Christy lifted the pack onto her back, careful not to look at Alessandro.
He didn’t think that she could do this, but she was going to prove him wrong. Prove that she was more that just the mother of his children.
‘According to the call we had, he was one of four walkers taking a path just below the summit,’ Alessandro said as he assembled the advance party. ‘They called the police on a mobile and one of them had a global positioning instrument so we’ve got a good idea where they are.’
‘Weather’s looking unfriendly,’ Jake observed as he lifted his pack onto his back and settled it comfortably.
‘Might need to carry him off the hill if the helicopter can’t fly in this.’
Alessandro nodded. ‘That’s a distinct possibility. One of his group reported that he had breathing difficulties so we’re carrying an oxygen cylinder just in case. All right, let’s go.’
He strode out in front and Christy walked behind him, hoping that she wasn’t going to fall down gasping for breath because that would be too humiliating for words. She was fit, she reminded herself. And she knew these mountains as well as she knew her own back garden. The fact that she hadn’t been part of a proper rescue for a few years really didn’t signify. Once it had been a huge part of her life. The regular training sessions, callouts, social events—she’d done it all and she’d loved every minute of it. And all that knowledge was still there, she reminded herself.
All the same, she was quite relieved to be sandwiched between Alessandro and Jake. Having someone in front and behind made it easier to resist the temptation to slow the pace.
They walked steadily for two hours in decreasing visibility and deteriorating weather conditions and then heard shouts from up ahead.
‘Bingo,’ Jake murmured, as they pushed on through the swirling snow and mist and finally saw torches and bright jackets on the path ahead.
By now Christy’s cheeks were stinging with cold and her eyelashes were wet and clumped together. But she loved being outdoors in the mountains. The wind had picked up, the weather was wild and unforgiving and it all seemed as far from the rain-washed streets of London as it was possible to be.
The injured man was sitting propped against a rock, covered in several coats. There was blood on his forehead and
he had a hand on his chest, his face crumpled in pain. Hope lit his eyes as he saw them trudge towards him through the mist and snow.
Crouching next to him, offering moral support, was one of his fellow walkers, and he stood up as they arrived, his relief plainly visible on his tired features. ‘Boy, am I glad to see you! My first aid isn’t up to the challenge, I’m afraid. He fell about twenty feet,’ he told them, ‘and since then he’s had real trouble with his breathing. It’s really noisy. He was really struggling so I sat him up—I hope I did the right thing. I know you’re not supposed to move an injured person, but—’
‘You’ve done well,’ Christy assured him quickly, heaving her rucksack off her back.
Alessandro was already reaching for the oxygen, his movements as decisive as ever.
That was one of the things she loved and admired about him, Christy thought to herself. Some doctors were fine as long as they were in a hospital, surrounded by high-tech equipment and a phone to give them access to doctors from different specialities. Alessandro was equally cool and self-assured when he was halfway up a mountain in a blizzard with a potentially seriously injured patient.
He was a man who thrived on challenge and she’d always found his inner strength and bold self-confidence incredibly seductive. There was no situation that Alessandro wouldn’t be able to handle.
Ignoring her aching shoulders, she dropped to her knees beside him, trying to ignore the angry howl of the icy wind that threatened to obliterate her vision.
‘His name is Simon Duke,’ the friend volunteered, ‘and he’s fifty-two.’
‘Did you see what happened?’ She knew that an account
of the accident might give clues as to the injuries they were potentially dealing with.
‘We’ve been out since early this morning. We’d just started our descent when Simon slipped.’ He pulled a face. ‘I’ve been climbing and walking in the mountains for most of my life. I never thought I’d be calling on the services of the mountain rescue team. To say that I’m finding this highly embarrassing would be a major understatement.’
‘It happens to the best of us,’ Jake said cheerfully, squinting through the blizzard as he heaved the pack off his back and removed the oxygen cylinder he’d been carrying. The snow was now blowing horizontally and their packs had started to freeze. ‘I must say, you chose fabulous weather for your walk.’
‘Ignore him, he’s deranged,’ Christy said dryly, then glanced towards Alessandro for guidance. ‘If he fell twenty feet then he should probably be wearing a collar?’
‘Definitely. But we also need to get him into a shelter while I check him over.’ Alessandro reached into his rucksack and pulled out the necessary equipment. ‘Jake, get that oxygen going and let’s get him into a bivvy tent so that I can examine him properly. We’re going to have to carry him off because there’s no way they can fly a helicopter in this.’
Simon gasped and closed his eyes briefly. ‘So sorry to be such a nuisance,’ he panted. ‘Can’t believe I need oxygen.’
‘I’m glad you do,’ Jake drawled as he removed his gloves so that he could adjust the flow rate. ‘If I’d lugged this canister all the way up this hill for nothing, I would have been steaming mad.’ He handed the mask to Christy and she fixed the mask over the man’s mouth and nose.
‘There.’ She spoke gently. ‘That should help. We’re just going to get you some shelter before you get too cold.’
Jake moved across to help Alessandro with the shelter. ‘Has anyone placed a bet on a white Christmas?’
‘We always have a white Christmas up here.’ Noticing how pale Simon looked, Christy checked his pulse while her team members erected a tent. She glanced up at the patient’s walking companion. ‘So was this a pre-Christmas holiday?’
‘Supposed to be.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘We were making the most of a few days’ peace and quiet before we go down to London for Christmas.’
‘And he slipped?’
‘Just seemed to lose his footing. I suppose there must have been a patch of ice on the rock,’ the man shrugged. ‘One minute he was walking along happily, in front of me, the next he was slithering downwards. Gave me a bad moment, I can tell you. I think he managed to grab hold of a rock or something, otherwise goodness knows how far he would have fallen.’
The injured man tried to say something and Christy put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. ‘Don’t talk, Simon,’ she said quickly. ‘We’ll soon have you inside the bivvy tent and then the doctor can look at you.’
His companion looked at her in surprise. ‘He’s a doctor?’
‘You’ve got half the A and E department up here,’ Jake said cheerfully, walking back across to them, ‘and just to cap it, if you want a baby delivered then I’m your man.’
Christy giggled and then caught something black in Alessandro’s gaze and her laughter faded. What was the matter with him? Normally he found Jake as amusing as she did.
Soon Simon was safely inside the protective covering of the tent and Christy saw more lights flashing through the snow. ‘Looks like the rest of the team are arriving.’
‘More? Obviously we’ve bothered a great number of people.’
‘It takes a lot of people to stretcher someone off a mountain,’ Christy explained. She stuck her head inside the bivvy tent and Alessandro looked up from his examination.
‘He has broken ribs and a broken ankle. He’s not showing any signs of a pneumothorax,’ he said swiftly, ‘so I’m going to splint the ankle and give him some analgesia and get him off this hill before he gets hypothermia.’
Christy helped him stabilise the injured walker and get him into a fleece-lined casualty bag.
The rest of the team joined them and Christy helped them put together the two halves of a stretcher that would be used to carry the casualty down off the mountain. It was a task that they’d practised over and over again during training evenings, assembling the stretcher as fast as possible. Once, she recalled, they’d even done it in the dark to try and mimic the conditions they might face on the mountain. Now, with Alessandro’s gaze resting on her all too frequently, she was glad of that training. Glad that she knew exactly what to do and wasn’t letting herself down.
Only when they were ready did they remove the shelter that was protecting their casualty.
By now, a team of twenty-five had assembled and one of the other MRT members stood at the head of the stretcher and acted as an anchor to prevent the stretcher moving downhill while it was being prepared for evacuation.
Alessandro made another check on his patient and then tied a rope to the stretcher with a bowline knot.
‘We’re going to have to do this very carefully,’ he instructed, ‘because he’s already suffering from chest injuries.’
‘How do I know you’re not going to drop me?’ Simon said weakly, and Christy smiled.
‘Because you’ve got ten bulky guys holding onto the stretcher and a rope as back-up. And if we drop you, we’re fired.’
The man managed a smile. ‘You’re all volunteers.’
‘You think we do this for nothing?’ Jake’s blue eyes gleamed with wicked humour as he tightened the straps. ‘That would make me certifiably insane, don’t you think?’
Christy heaved her pack onto her back. ‘Well, now that you mention it…’
How had she survived without this? she wondered. The comradeship and the banter. The physical challenge of extracting someone from a perilous situation.
Eventually everyone was satisfied, the safety checks had been made and the team started their descent, picking their way over boulders made treacherous by ice and snow. Whenever possible, they sledged the stretcher down the mountain and finally the mist and snow cleared and the road came into sight.
As Christy slithered and slipped, she noticed Alessandro constantly glancing in her direction.
Checking up on her?
The MRT vehicle that doubled as an ambulance was waiting.
‘You’re only a ten-minute drive from the hospital,’ Christy told Simon as they carried him the final few metres. ‘They’ll soon have you comfortable.’
He shook his head. ‘My wife is going to kill me. She’s always telling me I’m too old to be walking in the hills.’
‘Ignore her,’ Jake advised cheerfully as he yanked open the back of the vehicle and prepared to lift the stretcher inside. ‘What do women know about anything?’ He winked at Christy and she gave a wan smile.
Thanks to Alessandro, she was starting to feel as though she knew nothing.
Leaving the rest of the work to their colleagues, Jake pulled her gently to one side and gave her a searching look. ‘You all right, babe?’
‘Of course.’ Behind her, they were loading the injured man into the ambulance. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Hey.’ Jake frowned. ‘This is me you’re talking to. Not some stranger. I can tell you’re not all right. I don’t suppose the look on your face has anything to do with the broken bed and the ruined sofa?’
Her eyes widened. ‘You know about that?’
‘I talk to my goddaughter.’ For once, Jake’s expression was serious. ‘Obviously things aren’t going that well between the two of you. I assumed that once you were under the same roof, you’d be able to sort your problems out.’
‘I thought so, too.’ Her voice was husky and suddenly she had a wild impulse to throw herself against Jake’s broad shoulders and cry her eyes out.
She badly needed a hug.
‘But I was wrong.’ She glanced across to where Alessandro was standing, his glossy dark hair touched by the snow, his manner autocratic and confident as he talked to one of his fellow team members. ‘He doesn’t want me any more, Jake. He doesn’t love me.’
Her voice broke on the words and Jake swore under his breath and pulled her into his arms. ‘Don’t cry,’ he said softly, his hands gently smoothing her back. ‘You’re wrong, Christy. He does love you.’
She pulled away from him, embarrassed at her sudden loss of control. Ashamed to have revealed something so private, even to their oldest and dearest friend. ‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I hoped he did, but I was just deluding myself.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘When I went down to London, he didn’t come after me.’
‘You wanted him to?’
‘Of course I did, you stupid oaf! What sort of a question is that?’ She gave him a watery smile. ‘I thought you were supposed to understand women?’
‘Me?’ Jake pretended to look baffled. ‘Oh, that’s just an act I put on to help me pull. It never fails. What else makes you think he doesn’t love you?’
She bit her lip. ‘We haven’t… been close since I came home and that’s not like him. Normally he’s very…’ She blushed slightly, embarrassed that she was revealing so much. ‘Very physical.’
Jake’s gaze was steady on her face. ‘Perhaps he’s giving you space.’
She shook her head. ‘Alessandro is much too selfish for that,’ she muttered. ‘If he wants something, he goes after it and he gets it. You know what he’s like.’
‘I think he’s just taken his eye off the ball.’ Jake stretched out a hand to remove some snow from her hair. ‘It’s good to have you back on the team.’
‘Alessandro doesn’t think so,’ she said, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice. ‘He thinks that all I’m capable of is picking up after the children. He doesn’t see me as a woman any more.’
‘Doesn’t he?’ For a moment, Jake’s expression was thoughtful. Then he smiled. ‘Hang in there, babe. Everything is going to be fine.’
She rolled her eyes, touched by his comment but lacking his optimism. ‘It’s sweet of you to say so, but how can everything possibly be fine, you great dope?’
He treated her to the smile that had women lusting after him in droves. ‘Because this is Christmas, my angel. Peace on earth and goodwill to all men. The time for miracles
and forgiveness. Why don’t you just be patient and see what special gift Santa brings you this year?’
‘I don’t think Santa does marriage rescue, does he?’ She still didn’t see how any of it could be fine, but she appreciated his efforts to make her feel better, so she smiled. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly, touching his arm with her hand, ‘for being a good friend.’