‘Yeah?’ Jack looked at the rain slamming into the windscreen. ‘Have you got a signal on your mobile?’
‘Probably not...’ Even in good conditions, mobile reception was patchy around here. ‘I might have to walk back up the road a bit. You go on; I’ll be right behind you.’
The ambulance rocked slightly as Jack pulled his heavy bag out of the back, slamming the rear doors closed. Mimi saw him trudge past, rain bouncing from his waterproofs, as she pulled out her phone and dialled.
Nearly... A staccato ringtone sounded on the line, but it was breaking up and then it cut out completely. Climbing out of the ambulance, she toiled back along the road, rain stinging her face. Some way ahead of her she could see an SUV travelling down the hill towards her, going as fast as the pouring rain would allow.
‘Careful, mate...’ She muttered the words to the unknown driver. ‘Any faster and you’ll be in the ditch.’
Forty feet gave her another bar on her phone, and another twenty feet one more. That should be enough. The SUV was closer now, and the driver was flashing his headlights.
‘Okay, I see you.’ Mimi stepped off the road, stumbling over the uneven, sticky ground.
Then she heard it. A distant rumbling sound that might have been thunder, but there had been no accompanying flash of lightning. Mimi turned in the direction of the noise, looking upstream, and then she saw its source.
‘Jack...!’
She shouted into the storm, at the figure on the other side of the bridge, screaming Jack’s name again when he didn’t react. It was impossible to tell whether he’d heard her this time, or the thunderous sound of water rushing downstream towards him, but he turned around.
Jack took one look at the water and dropped the heavy bag he was carrying. He seemed about to try and run, but the steep slope ahead of him was slippery with mud and water.
Mimi stared in horror, unable to do anything, and knowing that Jack had only seconds to make a decision. Run for it, or find something to hang on to. There was a large spreading tree at the side of the road and she willed him towards it. As the water crashed down, she saw him run for the shelter of the tree, clinging on to one of the four split trunks which rose up from the earth.
‘Jack... Hang on...’ She sobbed the words even though she knew he couldn’t hear them. Maybe he knew she’d be saying it, just as surely as she’d known which decision he’d make.
The noise of the water was almost deafening and, in an apocalyptic touch to the scene, the storm chose this moment to shoot a bolt of lightning through the sky, followed by a deep growl of thunder. The rush of water crashed past, taking a few chunks of the bridge with it, and Mimi kept her gaze fixed on the spot where she’d last seen Jack.
‘Hang on, hang on, hang on...’ It was as if she could repeat it enough times to somehow make his grip firmer. The water was subsiding now as it followed the course of the river, and she could see him, tangled in the framework of twisted tree trunks.
Maybe he was holding on or maybe unconscious; she couldn’t see from here. Mimi started to run for the bridge, hoping that it hadn’t been weakened too much by the impact of the water.
A voice sounded behind her but the words were whipped away in the storm. And then someone grabbed her from behind, lifting her off her feet.
‘Mimi...!’
‘Let go of me.’ She struggled and, when he didn’t let her go, she kicked against him. The feel of him was familiar, but Mimi didn’t even stop to wonder how. Another sickening roar was coming from upstream.
‘Jack!’ She screamed his name as the second wave of water came crashing down into the valley. This one was bigger and swept the bridge away almost in one piece as the water boiled and rushed downstream.
‘You can’t reach him, Mimi. You’ll only kill yourself.’
That voice... Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and it wasn’t him at all. But Rafe’s voice was unmistakable. A trace of public school, softened by years of not caring to mark himself out as any different from the next man, and currently spiced with an urgent growl. ‘Let go of me! My ambulance...’
Water spilled towards them, this time reaching the parked ambulance, pushing it sideways across the road. For a moment, Mimi thought it was going to be okay, that the vehicle would come back to rest on the tarmac, but then it slipped onto the mud by the side of the road, tipping and coming to rest against a tree, as the water retreated again.
If Jack was injured, how was she going to get him back to the hospital now? In fact, how was she going to get to him at all? The bridge was gone and the river had burst its banks and become a lethal, fast-running torrent.
‘Someone’s coming for him—look.’ The arms around her loosened and Mimi struggled free. She’d deal with the sick feeling in her stomach, prompted by the feel of his unrelenting body, later. She had more important things to think about right now.
She watched as five...no, six figures appeared from the trees on the other side of the river, scrambling and sliding in the mud. Two stopped to retrieve the medical bag, which had been deposited in a clump of brambles, and four made for the twisted tree trunks, where Mimi could see Jack’s bright high-vis jacket.
For what seemed like an age, he lay motionless, tangled in the branches like a broken doll. One of the figures squatted down next to him as if talking to him.
Please, please, please... Yes! Through the curtain of rain, she saw him move and then Jack was helped to his feet. She strained to see as the rescue party clustered around him, and then saw him turn towards her.
‘Looks as if he’s still in one piece...’ Rafe’s voice again, behind her.
She could see that. ‘Jack, are you okay? I’ll meet you up at the village...’ she called across.