Chapter 2

2

Bess reached the car and the road paramedic updated her on what they knew so far. The man, who Bess had to treat like any other patient, even though she now knew that he and her mum were involved in some way, was talking a bit. That was always a good sign. But he was trapped inside the vehicle and they couldn't fully attend to him until he was freed.

‘Malcolm…' Climbing into the vehicle through the passenger side on her knees, Bess's voice rose above the noise on scene, the first responders, her mother still crying out to help this man. ‘Malcolm, my name is Bess, I'm with the air ambulance. Do you remember what happened?'

‘A car…' he croaked. ‘Hit us. Knocked us sideways.'

His response proved he was lucid.

‘I understand you have pain in your chest, Malcolm.'

Malcolm opened his eyes to Bess's voice.

As a critical care paramedic, Bess's job was to provide pre-hospital emergency care. It involved quick thinking, fast decision making, often in the most challenging environments with limited resources.

‘I'm going to take a look at you,' she assured him. Pain in the chest could be due to a fracture, organ damage or bruising so she wanted to rule things out wherever she could. She needed to ensure he was stable, get him out of the vehicle, and transport him to the further help he needed.

Daylight was beginning to fade and even though Bess had a head torch on her helmet, she asked the road paramedic to hold a bigger torch and shine it into the car so she could better assess Malcolm. As she worked, she couldn't help picturing him with her mother, holding hands, talking, starting something new without her even knowing. Only three years had passed since they'd lost Bess's dad; it felt like no time at all in so many ways.

But right now, she had to block all of that out and do her job.

Once she was as sure as she could be that his injuries weren't life threatening, she administered a stronger pain relief than the road paramedics were able to give. ‘The fire brigade are going to get you out of here, okay, Malcolm?'

‘Okay.' He even managed a smile as Noah came to assist, a smile that seemed kind to Bess.

To Gio, she said, ‘Slow and careful with this one; keep everything as still as you can.'

‘Right you are.'

Sometimes, the instruction was the opposite – the patient was in such a critical condition that she told the firefighters to work fast, get the patient out by any means necessary.

As Gio got to work, one of the road paramedics came over and informed Bess that they would soon be taking Fiona to the hospital to be checked. ‘She says she won't leave until Malcolm is extracted from the vehicle.'

‘But she's okay?' Bess checked.

‘It's a precaution,' the paramedic explained. ‘I think she's fine, but it's always good to be safe. '

‘Thank you.' Bess's words rushed out of her in relief as the jaws of life crunched and tore away the steel from around the patient while she and Noah stood by, ready for action again.

Once Gio had done his part, two other firefighters put protective boards inside the vehicle to stop injury to any party from jagged metal or broken glass as the patient was freed from the wreckage.

Malcolm was no longer very coherent which wasn't surprising given the stronger painkillers that had been administered. But, as Noah and Bess got Malcolm onto the scoop, one thing he kept saying stood out – Bess's mother's name.

‘Fiona,' he said again.

‘She's fine,' Bess explained, the weirdness of talking to this stranger about her mother not lost on her.

Noah radioed in that they would be transporting the patient by air to the nearest trauma centre and with their equipment gathered together, it was almost time to head back to the aircraft. Daylight had faded completely now, but with the lights of the emergency services vehicles plus the head torches she and Noah had, the visibility was manageable.

Fiona cried out Malcolm's name yet again, jolting Bess between her job and her personal life. She yelled over to Bess from the side of the road where she stood with a police officer. ‘I want to go with you!'

‘Mum, he's in good hands,' Bess called back.

‘You okay?' Noah asked softly from beside her.

She hoisted the first bag onto her back. ‘Yeah, let's go.' This was her job but it didn't stop her feeling torn, with part of her here with the patient, the other part desperate to go to her mother's side.

Gio, another firefighter and a second police officer offered to help with the scoop and the rest of the equipment so Bess and Noah could get everything back to the helicopter in one trip. This happened a lot on scene and they were always grateful for any assistance, whether it was from another first responder or a member of the public.

Bess focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Her mum wanted to be sure that Malcolm was okay; Bess wanted to know her mum was all right and she needed to know who Malcolm was.

Was Malcolm the reason behind Fiona's visit to her house today? Was he what she'd wanted to talk to Bess about?

Her thoughts were drowned by the blare of sirens from the road ambulance that left the scene to take the first patient to the hospital for thorough checks and hopefully an all-clear.

Cold winds whipped Bess's ringlets across her face as Gio dropped back to walk alongside her. He had the other equipment bags; Noah and the two others had hold of the scoop heading towards the fence they'd have to get over to access the field and the air ambulance.

‘You all right?' he asked.

‘Why wouldn't I be?'

‘Easy. Just asking.'

‘Sorry, don't mean to snap.'

They'd reached the fence and Gio and Bess held one end of the scoop while the others took turns to climb over the fence before they could take hold of it again.

When Malcolm said, ‘Fiona,' yet again, Bess called out to him before the scoop was on the move.

‘Fiona is fine, don't worry.'

It was what she'd do if it was any other patient and they were worried about their loved one. It happened often that one victim was worse off than another and so they didn't travel to hospital together, especially when the air ambulance was involved as it had limited space and required everyone on board to comply with weight limits.

Bess told Gio to climb over the fence first. ‘I'll hand you my bags once you've cleared it.' She ignored the hand he held out once he was over.

‘Perfectly capable,' she said but with less of the snappiness of her previous remark.

‘Did you hold hands with your date the other day?' he asked with a hint of the cheekiness she was very familiar with.

‘I didn't.'

‘That bad?'

Laden with equipment and gear, they trudged towards the helicopter.

‘I don't think there will be a second date, put it that way. He was forty-five and lives with his parents.'

‘Cost of living is steep.'

She added, ‘And he has no intention of moving out; rent is cheap, meals are free.'

Gio's laughter lifted her stress for a moment, especially when she caught sight of his smile as they both negotiated the slippery mud. His rugged, dark good looks probably had most women turn to putty in his hands, but not Bess. She'd put him firmly in the friend zone a long time ago and it was probably for the best. He'd likely used his charms on plenty of Whistlestop River's female population since he moved to town and she didn't want to be just another number to him or anyone else. She wanted something long term; she wanted stability.

Gio caught her arm when she slid and stopped her falling on her behind. ‘You needed me that time.'

As they followed the others, the bags not getting any lighter, he asked, ‘So that's your mum's boyfriend?'

Maya had spotted them and headed over to help with the kit .

‘It seems that way,' Bess replied.

‘And I take it you didn't know about him.'

‘No, I didn't.' The wind almost whipped her voice away.

The three of them caught the others up. Noah and Bess got the patient from scoop to litter, ready to transport, and with all the equipment on the helicopter, Bess thanked Gio, agreed to meet up with him again soon, and climbed into the cockpit.

Gio stood back to avoid the downdraft from the aircraft as they lifted up into the sky and Bess gave him a wave as she radioed through an update to the HEMS desk. Noah monitored the patient in the back and as they flew, Bess assisted Maya as needed, all the while the spinning rotors not quite loud enough to drown out the niggling thoughts in her head.

The patient – Malcolm – a man who was not her dad, was involved with her mum.

Ron had been Fiona's one true love. They'd been each other's perfect; that was how they'd described one another often. Bess's dad died suddenly three years ago and thinking of her mother with any man other than him…

Of all the things she'd expected her mother to want to talk to her about today, she'd never anticipated a new man in Fiona's life to be it. Her dad wasn't replaceable; he never would be.

Bess updated the hospital on their approach and when they arrived and hovered above the helipad on the roof, she pushed everything else aside other than this night, this job, everyone's safety. She climbed out of the aircraft once they touched down and were clear to do so and it was time to hand over the patient. She had to yell above the sound of the wind this high up, Noah gave them further details, and soon they were back on board ready to return to base.

Tonight, there had been no fatalities, and for that, Bess was grateful. But deep down, she was thinking about her dad, the man nobody would ever take the place of, the man she missed so much, it hurt like a head-on collision.

He'd be disappointed if he could see the way she'd been living her life lately, but as they cruised over the town's ribbon-like river, which looked completely different in the dark and yet was still magnificent, she couldn't regret her choices completely. Maybe she should, but there was always that little voice in her head that said, Live every day as if it were your last , the words on the silver fob of her keyring.

Life was precious; life could be taken away from you in a moment.

And she wanted to make the most of hers. She had to.