She even smiled as she adjusted the blood-pressure cuff and then had to force herself to stay smiling as the results told her that dying was a possibility. Eighty on fifty. There was definitely something nasty going on.
The cameraman returned with a large glass of water. She tipped three quarters of it out the open window and broke her soluble aspirin into what was left, swirled the water until the aspirin had dissolved and then held Hubert so he could swallow.
‘Let’s get it into you,’ she told him. ‘If you really don’t want to shuffle off this mortal coil, drink this.’
‘What is it?’ He peered into the glass in deep suspicion.
‘Really high-tech medicine. Otherwise known as aspirin. It acts as an anticoagulant, letting the blood flow a bit more easily. Maybe there’s a slight blockage…’
‘Slight? How can this be slight?’ He sounded affronted and she smiled again.
‘If it wasn’t slight, you’d be dead.’
‘Gee, thanks.’ He grimaced but his lips managed to twitch. ‘That’s a real comfort.’
‘I’ll give you something for the pain.’ Five milligrams, she decided, and then looked at the sheen of sweat on his forehead and thought, No, he was cracking hardy. Seven.
Behind her, the cameraman was setting up candles, working quietly and efficiently. His hands appeared to have steadied and Morag blessed him for it. You never knew with onlookers. Sometimes you got calm, intelligent help, as this man was providing, and sometimes you got panic. She’d learned early not to expect anything of anyone. A flighty teenager might be far more help than her sensible middle-aged father.
‘Will I live?’ Hubert faltered, and she rested her fingers on his pulse again.
‘You’ve lived through a darned sight more than a mild heart attack,’ she told him. ‘But I need a cardiograph to tell any more than we already know. Hubert, we’re going to have to take you to the pavilion.’
‘To that makeshift hospital you’ve set up?’
‘Yes. We have everything there we need.’
She even had Grady.
‘I can’t be sick. There’s the public meeting tomorrow about the fate of the island,’ he said fretfully. ‘I gotta be there for that.’
‘Let’s just concentrate on tonight,’ she said softly. ‘For the moment, more than anything else you need to relax. Please. There are others who will worry about the island for you.’
‘You’ll fight for it?’
‘Of course I will.’
‘But Robbie…’ His eyes widened, as if remembering something the pain and the shock had driven from his mind. ‘I forgot Robbie. Hell, Morag, I shoulda been taking care of him. I need to…’ He struggled to rise but she pressed him back.
‘No. You’re not to fret about Robbie. I’ll take over his care now.’ She bit her lip. Where was he? ‘I’ve left him alone too long,’ she said softly. ‘He’s been so good. But, Hubert, you’ve been wonderful, too. Now it’s time to hand over the care to others.’
She passed her radio to the cameraman behind her. ‘This is set to contact the medical team at the pavilion,’ she told him. ‘The hospital’s commandeered about the only two workable vehicles on the island and I need one. Tell them we need transport to take Hubert down to the hospital. Tell them it’s a suspected coronary.’
‘Can do.’ The man backed into the kitchen, obviously grateful for the chance to escape from the sickroom.
‘I need to tell you about Robbie,’ Hubert whispered, but there was a weariness in his voice that told Morag he was past worrying about anything but the beating of his own heart.
‘Don’t worry.’ Robbie had been here a few minutes ago, Morag thought. The cameraman had seen him arguing with Hubert. If he’d seen Hubert collapse, he’d be dreadfully upset. Maybe he’d run to try and find her.
Damn, she couldn’t do anything about Robbie. Not now. Not yet. The medical imperative…
She had to get Hubert stabilised. Hubert’s life was under threat and the fact that her small nephew was distraught couldn’t be allowed to interfere. But it hurt.
Grady. She needed Grady-now!
But she also needed to concentrate. Somehow Morag worked on, adjusting drips, monitoring, waiting. Often pain like this was a precursor to a main event. The aspirin would help-maybe.
Please…
Not another death, she found herself begging. Not Hubert. OK, he was ninety-two, but she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet.
And if Robbie thought he was somehow responsible… For him to carry that on his shoulders…
No!
Finally, with the drip steady and the old man drifting toward sleep as the morphine took hold, she was able to focus on something other than imperative need. She stepped back into the kitchen and found the cameraman putting down her radio. ‘Dr Reece is busy,’ he told her. ‘Apparently there’s been an emergency appendicectomy. But they’re sending a truck.’
Her heart sank. Of course. The appendix.
No Grady.
Well, what was so unusual about that? she asked herself harshly. She’d been used to it for four years. She needed to get used to it again.
Robbie…
‘The child who was here,’ she ventured. ‘Do you know where he is?’
The man smiled. ‘He’s a great kid, isn’t he? He gave us some fantastic footage.’
‘But…’
He got her worry then, and his smile died. ‘I’m sorry. They were arguing as I arrived.’
That was what she didn’t understand. Robbie didn’t argue. At least, not with Hubert.
‘I overheard it as I walked up the scree,’ the man said apologetically. ‘Do you want to know what about?’
‘Yes.’ Then, because her voice had been a little bit desperate, a little bit raw, she repeated herself. ‘Yes, please.’
Still there was a tremor in her voice and the cameraman gave her an odd look before continuing. He couldn’t understand her fear. And maybe…please…the fear was illogical.
‘I heard Robbie say he’d guessed a place where someone called Hamish might be,’ the man told her. ‘He wanted to go there but Hubert was saying he had to wait for you. As I came within sight, the kid seemed to lose it. He yelled that he’d waited and waited and he had to go now, because Hamish would be stuck. When Hubert said he couldn’t go by himself he said he’d take Elspeth. Would that be the dog?’
‘Right.’ She bit her lip. Where…?
‘Will you go search for Robbie straight away?’ The cameraman cast an uneasy glance at Hubert, and Morag shook her head. An appendicectomy meant that both Grady and Jaqui would be fully occupied. She’d have to stay with Hubert until one of them could take over.
But Robbie needed her. He needed her so much.
He’d needed her all day and she’d left him alone.
‘Hey, it’ll be fine,’ the cameraman said gently, and she caught herself and managed a faltering smile. She was scaring him. She was the doctor. She was in charge. So she had to get on with it.
‘I… Of course it’ll be fine.
‘We’ll take the old man down to the hospital and then we’ll find your kid.’
‘Thank you.’
‘It makes good copy,’ he told her.
‘I didn’t think you were supposed to be involved in breaking news,’ she told him, striving for lightness. ‘If you’re not careful, you’ll be on the front page of your paper as a hero.’
‘It’s you who’s the hero,’ he told her. ‘And there’s not a man, woman or child on this island who’d disagree with me.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
