‘Sounds great. I think I’ll have the same.’
‘I’m just going to nip to the loo,’ Aidan said, standing. ‘Will you order for me?’
‘Sure.’
There was just one person ahead of her at the counter waiting to be served.
‘Right, what can I get you?’ the bartender asked her.
‘I—’ She was interrupted by a piercing scream that struck terror in her.
‘Mum!’ She whipped around, her heart pounding at Jack’s frantic tone. ‘Mum, quick!’
She instantly saw what was wrong, already racing over to where he sat with Bo, who had her hands around her throat, eyes wide with panic while her face was turning red. She was choking.
Lou was at her side in an instant, dropping to her knees beside her and pulling her out of her chair. ‘Honey, can you talk? Can you cough?’
Bo shook her head and Lou knelt up behind her, positioning Bo in front of her, and began administering hard blows to her back. Her eyes flew to the server who had come to see what was going on. ‘Call 999,’ she said to him, her voice shaky, while she continued thumping Bo’s back and checking to see if whatever was stuck in her throat had been dislodged. The silence was terrifying – there was no sound of breathing.
The man raced off in the direction of the kitchen, while Lou placed her hands in the Heimlich position and switched to abdominal thrusts. She knew she only had a few minutes for this to work before Bo would lose consciousness and then… She couldn’t think about that.
Her panic mounted as she heaved and heaved and nothing happened, a single word repeating on a loop in her head:please,please,please. She’d taken the training but she’d never done this in real life before and it wasn’t working. She was simultaneously afraid of hurting Bo and scared that she was being too gentle. Karen’s voice echoed in her head, telling her it was better to risk breaking a rib than…
‘What’s happening?’ Aidan came out of the bathroom and darted across the floor, eyes wide with fright. No one needed to explain as he took in the scene, his hands going to his hair, tugging frantically as he looked down at his terrified little girl, terror etched in his features.
She couldn’t let him watch his daughter die in front of his eyes. She had to save Bo. And then on the fifth thrust, it happened – Bo coughed and a small circle of sausage fell to the floor. There was a moment’s stunned silence before she drew in a shaky breath and started to wail. Lou sagged in relief, sinkingdown to the floor. ‘You’re okay,’ she said, rubbing the little girl’s back. ‘You’re okay, you’re okay.’
Aidan bent down and scooped Bo up, rubbing her back, kissing her face and telling her she was all right over and over. Tears sprang to Lou’s eyes and she found she was shaking. She’d never been so scared in her life.
She sat on the floor, dazed, only vaguely aware of Aidan sitting Bo in a chair, checking that she was okay as her tears subsided.
‘Lou.’ A hand reached down to take hers, and Aidan pulled her to her feet, then she found herself wrapped in his arms and he was rubbing her back soothingly, just as he had Bo’s.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ His breath was hot in her ear. ‘Thank God you were here.’ She leaned into the warmth and comfort of it for a moment, pressing closer to his body as his arms tightened around her, breathing in the male smell of him.
She brushed tears from her eyes as he released her and she saw that his eyes were wet with tears too.
‘All in a day’s work,’ she said gruffly, not able to cope with the way he was looking at her.
He shook his head, laughing softly and rolling his eyes.
Lou took what felt like her first proper breath in ages. She felt like hours had passed, but it could only have been minutes. She was aware of the customers around them turning in their seats, going back to their meals and resuming their conversations, while the staff returned to their work. It seemed the whole restaurant had been holding their breath.
‘Are you okay now?’ she asked, turning to Bo.
Bo nodded, but she and Jack both still looked upset.
Lou flopped onto the chair opposite Jack and took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly, while Aidan lifted Bo and sat down, pulling her onto his lap.
An ambulance arrived moments later and a couple of young paramedics who introduced themselves as Jane and Patrick checked Bo out and decided she was fine.
‘You were lucky your mum knew what to do,’ Patrick said, nodding to Lou.
‘Oh, I’m not her mum,’ Lou said, not sure why she felt the need to correct him. It wasn’t as if she was ever likely to see him again.
As the paramedics left and normal service resumed, several customers and waiters came by the table to check that Bo was all right and ask if they needed anything.
Bo seemed to be enjoying her celebrity status and it was a relief to see her rallying, some colour coming back into her cheeks.
