Adam's Daughter

by Jennifer Taylor

  ‘The SLF?’ she queried, giggling uncontrollably.

  ‘The Suitcase Liberation Front, of course,’ he explained with a completely straight face as he started walking again. ‘You must have heard of them? They’re responsible for a lot of luggage that goes missing from airports.’

  Beth was laughing so hard now that her eyes were watering. ‘I thought I was mad but you are far crazier than me! The SLF indeed.’

  He grinned as he opened the door for her. They had parked in the multi-storey car park across the road from the terminal and they paused while a car drove past. ‘You started it. I was completely sane until I met you.’

  He held up his hand when she gasped in outrage. ‘Truce! We’re both as mad as each other, agreed?’

  ‘Hmm, I’ll have to think about that.’ She led the way up the steep concrete steps to the third level where they had parked. Despite the fact that it was gone nine, there were a lot of people about and they had to stop to let an elderly couple manoeuvre two huge suitcases through the door.

  ‘Obviously not a woman who makes any hasty decisions,’ he observed lightly. ‘Anyway, how about that drink I promised you? I thought we could stop off at The Willows, if that’s all right with you? Eileen told me that it’s the grand opening of the new bar and restaurant tonight, so it might be fun.’

  ‘Sounds fine to me, although I hope they managed to get everything finished in time. They had the road dug up when I passed there at lunchtime,’ she explained. ‘That’s why I was late getting back. It had caused such a hold-up that it took me ages to get through the town centre.’

  ‘Oh, I see. We’ll have a look and if they’re open, we’ll go there. If not, we can find somewhere else.’ Adam unlocked the car. ‘It must be a rush getting to the hospital and back in your lunch-hour, without getting stuck in traffic to add to your woes.’

  ‘It is rather hectic. But it’s worth it because Hannah looks forward to my visits so much.’

  ‘I’m sure she does, but it can’t be good for you to spend all your time rushing around like that.’

  ‘I’m fine, really. So long as Hannah is happy then that’s all that matters,’ she assured him.

  ‘And you don’t regret having to give up so much of your free time?’ he persisted, turning onto the motorway as they left the airport complex. ‘A lot of people would feel very resentful in your position.’

  ‘Maybe they would but I don’t.’ She took a deep breath, wondering where the conversation was leading. ‘Are you starting to find it all a bit of a strain, Adam?’

  ‘Yes, but not in the way that you mean,’ he replied evenly. ‘The worst thing about this situation is the feeling of helplessness it gives you. I’m a doctor and I’m supposed to know how to make people better. The fact that I can do so little for Hannah is very hard to accept. I feel as though everything that I’ve done since med school has been a waste of time.’

  ‘That’s not true! Think about all the people you’ve helped over the years, and all the lives that you’ve saved.’ She touched his arm, feeling her heart aching when she heard the regret in his voice. It didn’t seem fair that he should be blaming himself for something he had no control over.

  ‘I suppose you’re right. It’s just very difficult to find a balance when your own child is involved.’ He sighed heavily. ‘I never imagined it would be this hard.’

  ‘Had you never thought about having a family?’ she asked, suddenly curious to hear what he would say.

  ‘Once upon a time I did, but that was a long time ago. It seemed wiser to put any ideas like that out of my head rather than run the risk of being disappointed again.’

  Beth felt a chill run through her. Had Adam been referring to the disappointment he’d suffered when he’d split up with Claire? she wondered sickly. Had he discarded his dreams of having a family because he’d lost the woman he’d loved?

  She removed her hand from his arm, terrified that he might guess how painful she found that thought. It was a relief when he changed the subject and started talking about the proposals he had made for the surgery. However, she decided that it might be better to cut short the evening when they arrived back at Winton. Being with Adam seemed to unleash feelings inside her which she found it very difficult to deal with, and it seemed silly to put herself through any more heartache that night.

  ‘Would you mind if I skipped that drink after all?’ she asked as they turned into the high street a short time later. ‘I’m really tired and I could do with an early night, to be honest.’

  ‘Are you sure? Maybe a drink would help you unwind.’ He slowed the car as they reached the end of the drive leading to the hotel. It was obviously doing a roaring trade because the car park was packed.

  Beth shook her head, not wanting to be tempted to change her mind. ‘Thanks, but I really would prefer to go home.’ The words were barely out of her mouth when there was a massive explosion from the vicinity of the hotel.

  ‘What was that?’ she cried, scrambling out of the car. Adam had leapt out as well and he came rushing round the car as a second explosion followed in the wake of the first.

  ‘Get down!’ he ordered, thrusting her flat on the ground as debris started to rain down on them.

  Beth’s ears were ringing from the noise and she could barely breathe thanks to the cloud of dust that filled the air and the weight of Adam’s body pressing her into the ground. He waited until the aftershocks had died away before he got up and helped her to her feet.

  She gasped when she saw what had happened to the hotel. The newly built wing had been completely demolished, leaving a large section of the roof listing dangerously. People were streaming from the exits, scrambling over the piles of rubble and broken glass that littered the path.

  ‘What on earth has happened?’ she asked in dismay.

  ‘It looks like a gas main might have blown up. Use the car phone to call the emergency services. We need ambulances and the fire brigade here as fast as possible.’

  ‘Wait! Where are you going?’ She caught hold of his sleeve as he started to move away.

  ‘To see what I can do to help. Hurry up and make that call, Beth. We’re going to need all the help we can get from the look of it.’

  ‘You will be careful,’ she whispered, her heart turning over at the thought of him putting himself in danger.

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ve too much to lose to take any stupid risks.’

  He touched her gently on the cheek then he was gone, disappearing into the crowd that was flooding down the path. Beth put through a call to the emergency services, but even though she responded calmly to the questions they asked her, inside she was a jittery mass of nerves.

  She was just starting to realise how much she had to lose if anything happened to Adam.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ‘WE NOW know that there are three people still not accounted for. Mrs Evelyn Thomas and her grandson, Michael, plus the owner of the hotel, Roger Hopkins. My men are doing a sweep of the building to try and locate them.’

  Beth’s heart sank as the officer in charge finished updating them. There was a crowd of emergency service personnel gathered in front of the hotel. Most of the injured had been taken to hospital now and the police had put up a cordon to stop any sightseers getting too close. Although there had been no more explosions the possibility hadn’t been ruled out.

  She and Adam had worked alongside the paramedics, tending the injured. There had been so many people hurt that the emergency services had gratefully accepted their offer of help. Injuries had ranged from fairly superficial cuts caused by flying glass to the loss of limbs.

  Although several of the injured were in a very bad way there had been no actual fatalities, amazingly enough. Now she felt her heart ache as she thought about the three people who were still missing. The fact that she knew them personally made the situation seem all the more desperate.

  ‘Are you all right?’

  Adam put his arm around her shoulders and led her away from the c
rowd. The fire brigade had set up arc lamps around the site and his face looked waxen in the cold glare they gave off.

  ‘I keep thinking about those poor people still inside the building,’ she admitted, shivering uncontrollably.

  He sighed as he pulled her closer. ‘They’ll find them, Beth. Those men are professionals and they know what they’re doing.’

  ‘I know they’ll find them eventually but will they still be alive? I saw Michael Thomas only the other day when his grandma brought him into the surgery. He’s only four, Adam, and he’s so tiny!’

  ‘Hush! They’ll find him,’ he repeated. Tilting her face, he looked deep into her eyes. ‘They’ll get him out of there, Beth. Trust me.’

  She felt her breath catch when she saw the tenderness in his eyes. The fact that he was worried about her in the midst of all this chaos touched her deeply. But before he could say anything else, the officer in charge came hurrying over to them.

  ‘We’ve found them! The man’s trapped in an office at the rear of the building and the woman and the child are in the toilets. We’ve got a couple of paramedics attending to the man, but we need someone to look at the old lady and the boy before we move them. Is there any chance you’d do it, Doc? We want to get them out of there as fast as we can. We can’t afford to wait until one of the ambulances gets back here.’

  ‘Of course,’ Adam replied immediately, letting Beth go.

  She hurried after him as the officer led the way, feeling her stomach churning as she realised how dangerous it was for him to go inside the hotel. Although a team of firemen were attempting to shore up the roof with metal props, they were having problems making it stable. She was very aware that the whole roof could cave in at any moment and couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen to anyone inside the building if it did.

  Adam wasted no time as he dragged on a protective jacket that one of the firemen handed him then accepted a hard hat with a nod of thanks. Beth’s heart was in her mouth as she watched him following the fireman into the hotel. It wasn’t easy, squeezing between the piles of masonry, and she held her breath when a section of wall swayed perilously as they edged past it. They disappeared from view and all she could do then was wait.

  It seemed to take for ever before they reappeared. Adam conferred briefly with the officer in charge then hurried to a waiting ambulance. Beth ran over to see what was happening.

  ‘They’ve almost got the grandmother out but the child is well and truly trapped. It’s going to take a bit more time before they can free him.’ He nodded his thanks as one of the ambulance crew handed him a bag of saline and a line. ‘I need to get some fluid into Michael stat.’

  ‘How badly injured is he?’ she asked, hurrying to keep up with him as he strode back towards the hotel.

  ‘I’m pretty sure that his right leg is fractured but it’s difficult to get at him so I haven’t been able to examine him properly,’ he explained. ‘It’s obvious that he’s in shock, though, and he desperately needs fluid.’

  He broke off as a young woman came rushing towards them. ‘Have you seen Michael yet? Is he all right?’ she demanded.

  ‘Yes, I’ve seen him and he’s alive,’ Adam told her gently.

  ‘Oh, thank God!’ she whispered hoarsely, the colour draining from her face. Beth hurriedly put her arm around her, feeling the shudders that racked her body as she led her across to the ambulance and sat her down.

  ‘I should never have let Michael wander off like that.’ The woman clutched Beth’s hand. ‘I was cross with him for telling his grandma about the party when it was supposed to be a surprise, you see. I told him off and the next thing I knew he had disappeared.

  ‘Evelyn said that she would find him but she’d only been gone a few minutes when there was this terrible bang. We were sitting by the window and Robert, my husband, was hit by some of the glass when it shattered. He didn’t want to go to hospital but they insisted. We didn’t realise at first that Michael and Evelyn were still inside the building.’

  ‘It must have been dreadful for you,’ Beth said soothingly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Adam hurrying back to the hotel and quickly clamped down on her own fear.

  He would be all right, she told herself. He had to be all right. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him when she loved him so much.

  The thought flowed into her mind without any warning and she gasped. She loved him! It made sense of so much that had puzzled her of late.

  She cleared her throat when she saw Michael’s mother looking beseechingly at her. ‘It wasn’t your fault that they were trapped inside. It was just a dreadful accident. You heard what Dr Knight said, that Michael is alive. I’m sure that he will do everything he can for him.’

  ‘I know he will. It’s just that I’m so scared!’

  The woman broke into a storm of weeping. Beth put her arm around her, wishing there was more she could offer by way of comfort. She understood how the poor woman felt because she felt the same. The fear that something might happen to Adam was almost too much to bear.

  It was a long wait. Evelyn Thomas was brought out of the building by stretcher some ten minutes later. She was deeply unconscious and the firemen who had rescued her rushed her straight to an ambulance.

  Beth checked her watch for the umpteenth time as Roger Hopkins was carried out not long afterwards. There was just Adam, little Michael and one of the firemen left inside now, and it was obvious that the rescue teams were growing increasingly concerned. Leaving Michael’s distraught mother in the care of the ambulance crew, she hurried over to the officer in charge.

  ‘Why is it taking so long?’

  ‘The kid’s trapped in one of the toilet stalls,’ he explained grimly. ‘Unfortunately, the area he’s in was one of the worst affected by the blast. Most of the roof has fallen in and the rest could follow at any moment. We’re having to work very carefully in case we bring the whole lot down on top of them.’

  He broke off as a deafening roar suddenly filled the air. Beth gasped in horror as she watched another section of the roof falling in. She couldn’t bear to think what might have happened to Adam if he had been underneath it.

  Tears filled her eyes at the thought and she turned away then swung back round when a cheer suddenly erupted from the watching crowd. Her heart surged with relief when she saw two figures emerging from the building. One of them was holding the tiny figure of a child in his arms and she knew without the shadow of a doubt that it was Adam, even though he was so heavily caked in grime that he was virtually unrecognisable. There seemed to be wings on her feet as she raced across the path towards him.

  ‘He’s got a fractured right femur and possible fracture of the right arm,’ he rapped out, handing the child to the paramedics. ‘He was conscious for a short time, but he’ll need a CT scan in case there’s any head injury. He’ll also need X-rays in case of internal damage.’

  ‘You can leave it to us now, Doc. You’ve done your bit,’ the paramedic told him with a grin.

  ‘Thank you, thank you so much!’ Michael’s mother called as she scrambled on board the ambulance. It roared away with its lights flashing and only then did Adam turn and see Beth standing there.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked huskily.

  ‘Just about. I wouldn’t want to have to go through that again in a hurry, though,’ he replied with an attempt at levity. The fireman who had been inside the building with him came over and they shook hands before he turned to her again. ‘We’ve done our bit now, so let’s get out of here.’

  She simply nodded because she didn’t trust herself to speak at that moment. The fact that he was there and uninjured was almost more than she could take in. She followed him down the drive, feeling the tremors of reaction coursing through her body. News of the explosion must have spread because there were a number of reporters amongst the crowd gathered in the road outside.

  Adam shook his head when they rushed forward to question him. ‘Sorry, I’ve nothing to sa
y.’

  Beth hurried on ahead and started the car while he extricated himself from the press. She turned to him as he slid into the passenger seat. ‘You don’t mind if I drive, do you?’

  ‘No.’ He groaned as he sank back in the seat. ‘I don’t think I’ve got the strength even to change gear, to be honest.’

  ‘No wonder,’ she said quietly, struggling to keep the quaver out of her voice.

  He reached over and covered her hand where it rested on the steering wheel. ‘Michael should be all right, Beth. So should his grandmother. You can stop worrying now.’

  ‘I wasn’t just thinking about them!’ she exploded, suddenly angry at his obtuseness. ‘You could have got yourself killed in there tonight, Adam!’

  ‘But I didn’t,’ he said softly, so softly that her eyes flew to his face. ‘Were you worried about me, Beth?’

  ‘Of course I was!’ she bit out, gripping the steering wheel so hard that her fingers ached from the pressure.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Why do you think?’ she replied huskily, feeling a frisson ripple along each taut nerve when she heard the smoky undercurrent in his voice. She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him because she knew it would be a mistake. If she looked at him then he would know how scared she had been, maybe put two and two together and work out why.

  Was that what she wanted? Did she want him to know that she loved him when she had no idea how he would feel about the idea?

  ‘Pull over.’

  She jumped when he spoke and turned to glance uncertainly at him. ‘Here?’

  ‘Right here…please.’

  It was the ‘please’ that did it, she realised as she drew the car to a halt and switched off the engine. One simple word that somehow seemed to be imbued with all sorts of things that made her tingle from head to toe, made her heart race and her blood heat, made—

  The rest of the thought disappeared abruptly as Adam drew her to him and kissed her. His mouth was hungry as it closed over hers, demanding a response that she was only too eager to give him. He kissed her and she kissed him back without making any attempt to hide how she felt. She loved him, and even though she hadn’t told him so in words she was telling him that through this kiss.