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‘So, what’s next on the tour, Boss?’ Ben asked pointedly, as if sensing her resentment and trying to push past it.
She opened her mouth before spotting one figure, leaning on a brick pillar, watching them. Nic, she realised with a start. She’d forgotten all about him. But even as she turned towards him he ducked his head and moved away.
‘Who was that?’ Ben asked quietly, moving to her shoulder.
She hesitated. Perhaps it was her resentment, or maybe guilt, but Thea found herself almost challenging Ben with her tone.
‘That was Nic, another trauma doctor. We once dated.’
The shock in Ben’s eyes was almost gratifying.
‘What did you expect, Ben? That I’d been sitting around for five years, waiting for you?’
It felt good, almost cathartic, to say the words. He’d married her, given her one precious night and then walked out on her. For five years there had been no contact, and even now she was only with him for closure. It was galling that he had dropped back into her life with such apparent ease, as if he’d never been away. This was her way of reminding Ben that her life hadn’t just stood still whilst she’d waited for him to return.
‘No,’ Ben answered softly at length. ‘Our marriage was one of convenience. A marriage on paper—nothing more. You had every right to date. I did too.’
The admission was unceremoniously delivered, yet ridiculously it felt like a body blow. Unwelcome tears pricked the corners of her eyes and Thea blinked them away in confusion. Why should she react this way? She didn’t care.
‘You’ve dated?’ she choked out.
Ben shrugged. ‘A couple of times. Not seriously—the Army always came first.’
Somehow that made her feel better. Part of her had secretly hoped Ben would return, but mostly she had been grieving for the baby she’d lost, and it had taken her years even to think about starting to move on with anyone else. Eventually she’d tentatively started dating again, but it had mostly been abysmal—until Nic. He had been kind, and understanding, and a good communicator.
After Ben—after the baby—Nic should have been everything she wanted, or needed. But even then the wounds had still felt too close to the surface and she hadn’t been able to let Nic in. Like it or not, a relationship with him just hadn’t been what she’d wanted. She was only grateful that Nic had been as private a person as her, and so there were no other colleagues to whom they had to explain themselves.
She searched Ben’s face, looking for clues. Realising there was nothing more to be said, she forced herself to move on.
‘We’ve got three helicopters across two regional bases,’ she announced flatly. ‘So, between everything, we’re never more than a fifteen-minute flight to the nearest hospital.’
He whistled. ‘That’s pretty impressive,’ he said, after only a beat of hesitation.
He looked around to take it all in. She felt another odd swell of pride as he turned back to her, more questions at the ready.
‘So, what’s your range?’
‘About six thousand square miles.’ Thea indicated the map on the wall, showing the area in question, grateful to have something concrete to focus on. ‘Our helicopters can fly up to around two hundred miles per hour, and are fitted out with the most advanced lifesaving kit to give the patients their very best possible chance of survival.’
Great—now she sounded like one of the charity’s donation request adverts.
‘Is it usually single individuals, or do you get multiple casualties?’ he asked thoughtfully.
‘Both,’ she confirmed. ‘From a single jockey or a skateboarder to a multi-car pile-up. The most I’ve triaged in one go is nine. So...let me show you around the base.’
‘Thea, we’re up.’ One of the paramedics hurried over. ‘Motorbike accident—twelve miles out.’
With little more than a cursory farewell to Ben, Thea switched her mind from the complications and questions which had been dogging her all afternoon, and focussed in on her team.
Pulling her gear on, she listened as the base’s switchboard operator relayed the details as they were fed to him.
‘Two casualties—one rider, one pillion. High-speed collision with a car at a junction. There are two road crews already on their way to the scene but we’ve been called to attend.’
‘We’ll stay patched in. Keep us informed, Jack,’ Thea said as she headed onto the Tarmac with the two paramedics on her team.
Her pilot, Harry, was already good to go, and as she jumped into the helicopter she brought up the crash location on her onscreen map, talking it through with him. Ultimately it would be his job to choose the optimal landing site.
As the helicopter ate up the relatively short distance to the crash site she kept an eye out for a clear landing location and potential hazards. A pass over the accident itself was an opportunity to take in as much detail as possible from the air—once on the ground it would be all go.
