by Lucy Clark
‘Wow!’
‘Yeah. Wow!’ He chuckled and continued moving his thumbs in little circles on her back.
‘Marty, that was…’
‘Amazing,’ they said in unison.
‘And I didn’t even need to drag out the mistletoe.’
She laughed, her breathing almost back to normal, but she still wasn’t sure whether she could stand without his help. There was no rush so they simply stood there, absorbed in each other, while the world around them continued to move.
As reality slowly returned, Natalie couldn’t help feeling highly self-conscious. It was ridiculous really. This was Marty! Her friend. The friend she’d just kissed. Beginning to feel uncomfortable, unsure what was supposed to happen next, she gently eased from his arms, finding it difficult to look at him.
‘Want to go in?’ he asked, one arm still around her back. She turned so she was looking over the balcony, her body tucked into his.
‘Uh…yes. No. Oh, I don’t know,’ she wailed. ‘Now I’m even more confused.’ She shifted and he dropped his arm. Finally raising her gaze to meet his, she found him watching her intently. ‘What do we do now, Marty? We’ve satisfied our curiosity and kissed. Now what?’
He shrugged. ‘We can do it again.’
She laughed without humour. ‘Spoken like a man.’
‘What? What do you want me to say, Nat? That kiss was spectacular and unique and I’m not going to have a post-mortem on it.’
‘But what about us? Does this change our friendship or was the kiss just an experimental thing?’
‘Why does anything need to change?’
It was the wrong thing to say, or at least Natalie took it the wrong way. He saw the hurt come into her beautiful brown eyes and wished he could explain himself better. Explain that he’d been a complete fool and fallen in love with her and that he wanted her in his life for ever. But he knew if he said those words right now, he’d risk losing her for ever. She wasn’t ready to hear them and he wasn’t quite sure he was ready to say them out loud.
All he knew was that he’d needed to taste her, to feel her mouth against his, to have his hands on her body, holding her close. The need had been too great for him to fight and now, due to his inability to explain his feelings, he was paying the price.
Natalie moved from the railing, taking a few steps away from him.
‘Nat. I didn’t mean it like that.’ He groaned and shook his head. ‘All I’m saying is, let’s just take things one step at a time.’
‘Why? So you can figure out how to extricate yourself from your harem? You don’t need to do that on account of me, Marty. I’m just the old friend. Go! Have fun with the masses of women you like to date.’
‘They’re just dates, Nat.’
‘Like this? In a romantic, secluded atmosphere where you can kiss them?’ Her hand was reaching for the door handle.
‘Nat. Wait.’ He held out his hand. ‘I haven’t kissed any of them.’
She gave him a sceptical look.
‘It’s true. You can ask them if you don’t believe me. Kissing is…Kissing is personal, it’s intimate.’ He shifted his weight. ‘Let’s go somewhere where we can talk this out.’
‘No, Martin.’ She shook her head sadly, her hair swishing from side to side. ‘Right now, I need to be alone…and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t drop around for a few days.’
‘What if Beth wants my company?’
‘Oh, that’s right. You haven’t conquered Beth yet, although you looked like you were well on your way this morning.’
‘What are you—?’
‘I saw her kiss you. The Martin Williams charm strikes again.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t believe I fell for it.’ Her voice cracked on the last few words and she grimaced. The pain was there in her voice and she was annoyed with herself for showing it. He could probably read the vulnerability in her face and right now he had the advantage over her. He had the ability to inflict long-lasting emotional pain on her and the fact that he wasn’t readily jumping in to deny anything she was saying, only made her realise what a fool she’d been to fall for his well-practised, seductive art.
Wrenching back a sob, she opened the door and stepped inside.
‘Natalie!’ he called, but she’d gone.
Marty wasn’t sure whether to follow her or not. They’d come together so how was she going to get home?
He headed for the door but stopped with his hand over the handle. He needed to let her cool off. Anything he said to her now, even if he blurted out the truth about his feelings, would be misconstrued. He’d just succeeded in alienating her when that was the last thing he wanted to do. It was better to leave her…But he wouldn’t leave her for long.
He hit himself in the head. ‘How could you have been so stupid?’ He paused and shook his head. ‘Because you’re in love,’ he murmured softly into the night. Kissing Nat had been amazing and the feeling that he’d finally come home couldn’t be shaken. It was right, so right between the two of them. He had to believe they would sort everything out or he’d go insane. He wasn’t a fool like Everley. He appreciated everything about Nat and he would spend the rest of his life showing her exactly how much.
With that resolution firmly made, he returned inside just in time to see Natalie heading for the door, Beth behind her, pulling her car keys from her bag. He watched them and just as Beth reached the door their gazes met. Beth shrugged, a questioning look in her eyes.
Marty held up his thumb and little finger in the ‘phone’ signal and Beth nodded. It was all he could do as he watched both women walk out of the room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BETH was trailing behind and Natalie could feel herself becoming impatient. All she wanted to do was to get out of there as fast as possible.
‘Can you slow down a second?’ Beth grumbled, but it did no good. ‘What happened? What’s wrong?’
‘Can we just get out of here, please?’ Her voice quivered as she spoke and she knew if she didn’t get to the privacy of Beth’s car as soon as possible, she’d be in tears before the lift arrived. She punched the button repeatedly and found she couldn’t look at her friend when she finally caught up.
‘Natalie…’ Beth stretched out her arm to her friend but Natalie shrank back from it.
‘No. Don’t touch me or I’ll break down, and I don’t want to break down.’
‘OK.’ The lift arrived and they rode it down, neither saying a word. It took them to the car park beneath the hotel and Beth led the way. She navigated the car through the city streets, not speaking until she’d turned off the motorway. ‘Hungry?’
‘No. Sorry if I took you away from your handsome waiter.’
‘That’s OK. I got his number anyway.’
Natalie shook her head in bewilderment. ‘How do you do it? How do you stay so cut off from all emotion?’
‘Walls. I put up walls. The same as everyone else.’ Beth stopped at a red light. ‘Because I’ve had my life trampled on, chewed up and spat out, I put up walls and rarely do I let people behind the walls. I need to find a man I can trust in every aspect of my life.’
‘How do you do that?’
‘You can find out a lot about people in the first hour you spend with them. I’m simply not interested in wasting my hours on a man who doesn’t think along the same lines as I do, no matter how cute he might be.’
‘So you keep them at arm’s length, ignoring the fact your special person could be right under your nose.’
‘Do you mean Marty?’ Beth shook her head. ‘He is so not my type.’
‘Yes, he is.’
‘No, he’s not.’
‘But he likes to play the field and so do you.’
Beth laughed. ‘That doesn’t make him my type, Natalie.’ The light turned green and she headed off. There was quite a bit of traffic on the road for the late hour of the night but then, with Christmas just around the corner, stores were open all hours so people were shopping at all hours.
‘Are you going to tell me what happened?’ Beth asked quietly.
‘I don’t know if I can.’
‘Come on. I’m guessing it has to do with Marty.’
‘We kissed.’
‘Woo-hoo!’ Beth pumped the air with her fist. ‘Yeah!’ She settled. ‘Sorry. So how was it? Good?’
Natalie rolled her eyes. ‘Good? Good doesn’t even begin to describe it. It was…out of this world, like nothing I’ve ever felt before.’
‘Really? Wow.’
‘Yeah—wow.’ Natalie’s tone was despondent.
‘So what’s the problem?’
‘How can you ask that? He’s my friend, my colleague, we work together and he’s dating every other woman in the hospital.’
‘No, he’s not.’
‘Yes, he is. He’s always out on dates.’
‘Maybe that’s just his way of getting to know people.’ Beth glanced at her.
‘That’s what he said, but the hospital’s not made up of female staff alone, Beth.’ Natalie shook her head, staring out the windscreen. ‘Brake. Brake!’ she yelled, and Beth slammed her foot down. The screech of brakes, the instant smell of burning rubber was all around them as Beth narrowly missed hitting the stationary car in front of her.
Both of them sat there for a split second, inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to calm themselves down. ‘Let’s investigate,’ Natalie suggested. Checking behind her for oncoming traffic, she opened the door and climbed out.
‘There’s been an accident. It’s just happened,’ Beth said after she’d switched off the engine, put on her hazard warning lights and left her headlights on.
‘I’ll call it in. What supplies have you got?’
Natalie took her mobile phone from the small evening bag she carried and dialled the emergency number. ‘My name is Dr Natalie Fox. I’d like to report an accident.’ She gave her location. ‘I’m not sure how many people are injured.’ While she spoke she climbed from the car, looking out into the dark night. ‘There are at least three or more cars involved. Send the police and the fire brigade, as well as a couple of ambulances.’
Beth rummaged around in the back of her car and pulled out her first-aid kit and a blanket. ‘We’re just about to take a look at the situation,’ Natalie said into her phone as she shut the car door and headed after Beth. As she walked carefully and quickly up the road, she gasped. ‘No, there’s four cars…no, five involved. The street-lights aren’t providing much help but they’re better than nothing. I need to go. Get those crews here immediately.’
‘The call has already gone out, Dr Fox,’ the emergency operator told her.
Natalie disconnected the call. She went to put the phone away then remembered she was wearing a brand-new dress that didn’t have pockets. She followed Beth and put her phone in the first-aid kit before pulling out a set of gloves and a resuscitation mask.
‘I wish we had more direct light,’ Beth muttered. ‘I only have one torch besides the medical torch.’
‘We’ll have to make do.’
‘This car…’ she pointed to the one at the head of the pack, even though all five cars were strewn in the middle of the road ‘…seems to be in front. I’ll check it first. You check over there.’ Beth pointed to the other side of the road where the front car had swerved and taken out a few oncoming cars. ‘Then report back so we can decide on triage, unless you find an urgent case.’
‘Right.’ Natalie turned and walked between the mounds of shattered glass, the smell of petrol strong in the air. ‘Do you have an extinguisher in the car?’ she called to Beth.
‘No. Sorry.’ Beth replied, before pulling on a pair of gloves and heading to the first car. Natalie checked the cars Beth had indicated. It was after ten o’clock in the evening yet there were still a number of cars going past on either side. They needed to get traffic control under way as soon as possible. The driver of one of the cars involved in the accident was getting out.
‘That’s a good sign,’ Natalie mumbled to herself. ‘Are you all right?’
‘A bit shaken up,’ the man answered. He turned and motioned to the other people in his car. ‘We’re all fine—my wife and kids,’ he said.
‘I’m Dr Fox. Emergency services have already been called but if you wouldn’t mind helping to control the passing traffic, that would be a great help. Probably better if your kids stay in the car at this stage.’ The man went to turn off his lights. ‘No. Please, leave them on so we can see a bit better. My colleague, Dr Durant, and I need as much light as we can get.’
‘Pretty handy, two doctors coming by,’ the man said.
‘Returning from a Christmas party,’ Natalie replied as she headed for the next car. This one had been hit from almost every side and was currently facing in the wrong direction on the road. Glass was everywhere and Natalie was glad of her high-heeled shoes, even though they were uncomfortable as well as impractical. The light from the car behind helped her to see a woman slumped over the steering-wheel. The front windscreen was broken, as though something—or someone—had gone through. A sickening feeling raced through her as she quickened her step.
‘Hello?’ she called to the woman. ‘Can you hear me?’ No response. Very carefully, she reached through the front windscreen and shook the woman gently. ‘Can you hear me?’ A murmured response. ‘It’s all right. Help is on the way. Stay where you are and we’ll be with you as soon as we can. Was there anyone else with you in the car?’ Natalie tried to see into the rear of the car but it was too dark. ‘Can you hear me?’ she asked again when she received no response. ‘Was there someone in your car?’
‘Sammy,’ the woman muttered, then choked on a sob.
‘Sammy?’ Natalie shifted away. ‘Who’s Sammy? Is he your husband? Your son or daughter?’ The woman merely started crying and Natalie knew she had to leave her. If someone had gone through the windscreen, she needed to find them. She went around the car, the smell of petrol increasing, but she ignored it as she looked on the ground for a dark shadow.
‘Sammy?’ she called, but received no reply. Another step and then she stopped and stared, her breath caught in her throat for a second. A small, dark shadow was lying on the road between the rear of the car she’d just checked and another car that had also swerved onto the wrong side of the road—the car she and Beth had parked behind. How the child hadn’t been crushed was a miracle and one she was willing to take. She edged her way past the side of the last car, surprised she and Beth hadn’t seen the body when they’d first arrived. But they hadn’t been looking for a small boy lying on the road. She guessed he wasn’t even five years old.
‘Beth?’ she called as she crouched down beside the small body, his arm twisted over his body, his leg out at an odd angle. ‘Sammy?’ She gently gave the little boy’s shoulder a firm shake. Nothing. ‘Sammy?’ Natalie checked his breathing. Nothing. She quickly checked he hadn’t swallowed his tongue before putting the protective resuscitation mask over his face so she could begin. She pinched his nose, tilted his head back and began breathing into his mouth. After two breaths, she checked Sammy’s carotid pulse. Nothing. She measured the distance on his chest, realising there was bleeding around his lower abdomen before beginning cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ‘Beth?’ she called again, hearing her friend walking nearby. She counted the beats in her head before dipping down and doing EAR again.
‘Nat?’
She began CPR again. ‘Marty!’ Natalie was stunned for a moment then immediately thankful he was there. ‘Marty,’ she called again and in the next instant he was crouching beside her. ‘The child’s mother is in the car just here. She’s conscious but I’ve told her not to move,’ she gestured with her head. ‘What’s Beth doing?’
‘She’s checking this last car, which contains two little girls. Parents probably have whiplash and maybe a broken bone or two. This little fellow looks like the worst.’
Natalie blew into his mouth again, then checked the pulse. ‘It’s there,’ she gasped, her fin
gers willing the faint beats to become stronger. ‘It’s there.’
‘Good work. Here.’ He unfolded a blanket and placed it partially over the boy. It was then Natalie noticed he was wearing gloves and had carried over a medical kit—probably from his car.
‘Check his pupils and hand me a gauze pad, please. He’s bleeding.’
Marty handed her what she needed. She lifted up Sammy’s shirt and saw a seat-belt bruise across his lap. ‘Scissors.’ Again they were put into her hand. Natalie cut away Sammy’s stained T-shirt but there was no sign of a bruise across his shoulder or chest. She shook her head. ‘He must have been sitting in the middle seat with just a lap-sash seat belt on.’
‘If it wasn’t tight enough, that would explain why he went through the windscreen. Pupils equal and reacting to light. How’s the abdomen?’
Sammy moaned.
‘It’s all right, darling. Help is here. Check his legs, Marty, to see if he has any spinal damage.’
Marty called to Sammy. ‘Hey, matey. I’m Dr Marty. Can you try and lift your leg for me?’ Marty put his hand on one of Sammy’s legs. The other was bent at a very odd angle. He had probably dislocated the hip. ‘Sammy? Can you try for me? Think really hard, mate.’
With a whimpering groan Sammy actually managed to tense his muscles. ‘Excellent. Well done,’ Marty said enthusiastically. He put his fingers into Sammy’s clammy hands. ‘Can you squeeze my fingers?’
Again, a small, marginal movement but a movement nonetheless. ‘That’s the stuff we’re looking for. Good boy. OK.’ Marty placed his hands on Sammy’s shoulders. ‘Can you bring your shoulders up for me?’
There was no movement. ‘Sammy?’ Marty called again, and received a whimper in reply. ‘I know it’s difficult but if you could try really hard,’ he urged. There was a very slight movement.
‘Terrific. You are such an amazing boy,’ Marty praised. He turned back to Natalie. ‘No apparent spinal damage but I’d get him checked once he gets to hospital.’
Natalie checked Sammy’s vitals again. ‘Pulse and resp. rate getting stronger.’
‘That’s what we like to hear.’
