his head and saw smoke and flames engulfing the building with horrifying speed. Two fire engines were parked outside and were tackling the blaze but even as they watched there was a small explosion and glass blew out of two upstairs windows.
With a horrified gasp, Liv started to run towards the flats and Stefano reached out and caught her arm in an iron grip. Her eyes still on her home, Liv tugged and tried to free herself but he closed his hands over her shoulders, holding her fast.
‘No. You can’t go in there. There’s nothing you can do.’ His tone was harsher than he’d intended but it seemed to have the desired effect because she stopped pulling and sagged against him.
‘Our home. All our things…’ Her voice was a helpless whisper and Max give a little sob and curled his fist into her coat for reassurance.
‘Has our home gone, Mummy? Has it gone?’
‘Oh, baby!’ Forgetting her own anguish, she pulled away from Stefano and dropped to her knees, folding her son into her arms and squeezing him tightly. ‘It’s going to be fine, you’ll see. It’s just a little problem, but we can solve it together like we always do. Don’t you worry.’ Putting her own feelings to one side, she thought only of Max and Stefano watched in silence, at a loss to know what to say in the face of her personal disaster.
Remembering her reaction to the car, he knew how enormous this would be for her. But instead of falling apart and turning to him for support, she kept her emotions in check and concentrated on her child.
‘Where will we live? Where will we sleep?’ Max was crying now and he wrapped his arms round her neck and hung on tightly, clinging to his mother.
Stefano, who could never remember crying in his entire adult life, found that he had a lump in his throat.
‘Hush. Hush now,’ Liv said gently, ‘that’s enough. Stop crying.’ She eased him away from her and forced him to look at her. ‘I’ll fix it. You know I’ll fix it.’
Even though everything she owned was in the building, currently being greedily devoured by flames, she held it together and the hand that stroked her son’s head was remarkably steady.
Max’s eyes swam. ‘My toys are in there,’ he choked, ‘and my special moon and stars bed cover and my geography colouring.’
Stefano watched as Liv somehow conjured up a magical smile full of confidence and reassurance. ‘Well, I’m willing to bet that Mr Thompson hasn’t heard that excuse before for not handing in homework on time. I think he just might forgive you, this once.’ Her tone was light and she leaned forward and kissed Max several times. ‘It’s people that matter, sweetheart, not things. Remember that. Things aren’t important. They can always be replaced. We have each other, and that’s all that really matters.’ But although her words were brave and seemed to reassure Max, her face was as white as a winter frost and her eyes were blank with shock.
He needed to get both of them away from here.
Stefano was about to take charge when she straightened, still holding Max’s hand.
‘There’s no point in standing here watching.’ Her voice was steady and strong. ‘It’s upsetting for Max. There’s a coffee-shop round the corner. I’ll take him there while I ring the insurance company and work out what to do. They’re going to have to arrange for us to stay somewhere tonight.’
A flicker of movement in the flats caught Stefano’s eye. ‘Liv—there’s someone up there. One flat below yours.’
Still holding tightly to Max’s hand, Liv followed the direction of his gaze. ‘It’s Emma,’ she breathed in horror. ‘She’s eleven. Where’s her mother? Why are they still in there?’
‘She needs to get down on the floor,’ Max muttered, pressing himself against Liv’s leg. ‘We were taught that in school. Smoke rises, so you need to get down on the floor.’
Stefano glanced at Liv. He didn’t want to leave her, but she clearly read his mind because she gave him a push.
‘We’re fine. Go. Be careful.’
‘Stay here,’ Stefano ordered. ‘Call an ambulance, Liv. At the very least she’s going to suffer from smoke inhalation.’
By the time he’d identified himself to the crew, two firemen in breathing apparatus had appeared from the building carrying the child.
Swiftly Stefano carried out an initial assessment. ‘Do we have any idea of the nature of the materials in her flat? Furniture, polyurethane foam?’
Liv appeared by his side, as cool and composed as she always was in a medical crisis. There was nothing to indicate that her own home had been one of those destroyed. ‘Emma?’ She stroked the child’s hair gently. ‘It’s Liv, from upstairs—how are you feeling, sweetheart?’
‘I didn’t hear anything,’ the little girl said hoarsely and then gave a choking cough. ‘I was asleep.’ She made a whistling sound as she inhaled and Stefano saw Liv glance at him.
‘She has a degree of stridor. Do you want to intubate her?’
‘I want to give her oxygen and get her to hospital. If I have to intubate her, I will, but this obviously isn’t the best place.’ Stefano cursed mentally, aware that Liv’s home was burning behind him and he was going to have to make a difficult choice. The shriek of an ambulance siren announced the arrival of the paramedics.
‘Max and I will follow in the car,’ Liv said immediately. ‘We might be able to help and at least we’ll be able to give you a lift back here.’
Stefano thrust a hand in his pocket and withdrew his keys. ‘Use my car.’
‘You’re joking.’ Her expression was comical. ‘I can’t drive a Ferrari. I’ll take the hire car and we can collect yours later.’
At that moment there was a piercing scream and a woman dropped her shopping and ran towards them. Food spilled over the pavement and a milk carton split and slowly leaked its contents into the gutter. ‘Emma!’ The woman stared at the stretcher and then put her hands to her mouth. ‘Oh my God—is she? Is she—?’
About to transfer the child to the ambulance, Stefano cast a meaningful look in Liv’s direction. She slid her arm round the woman, supporting and restraining her so that she didn’t obstruct the transfer of her daughter into the ambulance.
‘Emma’s all right, Susan. But she’s breathed in some of the smoke so we need to take her to the hospital. You can follow in the car with us.’
Susan looked over her shoulder at the smouldering building. ‘Our home…’
‘Let’s worry about Emma first.’ Liv didn’t even glance towards her flat, but Susan started to sob.
‘I’ve lost everything. Everything. All my Christmas presents were in there and I certainly can’t afford to buy another lot.’
Stefano gritted his teeth. Her daughter was lying on a stretcher and she was worrying about her Christmas presents? Deciding that he would never cease to be disgusted by the shallowness of human nature, he climbed into the ambulance, wishing that he didn’t have to leave Liv.
Just before the doors closed, he glanced back at her and saw her speaking reassuringly to Susan, while cuddling Max.
She supported everyone, he thought grimly. But who supported her?
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