‘What’s your name?’ she asked him.
‘Hamish.’
‘All right, Hamish. I want you to keep as still as you can, especially your head, but can you tell me where it hurts the most?’
‘My lower back. My leg.’ Hamish lifted his right hand to try and indicate the areas but she quickly put her hand on his.
‘Stay still,’ she reminded him. ‘I’m going to look at your leg now. I need to check to make sure I can feel the pulse there.’ She shifted down and pressed her fingers to the posterial tibial pulse but couldn’t feel anything. She then checked his popliteal and femoral pulses and was pleased to find the femoral one quite strong. The main break appeared to be around the knee and lower leg. ‘I need to move your leg, Hamish, in order to get some more blood flowing. I’m going to give you something for the pain. Are you allergic to anything?’
‘Not that I know of.’
‘Good.’ Jennifer drew up an injection and administered it, then looked up to see Jasper heading her way. ‘How are things going?’ she asked as he reached out a hand to help her to her feet.
‘I guess you’re not really dressed for this, are you?’ His gaze once again flicked briefly over her body, his reaction even more intense than the first time he’d seen her dressed like this earlier on in the day.
‘Neither are you.’ She indicated his suit. ‘But at least you’re more comfortable.’ She indicated the destruction behind him. ‘What’s the verdict?’ The sounds of a siren in the distance pierced the air.
‘A lot of whiplash, a lot of bruises.’ He shrugged. ‘A lot of angry and upset people. Nothing major.’
‘Good. As soon as the paramedics get here, I want to get a cervical collar onto Hamish and then we can deal with him at the hospital. His left leg will require surgery so if I could borrow your phone, I’ll call it through to see if I can secure an emergency theatre.’
Jasper handed over his phone immediately. ‘You know, Jen, there are other people who work at the hospital. They’re there now, covering the accidents that come in. You are allowed to have time off.’
Jennifer merely nodded before speaking into the phone. Jasper bent down and continued treating Hamish, straightening out his leg to allow stronger blood flow to the fractured limbs. When the ambulances arrived, Jennifer travelled with Hamish while Jasper managed to drive his car out and follow them to the hospital.
‘Get him directly into X-ray,’ she told Maryanne, who greeted them there. ‘Jasper, you’re with me.’ With that, she headed directly to the female changing rooms and started to peel off her dress. She stopped, arms raised, as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Slowly she lowered her hands and took a moment to simply look. She’d been surprised when Iris had insisted on taking her shopping for a dress to wear to the wedding.
‘You’ve been working too hard, Jennifer,’ Iris had scolded as they’d tripped from one dress shop to the next. Sara had managed to meet them and after a quick lunch, the hunt for the perfect dress had continued.
‘You need to take a break,’ Sara had reiterated and had then gasped with glee as she’d discovered the very dress that Jennifer was now wearing. ‘Wear your hair up, with a few little white flowers.’
‘Flowers?’ Jennifer had raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
‘Oh, yes,’ Iris had gasped. ‘They’d look beautiful with your dark locks.’
‘Jasper will go wild.’ Both Iris and Sara had giggled like schoolgirls at this idea. ‘I’ll come around beforehand and do it for you…and your make-up.’
‘He won’t know what hit him.’ Iris had hugged Jennifer close.
Before Jennifer had been able to reply, Sara had insisted on paying for the dress and had then led them on the search for the necessary accessories.
And poor Jasper hadn’t known what had hit him when he’d opened his front door and seen her standing there. She knew this because he’d been unable to speak as his gaze had covered every inch of the vision before him. Then he’d taken her hands in his and carefully leaned down to kiss her lips. It had been one of the most romantic moments she’d ever experienced. The memory filled her heart with love for the man who was no doubt waiting for her to change so they could perform surgery on poor Hamish.
It was true what Jasper had said. There were other people who could do this operation and Hamish’s injuries were hardly life threatening. Instead, they could have just let the paramedics deal with the situation and left to return to the girls.