“Wait until daylight for what?” asked Amber as she walked back up.
Jack turned to face her. He knew exactly how the words he was about to say would affect her.
“To be part of the search party for Aaron’s parents. They’ve never arrived and are now presumed missing. It’s time to go look for them.”
CHAPTER SIX
ONE MINUTE SHE was kissing a man she shouldn’t; next minute her heart was plummeting into her shoes.
“They haven’t appeared?”
Jack shook his head. “Someone has reported a car off the road. It was an ambulance who were resuscitating another patient, so they couldn’t stop. But they glimpsed a black car in the trees just outside the city. It’s the road they would be expected to be on if they were traveling between Hilo and Kailua Kona.”
She gulped. “Then we have to go. We have to go and see if it’s them. Even if it isn’t them, someone could be hurt.” She looked around, trying to remember where she’d left her pack.
“Give me a minute.” His voice was authoritative. It was the kind of thing she’d expected earlier from Jack. He walked back over to the table and started talking to one of the firefighters while she scrabbled around locating her jacket and pack. “Lana? Are you coming?”
Lana shook her head. “Can’t. Sorry. I’ve got a sick kid that I’ll need to transfer with to the hospital. She’s asthmatic and is having problems.”
“Anything I can help with?”
Lana shook her head. “I can cope. I should be gone in the next five minutes. But, hey,” she said, “I’ve got another one from your list.” She pointed to a name. “This family are here. The younger kids are nephews of Zane and had contact in the last few days. I’ve given them the antibiotics that they should need.”
“Thank you.” Amber gave her a relieved hug but Lana wasn’t finished.
“Here.” She bent down and pulled something from Amber’s pack. “I think you should keep this handy. On a night like this, you’ll need it.”
Amber stared down at the heavy flashlight in her hand. Of course. Exactly what she’d need on a dark roadside. Her heart was starting to beat a bit erratically and she was starting to regret eating that food as her stomach churned.
Jack appeared at her elbow with a different dark jacket in his hand. He was already wearing one with his luminous “DOCTOR” tabards over the top. “Here, one of the firefighters gave me this for you. Apparently the rain is still really heavy and they think we might need it.”
She automatically pulled her tabard over her head, shrugged off her own thin jacket and pulled on the thicker, sturdier one with a large hood. “Should I be worried that they’ve given us this?”
“Let’s hope not,” replied Jack quickly.
She’d seen him. She’d seen him at his most exposed. She’d held him. She’d kissed him after he’d told her things that could break her heart.
But right now it was almost as if that had never happened. It was almost as if he’d pulled a mask—an invisible shield—into place. Something she’d never been able to do. Everything now seemed so precise. So clinical.
“Where’s Dave?” she asked as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.
“We have to drive ourselves. There are too many reports right now to deal with. One of the firefighters has given me directions. The roads were apparently passable a few hours ago. Let’s hope they’re still the same.”
“They’ve been out there for a few hours?”
Jack held up his hands. “Truth is, I don’t know when it was called in. All I know is we’ve been asked if we can go.” He held up the radio. “If we need assistance we let them know. They don’t have any spare people to come with us.”
Amber shivered. She hated this. Everything about it made her fear the worst. But she tilted her chin and looked Jack in the eye. “Then let’s go.”
The road leading away from the high school started out relatively debris free. But as they started to wind further out, tree branches and bushes were scattered all around them. Jack drove slowly, taking care around corners. The wind was still strong, buffeting them from side to side, but they only passed one other emergency vehicle on the road. It seemed that everyone else had listened to the instructions to stay inside until they got word it was safe to go back out.
The rain was relentless and Amber was glad of the change of jacket. “I’m going to slow down a bit,” Jack said to her. “You watch one side of the road and I’ll watch the other. Hopefully we’ll come across the car soon.”
It was still black outside. They left the city behind and moved out more toward the mountains and green landscape. The few glimmers of light were left far behind them. It was hard trying to scan the dark landscape as they traveled forward. Trees and bushes lined the road. And on a few occasions they stopped at a felled tree, mistaking its dark outline for something else. But eventually their headlights swept over the familiar outline of the back of a car, protruding slightly at the side of the road.
“There!” shouted Amber, her heart rate quickening instantly.
Jack slammed on the brakes and they both jumped out, leaving the engine running and lights facing the foliage.
Amber’s heart raced madly as she waded through the foliage on one side, as Jack strode through on the other side.
There were definitely two people in the car. There was condensation on the inside of the windows. The front end of the car had impacted on a large tree trunk and had completely crumpled. She could see where the airbags inside had deployed then gradually deflated again.
Jack yanked the door open on his side. Amber pulled at the door on her side. It had a large dent in it and wouldn’t open. The ground was muddy beneath her feet and she struggled to stay upright as she put one foot on the back passenger door and pulled again at the handle of the driver’s door. It finally gave and she landed in a heap in a bunch of wet leaves.
A groan came from the car and it made her heart leap. Noise was good. Noise meant that people were alive. She scrambled to her feet and leaned inside the car. Jack was checking the pulse of the woman in the passenger seat. Amber did the same with the man on her side, wrinkling her nose a little. The smell inside the car was a little unpleasant. How long had they been trapped?
Something clicked into place in her head. Top-to-toe survey. The way any doctor was supposed to assess an unknown patient. She started speaking. “Hi there. I’m Amber. I’m a doctor. I’m just going to take a look at you.”
The man under her hands gave another groan and his eyelids flickered open. She smiled at him. “Are you Aaron’s parents?”
She could see the instant panic on his face. “How is he?” The words were weak and hoarse.
“He’s holding steady,” she replied. “I’m just glad we’ve found the right people.” Her hands checked his arms, shoulders and chest. There was no apparent head injury, but his lower legs were pinned in place by the crumpled dashboard.
Jack had his head down low, speaking to the woman. He gently touched her arm and gave her a little shake. “Hi there. Can you hear me? I’m Jack, a doctor. How are you doing?”
His eyes met Amber’s and he mouthed the words. “Color is poor.”
He bent to the crumpled foot well and pulled out a purse, rifling through it until he found what he was looking for. “Bess. Bess, it’s Jack. Can you open your eyes for me?” He’d pulled out a stethoscope and blood-pressure monitor from his bag and Amber did the same. She didn’t want to move Aaron’s dad’s position in the seat, so she just had to wrap the cuff around his covered arm to try and get some kind of reading. She followed Jack’s example and put her hand inside his jacket pocket, pulling out his wallet and checking for his forename. “Maleko… Maleko, can you open your eyes for me again?”
The man grunted and opened his eyes. “Can you tell me where you’re hurting? Any pain around your neck or shoulders?”
He shook his head slightly, then groaned loudly and pointed to his legs. She glanced up at Jack. “
It’s difficult to see because of the collapsed foot well.” She pulled on a pair of gloves and gently felt with her hands. When she brought her hand back out it was covered in blood.
“I think we might need some help getting him out of here. Looks like a fractured tib and fib. I’ll give him something for the pain. What about you?”
Jack’s brow was creased. “I could really do with some oxygen. I’m thinking she’s got some kind of chest injury, either from the seat belt or from the airbag. Probably a punctured lung.” His gaze met hers. “Can you give me a minute until I radio in and try and get some support from Fire and Rescue? We’re going to need help getting them out of the car.”
Amber nodded and edged further into the car so she could keep an eye on both of the patients. Maybe opening the doors hadn’t been such a good idea. The heavy rain was driving hard against her back. She reached over and touched Bess’s face. “Hold on, Bess. Aaron’s waiting for you. I know he’ll be so happy to hear both of your voices.”
Her stomach twisted and coiled. She couldn’t go through this again. She couldn’t be the person who had to tell a family that their relatives had been lost in a desperate attempt to reach their child on time—particularly when she still didn’t know what the outcome for Aaron would be. It was all just too much.
The hurricane. The fear. The worry about whether she was good enough. The injuries well outside her area of expertise. And Jack. The first man she’d kissed in forever. A doctor. He should have a red flashing warning light above his head to tell her to stay away. But she’d kissed him anyway. What was she thinking?
She reached into her bag to find some pain relief for Maleko, and to try and squeeze some wound pads in next to him to stem the slow flow of blood. If she knew he didn’t have a spinal injury, she could help remove his jacket and get a true blood-pressure reading. But she didn’t have that guarantee right now. She didn’t have a cervical collar or a spinal board, let alone any cutting equipment to release his legs from the cramped space they were trapped in.