managed the same for him in the aftermath of Janet’s departure, even though turning up, unwanted, with home-cooked meals and taking the beer out of his hands had seemed like a thankless task at the time.
‘Well, I think I needed reminding then and now so do you. You’re a good person, Izzy.’ Izzy snuggled into the crook of his arm, gazing into his eyes and realising how special he really was.
She’d never looked at him in a romantic way before but now, wrapped in his embrace, her body was responding to him altogether differently from what she was used to. The comfort she’d found with him had turned into something new and thrilling, desire stealthily making itself known so she was aware of every spot where his body was pressed against hers, that tingling sensation electrifying every inch of her skin.
He was looking at her now with the same hunger in his eyes as she was currently experiencing and the atmosphere between them was suddenly crackling with sexual tension.
She tilted her head up to his, stopped when she thought it might be an unwanted advance, then rejoiced when he bent to meet her lips with his.
They sealed the strange new dynamic with an exploratory kiss that soon obliterated Izzy’s doubts that he might only be offering her comfort. She could tell from the increased passionate intensity of his kisses that Cal wanted her as much as she wanted him at that moment. Their mouths were clashing together, they were tugging at each other’s clothes in their frantic need to make that ultimate connection, and Izzy knew things between them would never be the same again.
Three months later
THE MINUTE THE call came in Izzy knew it was going to be a tough one for her.
‘We have a thirty-one-year-old pregnant woman badly hurt after a car accidentally reversed through a shop window.’ She paused to clear her throat before she continued relaying the harrowing details to the rest of the crew on board the air ambulance. ‘The patient was shunted through the glass and has suffered severe lacerations and potential crush injuries. Her wrist and main artery have been severed but police on the scene have applied a tourniquet to her arm and require immediate medical assistance.’
‘What about the driver of the car?’ Cal’s voice came over the headset and she knew, as the attending doctor, he was concerned for everybody’s safety at the scene.
‘Superficial injuries and shock, as far as we can tell. The ambulance can take him to hospital by road, but time is of the essence for our pregnant lady.’ Depending on how much blood she’d lost and how long it took for them to get her to the hospital, there was a chance both mother and baby might not make it. Unfortunately, death was a part of the job but under current circumstances this one felt a bit close to home when Izzy’s hormones were already all over the place.
Once the pilot found a clear place to land they hurried towards the melee of people and flashing lights. Thankfully the police had cordoned off the area so they could get to work without interference from the general public who were watching the drama unfold.
‘This is Tara Macready. She’s four months pregnant and has sustained substantial wounds to her left arm. We’ve been applying pressure to the wound since we arrived on scene.’ One of the young police officers talked them through events as his colleagues did their best to stop the patient bleeding out. With their first-aid training they’d known to elevate the arm and apply pressure to reduce the flow of blood and had probably saved her life in the process. They’d done their part and now it was up to Izzy and Cal to get her transferred to the hospital as soon as possible.
Despite the police officers’ good work, the ground was heavily stained with the scarlet evidence of the patient’s trauma and Izzy had to fight against the unexpected emotions welling up inside her. ‘Tara, we’re with the air ambulance crew. We’re going to take over now and get you transferred to the hospital.’
‘What about my baby?’ she mumbled, battling against unconsciousness.
‘We’re going to monitor you both, but we need to do a few things first, Tara. Izzy, she needs a bilateral cannula as quick as you can.’ Cal set to work getting a pressure bandage on to replace the makeshift tourniquet that had been applied to Tara’s arm and Izzy inserted the cannula so they could administer fluids. Once she was at the hospital they could do the blood typing necessary for a transfusion.
‘I’m giving you some morphine for the pain, Tara.’ With the bleeding halted Cal went ahead with pain relief. In this situation, even though they wanted to save both lives, the mother took priority.
Their portable kit enabled them to monitor Tara’s blood pressure and heart rate and Izzy made sure everything was in place before they transferred her to the helicopter. They both climbed into the back with their patient so they could keep a close eye on her for the duration of the flight.
‘I’m going to take a listen to your baby while the doctor checks your progress. Okay, Tara?’ Izzy kept talking her through what was happening, reassuring her everything was going to be all right, even though she was slipping in and out of consciousness.
With a special stethoscope she was able to put her ear down to Tara’s belly and listen for the baby’s heartbeat. Hearing that faint rhythm felt like winning the lottery and Cal mirrored her smile when he realised the baby was still hanging in there too.
‘Your baby is fighting right along with you, Tara. We’ll get you both to the hospital as quickly as we can.’ It was all down to timing now and Izzy was taking this one more personally than anything she’d ever witnessed before. Apparently, the prospect of becoming a mother made a woman fight harder than ever and that was one symptom of pregnancy she could get on board with.
* * *
Izzy could have kissed the tarmac when the helicopter touched down back at their Belfast base after transferring their patient into the hands of the emergency staff at the hospital.
‘Are you okay, Fizz? You’re looking a little green around the gills there. Don’t tell me you’ve developed a sudden fear of flying? We’d have to ground you and then who would I have to wind up on a daily basis?’
She rolled her eyes at a grinning Cal. He knew she hated that nickname he’d foisted on her when they’d first met at air ambulance training and she’d let her temper get the better of her, striving to prove she was better than any of the men there.
At least, she used to hate it. In the five years of working together it had grown on her and she’d missed it of late when things between them had become awkward, to say the least. Things weren’t going to get any easier between them once he heard her news.
They’d both been hurt by people who’d purported to love them. Cal’s pregnant fiancée, Janet, had run out on him with the man who was apparently the real father of the baby she was carrying, leaving double the void in his life and double the hurt.
Izzy knew the heart-stabbing pain of betrayal, thanks to Gerry, the man she’d thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. She’d put all her hopes and dreams into their relationship, believing he was the one who was going to give her the family and stability she’d never had growing up in the foster system, only to have everything cruelly snatched away from her when he’d been killed in a motorcycle accident.
The only thing worse than losing someone she loved had been discovering he hadn’t been who she’d thought he was at all. A parade of nefarious debt collectors and loan sharks who’d bankrolled a gambling addiction she’d been oblivious to and a bank account emptied as a result of his addiction had merely fuelled the notion that she would never have anyone in her life who loved her unconditionally. The realisation that had sent her running to the one person in her life she knew she could trust.
In Cal she’d found a kindred, wounded soul and she’d needed him to comfort her. They’d shared that one incredible night together but they both knew it could never be more