Authors: Lyn Gardner
“Bloody hell, woman!” he yelled, causing everyone in the room
to jump. “Do as I ask...
now
!”
Splaying her fingers across her chest, Nancy stumbled back a
step, and then mumbling to herself, she stomped from the room.
Letting out a long, heavy sigh, Bernard glanced at the other
women in the room. “Peggy, are you doing okay?”
Grinning at her brother-in-law’s concern, Peggy said, “I’m
fine, Bernard. A bit worried, but Stephen’s strong, and I know he’ll bring them
back.”
“Good, that’s what I want to hear,” he said, running his
fingers through his hair. “Okay, Dorothy, I need you to put on some water. Make
it warm, but not hot, and Alice, do you know if your mum has any hot water
bottles?”
“Yeah, she used to.”
“Well, then be a love and go find them. Can you do that?”
“Of course. Right away,” Alice said as she scurried out of
the room.
“There’s Laura!” Eleanor screamed, pointing out the window.
Mindless of the ache in his back, Bill rushed outside,
careful to avoid the ice on the patio as he ran to his daughter’s side. “Oh, my
God, Laura. We were so worried.”
People can do the unimaginable when fear and adrenaline mix,
and after she had placed a kiss on Toni’s frozen cheek, Laura raced across the
snow-covered fields with energy she didn’t know she had. Mindless of the ice
coating her hair or the burn in her lungs, she hadn’t slowed a step until she
reached the house. Gasping for air, she bent over as she struggled to breathe
and her knees buckled instantly.
Pain crossed Bill’s face as he gathered Laura in his arms,
but refusing to acknowledge the twinge in his back, he carried her to the
house. Met at the door by Eleanor and Bernard, he was ushered inside, but after
taking only a few steps, Laura came to her senses.
“Put m-me down!” Laura said, squirming in her father’s arms.
“Put me down!”
“Okay, sweetheart. Okay,” Bill said, allowing Laura to stand.
“There you go.”
“We need...we need to g-g-get help,” Laura said, panting for
air. “We’ve g-g-got to g-g-get help!”
Bernard walked between them, narrowing his eyes as he looked
at the woman shivering uncontrollably in front of him. “We need to get you
warm. You’re hypothermic.”
“No!” Laura said, pushing him away. “Toni...Toni...Toni fell
in the w-w-water. Stephen got her out, and he t-t-told me to come back here. He
s-s-said you’d know....you’d know what to do.”
“Jesus Christ,” Bernard said, rubbing his chin. “That puts a
wrench in things.” Seeing Ron come back into the room, Bernard asked, “Did you
get through to emergency services?”
“Yeah, but with the snow, they said it could take hours.
Apparently, there have been a few accidents and some of the roads are closed.”
“All right then, we’ll do it ourselves,” Bernard said,
reaching into his pocket. Tossing his car keys to Ron, he said, “There’s a
black bag in the boot. Get it for me, and then find Nancy and tell her to put
the blankets and clothes in the library.”
“Got it, doc,” Ron said, quickly jogging down the hall.
Bernard moved closer to Laura, but when she backed away from
his touch, in a tone soft yet stern, he said, “Laura, you aren’t going to be
any good to Toni like this. I need you to listen to me and do what I ask.
Okay?”
“No!” Laura said, putting her hands up to keep him at a
distance. “Toni...y-y-you have to...you have to help her. Not me. Not me...only
her. I’m...I’m...I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not,” Eleanor said as she strode over and took
Laura by the shoulders. “So, we’re going to do whatever Bernard wants us to do.
I’m not going to stand by and allow your stubbornness to reign supreme. Do you
understand me? When Toni gets back, she’s going to need you, so the sooner we
get you warm and into some dry clothes, the better off she’ll be when she
returns. Do I make myself clear?”
Laura’s cheeks were covered in frozen tears, and as the new
ones began to fall, they traveled down the same tracks to her chin. Shivering,
she looked up at Bernard. “Don’t...don’t you...don’t you let her die!”
“I have no intention of allowing that to happen,” he said
softly. “Eleanor, take Laura into the library and get her out of those clothes.
All of them.”
“I-I-I can do it,” Laura said, taking a step.
“No, you can’t,” Peggy said. Getting to her feet, she looked
at Bernard. “Stephen’s had training in this. I know what to do.”
“Good girl. I’ll leave her in your hands then.”
Having just piled clothing and blankets on a chair in the
library, when Nancy saw Peggy and Eleanor guiding Laura into the room, her
heart fell. “Oh, dear God! What can I do?”
Warmed by her mother’s concern, Peggy said, “You two get her
shoes and socks off, and I’ll start with the rest.”
Shaking her head, Laura said, “I-I-I can do—”
“No, you can’t,” Peggy said firmly, looking Laura in the eye.
“Lesson 101 when treating hypothermia is that you never allow the victim to
help. Moving about causes the cold blood from your arms and legs to travel
toward your heart...and that’s bad. Now, stop making a fuss, Laura. It’s not
like we didn’t used to take baths together.”
***
Fifteen minutes later, Bernard slid open the doors to the
library, and when he saw Laura lying under an assortment of throws and quilts,
he smiled at Peggy. “Well done.”
Going over to the swaddled woman, he asked, “How you
feeling?”
“Better. Warmer. Any sign of Stephen?”
“Not yet, I’m afraid, but the man runs marathons, Laura.
He’ll be here,” Bernard said, kneeling by her side. “Do you mind if I check you
over?”
“No, but I’m fine.”
Bernard’s eyes twinkled as he looked back at his
knowledgeable patient. “How about you let me be the judge of that?” he said,
reaching for her hand.
After taking Laura’s pulse and checking her fingers and toes
for frostbite, he reached into his doctor’s bag and pulled out a stethoscope.
Placing it in his ears, as he reached under the blanket, he said, “This may be
a bit cold.”
Snorting, Laura gave him a weak smile and a few minutes
later, Bernard got to his feet. “You’re going to be just fine. Your heart is strong,
your lungs are clear and there’s no sign of frostbite.”
“Can I get up?”
“You can even get dressed, but you stay in here where it’s
warm. All right?”
“She won’t leave,” Eleanor said, rummaging through the
clothes Nancy had piled on the chair. “Trust me.”
Outside the library, Bill paced up and down the hallway, so
when the doors finally slid open, he was at Bernard’s side like steel to a
magnet. “Is Laura okay? Bernard, is my daughter all right?”
“She’s fine, Bill, relax. She’s warm and getting dressed.”
“Thank God.”
“Bill! Bernard!
I see Steve
!”
Ron shouted from the kitchen.
Stephen had started out slow, plodding through the snow with
Toni in his arms, but when he started to shiver, he forced himself to jog and
when that wasn’t fast enough, he forced himself to run. He knew they didn’t
have long. Between the frigid temperature and the fall in the river, the odds
were against them, but Stephen wasn’t a betting man, and he was most assuredly
not
a quitter.
Cradling Toni in his arms, he ran, he jogged, he walked, and
then he ran again, all the while refusing to allow the pain in his body to win
out. It didn’t matter that their clothes were stiff and frozen. It didn’t
matter that ice covered their chins and noses from moisture frozen as it was
exhaled. All that mattered was getting back to Nancy’s and when he saw the
lights from the house in the distance, he stopped for a moment to place a
frozen kiss on Toni’s head before filling his lungs with air and trudging
toward the lights.
Racing to the kitchen, Bill was on Ron’s heels as he ran out
the back door, and sprinting past the younger man, he got to Stephen within
seconds. Even though he was shocked at the man’s sallow and ice-covered
appearance, Bill’s eyes were drawn to the lifeless body in Stephen’s arms.
“Is she…oh God…is she…”
“No. No, she’s...she’s alive, but...but she stopped shivering
a f-f-few minutes ago,” Stephen said, placing Toni in Bill’s outstretched arms.
“Get...get her inside. Get her inside n-n-now.”
The exchange proved difficult as Stephen’s shirt and Toni’s
sweater had frozen together, but after a few hard tugs, the fabric released and
Bill rushed to get her into the house. Anxiously waiting just inside the door,
Bernard quickly placed his fingers on Toni’s neck before Bill came to a stop.
Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Bernard said, “She’s alive. Let’s get
her into the library, shall we?”
They sat with bowed heads and joined hands, praying their
loved ones would return safe and sound, and lost in their thoughts, when the
library doors slid open with a bang, all three women practically jumped off the
sofa.
Seeing her father carrying Toni into the room, Laura’s heart
stopped. “Toni!” she shouted. Getting to her feet, she rushed toward the man.
“Toni!”
“Stay back, Laura,” Bernard said, pushing her away. “She
needs medical attention right now, not someone crying over her. I know you mean
well, but let me help her first, and then she’s all yours.”
Disregarding what he said, Laura tried again to get close,
but this time Eleanor and Peggy pulled her away.
“Laura, Bernard’s right. You aren’t what she needs right
now,” Eleanor said.
As the rest of the family escorted Stephen into the room,
Bernard took charge in an instant. “All right. Bill, put Toni on the sofa, and
Ron, get Stephen close to the fire, but not too close. Put him in that chair
over there,” Bernard said, pointing to the leather wing-back by the fireplace.
“Nancy, I need you to warm up some towels. Dorothy, get me something warm for
them to drink. No tea. No coffee...broth if Nancy has any. Alice, fill those
bottles with warm water...not hot...warm. Eleanor, find some scissors, and Ron,
call emergency services again. See if you can find out where they are.”
While all the commotion was going on, Peggy walked over to
stand next to her husband, and dusting some snow from his hair, she asked, “You
doing okay?”
“Never b-b-better,” Stephen said through chattering teeth.
“You?”
Smiling, Peggy said, “I love you.”
“I-I-I love...love you more.”
“I found three pairs of scissors,” Eleanor announced, rushing
into the room.
“Good!” Bernard said, whipping around. “Peggy, we need to get
your husband out of those clothes—”
“I can...I can...” Stephen said, trying to stand up.
“Stay right there, man! I don’t want you to move unless I
tell you to,” Bernard said. “Bill, give her a hand. Cut everything off and put
him on the floor. Close enough to the fire to get warm, but only warm. Do you
understand?”
“Yes,” Bill said, taking a pair of kitchen shears from
Eleanor.
When Alice walked back into the room carrying three hot water
bottles, Bernard quickly checked them to make sure the temperature was correct.
“Perfect,” he said, placing them on the coffee table. “Now, be a love and
figure out a way to make more. We need at least four. Okay?”
“I’ll find something,” Alice said, rushing from the room.
“And pull those bloody doors shut,” he shouted. Taking the
scissors from Eleanor, he turned to Laura and handed her a pair. “You need to
cut off her clothes. Everything needs to be removed. Don’t pull or tug. Cut it
off. No hard movement. She needs to stay as still as possible. Can you do
that?”
Setting her jaw, Laura snatched the scissors from his hand.
“Yes, I can.”
“I’ll help,” Eleanor said, taking the other pair from
Bernard. “Let’s go.”
By the time Bernard returned to Stephen, Bill had the man
stripped of his clothing and lying under a blanket a few feet from the hearth.
Checking Stephen’s hands and feet, Bernard shouted, “Nancy! Where are those
bloody towels?”
“I’ve got them right here,” she said, running into the room.
“Fresh out of the dryer.”
“Bill, wrap those around his hands and feet. I’ll get his
head. Peggy, be a love and get those water bottles.”
Glancing at his patient, Bernard asked, “How you doing,
Steve?”
“Better. Not so c-c-cold.”
“You’ll be fine. I don’t see any sign of frostbite, so we’re
just going to warm you up slowly. All right?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Dorothy, I need that broth!” Bernard shouted over his
shoulder.
Appearing in the doorway within seconds, Dorothy rushed over
and handed him a cup. “Here you go.”
Feeling the heat radiating through the china, Bernard flung
the cup into the fireplace. “I said warm, woman, not hot! Are you trying to
kill them? Pull your head out of your arse and do what I ask!”
Paying no attention to his mortified wife as she ran from the
room, Bernard looked over at Laura and Eleanor. “How you ladies doing over
there?”
“We’re trying, but the fabric is frozen,” Eleanor called
back.
Laura was trying to remain calm as she struggled to force the
scissors through the ice-laden cloth, but Toni had begun to shiver so violently
that Laura found herself having to regroup after each tremble racked Toni’s
body. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Laura looked up to see her father staring
down at her.
“Stand back. I’ll do it. I’m stronger.” For a split-second
their eyes met, and reaching out, Bill brushed a strand of hair from Laura’s
face. “Come on, lass. Let your father lend a hand.”
Tears welled in Laura’s eyes. Handing Bill the scissors, she
said, “Please, just be careful with her. She...she doesn’t like to be touched.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’ll be careful.”
Behind them, Dorothy came back into the room with two more
cups of broth. Walking over, she held her breath as Bernard took it from her
hand.