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‘Wait here,’ she instructed, in as firm a voice as she could manage. ‘I’ll pay Mrs Appleby and then you can argue with me.’
When she got to know the area, and had more than a couple of hours of downtime—hours which were usually spent washing, cleaning and doing the grocery run—then maybe she would have a moment to look for somewhere better.
She found herself shaking the dozing Mrs Appleby awake as gently as possible and thrusting the babysitting payment into the old woman’s hand before hurrying out of the flat to catch up with Nell and Tak. Predictably, they hadn’t listened to a word of her instructions.
She stood back, chewing her lip, as Tak conducted what seemed like a remarkably one-sided conversation, during which he was doing most of the talking and her usually dominant landlord appeared to be doing an unusual amount of conceding.
‘He’ll have someone here first thing in the morning,’ Tak said, ending the call with something approaching satisfaction. ‘You can’t spend the weekend with no heating. It’s unacceptable.’
‘It’s called reasonable,’ Effie countered. ‘At least in my world.’
Tak didn’t appear remotely swayed. ‘I’ll wager that if his own boiler broke down he’d have someone there within the hour.’
‘Well, this isn’t his flat. It’s mine.’
They glared at each other for a long time before Effie finally broke contact, all too acutely aware of Nell’s curious gaze.
‘Pack a bag,’ Tak commanded abruptly. ‘You can’t stay here.’
It was the crossing of the line in the sand that Effie needed. She rooted herself to the spot and lifted her steady gaze to his. This was her daughter, her little family, her problem. She would deal with it. Just as she always had done.
‘Absolutely not.’
‘This place is—’
‘We’re really grateful for you for talking to the landlord,’ she said, cutting him off abruptly, ‘but we’re fine now.’
She didn’t know what was galvanising her—she only knew that something was. Perhaps it was the fact that she had long since learned that ultimately people would let you down and she relied only on herself. No one else. Never anyone else.
Not even him.
It was a bit terrifying that the idea of leaning on Tak Basu—even just a little—was so damn tempting. What was it about this man that slid through her in a way that no one else ever had? Ever.
The next thing she knew she was standing with her hand on the open door. ‘I said that we can take it from here.’
Tak scowled, and looked as though he was about to argue. And then, without warning, he gave a terse nod of his head and strode out. Once in the hallway, he paused long enough to instruct her to call him if she had any more problems and then he was gone.
She chanted over and over in her head, that she was glad.
But even as she closed the door with a flourish, knowing that she would inevitably get the third degree from a barely contained Nell, Effie took a moment to lean her forehead on the cold wood and wonder exactly what she had done.
CHAPTER SIX
‘THAT’S IT! THAT’S it—stop!’ Effie called to the paramedic to stop chest compressions before shouting to her patient above the noise of the helicopter as it raced through the air. ‘Emma, are you with me, sweetheart? You’re okay. You’re in a helicopter, my love. I’m Effie—I’m a doctor. You’re doing well. You’re back with us.’
She exchanged a relieved glance with one of her paramedics. It was a hard enough job even without the additional complication of the cramped helicopter space. For several long minutes they continued tending to their patient, before Effie finally sat back on her heels.
‘Okay—quick recap. We’re back in normal sinus rhythm and she has a line in. We’ve carried out CPR and one shock, straight up. She’s had oxygen, aspirin, no adrenalin.’
The pilot’s voice came over the system. ‘We’re a couple of minutes out from the hospital.’
‘Good,’ Effie acknowledged, smiling brightly down to her patient, whose eyes were finally open. ‘Okay, Emma, we’re nearly at the hospital. You’ve done really well. Now, let’s see if we can keep that heart-rate up, shall we?’
For the next half-hour Effie concentrated on the task in hand: keeping her patient comfortable and carrying out her observations before the helicopter finally landed. There wasn’t time for her to think about whether or not Tak would be in the resus room when she rushed her patient in. But later—much later—she might acknowledge that deep down there was a tiny part of her which prayed that he wouldn’t be there, just as there was another tiny part of her that always hoped he would.
The two parts had been sparring with each other for the last few days.
As they lifted her patient off the helicopter and onto a hospital gurney Effie kept chatting to Emma while the team navigated the long ramp to the hospital. It felt like a win when she finally handed over to the hospital team without Emma going into arrest a second time.
