‘Calvin, you need to stop.’ She saw this all the time. The adrenaline. The panic. The self-reproach and the guilt that people jumped to in a situation like this. ‘I need you to stay calm. You didn’t cause this. If anything, being here was a good thing because there’s a good chance this would have happened anyway and at least here, we can act on it, take care of her.’
In her peripheral vision, Keli saw his expression change as he computed that and understood the significance of it. Of course, she had no idea if this would have happened anywhere else, but she did know that having two nurses on the scene administeringinstant care beat having an elderly lady lying on the floor of her home all night after suffering a stroke.
‘Now I’m going to ask you more questions and I just need a yes or no.’ Sometimes it was as important to focus the loved ones as much as the patient. ‘Did she mention any tingling in her hands, her arms, anywhere else…?’
Keli went on, asking every question she needed a definitive answer to, and Calvin rallied as his mind was occupied, giving clear answers.
When the door opened a few minutes later, she had all the information the paramedics wanted to know as they worked quickly and efficiently to get Odette onto the stretcher. As they wheeled her out of the office, Keli saw immediately that the inevitable crowd had gathered, presumably the people who’d been at the party tonight.
And, of course, there was no show without a leading man.
As Keli walked alongside the stretcher, still holding Odette’s hand, she saw Rex slash Ryan’s reaction and immediately knew what he was about to do. She took in his glance at the photographers and members of the public with their cameras out, just a few feet away on the other side of the glass door, swollen in numbers due to the ambulance and rumours of an incident. She read his instant calculation as to how he could use this moment, saw his lightning-quick dash to the other side of Odette’s stretcher.
He got there just as the doors were blasted open and the stretcher was wheeled towards the cavalcade of paparazzi.
Keli did what any other medical professional would do and eliminated any potential hazard from the quick and efficient transportation of her patient. And yes, it may have been slightly motivated by personal reasons and the fact that when they were together, he’d told her many times how he couldn’t stand Odette.
As the stretcher went through the doors, Keli made her request heard. ‘Could someone remove this man, please?’ she said loudly enough for the assorted photographers to hear. ‘Sir, this is not the moment to be hijacking a situation for your own attention-seeking purposes. Save your bad acting for the television.’
The shock made him take a step backwards, and somehow that resulted in a missed footing and the next thing he went flying and face planted on the pavement behind them.
He bounced back up immediately, but the damage was done. A cavalcade of flashes went off like strobe lights as a dozen cameras caught the moment. Keli had a feeling that Rex, not Odette, would be the headline from this moment.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Laurie chatting to one of the photographers. Laurie made a ‘I’ll call you’ gesture and Keli knew she’d be fine.
They got Odette into the ambulance, and Keli and Yvie automatically took a step back. Too many medics in one vehicle just caused confusion, so it was time to let the paramedics do their work. Besides, if Odette woke up again, it would help to have her friend there to calm her down. Calvin was about to climb in with Odette, just as a large black car pulled up and a driver jumped out, concern and confusion in every line of his face.
‘Harry, follow us,’ Calvin directed. ‘Bring Tress and the nurses.’
In the car, Keli texted the one person she knew best in A&E to give them the heads-up that they were on the way in. The paramedics would have radioed forward with all the relevant info, but she put all she knew in the text too – every little bit of info and judicious action helped.
After she pressed send, she looked up and saw Tress was resting her head back against the seat, eyes closed, as if trying to shut out everything that had just happened.
Keli reached for her hand and squeezed it. ‘How are you doing there, Tress?’
To her surprise, Tress’s eyes were full of tears when she opened them. ‘I’m just so glad you two were there. I don’t want to think what would have happened if…’ She stopped.
‘If Rex Marino hadn’t been a lying arse-nugget and we hadn’t gone there to chew him out?’ That came from Yvie, who was both lightening the mood and trying to cheer Tress up. ‘I still can’t believe you were shagging him and didn’t tell me.’ That was directed at Keli, but Tress jumped on to it.
‘Erm, I could have done with that information too. Would have saved me wasting a whole night of babysitters.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Keli said meekly. ‘He told me we had to keep it under wraps because of his career. Said he didn’t want our private lives to be public gossip and have to deal with the intrusive publicity.’
The two other women raised their eyebrows at the same time, inferring the obvious.
‘Yeah, yeah, I know now that was crap and he’d sell his granny for a story.’
Tress’s eyes widened. ‘I just realised where you met him. It was my fault, wasn’t it?’
Keli couldn’t argue. ‘The party at the studio. You invited me and Mum because Mum was desperate to meet Odette. I met him at the bar, he asked me for my number, but I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t think he’d call, but he did.’
‘Hang on – didn’t he see that you were there with Tress? That would make it a ballsy move to ask her out now.’ Yvie made the point, but Tress nodded in agreement.
Keli thought about that for a moment, rewinding everything in her head. ‘No. I just said I was there with my family. He didn’t ask and we never really spoke about it afterwards because he never met my family or friends. I guess we were just in our own bubble. Sounds pathetic now. I’m sorry, Tress…’
‘No need… I’ve seen how he plays the game. Perfectly understandable.’ Tress gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘What happened next?’
‘We dated for three months, I thought I loved him, he ghosted me and… well, here we are. And, weirdly, I feel absolutely fine now.’
