Maybe she was slowly starting to recover from everything that had happened.
Strong fingers gripped her arm and held her firmly. ‘Stay well back while they land.’
She did as she was told, responding automatically to the cool authority in his tone. She had no intention of arguing with him. As far as she was concerned there’d been no question as to who’d been in charge from the moment he’d stepped off his motorbike.
Lucy watched in fascination as the helicopter hovered and the pilot landed with breathtaking skill. She’d heard about the air ambulance of course, but this was the first time she’d actually seen it in action.
Two paramedics ran from the helicopter and one of them grinned in surprise when he saw the doctor.
‘Joel? I thought we’d got rid of you, mate!’
‘So did I,’ the doctor replied, his tone dry, ‘but someone up there obviously thought differently. The motorcyclist needs a line in fast, Greg. Let’s get some Hartmann’s into him, and for goodness’ sake make it warm or we’ll kill him off. And grab a Hudson mask because he needs ninety percent oxygen. You’d better warn them to have three units of O-neg ready in A and E because he’s going to need blood. He’s our priority. We need to evacuate him before the occupants of the car.’
The paramedic called Greg nodded. ‘There’s an ambulance on its way—ETA three minutes. They can take the people from the car.’
‘Great. Let’s get to work, then.’
Lucy stood to one side, assuming that if he wanted her help he’d ask for it. He reeled off several other instructions and then strode off to deal with the motorcyclist while the second paramedic hurried up to her.
‘What’s the story with the guy in the car?’
‘It’s his neck, or at least that’s what he—Joel.’ She stumbled over the name. ‘Joel is worried about. He thinks it should be immobilised before he’s moved.’
The paramedic nodded. ‘Let’s do it then. I’ve never known Joel be wrong.’
So the self-confidence was justified.
Lucy glanced in the direction of the doctor, who was now on his knees beside the motorcyclist, squeezing fluid into him from an IV bag. ‘I can’t understand how he can be so cool. I was in a total panic before he turned up.’
The paramedic gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘So at a guess I’d say you’re not a trauma doctor. He is.’
A trauma doctor? Well, that would explain the unshakable self-confidence.
‘So that’s why he wasn’t fazed.’
The paramedic gave a short laugh as he handed her some equipment. ‘Never seen him fazed by anything, to be honest, but some people are just like that, aren’t they? We used to call him Joe Cool. One thing’s for sure. If I was ever in a pile-up and I saw him hovering over me I’d know I was going to be OK. He’s one hell of a clever doctor and a big loss, if you ask me.’
‘Loss?’ Lucy obediently held the equipment he gave her and waited to be given instructions.
‘Yeah. He was working with us until two weeks ago. Then he left for pastures new. Bloody waste. Best trauma doctor I’ve ever seen.’
‘So why did he leave?’
The paramedic shrugged. ‘He wanted a change. Fed up with being in the news, I suppose. Anyway, let’s get this guy out.’
In the news?
Why was the doctor in the news?
Lucy stared at the paramedic, who gave her a friendly grin and went back to the car.
Behind her she heard the helicopter taking off again and realised that the motorcyclist was already on his way to hospital.
Her eyes widened as she realised how quickly they must have worked.
The doctor sprinted back to the car and helped the paramedic stabilise the driver while Lucy checked on his passenger.
A fire engine and an ambulance arrived and suddenly there were people everywhere. In no time at all the man was freed and he and his companion were on their way to hospital.
Suddenly Lucy found herself alone with the blue-eyed doctor.
‘Well, that livened up the lunch-hour,’ he drawled as they watched the ambulance race away, siren blaring.
Lucy gave a rueful smile and pushed a thick strand of dark hair out of her eyes with trembling fingers. Now that it was all over she felt slightly sick.
In fact, she felt dizzy.
The doctor must have noticed because he frowned suddenly. ‘Are you OK? Damn, you’re white as a sheet. Sit down fast—that’s it. Head down.’
He pushed her down onto the grassy bank and guided her head between her knees with a strong hand. She took several deep breaths and waited for the swimmy feeling to pass.
‘Sorry.’ She lifted her head and gave him an embarrassed look. ‘I don’t—’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said softly, his hand still lingering on the back of her neck. ‘It’s the shock. You’re all right while it’s happening, and then when the crisis has passed it hits you. It happens to everyone.’
She was willing to bet that it had never happened to him, but she was grateful to him for trying to make her feel better.
She gave him a shaky smile, relieved that he’d forced her to sit down. She didn’t think her legs were capable of holding her.
‘I’m not used to dealing with emergencies by the roadside,’ she confessed, her breath clouding the frozen air. ‘I felt totally helpless. I hope I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve never panicked so much in my life. I just didn’t know who to deal with first, and my first aid is so—’
‘You did a good job,’ he said, interrupting her gently, his eyes sharply observant as they scanned her pale features.
Shy and uncomfortable under his scrutiny, she dipped her head and her dark hair tumbled forward over her face. ‘Well, I’m a nurse,’ she muttered, and the man threw back his head and laughed. A rich, masculine sound that made her stomach flip over.
‘I suspected that from the glimpse of your uniform under your coat and the inexhaustible supply of sterile dressing pads.’ He chuckled, his eyes dancing. ‘Either that or you’re a stripogram, but I assumed it was a bit early in the day for that.’
Lucy smiled hesitantly, unused to exchanging banter with strange men, but his answering smile was so warm and compelling that she started to relax.
‘I’m really glad that you came along when you did,’ she confessed. ‘It was definitely my lucky day.’
His smile faded and his gaze was suddenly disturbingly intense. ‘I’m starting to think it was my lucky day, too,’ he said softly, and she felt hot colour flood into her cheeks.
Was he flirting with her?
It had been so long since anyone had flirted with her that she didn’t have a clue how to respond, and she scrambled unsteadily to her feet, feeling gauche and ridiculously shy.
‘I’d better go.’
She had to. She had to get away from the way he was looking at her.
He rose to his feet with the easy grace of a jungle predator and strolled with her back to her car, pausing to scoop up his discarded helmet on the way. One sideways glance confirmed just how incredibly good-looking he was and she almost laughed at herself.
Any other woman would have taken advantage of the situation and made witty conversation, but faced with all that raw masculinity all she wanted to do was run a mile.
He