Twins for Christmas Read Free Page A

are, love?’
    ‘We’ve been at a party.’ A white grin appeared in a very dark small face. ‘Christmas. Da-da-da… Da-da-da…’
    It was a tuneless ren di tion of what sounded like ‘Jingle Bells’. Judy caught Kate’s glance and they smiled.
    ‘Resus 4,’ Judy directed, with another glance at Kate, who nodded. Resus 1 needed to be kept free in case more seriously injured victims arrived.
    Helen was still sobbing, and the ambulance crew were unsure of whether to increase her distress by separating her from her child.
    Kate crouched down, which was no easy task these days. She had to catch the bar on the side of the stretcher to keep her balance.
    ‘The doctors need to take care of you,’ she told the girl. ‘And we’re going to take very good care of Danni for you.’
    ‘Is she all right?’ Helen grabbed Kate with her un injured hand. ‘Oh… God ! I couldn’t hold onto her, and I tried… I really tried…’
    ‘I know, sweetheart,’ Kate said. ‘We’ll check her out thoroughly. Try not to worry. You need to trust us.’ She squeezed Helen’s hand. ‘Can you do that, do you think?’
    There was anguish in the girl’s eyes, but she nodded. What choice did she have? The poor girl was hardly more than a child herself, but the bond she had with her baby was palpable. It wasn’t helping either of them to be hearing the other sobbing so miserably.
    ‘Good girl.’ Kate smiled. ‘Now, take a deep breath for me. And another one.’
    Helen complied, controlling her sobs with difficulty. ‘I—I’m sorry.’
    ‘You don’t have anything to be sorry for.’ Kate gave her hand another squeeze before heaving herself upright again. ‘Let the doctors take care of you, and we’ll have you back together with your little girl just as soon as we can, OK?’
    Helen nodded again, her lips clamped shut on another sob as she was wheeled away. Wally was still singing as he was taken to the team waiting to assess and treat him.
    ‘Could you put Florence and Danni into a cubicle, please, Kate?’ Judy was writing furiously on the big white-board, putting the names of the patients into boxes that would track where they were and what treatment was underway. ‘I’ll find a doctor to come and see them. Oh, and could you check on Mrs McCulloch? Do her vitals if you get a chance. I think her nurse is caught up in resus now. I’ll try and get someone in to cover the paperwork.’
    An empty stretcher was on its way back to the desk. ‘You can expect the next ambulance in about ten minutes,’ a paramedic said. ‘Possibly longer. The driver and another child were still trapped when we left. The fire service is working on getting them out.’
     
     
     
    I T WASN’T SO MUCH   of a shock being close to Rory this time. Her skin still prickled, and there was that odd feeling deep inside her belly that had nothing to do with any movement from all those tiny limbs in there, but Kate could cope.
     
    She had to.
    She fitted a clean earpiece to the tympanic thermometer. ‘So, your mother’s Italian?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I never knew that.’
    ‘Why would you?’
    Why indeed? But the curt response was unnecessary. Unkind. Kate concentrated on her task and inserted the earpiece as gently as she could, but Marcella stirred and moaned.
    Rory said something to his mother in Italian. Something so soothing that Kate could feel the words rumbling into her bones. No wonder his mother’s eyes drifted shut again.
    ‘Temperature’s thirty-eight point four.’ Kate reached for the chart on the end of the bed. ‘It’s coming down.’
    ‘Good.’
    Kate carefully wrapped a blood pressure cuff around the elderly woman’s arm, trying not to wake her. She felt for a pulse, keeping her eyes firmly on what she was doing, because she really didn’t want eye contact with Rory. He was giving the impression that he considered this to be   her   fault.
    Fair enough—to a point—but, unlike many, she had never chased this man. Never let