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Josh watched in fascination as one of the men meekly did as she instructed. Quickly and with the minimum of fuss she bound the wound and turned her attention to the man’s head.
Josh ran a hand over the back of his neck, for the first time in his life feeling totally redundant in a medical situation. He kept waiting for her to do something wrong so that he could intervene, but she was doing everything right and she didn’t even seem to want help doing it.
She leaned closer to the patient, her body a slim curve in the tight wetsuit. ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’ Her voice was brisk and professional. ‘Can you tell me your name?’
The man groaned and screwed up his face. ‘My head…’
‘I know about your head and I know about your arm.’ Her slim fingers were on the man’s scalp, feeling for damage. ‘But now I need you to tell me your name.’
The man closed his eyes and the girl frowned slightly. Then she leaned closer to him and gave a sniff.
‘He’s been drinking.’ Her nose wrinkled in distaste and she glared at his friends who were still lurking close by, looking as though they’d rather be anywhere else. ‘Was he drinking before surfing?’
One of them shifted. ‘Maybe, just a bit.’
‘A bit?’ She gave them a look designed to freeze boiling water. ‘One of you get on the phone and call an ambulance. He’s going to need to go to hospital. I can’t tell what’s the bang on the head and what’s the alcohol. What’s his name?’
‘Dave.’ One of the lads shrugged. ‘He only had a couple of beers.’
‘Before surfing? He should have known better. And so should you lot.’ The girl shot them a look of contempt and then turned her attention back to the patient. ‘Dave, I’m going to put a dressing on your head and then get you to hospital. You’re going to need an X-ray and some stitches, and next time either drink or surf but don’t do both together. I need another T-shirt to bind his head.’
Finally she looked up at Josh and immediately she stilled. Slanting green eyes locked with his and widened as something powerful and indefinable passed between them.
Josh considered himself an expert on all things female but he’d never seen eyes like those in his life before and he couldn’t look away. Neither, it would seem, could she.
Mac cleared his throat. ‘Earth calling all doctors…’
The girl blinked and dragged her eyes away from Josh, but a betraying pink touched her cheeks that had nothing to do with the hot August sunshine and everything to do with powerful chemistry.
‘Have you got anything which we can use as a dressing for his head?’
Josh was having trouble concentrating. ‘I—er…’
‘Take your T-shirt off, Josh,’ Mac suggested kindly. ‘It might cool you down. You look a little hot.’
Josh dragged his gaze away from the girl and glared at his brother. ‘Take your own T-shirt off.’
‘Louisa bought me this for my birthday. And I’m not the one who’s overheating.’
Josh swore softly and dragged his T-shirt over his head, deriving some satisfaction from the fact that the girl stared at his muscular chest for several seconds before grabbing the garment and turning her attention back to the patient.
Josh watched her with masculine speculation. He was experienced enough with women to know when one of them was interested and the girl with the green eyes was definitely interested, despite her pretended indifference.
He’d felt the attraction like a physical force and he knew that she had, too.
She was securing his T-shirt in place when they heard the ambulance siren.
The ambulance drove onto the sand and Mac gave a nod of recognition as the crew hurried towards them.
‘His GCS is twelve,’ the girl told them, and proceeded to give them a fluent account of the patient’s injuries. ‘In view of the blood loss from the artery, I want to get a line in and then we need to ship him off as fast as possible. He’s going to need surgery on that wrist and possibly a CT scan. He’s been drinking. Make sure you tell them that in A and E.’
Josh watched in admiration as she found a vein with apparent ease, strapped the Venflon in place and nodded to the paramedics.
‘All right. He’s all yours.’ She stood up, her damp hair trailing down her back like a blaze of fire.
Anticipating the moment when he could get the girl on her own and swap essential details, Josh paused briefly to chat with one of the paramedics who he knew well, but when he finally glanced up, the girl had vanished.
He frowned and glanced around him but there was no sign of her.
