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‘What?’
He caught one quick glimpse of her face before he had to look back at the path. For a split second he thought she might be cracking a joke, but her expression told him otherwise.
He swore he could see the pathways firing in his own brain. He’d thought she’d been a little unsettled in the hospital. Just something off—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
‘Why are you spooked by hospitals?’
It was totally not the right time to ask a question like that. And speeding up a hill towards an accident scene was not the right place to give an answer. Of course he knew that. But how could she expect him not to ask?
‘Past experience,’ she replied in a tight voice. ‘One I’d rather not talk about.’
He couldn’t help his response. ‘You must have loved the thought of coming here.’
They reached the crest of the hill and veered down towards the valley where the waterfall lay.
She shot him a wry expression. ‘Let’s just say I really wanted the museum in Egypt or the astronaut. Lucky old me.’
His gut gave a twist. As they approached the waterfall site he could see an array of people, all dressed in wet-weather gear, crowded around a man on the ground.
He had to let this go right now. He had a job to do.
‘Will you be okay to help?’ he asked again. For the next few minutes at least he might need to count on Kristie for help. If she couldn’t help, she might well be a hindrance and he’d ask her to stay in the car.
Her voice was tight and she glanced at her phone. He reached over and grabbed her hand. ‘Be honest.’
She stared for the briefest of seconds at his hand squeezing hers. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said without meeting his gaze. ‘Gerry’s messaged. He’s just behind us. He was at the hospital and hitched a ride in the ambulance.’
Rhuaridh nodded. He had to take her at her word. He had to trust her. And hopefully it would only be for a few minutes.
‘I’ll grab the blue bag, you grab the red,’ he said as he jumped from the car.
He walked swiftly to the group of people. One of the instructors was on the ground with a large laceration on his head. From one glance Rhuaridh could see that his breathing was a little laboured. But that was the point. At least he was breathing.
‘Where’s the other casualty?’
A teenage boy pointed to the bottom of the roaring waterfall. ‘Under there. He jumped from the top.’
Rhuaridh’s heart gave a little leap. ‘Under there?’
‘Not under the water. Under the waterfall. He says he can’t feel his legs so no one wanted to move him.’
Rhuaridh was already stripping off his shoes and jacket. He pulled a monitor from one bag, bent over and stuck the three leads on the first guy’s chest. It only took a few seconds to check the readings. He knelt down beside the guy, pulled his stethoscope out and made another check. Lungs were filling normally, no sign of damage. ‘What happened?’ he asked the nearest kid.
‘Ross and Des went into the water as soon as Kai jumped and went under. Des got Kai and pulled him into the cave but when Ross tried to climb the rock face he slipped and hit his head on the way down.’ The young boy talking gulped, ‘A few of us jumped in and pulled him out. He hasn’t woken up at all.’
Rhuaridh pulled a penlight from his pocket and checked Ross’s pupils, then completed a first set of neuro obs. It was first-line assessment for any head injury. He scribbled them down and handed them to Kristie.
He handed Kristie a radio. ‘You keep these.’
‘Where are you going?’ There was a definite flash of panic in her eyes.
A teenage girl, her face streaked with tears, tugged at his sleeve. ‘The other instructor is with Kai. He stayed with him after Ross got hurt, trying to help.’
Rhuaridh started rummaging through the kitbags. He tucked the other radio into his belt. There was no doubt about it—he was going to get very wet.
He bent over next to Kristie, checking the monitor again. He kept his voice low. ‘Keep an eye on his breathing. It seems fine and his heart rate is steady. He’s given himself quite a bang on the head. If he starts to wake up, just keep him steady on the ground. If he’s agitated or confused, radio me straight away.’
Rhuaridh wouldn’t normally leave an unconscious patient, but right now he’d no idea of the condition of the child under the waterfall. As the only medic on site he had to assess both patients. He put his hand on Kristie’s shoulder. ‘The ambulance crew should be here in a few minutes.’ He could tell she was nervous, but she lifted her own hand and put it over his.
‘Go on, Rhuaridh. Go and check on the kid. We’ll be fine.’
Rhuaridh gave a few instructions to some of the other teenagers around. Most were quiet, a few looked a bit shocked but had no injuries. ‘Stay with Kristie, she’ll let me know if there’s any problems.’
He waded into the water. Cold. It was beyond cold. This waterfall was notorious for the temperature as it was based in a valley with little sunlight. By the time he’d waded across to the middle of the pool the water had come up over his waist and to the bottom of his ribs, making him catch his breath.
The instructor had been wearing a wetsuit that would keep his temperature more steady—hopefully the teenager would be too.
The spray from the waterfall started to soak him. He knew this place well enough. There was a ridge on the rocks the falls plummeted over. It was the only way to get access to the cave under the falls and the only way to access that ridge was to wade through the water and try and scale the rock face.
He had nothing. No climbing equipment. No wetsuit. Not even a rope.
He heard a painful groan. Even though the noise from the falls was loud, he could hear it echoing from the cave. He moved sideways, casting his eyes over the rock face, looking for a suitable place to start.
It had been years since he’d been here. As a teenager he’d been able to scale this rock with no problems. It had practically been a rite of passage for any kid that lived on the island. But that had been a long time ago, when he’d probably been a lot more agile than he was now.
The first foothold was easy, his bare foot pushing him upwards. He caught his hands on the rocks above and pulled himself up, finding a position for the second foot.
‘Careful, Doc,’ shouted one of the kids.
He moved left, nearer the falls. There was a trick to this, trying to keep hold of the wall, which got more and more slippery by the second as he edged closer. The weight on his back from the backpack and red portable stretcher was affecting his balance, making him grip all the tighter. His knuckles were white as he waited for the right second to duck his head and jump through the falls to the cave behind.
As he jumped he had a millisecond of panic. What if the injured kid was directly in his path? But as he landed with a grunt behind the falls he realised he was clear. He fell roughly to the side, the equipment on his back digging sharply into him.
It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust. It wasn’t quite dark in here. Light still streamed through the waterfall.
‘About time,’ said Des, the instructor, cheekily. He was sitting next to the injured boy, who was lying on the floor of the cave.
The cave was larger than most people would expect, and the grey rock had streaks of brown and red. There was almost room for a person to stand completely upright, and definitely enough room for six or seven people to sit within the cave. This place had been one of the most popular hideouts when Rhuari
dh had been a kid and half the island had scraped their initials into the rock. He’d half a mind to flash his torch over the rock to find his own.
Rhuaridh caught the brief nod from Des. They’d been at school together years ago. He moved closer to the boy. ‘Kai? How are you? I heard you jumped off the waterfall.’
His eyes were scanning up and down Kai’s body. There was an angry-looking projection underneath the wetsuit covering his left foreleg.
He touched Kai’s shoulders. ‘One of your friends said you couldn’t feel your legs, is that still true?’
‘I wish!’ said Kai loudly as he groaned again.
Des caught Rhuaridh’s eye. ‘He said at the beginning he couldn’t feel his legs but that was literally only for a few moments. He’s been feeling pain in his leg ever since, and for obvious reasons I’ve not moved him.’
Rhuaridh nodded. He knew exactly what he’d find if he cut Kai’s wetsuit open. The only question was whether the bone was protruding from the skin. Right now, it was covered by the wetsuit and still protected.
Rhuaridh turned around and tugged the portable stretcher free from its packaging and started opening it out. There was no way Kai would be able to walk or swim anywhere.
Des had worked as an instructor at the wilderness centre for years and was experienced enough to need little direction. He helped unfold the stretcher while Rhuaridh took some time to assess Kai. He held his hands above the injured leg. ‘Okay, I promise I’m not going to touch that bit. But I am going to take a look.’ He pulled a torch from his backpack and checked the skin colour. ‘Can you wiggle your toes?’
Kai grimaced but wiggled his toes while letting out a low yelp.
‘Allergic to anything?’
Kai shook his head.
‘How old are you?’
‘Fourteen.’
‘Any medical conditions I should know about? Or any regular medicines you need to take?’
Kai shook his head to both questions.
‘Do you know how much you weigh?’
‘Why?’
‘I’m going to give you something to ease the pain. We’re going to have to help you onto the stretcher, then carry you out through the waterfall. There’s no other way out of here.’
