Mediterranean Rescue

by Laura MacDonald

  ‘I’m so thirsty…’ whispered Evelyn.

  Dominic stood up. ‘I’m going to get everyone to pool resources,’ he said. ‘Failing anyone producing anything better, I’ll bring back Rob’s can of Coke.’

  He disappeared back in to the main body of the refectory, leaving Claire to comfort Evelyn and to keep her as calm as possible, encouraging her to ride her pain instead of fighting it.

  ‘Do you think someone will come to rescue us?’ whispered Dorothy after a while.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Claire replied truthfully. ‘We can only hope so.’

  ‘I blame myself for this,’ Dorothy went on, gazing helplessly at her sister and gently chafing one of her hands between her own. ‘I was looking after her bag for her and I put it in the compartment above our seats, thinking it was too heavy for her to carry around. I never thought about her medication—I should have done, I know how much she depends on it—but all I could think about was that I wanted to see this monastery because a friend at home had told me to be sure not to miss it. I feel terrible now.’

  ‘You mustn’t blame yourself, Dorothy,’ said Claire gently. ‘There was no way you could have known what was going to happen—there was no way any of us could have known.’

  ‘They had earthquakes in this area a few years ago, you know,’ said Dorothy. ‘Assisi was badly hit, especially the basilica.’

  ‘So I believe,’ said Claire. ‘I remember seeing that on the news now but I still say there wasn’t any way we could have known about this.’

  ‘No, maybe not.’ Dorothy shook her head and Claire saw a tear trickle down her cheek, making a rivulet in the dust. ‘Are you a doctor as well?’ she asked Claire after a moment.

  ‘No,’ Claire shook her head, ‘I’m a nurse, though.’

  ‘How fortunate we are to have you with us, and that nice young doctor.’

  As if on cue, Dominic was suddenly back, a small plastic bottle in one hand and some sort of garment in the other. ‘I’ve done a little better than soft drink this time,’ he said to Claire. ‘Someone had this bottle of mineral water and May had this cardigan in her bag.’ He stooped down beside Evelyn and covered her with the white cardigan then, unscrewing the cap, he held the bottle to her lips while gently supporting her neck with his other hand as she managed to take a few sips.

  As she watched him Claire suddenly realised that there was a dark patch on the back of his shirt around one shoulder blade. Reaching out her hand, she touched it and found it was wet and that the shirt was torn.

  At the touch of her hand he glanced up at her over his shoulder. ‘What is it?’ he said.

  ‘You’re bleeding, Dominic,’ she said. ‘I didn’t notice it before on your red shirt.’

  ‘It’s nothing,’ he said dismissively, getting to his feet and replacing the cap on the bottle. ‘Just a graze, that’s all.’

  ‘I think you’d better let me be the judge of that,’ Claire replied firmly. ‘Come on—over here, and let me take a look.’

  Surprisingly he didn’t argue any further, following Claire away from Dorothy and Evelyn and into the light from a tall window, its glass shattered in the tremor. She watched as he undid the buttons on his shirt and as he made to remove the garment he winced with pain.

  ‘Here,’ she said, ‘let me help.’ Gently she slid the shirt over his shoulders and he withdrew his arm on the injured side. Immediately she could see a large area of injury from his shoulder to the centre of his back, as if he’d been struck by something both heavy and sharp. The area was badly grazed and would, no doubt, have extensive bruising, while in its centre a deep gash looked as if it had bled profusely.

  ‘What is it?’ Dominic tried to peer over his shoulder. ‘Tell me the worst.’

  ‘Well, something obviously struck you,’ said Claire. ‘There’s a gash a couple of inches long. It looks as if it’s been bleeding a lot but it appears to have eased up now. I think you’ll be black and blue tomorrow,’ she added.

  ‘Well, I don’t think I’ve broken anything,’ he replied. ‘I can still use my arm, and my shoulder is OK, even if it does hurts like hell.’ He pulled a face.

  ‘You might have cracked a rib or two,’ said Claire, ‘and all this is because you were shielding me,’ she added softly.

  Slowly he turned and looked at her. ‘Well, thank God it wasn’t you,’ he replied. For a long moment their eyes met, as once again they were both reminded how close to death they had been.

  In the end Claire was forced to turn away, unable to face what she saw in his eyes. ‘Let me try and clean you up,’ she said huskily.

  Without another word he turned his back to her again then lowered himself to the dusty floor where she knelt beside him and attempted to clean his wound. Fortunately the area, having been protected by his shirt, was fairly clean.

  ‘Do you have a handkerchief?’ she asked at last.

  ‘Yes, somewhere.’ He fumbled in one of his trouser pockets and produced a white handkerchief.

  Carefully Claire folded the material into a pad then, untying the chiffon scarf that bound her hair, she shook her head, allowing her hair to fall loose—only too aware as she did so that Dominic was watching her closely. Positioning the pad over the wound, she secured it with the scarf, which she wound under Dominic’s arm before tying it round his neck.

  ‘I can’t imagine that will be very comfortable,’ she said with a grimace, ‘but it’s better than nothing and it should help to protect the wound.’

  ‘Thank you, Nurse.’ Momentarily there was a hint of amusement in his eyes and in spite of the seriousness of the situation Claire found herself smiling back. Then the tenderness of the moment was over and with a deep sigh Dominic hauled himself to his feet and allowed Claire to help him to put his shirt on again.

  ‘I think, Nurse Schofield,’ he said wryly as he fastened his buttons, ‘it’s time that you and I did a ward round.’

  ‘Absolutely, Dr Hansford,’ she replied, adopting the same wryly humorous tone as him. ‘Otherwise our patients will be wondering what on earth has happened to us.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE next hour was spent checking on those who had been injured, adjusting the improvised dressings and generally trying to make people as comfortable as possible with the very limited resources available. Ted continued to be in a great deal of pain, the paracetamol he had been given having barely touched the pain from his fractured leg. And while the bleeding from Peter’s head wound seemed to have stopped, the same couldn’t be said for Diane, whose wound continued to seep blood and who remained unconscious. Claire helped Russell to fashion another pad from his discarded shirt and then proceeded to hold it to the wound herself in an attempt to staunch the blood flow, while Dominic called an impromptu meeting of the others in order to take stock of their situation.

  ‘It looks as if we could be here for some considerable time,’ he said. ‘What we need to do is to establish exactly what we have in the way of fluids and nourishment—by that I mean sweets, chewing gum, anything you might have—so, please, everyone, go through your pockets and your bags and see what you can find.’

  Amidst much muttering and speculation the search revealed another can of soft drink which Dominic lined up alongside the can of Coke and the bottle of mineral water. Gradually people began to produce sweets from the depths of pockets and the corners of handbags.

  ‘OK,’ said Dominic at last, ‘we have two packets of peppermints, half a dozen barley-sugar sweets and a couple of cereal bars. Oh, and two sticks of chewing gum. Not exactly a feast but there could well come a point when we’ll be glad of them. Now…’ he looked at the ring of silent faces around him ‘…there are eighteen of us in here. Most of us have received cuts and bruising, three have more serious injuries and one lady has a serious medical condition.’

  ‘What about that man over there in the corner?’ asked a woman whom Claire didn’t recognise.

  There was no easy way to say it. ‘Unfortunately,’ said Dominic, ‘he didn
’t make it.’ Amidst murmurings of shock and concern he went on, ‘Does anyone know who he is?’

  ‘I think he worked here.’ It was the woman who had asked the question who answered. ‘I’m sure it’s the man who was standing behind the exhibits on the trestle tables when we first came in.’

  ‘Poor fellow,’ said Dominic. ‘He took the full force of that huge section of roof as it caved in.’

  In awe everyone looked up and Claire gave a shudder as she recalled that terrible moment and the noise the roof had made as it had collapsed.

  ‘Fortunately he wouldn’t have known anything about it,’ said Dominic. ‘I examined him shortly afterwards and he was already dead. I would say he died instantly. There was nothing to be done for him, but for the rest of us—we need to work out a plan of survival.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ demanded Melanie. ‘You talk as if we’re going to be here for ages.’

  ‘Which we could well be,’ said Archie with a shrug.

  ‘Of course we won’t,’ said Melanie, and there was a note of hysteria in her voice now. ‘I expect the emergency services are on their way right now.’

  ‘They might not be,’ someone else chipped in. ‘We don’t know what damage has been done elsewhere, do we? Buildings could have been destroyed in the town and people may have been trapped there as well.’

  ‘Which is why we need to think out some sort of plan for ourselves,’ said Dominic. ‘I propose, and I’m sure you will all agree, that we save what little resources we have in case things get really desperate and even then precedence will be given to those who are badly injured or sick.’

  There were nods and murmurings of agreement from those around them.

  ‘In the meantime,’ Dominic went on, ‘I suggest those of us guys who are able-bodied should have another careful look to see if there isn’t any other way out of here.’

  ‘Just what I was thinking,’ said Rob. ‘And if there isn’t, couldn’t we start moving the rubble that’s blocking the entrance?’

  ‘Let’s go and have a look,’ said Dominic.

  As some of the men made their way towards the entrance, which was practically hidden by the huge mound of rubble, Russell crouched down beside Claire and Diane again. ‘How’s the bleeding?’ he asked, a note of desperation in his voice.

  Claire gently lifted the pad and looked at it. ‘I think,’ she said after a moment, ‘it’s actually easing up a bit.’

  ‘Do you?’ asked Russell. ‘Do you really?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ Claire replied. ‘Before, it was soaking through a pad immediately—it isn’t doing that now. I’ll put it back, then you take over, we need to keep up the pressure for a time.’

  Russell changed places with her and continued to hold the pad torn from his shirt to the side of his wife’s head. ‘I don’t know what I would do if I was to lose her,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine life without her.’ His gaze flickered briefly towards Claire. ‘I know we might not have come across as the most devoted of couples,’ he said, ‘but I really do love her.’

  ‘I’m sure you do,’ murmured Claire. ‘Just as I’m sure she loves you.’

  ‘Well, I hope so.’ Russell gave a sigh. ‘Actually, you know, this trip to Rome was a last-ditch attempt to save our marriage.’

  ‘Really?’ said Claire feigning surprise. The last thing she wanted was for this poor man to suspect that there had been gossip amongst his companions about the state of his marriage.

  ‘It was my fault, you know,’ he went on after a moment. ‘I nearly blew it. I had an affair, you see.’

  Claire really didn’t want to hear his confession but she knew from the counselling work that she did that it was probably vitally important for Russell at that particular moment to talk about what was troubling him.

  ‘Would it help to talk about it?’ she asked softly. ‘It wouldn’t go any further,’ she added.

  ‘Her name was Julie,’ he said, ‘she worked at the same company as me. She was half my age. I suppose I was flattered that a gorgeous-looking girl like her should even look at a silly old fool like me—but she did, and I fell for it. I thought I loved her—I couldn’t think about anything else, she just took over my life. I didn’t care about Diane or my kids.’

  ‘So what happened?’ asked Claire, leaning forward and picking up Diane’s wrist to check her pulse. ‘How did Diane find out?’

  ‘I guess I became careless.’ Russell shrugged. ‘On the other hand, I think there was a part of me that almost wanted her to find out—you know, to force some sort of issue. I couldn’t have gone on the way I was for much longer—the stress was killing me. Anyway, Di found out and issued me with an ultimatum—give up the girl or get out. I suppose I was lucky that she didn’t chuck me out anyway.’

  ‘So you ended the affair?’ asked Claire.

  He nodded. ‘Yes, when I was finally faced with it, I couldn’t leave. I suppose it was because of the kids really—my son, Jamie, broke his heart, you see…But it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I wanted to keep phoning her and, I admit, to start with I did—a few times. But then I suppose I started to get over it and I tried, I tried really hard with Diane but, quite honestly, she didn’t really want to know and if I’m honest it’s been uphill all the way.’

  ‘And the girl?’ asked Claire.

  ‘She met someone else—it nearly killed me when I heard about it from another colleague but I suppose I’ve got used to it. She’s living with the guy now and they have a baby…’

  ‘And you and Diane—how is it now?’

  ‘It’s been very hard going,’ Russell admitted sadly. Looking down at his wife, he stretched out his other hand and tenderly smoothed a strand of hair back from her forehead. ‘Sometimes she’s been like a stranger to me, and at other times I find myself doubting she’ll ever love me again…’

  ‘And what about you, how do you feel about her?’

  ‘I wasn’t sure,’ he admitted. ‘That sounds dreadful, I know, but I really didn’t know how I felt. I suppose I gave up Julie because of the kids, I don’t know.’ He shook his head. ‘But to think it’s taken something like this to prove to me what I really feel…and now, oh, God, it might be too late…’

  ‘I’m sure she’ll be all right,’ said Claire gently. ‘Hopefully we’ll soon be able to get her to hospital.’

  ‘I wish I could put the clock back,’ said Russell, ‘to how things were…before I met Julie.’

  ‘Well, that may not be possible,’ replied Claire. ‘What you have to do is to build a new relationship with Diane, but you have to give her time to build her trust again. It isn’t easy, but it can be done.’ She paused. ‘Tell me,’ she said after a moment, ‘whose idea was this holiday?’

  ‘Diane’s, actually,’ he replied. ‘She’d always wanted to go to Rome and I went along with the idea because I thought it might help to improve things between us.’

  ‘And has it?’

  ‘Not really. We kept sniping at each other…’

  ‘You may find that things will be different after this.’

  ‘I hope so,’ he said, his voice breaking with emotion. ‘Oh, I do hope so.’

  At that moment Dominic and Archie returned and Claire looked up questioningly. ‘Any luck?’ she said.

  Dominic shook his head. ‘No, it was too dangerous to start pulling the rubble away. If we had, there was a chance of the whole roof caving in.’

  ‘It’s the same with the other door,’ said Archie. ‘The pile of rubble behind that is enormous—the door won’t move more than a couple of inches.’

  ‘How’s Diane?’ Dominic crouched beside the injured woman.

  ‘The bleeding seems to be easing up,’ said Claire.

  ‘Well, I think that’s the only good piece of news we’ve had,’ Dominic replied.

  ‘Claire.’ Rob was suddenly at her side. ‘Could you have a word with Nicola for me?’

  ‘Of course. Where is she?’ Claire scrambled to her feet.

  ‘Over
here.’ Rob led the way to where his young wife was sitting with her back to the wall. Her head was back and her eyes closed.

  ‘Nicola?’ Claire bent over the girl. ‘What is it?’

  Nicola’s eyelids flickered then she looked up at Claire and for the briefest of moments Claire could see the fear in her eyes. Claire glanced up at Rob. ‘Rob,’ she said casually, ‘could you just go and check on Ted for me, please?’

  As Rob moved away Claire knelt beside Nicola. ‘Are you going to tell me about it?’ she said quietly.

  ‘I’m scared,’ said Nicola simply.

  ‘We all are,’ said Claire. ‘That’s nothing to be ashamed of.’

  ‘No, you don’t understand.’ Nicola shook her head and Claire caught a glimpse of tiny beads of perspiration on her forehead.

  ‘So what is this about?’ she asked.

  Nicola took a deep breath. ‘Rob and me,’ she said after a moment, ‘we weren’t due to get married until next year but then we brought it forward when I found I was pregnant. Oh, I know a lot of people don’t worry about things like that these days,’ she said quickly, ‘but we wanted to do it properly…’

  ‘How far on are you?’ asked Claire.

  ‘Just over twelve weeks,’ Nicola replied. ‘The thing is, I keep needing to go to the loo—I don’t think I can wait much longer—and the other thing is that I’ve got some backache…’

  ‘How long have you had that?’ asked Claire urgently.

  ‘Just in the last half-hour or so, but I don’t want Rob to know—he’s worried enough as it is.’

  ‘Right,’ said Claire, straightening up and looking round, ‘first of all I think we need to find a private corner for you well away from everyone else. Then, if your backache persists, I’ll ask Dominic to take a look at you.’

  Some of the statues on the dais at the end of the room had been shattered while others had toppled over, but the sheer bulk of them at least offered Nicola the shelter and privacy she needed. When at last she emerged, Claire, who had waited for her, raised questioning eyebrows. ‘Well?’ she said.