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‘Adrenaline and hydrocortisone,’ Katy muttered. ‘I always carry it.’
Aware of the horrified murmurings of the crowd, she jabbed the woman in the arm and delivered the adrenaline as fast as she could. Then she picked up the other syringe, brisk and competent.
She knew exactly what needed to be done and she knew that it needed to be done quickly.
‘Can you squeeze her arm for me?’
Jago obliged and Katy searched for a vein and then injected the hydrocortisone.
Dropping the empty syringe back into the box, she then moved the woman into the recovery position with Jago’s help.
‘Her breathing’s improving, but just to be on the safe side I’m going to give her some chlorpheniramine as well.’ She rummaged in her bag again, aware that Jago was watching her with amazement.
‘She’s starting to recover.’ He checked the woman’s pulse. ‘This is unbelievable. Do you carry an entire drug cabinet in your handbag?’
Despite the seriousness of the situation, she managed a smile. ‘I happen to be an expert in this particular emergency. There’s nothing else we can do now. She needs high-dose oxygen. I wish that ambulance would hurry up.’
Even as the words left her mouth they saw the ambulance approaching.
‘She needs to be admitted,’ Katy said, dropping the remains of the injections back into the box and returning it to her handbag. ‘Twenty per cent of patients relapse within eight to twelve hours. Better make sure they know that.’
The moment the words left her mouth she coloured. Why was she telling him that? Jago would almost certainly be aware of the fact.
Jago was speaking to the ambulance crew in Spanish and suddenly an oxygen cylinder appeared.
By now the young woman was sitting up, looking decidedly shaky and pale but very much alive.
An older woman burst into tears and flung her arms around a startled Katy.
‘She’s the woman’s mother,’ Jago said softly, a strange expression in his dark eyes. ‘She says that you saved her daughter’s life and she will always be in your debt.’
He spoke to the woman and she nodded and gave Katy a final hug before releasing her.
Suddenly the whole crowd was swarming round her and Katy looked at Jago in mute appeal.
He grinned and shouldered his way through to her. ‘You’re a bit of a heroine.’
‘I just did what anyone would have done,’ she mumbled, and he lifted an eyebrow.
‘Most people don’t carry an entire drug cabinet around with them.’
She smiled self-consciously and watched as they loaded the woman into the ambulance. ‘Can we go now?’
‘If that’s what you want.’
He took her hand and led her through the crowd and she slid into the Ferrari with relief, feeling her limbs start to shake.
‘Are you all right?’ He settled himself in the driver’s seat and frowned at her. ‘You look very pale all of a sudden.’
She took a deep breath and gave him a wobbly smile. ‘I think it just hit me that it could have had a different ending. She had a very severe reaction.’
‘She would have died if it hadn’t been for you,’ Jago said roughly, rubbing a hand over his face and letting out a long breath. ‘All right. Enlighten me. Why the hell do you carry all those drugs in your handbag?’
‘Because of Libby.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Libby?’
‘My sister is severely allergic to bee stings,’ Katy told him. ‘She carries adrenaline herself but I’ve got so used to worrying about her whenever we’re out together in summer that I’ve just got used to carrying a stock of drugs. Alex does the same.’
