She turned toward him. “Stop it, Jack. There are more than enough patients to deal with. Go and look after your own.”
His hand came down on her arm in a viselike grip. “I said no.” His voice was steely but it was the expression in his eyes that made her swallow. In a flash she saw a million things she didn’t want to. This wasn’t the man she’d laughed and loved with last night. This was a man who thought he should be in charge. This was a man who didn’t believe in her as a doctor. He didn’t respect her as a person and he didn’t respect her as a doctor.
She turned to face the firefighter. “Tell him to get his hand off me.” Her voice was shaking with rage. A few of the firefighters around them instantly stood up.
“Cool it, buddy.”
“You heard the lady. Step back.”
Jack’s eyes flashed furiously but Amber just jerked her arm away then tugged at her harness to ensure it was secure. She grabbed a few things from her pack and stepped to the opening. “I’m ready.” Her heart was thudding frantically in her chest. She felt anything but ready. But delaying now could make things more dangerous for everyone.
“This isn’t finished,” said Jack hoarsely.
“Oh, yes, it is,” she replied as she was lowered down into the darkness.
*
He could barely contain his rage but he understood exactly how he’d come across. There were four pairs of eyes currently watching him with suspicion. “She’s a great doctor. But she’s not an emergency doctor. She’s never worked in a situation like this.”
One of the firefighters met his gaze. “Neither have I. Doesn’t mean I won’t do the job.”
The words almost stung. The guy had a point. But had that guy lost a woman before that he’d loved? Jack should be down there. Jack should be the one in the position of risk. It shouldn’t be Amber. She hadn’t asked to be here. She’d just volunteered her services. He didn’t doubt she could deal with whatever she might find down there—he didn’t doubt her medical abilities at all. What he did doubt was his ability to survive if something were to happen to her.
From the second she’d stepped into that harness, his brain had had to remind himself constantly he wasn’t allowed to shout. Because shouting was exactly what he wanted to do right now. Amber didn’t need to be at risk. She didn’t need to be in a situation that could rapidly go out of control.
He felt himself start to shake. And he couldn’t stop it. It was like being dunked in a giant bowl of ice. He wanted to grab that line and haul her back up here. Back up here into his arms where she might actually be safe. Back up here where he could tell her he loved her—despite it only being a week, and despite the fact she still wasn’t sure about dating a doctor.
He didn’t want to date her. He wanted to marry her. He wanted to tell her that he could find a job anywhere so long as he was with her. He wanted to tell her that life was too short to wait. That when you knew, you just knew—no matter how hard you tried to fight it.
He lifted his shaking hands to the guys around him. “What can I say? I love her. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
There was momentarily a flicker between them all. Then one guy put his hands on Jack’s shaking arms. “Then I guess when she gets back up you should tell her.”
Jack nodded and took a deep breath. “I guess I should.”
*
She could barely breathe. What should be the inside of a home was a strange hotchpotch like one of those upside-down houses they had at an adventure park. She thought she’d come down the chimney but now she wasn’t quite sure. What she was sure of was that the man on the floor beside her was barely alive. She needed oxygen. She needed a chest tube, and any longer and she’d need a defibrillator too. She had to concentrate right now, so why was her head so full of Jack?
She’d been a fool. She’d spent the night with a guy that every warning flag in her brain had told her to stay away from. But she’d done it. She’d let him in. She’d started to believe that all her previous fixed beliefs had been irrational. She shouldn’t judge anyone else because of her father. Now the first time she’d opened her heart a little, he’d stamped all over it.
She was more than a fool. She was a stupid fool. And she hated herself more than anything right now. That look he’d given her. As if she were incapable. As if he had a right to tell her what to do.
She couldn’t live like that. She wouldn’t live like that.
There was a loud creak around her and the sound of shifting. A cloud of dust surrounded them and mud was seeping through a gap in the wall near to them—indicating what was waiting. The firefighter on the floor next to her looked up with his eyes wide. “Darn it. We need to move.”
The second firefighter who’d come down just behind her was trying to find a way to prop up the huge boulder that had pinned their man to the floor. She finished fastening a collar around her patient’s neck. His blood pressure indicated massive internal bleeding. His pulse rate was over one hundred and thirty. She slid her arms under her patient’s shoulders. “Okay. Guys, is there any way you can take a bit of the weight even for a few seconds? If you can, I’m going to just yank him out of there.”
The two guys nodded and attempted to slide some kind of wedge under the boulder. “You’ll have a few seconds. This has an emergency inflatable action. But it won’t hold—not with this weight. We’ll fire it on three and try and take some of the weight too. Are you ready?”
Amber looked at the strange wedge-shaped contraption that after much manipulation was barely shoved under the huge boulder. Of course it wouldn’t hold but it might give her a few seconds. She pressed down low to the floor behind her patient. All she had to do was pull. “Okay.”
“One, two, three, go!”
She pulled with all her might. There was a tiny explosion followed by a colossal boom. She landed backward on the floor with the patient’s head and shoulders planted between her legs. The two firefighters were covered in gray dust and choking madly. The boulder was back squarely on the floor where her patient had just lain.
The creaking sounded again and both guys exchanged a glance. “Let’s get him into the cage.” Amber didn’t have time to recheck his obs as they bundled him into the cage and yanked the cord sharply to get him pulled up. She could hear frantic voices above her as the patient blocked their little light as he was pulled up. Seconds later three lines were dropped down. She didn’t even have time to think as one of the firefighters clipped her harness instantly, then yanked her line.
She jerked roughly upward through the thin gap above, banging her shoulder. Arms grabbed her and threw her to one side. The noise was massive. Like a roaring in her ear. She didn’t even have time to make sense of any of it. She saw the flash of orange and yellow as the firefighters were pulled up alongside her. “Take cover!” came the shout.
She still hadn’t caught her breath when Jack landed on her, covering her body with his. He had his jacket pulled over his head, which in turn covered hers. Seconds later the ground moved beneath them, then over them, tumbling and tumbling around. Rocks pounded her body. Trees scratched her face and legs. Dirt crowded around her, and when she tried to inhale, mud slid over her mouth, choking her completely. Over and over they went like tumbleweed on a desert landscape. Jack’s arms were around her, holding her in place. Nausea washed over her. Her head was spinning.
Finally, the tumbling seemed t
o slow. She was able to snatch a breath along with a mouthful of leaves. Every part of her ached. She tried to pull her hands up to protect her head, clawing at the jacket that had partially protected her. Jack’s.
They finally stopped moving. She wheezed, then choked, spluttering up mouthfuls of dirt and mud. As she turned onto her hands and knees, there was a wave of pain from her ankle. But breathing came first. There was a heavy weight on her back. She pushed up, struggling to move. She tried again, ignoring all her pain and putting all her energy into curling her back around. Dirt and earth moved around her. She coughed, as she burst up through the mounds of debris. Her breathing was stuttered, her head still swimming.
Another landslide. They’d been caught in another landslide. She looked around, trying to work out where she was. Trying to work out where anyone was.
At the top right of her vision she could see the flicker of dark green tarpaulin. The triage tent. It seemed a million miles away now.
She shook her head, pulling twigs and leaves from her hair. She blinked. Something warm was beneath her palm.
She looked down, her eyes taking a few seconds to focus.
Jack. It was Jack.
She shifted her hand. “Jack? Are you okay?”
He’d dived on her. He must have realized the landslide had started. He must have known she was about to be caught in it.
Why hadn’t he moved away? Why hadn’t he got to safety?
She blinked again. He hadn’t moved. More important, his chest wasn’t moving. His lips were distinctly blue.
She felt a wave of panic. He’d tried to save her. He’d tried to shield her from the landslide. He’d put himself in harm’s way deliberately for her. But at what cost?
“Jack! Jack!” She started thudding down on his chest. Trying desperately for any kind of reaction.
Nothing. Nothing at all. She thrust her fingers in at his neck, trying to locate a pulse. Nothing. She moved them again. Still nothing.
Panic gripped her. No. Not Jack. Not now.
“Help!” she shouted, waving one hand frantically in the air. “I need help!”