'Two minutes.'
Even as she said the words they heard the siren and both of them sprinted towards the ambulance bay.
Ellie glanced surreptitiously at Ben, looking for signs of the tension that he'd shown on the first night, but he seemed relaxed and totally in control.
Maybe he'd been telling her the truth.
Maybe there really wasn't anything wrong.
The paramedic opened the doors and nodded to Ellie. 'They're in a bad way. The milkman called us because the curtains were drawn and he saw them lying on the floor. Might be a virus but it looks like something more than that to me. We've given them oxygen. Do you want them in Resus?'
'No. It's full. We're still dealing with the RTA victims. Take them through to the trolley bay for now.' She looked at Ben. 'I'll go and arrange another team to deal with the child and bleep Paeds.'
He gave a brief nod and she hurried off, joining them again as they wheeled the first stretcher into the trolley bay.
Ben immediately took charge, drawing the curtains round the trolley as he spoke. 'Mrs Bates, I'm Dr MacAllister. Can you tell me what happened?'
She gave a groan and opened her eyes with difficulty. 'Drowsy,' she murmured, lifting a hand to her head and wincing slightly. 'Terrible headache.'
Ben frowned. 'Since when?'
There was a long pause. 'Don't know,' she mumbled finally. 'I was all right last night but it was really cold so we cuddled in the sitting room. Headache…'
'We'll give you something for that in a minute.' Ben watched her keenly while the paramedics transferred her from their stretcher to the trolley. 'So, if you were fine last night, when did you start to feel ill?'
He was examining her as he spoke, searching for clues as to what could be wrong.
'I turned the heater on,' she said slowly, 'and we both just fell asleep in front of the fire. Then suddenly Tom woke up complaining of a headache and was sick everywhere.'
As if suddenly remembering her child, she gave a moan of anguish and roused herself with difficulty. 'Is he all right? Tom?'
'He'll be fine,' Ben said calmly. 'Another doctor is seeing to him right now. Let's worry about you for a moment. Have you had the heater on before?'
Ellie stared at him in surprise, thinking that it was rather a strange question. Why was he interested in her heater?
"The heater...' Mrs Bates closed her eyes and tried to think. 'No. First time...this winter.' Her speech was slurred, as if she could hardly stay awake. "The central heating boiler broke down and we haven't had it fixed yet. It's a very old gas fire but it worked fine last winter. Oh, help.' She gave a groan and lifted a hand to her mouth. 'I'm going to be sick.'
Ellie held a bowl for her while she vomited weakly and Ben glanced up.
'Give her 100 per cent oxygen with a tight-fitting mask and a reservoir bag and start an ECG. What's her blood pressure?'
'Seventy over fifty,' Ellie said quickly, knowing that it was a very low reading. 'Shall I set up the pulse oximeter so that we can check her sats?'
Ben shook his head. 'It gives an incorrect reading in carbon monoxide poisoning, which is what I suspect we're dealing with here. Let's check her blood gases and the carboxyhaemoglobin level and someone bleep the medical reg.'
He turned back to the patient, his dark eyes serious. 'Could your heater be faulty, Mrs Bates?'
She swallowed with difficulty, her eyes exhausted. 'My heater?'
Ben nodded. 'You're showing signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. I suspect that you and Tom fell asleep and breathed in carbon monoxide. You were lucky that you woke up when you did.'
'Faulty heater?' Mrs Bates stared at him in dismay. 'Will it hurt the baby?'
Ben went still. 'You're pregnant?'
She nodded weakly. 'Four months. Oh, no...' She started to sob quietly. 'Don't tell me this will have hurt the baby. Please.'
'Try not to worry.' Ben gave her hand a squeeze and then lifted his gaze to Ellie, 'Call the Poisons Information Centre. Ask them for the whereabouts of the nearest hyperbaric oxygen unit.'