St Piran's: The Fireman and Nurse Loveday. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ knew exactly what he was doing. Tom was well aware of that. And yet every nerve in his body rebelled against his boss’s orders. How could he just wait outside when his nephew was trapped inside that room?

      ‘Tom, I know you think Joey might be in there, but you can’t afford to let emotion get in the way.’

      Ordinarily, Tom didn’t. He was able to distance himself from things and stay focused, carrying others through a crisis situation with his calm strength. But this was different. This was Joey. The last link to his elder sister. No way could he let the little boy down.

      ‘You either keep doing your job as lead fireman and getting the flames under control,’ Steve said softly, ‘or you’re off duty as of now, which means you go back to the station. ‘

      And then it would be even longer before he could find out if Joey was safe. Waiting would drive him crazy. Tom dragged in a breath. ‘Right, Guv. I’m sticking to my post.’

      The fire crew that had arrived as back-up started to get the supports up; Tom forced himself to concentrate on damping down the blaze. Abandoning his job wouldn’t help Joey. Focus, he told himself. Just focus.

      It felt like a lifetime, but at last the area was stabilised and they were in a position to rescue the trapped children and their teacher. Steve had already vetoed the door as the access point; although the flames were out, the corridor was still thick with smoke, and until the fire had been damped down properly it could reignite at any time. The window was the safest option, now the area was stabilised.

      But there was no way Tom’s muscular frame would fit through the window. His colleagues, too, were brawny and would find it an equally tight fit.

      ‘Um, excuse me?’

      Tom looked down at the woman standing next to him. She was a foot shorter than him, and her face was bright red—whether through embarrassment or the heat from the fire, he had no idea.

      ‘I’m the school nurse,’ she said. ‘Look, I know I’m a bit, um, round…’ her colour deepened and she looked at the floor ‘… and I’m not as strong as you, but the children are only little. Matty and I can lift them up between us and pass them through to you. And I can check them over while I’m in there and make sure they’re all right.’

      ‘I see where you’re coming from,’ he said, ‘but you’re a civilian. I can’t let you take that risk.’

      ‘But I know the children,’ she said, her voice earnest—though she still wasn’t looking at him, Tom noticed. ‘It’ll be less frightening for them if I go in to help.’ She bit her lip. ‘I know it’s dangerous, but I won’t do anything reckless. And we need to get the children out quickly. ‘

      True. And, the faster they did that, the sooner he’d see Joey. That was the clincher for him. ‘All right. Thank you.’

      She nodded. ‘I’m sorry I’m, um, a bit heavy.’

      He looked at her properly then. Yes, she was curvy. Plump, if he was brutally honest. But there was a sweetness and kindness in her face, a genuine desire to help—something that he knew had been missing from the other women he’d dated. Sure, they might have been tall and leggy and jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but they would’ve fussed about chipping a nail. And he knew who he’d rather have beside him in this crisis. Definitely the school nurse.

      And she had the sweetest, softest mouth. A mouth that made him want to…

      Whatever was the matter with him? His nephew was missing, he had a job to do, and he was thinking about what it would be like to kiss a complete stranger? For pity’s sake—he needed to concentrate!

      ‘You’re fine,’ he said, and proved it by lifting her up to the window as if she weighed no more than a feather.

      She scrambled through, and Tom almost forgot to breathe while he waited. Were the children all right? Was Joey safe?

      And then Matty Roper and the school nurse came to the window and started lifting the children through, and there just wasn’t time to ask about Joey as he took the children one by one and passed them over to the team of medics lining up behind him ready to check over the children.

      Three.

      Four.

      He swallowed hard. The next one would be Joey.

      Except the next person to come to the window was Matty Roper.

      ‘Where’s Joey?’ he asked urgently. ‘The head said there were five children missing—that they were in the quiet room with you.’

      ‘Only four,’ Matty said. ‘And Joey wasn’t one of them.’

      ‘But he has to be. There were five children missing. He was one of them.’

      ‘I’m sorry, Tom. I only took four children to the quiet room with me and they’re all accounted for.’

      Panic flowed through him, making every muscle feel like lead. How could Joey be missing? How?

      ‘Please, Matty. Check again. Just in case he came in and you didn’t see him.’

      ‘Tom, I know he didn’t,’ Matty said gently. ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘Then where the hell is he?‘ Tom burst out in desperation.

      ‘I don’t know.’ She looked nervously at the supports against the wall. ‘Is this going to hold?’

      This was his job. He had to get Matty and the school nurse out. And then he could start to look for Joey.

      Please, God, let it not be too late.

      Grim-faced, he helped Matty through the window, and then the nurse.

      Once they were both standing on safe ground, he leaned through the window. ‘Joey! Joey, where are you?’

      No answer.

      Was he trapped in one of the other classrooms? ‘Joey!’ he bellowed.

      ‘Do you mean Joey Barber?’ the nurse asked.

      ‘Yes.’ She’d seen the other children, Tom thought, so maybe she’d seen his nephew. ‘Have you seen him?’

      She shook her head. ‘Not today.’ Again, she didn’t meet his eyes. ‘He’s the little boy who lost his parents just after New Year, isn’t he?’

      ‘My sister and her husband,’ Tom confirmed. And it was beginning to look as if Joey might be joining his parents. No, no, no. It couldn’t happen. He couldn’t bear it. ‘The head said there were five children missing. Now it’s just Joey. Oh, hell, can’t he hear me? Why isn’t he answering?’ He yelled Joey’s name again.

      The nurse squeezed his hand. ‘The noise of the explosion will have scared him and probably brought back memories of the car crash. Right now, even if he can hear you, he’s probably too scared to answer. ‘

      He thought about it and realised that she was right. ‘Not that he speaks much anyway, since the accident,’ Tom said wryly. ‘He barely strings two words together now. СКАЧАТЬ