

  Don, the base manager, came into the room, closely followed by Andy. ‘Can we do anything to help?’ he asked.

  ‘Maybe get a stretcher from the back of an ambulance. We’ll be heading for the Royal pretty soon.’

  ‘Chew this up for me, Shirley.’ Fizz lifted the oxygen mask, ready to give Shirley the white tablet.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘An aspirin. I’ll get you a sip of water to wash it down.’ Maggie found Joe and Cooper both still studying the ECG graph.

  ‘It’s not huge but there’s definitely widespread ST segment elevation. And some T wave changes starting.’

  ‘We need to get her into ED as quickly as possible,’ Joe nodded. ‘And up to the catheter laboratory if needed.’

  ‘You and Maggie take one of the ambulances,’ Don said. ‘Adam and Cooper can cover any helicopter callout for the moment. I’ll call in some extra staff so you can stay with Shirley for a while.’

  ‘I’m going, too,’ Fizz said. ‘I can stay as long as it takes.’

  ‘But...’ Shirley pulled down her mask so that they could hear her clearly. ‘But you’ll all miss your Sunday lunch...’

  ‘We’re thinking about all the Sunday lunches to come,’ Fizz teased her gently. ‘It’s far more important to us to make sure you’re going to be around for a long time yet.’

  Joe drove the ambulance to the Royal and Maggie and Fizz stayed in the back, looking after Shirley and giving her the best reassurance that they could, knowing that it could contribute to keeping her safe from a potential cardiac arrest.

  ‘Just relax,’ Maggie told her. ‘Keep your breathing nice and slow.’

  ‘You’re going to be well looked after,’ Fizz added. ‘They’ll want to do another ECG in Emergency and they’ll take some blood tests. It’s quite likely that they’ll take you up to the catheter laboratory after that.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because that’s where they can see exactly what’s going on in the arteries in your heart and, if any of them are blocked, they can fix it. You’ll come out as good as new. Better, even.’

  Maggie could see the fear in Shirley’s eyes so she squeezed her hand. ‘Don’t worry...we’re not going to leave you by yourself.’

  They stayed with Shirley for her initial tests and then waited for the results of the blood tests, which came back swiftly, and then waited again until the catheter laboratory staff on call for a Sunday could get back to the Royal and set up for angiography. They accompanied Shirley in the lift and Maggie even offered to put on a lead apron and stay with her in the laboratory but Shirley refused.

  ‘I’m fine... Whatever they gave me to relax is working very well. I’d much rather you all went and found yourselves something to eat. You said you were starving, Fizz, and that was a long time ago now. You go and look after yourself and that bubba. Maggie and Joe can make sure that you do.’

  So they went back to the staffroom in the emergency department to wait until Shirley’s procedure was finished and they could see her settled into the coronary care unit. They bought packets of sandwiches from a vending machine and Fizz busied herself making hot drinks for them all.

  Maggie took a sip of hers. ‘Oh...’ She screwed up her nose. ‘This coffee tastes really weird. Disgusting, even. Is it really stale or something?’

  Joe tried his. ‘Tastes perfectly okay to me,’ he said. ‘Nothing wrong with it.’

  Fizz laughed. ‘Maybe you’re pregnant, Mags. Coffee was the first thing I went off. I can only drink tea now.’

  It was a mistake to catch Joe’s gaze but Maggie hadn’t been able to stop it happening. She could see the way his eyes darkened, as if his pupils had dilated due to shock. She tried to send him a reassuring message. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. They’d been very careful ever since that first time and she’d had a period after that.

  When was that, exactly? Maggie counted back in her head as she dragged her gaze away from Joe’s. She started peeling the plastic cover off her pack of sandwiches. It was over a month ago so she must be due for her next pe
riod anytime. It was okay. She’d had a fright last time and it had been okay.

  Fizz had been watching the interaction between them. ‘Oh, my goodness,’ she murmured into the silence that had fallen. ‘So Adam was right?’

  ‘It’s not a thing,’ Maggie said. ‘We really are just good friends. And I’m not pregnant.’

  She could feel Joe’s gaze on her as she picked up her sandwich and took a bite. She could actually feel what he was thinking—that it really was time they stopped sleeping together when even the thought of something going wrong was a threat to their friendship and working relationship.

  The mixture of bread, cheese and ham in her mouth suddenly felt like cardboard and it became a mission to swallow it.

  ‘You don’t like your sandwich?’ Fizz asked. ‘Want to swap with one of mine?’

  Maggie shook her head. ‘I might be coming down with something,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll get a glass of water.’

  She stood up but then sat down again, holding her head in her hands.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Joe demanded.

  ‘Felt a bit dizzy, that’s all.’

  ‘Could be low blood sugar,’ Fizz said. ‘Did you eat breakfast this morning?’

  ‘No...but I don’t usually eat breakfast, anyway.’

  Joe had his fingers on her wrist. ‘Could be low blood pressure. Her radial pulse is quite weak. And a bit rapid.’

  ‘Come with me.’ Fizz stood up and waited for Maggie to get up again. ‘I’m going to check you out.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Joe said. ‘Need a hand?’

  ‘No. Finish your lunch.’ Fizz glanced at her abandoned meal. ‘We’ll be back soon.’

  She took Maggie into an empty cubicle. ‘Get up on the bed,’ she instructed. ‘And tell me what’s really going on.’

  ‘I told you. I’m probably coming down with some bug.’

  Fizz was wrapping the blood-pressure cuff around her arm. ‘Symptoms?’

  ‘Nothing much. I just feel a bit off and my skin feels odd. Like my clothes are uncomfortable.’ Maggie used her free hand to undo the button on her trousers. ‘That’s better...’ She lay back on the pillow and closed her eyes.