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‘Logan—’
‘Respiratory arrest precedes cardiac arrest in drowning. He’s got a pulse.’ Logan started to examine the boy more thoroughly, his hands swift and skilled. ‘Did Fraser manage to bring the oxygen?’
‘It’s here.’
There was a clacking sound overhead as the helicopter arrived but Logan was focused on Jason, leaving others to deal with the arrival of the helicopter. ‘He’s breathing but his core temperature is thirty-four degrees. We need to warm him up. What layers do we have?’
Evanna reached forward and covered the boy, noticing that his face was chalky white. ‘Do you want to aspirate his stomach?’
Just then the boy screwed up his face and started to cough violently, and Logan gave Evanna a swift nod. ‘We have lift-off. Jason? Speak to me. You’re worrying your mother. Wake up.’
The boy’s eyes fluttered open and he started to cough again.
Logan turned him into the recovery position. ‘Good boy. You’re all right. You’ve swallowed a bit of seawater but you’ll soon be feeling better. Evanna, this oxygen mask doesn’t fit properly. I need something smaller.’
The paramedic from the helicopter sprinted across to them with a case of equipment. ‘How’s he doing?’
Logan wiped a forearm across his forehead. ‘Better than we could have hoped. He’s breathing but he’s very cold still and he seems to have aspirated water so he’ll need to go to hospital for a check.’
The mother sank onto the sand beside Jason, tears pouring down her cheeks. ‘He needs to go to hospital? Can’t you just watch him here?’
‘This is a small island,’ Logan said gently, ‘and while we are capable of dealing with dire emergencies if the need arises, we do try and anticipate and avoid them whenever possible. I’m sure Jason is going to make an uneventful recovery but, to be on the safe side, I’d rather he made that recovery in the hospital. I’m sure they’ll only keep him in for a night.’
‘They have rooms for parents,’ Evanna said quickly as she found a smaller oxygen mask, ‘so you can be with him the whole time.’
‘I can go with him in the helicopter?’
The paramedic helped switch masks. ‘Of course, but you can’t bring the baby.’
‘I can leave her with my husband. He’ll be fine with her for a day, although the crying will probably drive him mad. We’re in one of the beach houses just up there.’
‘Go and give the baby to your husband and then you can come with us.’ The paramedic squatted down beside Logan. ‘Do you want to get a line in just to be on the safe side?’
‘Yes, ideally, although he’s so cold it’s going to be pretty hard getting in a peripheral line.’ Logan picked up one of the boy’s arms and rubbed the skin. ‘We might be lucky.’
With a last, frightened look towards Jason, the mother sprinted across the beach to Kyla who was still holding the baby. Kyla’s husband Ethan, the other island GP, arrived and immediately took in the situation. ‘You’ve had one trip to the mainland already today. I’ll take this one, Logan.’
‘I wouldn’t mind, if that’s all right with you.’ Logan slid the needle into the vein and gave a nod of satisfaction. ‘Good. Tape it firmly, Evanna. I don’t want to have to try that again.’
Ethan went to supervise the helicopter landing and Kyla turned her attention to the mother.
‘His colour is better.’ Logan checked the child’s pulse again.
‘We’re ready to transfer him.’ Ethan arrived with a stretcher and they carefully lifted the boy, covered him with blankets and secured him. ‘You’d better give me a handover.’
Leaving the paramedics to transfer the child into the helicopter, Logan pulled his colleague to one side, told him what had happened and detailed the first aid they’d given.
Watching the helicopter take off, Evanna suddenly realised that her legs were shaking. ‘What a day. I think I’ve aged twenty years and I’ve only been back on the island for ten minutes!’
Logan sat down next to her. ‘I only came down to the quay because I was trying to accidentally on purpose bump into Doug McDonald. I wanted to see how he was doing without looking too obvious.’
‘If you hadn’t been in the café, the child would have drowned. You were amazing.’
He brushed some sand from his legs and pulled his shirt back on. ‘I was doing my job, Evanna. Stop making me sound like some sort of hero.’
‘First aid for a drowning incident, that’s your job, but going into that water to save a child?’ Evanna’s voice was soft. ‘That’s not your job, Logan.’
But he’d do it anyway because that was the sort of man he was.
