Her Firefighter Under the Mistletoe

His brain kicked back into gear. This was work. And he never got distracted at work.

‘Have you done anything like this before?’

She pulled back a little. It was the tiniest movement, a flinch almost, as if she was taken aback by his change of tone.

She shook her head and her eyebrows rose. ‘An overturned minibus in a fast-flowing river with lots of paediatric casualties?’

The irony wasn’t lost on him. He might do this sort of thing day in, day out, but Jess was usually in the confines of a safe, warm, comfortable hospital.

She hunched up onto her knees and pointed at the harness. ‘I’ve never even had one of these on before, let alone abseiled down a hillside.’ She wiggled her hips and tried to move her tether. ‘These things aren’t too comfortable, are they?’

It struck him—almost blindsided him—how brave she was being. The Jessica Rae he’d known at school hadn’t even liked contact sports. He closed his eyes as an unguarded memory of other activities of a physical nature swam into his mind.

Focus. Focus now.

He knelt upwards and grabbed her around her waist, trying not to think about how it felt to be touching Jessica Rae again after all these years. Trying not to remember how her firm flesh used to feel beneath his fingers. What had happened?

‘I’m going to lower you down, Jess.’ He peered through the side window next to them, which had been removed. ‘Your feet will get a bit wet because there’s some water on the floor. Are you okay with that?’

She nodded. She didn’t look scared. She didn’t look panicked. But there was a tiny little flicker of something behind her eyes. She looked in control.

He shouted down into the minibus. ‘John, I’m going to lower the doc down. Can you take care of her?’

She started. ‘Take care of me?’ It was almost as if he’d just insulted her. ‘Don’t you mean take care of the kids?’

But Callum wasn’t paying attention. He was back in rescue mode. ‘There are two kids in the back who need your attention. One unconscious, the other with a broken leg. It’s too cramped in there to take your bag down. Shout up and tell me what you need.’

Their eyes met again as she shrugged off her pack. ‘Ready?’ She nodded and he lowered her down slowly into the waiting arms of the firefighter below, praying that things would go to plan.

‘Sheesh!’ Her feet hit the icy cold water and it sent the surge of cold right up through her body. No one could stand in this for long.

It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the gloom inside the minibus. The mottled daylight was still sending shadows through one side of the bus, but Callum’s body and those of the other firefighters lying across the windows was blocking out the little light that was left.

A flashlight was thrust into her hands. ‘Here you go, Doc.’ She turned it on immediately. The first sight was the way the water was lapping quickly around them. She felt the vaguest wave of panic. ‘Is the river rising?’

John nodded. ‘Not quickly enough for us to worry about.’ his eyes didn’t quite meet hers.

Work quickly.

She noticed his black trousers ballooning around his ankles and gave him a little nod. ‘Did you say no to the waders too?’

He smiled. ‘No room for waders in here, Doc. Space is limited.’

She nodded and she shuffled around him towards the kids. ‘Are any of the kids in water?’ Her feet were already numb. There was a real danger of hypothermia setting in for any kid exposed to these temperatures.

‘Four.’

‘Four?’ She could feel a flare of panic. She was one person. How could she attend to four kids?

Callum stuck his head in the gap. ‘Start with the two at the back, Jess. As soon as you’ve stabilised them and they’re safe to move, my men will get them out. The other two don’t appear injured.’ He pointed to the front of the bus. ‘My men are getting them out as quickly as possible.’ He looked towards the back of the bus. ‘The little girl is called Rosie.’

His voice was calm, authoritative. The kind of guy in an emergency who told you things would be okay and you believed him—just because of the way he said it.

She pushed her way back to a little girl with masses of curly hair, still strapped into her seat. Her leg was at a peculiar angle, and it hadn’t taken a doctor to make an accurate diagnosis of a fracture. The little boy behind her, strapped into the window seat, was unconscious, but she couldn’t possibly get to him until she’d moved this little girl. She took off her gloves and put her hand round the girl, feeling for a pulse at his neck and checking to see he was still breathing. Yes, his pulse was slowing and his chest was rising and falling. But in these cold temperatures hypothermia was a real risk. She had to work as quickly as possible.

The water was lapping around their little legs and would be dropping their temperatures dramatically.

She shouted up to Callum, ‘I need you to pass me down the kit with analgesia—I need to give Rosie some morphine. It’s in a red box, in the front pouch of the bag.’ She waited a few seconds until the box appeared then shouted again, ‘And an inflatable splint.’

She spoke gently to Rosie, stroking her hair and distracting her, calculating The dosage in her head. It was too difficult to untangle the little girl from her clothes and find an available patch of skin. The last thing she needed to do was cause this little girl more pain. She took a deep breath and injected it through the thick tights on her leg, waiting a few minutes for it to take effect. ‘Pass me the splint,’ she whispered to John.

The positioning on the bus was difficult. ‘I’m sorry, honey,’ she whispered, as the little girl gave a little yelp as she straightened her leg and inflated the splint around about it to hold it in place.

‘Is she ready to be moved?’

‘Not quite. Can you get a collar? In fact, get me two. Once I’ve got that on her, you can move her.’

It was only a precaution. The little girl didn’t appear to have any other injuries apart from her leg. She seemed to be moving her other limbs without any problems, but Jess didn’t want to take a risk.

It only took a few seconds to manoeuvre the collar into place and fasten it securely. The cold water was moving quickly. It had only been around the children’s legs when she’d entered the vehicle—now it was reaching their waists. Time was absolutely of the essence here.

She was freezing. How on earth would these children be feeling? Kids were so much more susceptible to hypothermia because they lost heat more quickly than adults.

Another firefighter had appeared next to John, and they held a type of stretcher between them. Space was at a premium so Jess pushed herself back into the corner of the bus to allow them to load the little girl and pass her up through the window to Callum.

Time was ticking on. The sky was darkening and the level of the freezing water rising. She squeezed her way into the seat vacated by the little girl and started to do a proper assessment on the little unconscious boy, who was held in place by his seat belt.

‘Anyone know his name?’ she shouted to the crew.

‘It’s Marcus.’ The deep voice in her ear made her jump.

‘Where did you come from? I thought you were on the roof?’

‘The water’s too cold to have anyone in it for long. I told John to go ashore and dry off.’

‘Tell me about it. Try being a kid.’

There was an easy familiarity in having Callum at her side. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen him for years, it almost felt as if it had been yesterday.

Callum had changed, and so had she. The skinny youth had filled out in all the right places. His broad shoulders and muscled chest were visible through his kit. The shorter hairstyle suited him—even though it revealed the odd grey hair. They were only visible this close up.

‘What do you need?’

He was watching as she checked Marcus’s pulse, took his temperature, looked him over for any other injuries and shone a torch in his eyes to check his pupil reactions.

She shook her head. ‘This is going to have to be a scoop and run. He’s showing severe signs of hypothermia. His pulse is low and I can’t even get a reading with this thing.’ She shook the tympanic thermometer in the air. ‘So much for accurate readings.’

She placed the collar around his neck. ‘I don’t want to waste any time. I can’t find an obvious reason for him being unconscious. His clothes are soaking—right up to his chest. We can’t waste another second. Can you get me some kind of stretcher so we can get him out of here?’

Callum nodded. ‘Get me a basket stretcher,’ he shouted to one of his colleagues. He gestured his head to the side as the stretcher was passed down. She stared at the orange two-piece contraption, watching while he took a few seconds to slot the pins into place and assemble it. It had curved sides, handholds, adjustable patient restraints and a lifting bridle.

‘This is the only way we’ll get the casualties back up the steep embankment. Jump back up, Jess, we need as much room as we can to manipulate this into place.’ A pair of strong arms reached down through the window towards her and she grabbed them willingly. It pained her to leave the little boy’s side, but there wasn’t time for egos or arguments here.

The cold air hit her again as she came back out into the open. If she’d thought standing in the icy water had been bad, it was nothing compared to the wind-chill factor. Her teeth started chattering.

‘How…many more patients?’ she asked the firefighter next to her.

‘We’ve extricated all the adults. There’s another two kids stuck behind the front seat, but their injuries are minor and they’re not in contact with the water. We’ll get to them next.’

‘Has someone looked them over?’

He nodded. ‘Your nurse and one of the paramedics. They had another kid who was submerged. She’ll be in the ambulance ahead of you. We’ve just radioed in.’

The minibus gave another little lurch as the currents buffeted it. ‘This thing had better not roll,’ came the mumble from next to her.

Jess wobbled, trying to gain her balance. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of the bus rolling. That would be a nightmare. There was a tug around her waist, and she looked to the side of the riverbank where one of the rope crew was taking up some of the slack in her line. The stretcher started to emerge through the window. At last. Maybe she’d get a better look at Marcus out here.

Callum’s shoulders appeared. He was easing the stretcher up gently, guiding it into the arms of his colleagues.

The minibus lurched again. Callum disappeared back down into the depths of the minibus with a thud and a matching expletive. The firefighter next to her struggled to steady the weight in his arms, the stretcher twisting and its edge catching her side-on.

She teetered at the edge of the bus, losing her footing on the slippery side.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. She felt herself fall backwards, her arms reaching out in front of her. The firefighter who’d knocked her with the stretcher had panic written all over his face. There was a fleeting second as he struggled to decide whether to decide to grab her or maintain his hold on the stretcher.

What was it that knocked the air from her lungs? The impact of hitting the water? Or the icy water instantly closing over her head? Her reaction was instantaneous, sucking inwards in panic, instead of holding her breath.

The layers of clothes were weighing her down, as were her shoes. She tried to reach for the surface. The water hadn’t been that deep, had it? She was choking. Trying to suck in air that wasn’t there—only murky water. Then the overwhelming feeling of panic started to take over.

CHAPTER TWO

CALLUM HIT THE bottom of the river-filled minibus with a thud, the icy water doing nothing to slow the impact. What little part of him had remained dry was now soaked to the skin.

There was a splash outside, followed by some panicked shouts. Callum was instantly swept with a feeling of dread. The jolt had been a big one. Please, don’t let them have dropped the stretcher.

He was on his feet in seconds, his arms grabbing at the window edge above him and pulling himself up onto the side of the bus.

The stretcher was steady, the child safe and being passed along the line. The crew around him, however, was panicking.

‘Where’s her line? Wasn’t she wearing a line?’

Oh, no. His head flicked from side to side, searching frantically for any sign of Jess. She was the only female river-side. Everyone else was safely ashore. They could only be talking about her.

‘Can you see her? Can anyone see her?’

Callum didn’t hesitate. Not for a second. He saw where the outstretched fingers were pointing and jumped straight into the Clyde.

The water closed around his chest, leaving him up to his neck with barely a toehold on the river’s bed. Even after the water in the minibus, being fully submerged in the fast-flowing Clyde was a shock to the system. Every part of his body seemed to react at once. Everything went on full alert, hairs on end, trying to pull heat back into his centre.

He looked around him, shouting at the guys still on top of the bus. ‘Where? Here?’ He pointed to the riverbank. ‘Tell them to pull in her line!’

The Clyde was murky and grey and several pieces of ice, broken from the river’s edge, floated past.

He swept his arms around under the water. He couldn’t see a thing. Not even a flash of the bright green jumpsuit she’d been wearing. The water wasn’t too deep as he was on tiptoe. But he was a good foot taller than Jess, with a lot more bulk and muscle. Even he could feel the hidden currents pulling at his weight.

Every man working on the minibus had been wearing a line—except him. He took a few seconds to follow the lines from the riverbank to the bus, until he located the one that led directly into the river.

The firefighters on the bank were having the same problem. It took a few moments of frantic scrambling to ascertain which line belonged to Jess. They started to reel it in and Callum waded through the water towards it.

There! A flash of green as she was tugged nearer the surface.

He grabbed, lifting her whole body with one arm, raising her head and chest above the water’s surface.

For the briefest second there was nothing, just the paler-than-pale face.

Then she coughed and spluttered, and was promptly sick into the river. He fastened one arm around her chest, pulling her back towards him, supporting her weight and lifting his other arm to signal to the crew to stop pulling in her line.

‘I’ve got you, Jess. It’s okay.’ He whispered the words calmly in her ear. The cold wasn’t bothering him now. There was no heat coming from her body, but he could feel the rise and fall of her chest under his hands. He could feel her breathe.

Relief. That was the sensation sweeping through him. Pure and utter relief.

He always felt like this after a rescue. It was as if the anxiety and stomach-clenching that had been an essential part of his momentum and drive to keep going just left him all at once. More often than that, after a rescue he would go home and sleep soundly for ten hours, all his energy expended. Building reserves for the next day so he could do it all again.

Even Drew understood. And on those nights his little body would climb into bed next to his father and cuddle in, his little back tucked against Callum’s chest—just the way Jess’s was now.

She coughed and spluttered again. He could hear her teeth chattering. She still hadn’t spoken. Was she in shock?

There would be an investigation later. An investigation into why the paediatric consultant helping them had ended up in the middle of a fast-flowing icy river.

But right now he wanted to make sure Jess was okay. He started wading towards the riverbank, keeping Jess close to his chest. Several of his colleagues waded in towards him, sweeping Jess out of his arms and wrapping them both in blankets.

One of the paramedics started pulling out equipment to check her over. Callum pulled his jacket and shirt over his head. The cold air meant nothing to him right now—he couldn’t be any colder anyway. He gratefully accepted a red fleece thrust at him by one of his colleagues.

He pulled it over his head. There was instant heat as soft fleece came into contact with his icy skin. Bliss.

Two basket stretchers with a firefighter on either side were currently being guided up the steep, treacherous slope. The two kids with hypothermia. He could see the ambulance technicians waiting at the top of the bank, ready to load them into the waiting ambulances.

‘Stop it!’

He turned, just in time to see Jess push herself to her feet and take a few wobbly steps.

‘I’m fine. Now, leave me alone.’ She pulled the blankets closer around her, obviously trying to keep the cold out.

He turned to one of his colleagues. ‘See if someone will volunteer some dry clothing for our lady doc.’

Jess stalked towards him. Her face was still deathly pale, but her involuntary shivering seemed to have stopped. She pointed to the stretchers. ‘I need to get to the kids. I need to get them to hospital.’

Callum shook his head. ‘Jess, you’ve just been submerged in freezing water. You need to get checked over yourself. The kids will go straight to Parkhill. One of your colleagues will be able to take care of them.’

She shook her head fiercely. ‘I will take care of them. I’m the consultant on call. Neither of my junior colleagues has enough experience to deal with this. Two kids with hypothermia? It’s hardly an everyday occurrence. Those kids need me right now.’

One of the firefighters appeared at his side with a T-shirt and another jacket. Callum rolled his eyes. ‘You’ve still got a stubborn streak a mile wide, haven’t you?’

He handed the clothes over to her. ‘Get changed and I’ll get you back topside.’ She shrugged off her jumpsuit, tying the wet top half around her middle, hesitating only for a second before she pulled her thin cotton top off underneath.

In just a few seconds he saw her pale skin and the outline of her small breasts against her damp white bra. It was almost translucent. She pulled the other T-shirt over her head in a flash. But not before he’d managed to note just how thin she was.

Jess had always been slim. But slim with curves. What had happened to her?

She zipped the jacket up to her neck. Meeting his eyes with a steely glare. Daring him to mention the fact she’d just stripped at a riverside, or to mention her obviously underweight figure.

Callum knew better.

He’d learned over the last few years to pick his battles carefully.

Now wasn’t the time.

He signalled and a couple of lines appeared down the side of the steep incline. He leaned over and clipped her harness. Her whole bottom half was still wet—as was his. Spare T-shirts and jackets could be found, but spare shoes and trousers? Not a chance.

‘You do realise we go back up the way we came down?’

She sighed, but he couldn’t help but notice the faint tremble in her hands. An after-effect of the cold water? Or something else?

He stepped behind her and interlocked their harnesses. ‘The quickest way to get you back up is to let me help you.’

He could see her brain searching for a reason to disagree.

‘You want to get back up to those kids?’

She nodded. Whatever her reservations, she’d pushed them aside.

‘Then let me help you. It’s like abseiling in reverse. Lean back against me.’

She was hesitating, still keeping all the weight on her legs, so he pulled her backwards towards him. He felt a little shock to feel her body next to his.

It had felt different in the water, more buoyant, the water between them cushioning the sensation. But now it was just clothes. Wet clothes, which clung to every curve of their bodies.

Her body was tense, stiff, and it took a few seconds for her to relax. He wrapped his arms around her, holding onto the lines in front of them, and gave them a little tug. His lips accidentally brushed against her ear as he spoke to her. ‘We let the lines take our weight. If you just lean back into me, I’ll walk up back up the incline. Just try and keep your legs in pace with mine. It feels a little weird, but it’ll only take a few minutes.’

He let her listen, digest his words. He could feel her breathing sync with his, the rise and fall of their chests becoming simultaneous. She put her hands forward, holding onto the same line as he was, reaching for a little security in the strange situation.

He wrapped his hands around hers. his thick gloves were in place, to take the taut strain of the line.

He felt the tug of the line and started to walk his legs up the slope, taking her weight on his body. He looked skyward. Praying for divine intervention to stop any reactions taking place.

It was the weirdest sensation. The last time their bodies had been locked together she’d been seventeen and he’d been twenty-one. A whole lifetime had passed since then.

A marriage, a divorce, a fierce custody battle—and that was just him. What had happened to her?

His eyes went automatically to her hand. He’d always imagined a girl like Jess would be happily married with a couple of kids by this age. But even through her wet gloves he could see there was no outline of a wedding band. Not even an engagement ring.

Something clenched at him. Was it curiosity? Or was it some strange thrill that Jess might be unattached?

His head was buzzing. He couldn’t even make sense of his thoughts. He hadn’t seen this woman in years. He hadn’t even heard about her in years. He had no idea what life had flung at Jessica Rae. And she had no idea what life had thrown at him.

Drew. The most important person in his world.

A world he kept tightly wrapped and carefully preserved.

Drew’s mother, Kirsten, had left after the divorce and costly custody battle. She was in New York—married to her first love, who she’d claimed she should never have left in the first place, as he was twice the man that Callum was. Callum had been a ‘poor substitute’. Words that still stung to this day.

By that point, Callum couldn’t have cared less about her frequent temper tantrums and outbursts. He had only cared about how they impacted on Drew.

Drew was the best and only good thing to have come out of that marriage.

He didn’t intend to make the same mistake twice.

He’d never introduced any woman to Drew in the three years following his divorce. No matter how many hints they’d dropped.

But his immediate and natural curiosity was taking over. He didn’t have a single bad memory about Jessica Rae. Even their break-up had been civilised.

Seeing her today had been a great shock, but her warm brown eyes and loose curls took him straight back thirteen years and he couldn’t resist the temptation to find out a little more when it was just the two of them. They were around halfway up now. ‘So, how have you been, Jessica? It’s been a long time since we were in a position like this.’

He was only half-joking. Trying to take some of the strain out of her muscles, which had tensed more and more as they’d ascended the slope. Was Jessica scared of heights?

Her voice was quiet—a little thoughtful even. ‘Yes. It has been, hasn’t it?’ She turned her head a little so he could see the side of her face. ‘I’d no idea you were a firefighter. Didn’t you do engineering at uni?’

She’d remembered. Why did that seem important to him?

‘Yes, three years at Aberdeen Uni.’ He gave a fake shudder. ‘These would be normal temperatures for up there.’

‘So, how did you end up being a firefighter?’

Was she just being polite? Or was she genuinely curious? He’d probably never know.

‘There was a fire in the student accommodation where I stayed. We were on the tenth floor.’ He tried to block out the pictures in his mind. ‘It gave me a whole new perspective on the fire service. They needed to call out a specialist team and specialist equipment to reach us.’ He didn’t normally share this information with people. But Jess was different. Jess knew him in ways that most other people didn’t.