Hannah waited while Isobel did as she was bidden. Where was Matt? He should be up there by now, but she suspected that was going to be far too easy a solution. He appeared again at the door, running towards her.
‘The way up there is blocked with rubble. We’re going to have to dig our way through.’ He glanced up at the window, where Isobel was watching them. ‘Do you have an idea of the situation?’
‘I’ve got pictures. Or I will have...’ Hannah’s phone beeped, and she opened the texts that Isobel had sent. The pictures showed a large open space, and a lifelike dummy with a good representation of a broken leg. There must be a wound as well, because blood was pooling on the floor. Isobel had obviously been well drilled in giving answers that matched the scenario, and this felt chillingly real.
Matt scrolled through the pictures. ‘We need to get up there as fast as we can. We’re going to have to hope that Isobel doesn’t decide to start panicking again. I’ll need your help to clear the debris.’ The scenario obviously felt real to him as well.
‘Maybe we can improvise. Perhaps there’s something we can use as a tool, rather than digging with our hands.’ Hannah looked around.
They were near the perimeter of the site, where the warehouses were separated from the pavement by a chain-link fence. On the other side of the road was a row of shops, and a group of men was fixing a new fascia sign to one of them. Their aerial work platform, mounted on the back of a truck, caught Hannah’s attention.
‘Do you think we could reach the window with that?’
Matt studied the vehicle for a moment and then, before Hannah could stop him, he made for the fence and began to scale it. It bent a little under his weight as he hauled himself over the top, twanging back into shape when he jumped down on the other side.
‘Hey...!’ A little discussion might have been nice.
‘What?’ Matt spread his hands in a querying gesture. ‘It’s a great idea.’
‘What if they’re nothing to do with the challenge? Are we allowed to ask for their help?’
‘Wouldn’t you and Sophie, if this were real?’
He had a point. Hannah sighed, turning back to Isobel and calling up to her to stay where she was until they could reach her. When she glanced behind her she saw that Matt was talking to the men, and they were retracting the aerial lift work platform. Matt got into the passenger seat of the truck and it drove away.
Five minutes later, the truck bumped across the service road at the back of the warehouses. The driver parked under the window, and Matt and Hannah climbed onto the aerial platform, donning their helmets.
‘What did you tell them?’ Hannah whispered the words as the platform began to rise towards the window.
‘I said this was a challenge, which was being filmed for TV, and that we were competing for Hamblewell Hospital. They were more than happy to give it a go.’
Fair enough. Matt had turned his attention to directing the driver exactly where to place the platform. As soon as it was level with the window, he helped Hannah inside the building, making straight for the figure lying on the floor, while Hannah took a moment to calm Isobel.
* * *
The exercise hadn’t been just an exercise. It had made Matt think. Would he be a better surgeon now, having faced the kind of situations that ambulance crews had to contend with?
They’d rigged up a makeshift splint and bandages, and ferried Isobel and their patient back down to the ground. As soon as she stepped off the platform, Isobel broke character, smilingly telling them that the challenge was now finished, and a couple of cars appeared to ferry them back to the hospital.
It would be at least two hours before they were needed again. That was good, because Matt had something urgent on his mind.
‘What’s the matter with your leg? You’re limping...’
‘Am I?’ Hannah turned her mouth down, as if he hadn’t been meant to notice.
‘Yeah. I’ll take a look...’ There was no point in going through the toing and froing of Hannah denying there was anything wrong, and him telling her that he knew there was. It was only the long route to an outcome that he’d already decided on.
‘It’s nothing. I just twisted it a bit when I fell. Don’t make a fuss, Matt.’
Making a fuss was a tempting prospect at the moment. But his childhood had taught him that conflict was no way to reconcile a disagreement. Matt swallowed his annoyance and tried logic instead.
‘You’re my teammate. I need you in full working order for next week.’
That silenced her. She followed him into the hospital building, and Matt ignored her frown as he took the lift up to the orthopaedic department. A quick enquiry of one of the doctors that he knew elicited access to one of the treatment rooms, and he ushered Hannah inside.
‘This is entirely unnecessary. Do you think I can’t do this for myself?’
‘I’m sure you can. Since you haven’t yet, I’ll do it for you. Like I said, I need you to keep up with me...’