A Doctor To Heal Her Heart. Annie Claydon

had Carrie’s wrist between his fingers, checking her pulse, watching her intently for... Sam didn’t know what. She couldn’t think about what at the moment. Carrie was breathing, and that was all she knew.

      The doorbell rang, and Helen’s head poked around the door. ‘What do I do?’

      ‘Answer it, it’s probably the ambulance.’ Euan didn’t look up.

      ‘Yes. Right.’ The girl disappeared, and then the clatter of heavy boots on the stairs heralded the ambulance crew’s arrival. Euan took a moment to brief them, and then Sam moved away from Carrie to allow them to take over.

      She almost staggered backwards, unable to help any more but unable to leave either, so she perched herself awkwardly against a dresser in the corner of the room. Euan and the two ambulancemen were busy, and she tried to keep her eyes on Carrie’s face, silently willing her to get through this.

      Finally they were finished. Euan repacked his medical bag while Carrie was strapped securely into a carry chair, and slowly, gently the ambulance crew manoeuvred her down the stairs. Sam followed, unsure what to do next.

      Helen caught her arm. ‘We didn’t know she was ill. Is she going to be all right?’

      ‘You’ll have to ask the doctors.’ Helen was chewing her lip, watching through the open front door as Carrie was lifted into the ambulance. ‘Do you want to go with her to the hospital?’

      ‘She’s my friend.’ Tears were rolling down the blonde’s cheeks now. ‘I didn’t know... Really I didn’t. We were all downstairs and Pete said that Carrie had just gone to get an early night...’

      Sam recognised that kind of guilt. ‘Look, it’s all right.’ She took Helen’s hand and squeezed it to emphasise her point. ‘You can’t change the fact that you didn’t know Carrie was ill. Don’t let how you feel about that stop you from being there for her now.’

      Helen still hesitated. Sam would have done anything to have had this opportunity with Sally. ‘Carrie’s got a second chance, and so do you. Are you going with her or not?’ she asked firmly.

      Helen pulled a coat from the rack and picked up a shoulder bag. ‘Yeah. I’m going.’

      Sam nodded and led her out to the ambulance, catching the attention of the driver and shepherding Helen into the back of the vehicle. When she looked around for Euan, he was leaning against the bonnet of his car, arms folded and watching her.

      ‘What?’ There was a half smile on his lips when she walked over to face him.

      ‘You’ve got something on your trousers.’ He caught her hand as she bent to brush whatever it was away. ‘No, don’t do that.’