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‘Charlie, I want you to stay still, if you can. Just look at me.’ Marie clung to his hand, trying to calm him.
‘I can see his legs,’ said Alex. ‘The right one looks okay...’
Which meant that the left one didn’t. But Alex would tell her if he needed her, and Marie concentrated on Charlie’s pulse, beating beneath her fingers.
‘It hurts...’
‘I know. We’ll have you out of here soon, Charlie. You’re doing really well—just hold my hand.’
‘Yeah. Hold on.’ Charlie groaned as Alex carefully lifted the piece of wood that was lying across his leg.
One more piece to go, and then Alex would be able to see better. It was a big piece, though—one of the shelves that had fallen from the wall. Marie glanced up at Alex and he nodded.
‘Charlie, Alex is going to move the last piece of wood. It’s going to hurt, so hang on to me.’ She bent over Charlie, so he wouldn’t see what Alex was doing.
Alex positioned himself in order to take the strain, and carefully lifted the heavy shelf. Charlie howled in pain, his fingers digging into Marie’s arms.
‘Okay. Okay, we’re done. That’s the worst bit over, Charlie.’
She could see his left leg now, twisted and certainly broken. Blood was pluming out over his jeans and dripping onto the concrete beneath him.
Alex leaned forward, gripping the top of Charlie’s leg, putting pressure on the main artery to stanch the flow. His other hand found Charlie’s, gripping it just as tight.
‘Where’s the medical kit?’ Alex muttered the words, looking up as movement in the doorway indicated that Zack was back.
Marie broke free from Charlie and picked her way across to Zack. He was standing staring at Charlie’s leg, and looked as if he was about to faint.
Marie grabbed the medical bag from his hand. ‘Is the ambulance on its way? Zack!’
‘Yes... I told them to hurry.’
‘Good. Well done. Now, go back upstairs and wait for them outside. Got it?’
‘Yes. Yes, I can do that.’
Zack straightened suddenly, and Marie turned him around, pushing him towards the door. Her little brother had been thrown in at the deep end, but he was doing fine.
She opened the medical kit, sorting through the contents of the bag to find a pair of surgical gloves and scissors. Alex was talking to Charlie, trying to reassure him while he did what he could to slow the bleeding. Carefully cutting Charlie’s jeans, Marie exposed the wound on his lower leg.
The broken bone was sticking through his flesh, blood pumping out around it. There was no way that Alex could put any pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.
‘Tourniquet?’
Alex nodded. Marie took the tourniquet from the bag, looking at her watch and writing the time on the tab.
‘Let go of Alex, Charlie. Hold my hand.’
As soon as Alex was free to work he wrapped the tourniquet around Charlie’s leg. The bleeding slowed and then stopped, and Alex turned his attention to check that there was no other bleeding.
By the time the ambulance crew arrived they were ready to move their patient. Alex helped them to carry Charlie through to the small goods lift at the back of the building, and he was transferred into the ambulance.
‘I’ll go with him.’ Alex moved towards the back of the ambulance.
Marie caught his arm. ‘You’re sure?’ She knew the ambulance paramedics could be trusted to look after Charlie.
‘He’s my responsibility.’ Alex’s jaw was set firm.
It was a bit of a stretch to feel that any of this was Alex’s responsibility, but there was no talking him out of it. He and Charlie had struck up an unlikely friendship, and Alex wouldn’t let him go to the hospital alone.
