‘I … kissing a sh … shotgun? I –‘
‘Which is the most ... oh shit! Somebody catch her!’
Nobody did bloody catch me though, and I know this because when I woke up the back of my head was throbbing. I opened my eyes and saw Tom looming over me, his features a mask of concern. Reaching up to my hair I felt wetness there, and when I brought my hand back I was shocked to see that it was covered in blood. Tom’s face had lost all colour and his eyes looked a little wild as they flashed to my hand.
‘Get me some fucking gauze,’ he shouted, and then pressed something to the back of my head. ‘Frankie, why didn’t you say anything?’ he asked accusingly. I should have known that this would all be my fault; I can’t even faint in peace. I glanced up at the operating table and saw that Ash had taken over. Great. Stuck with Mr Cobby Coberson. ‘Frankie, I asked you a question.’ He looked furious.
‘Please,’ I said in a small voice, ‘I swear I’ll vomit if you ask me any more questions.’ He closed his eyes and when he opened them again his expression had softened.
‘I’m sorry.’ His voice was strained and weird, not the normal Tom-being-an-arsehole voice at all. Maybe he’d hit his head as well. He was turning my head now and examining the cut. ‘I think it’s going to need a couple of stitches.’
‘Bugger,’ I muttered under my breath. I hated needles.
‘That’s the closest thing to swearing I’ve ever heard from you,’ he said. Looking up again I could tell he was biting back a smile. I managed to glare right at him, looking into his eyes and everything. My head injury must have been worse than I thought.
‘Ash, you okay to finish?’ he asked.
‘I’m good, boss.’
‘Okay then.’ He kept up the pressure on the gauze whilst he wrapped a pressure bandage around my head to hold it secure. Once he’d finished he slid an arm under my knees and another round my shoulders. I stiffened as shock swept through me.
‘You ready?’ he asked.
‘Ready for what?’ I managed to reply in a tight, high voice.
‘To go to A&E, get you stitched up,’ he said. Then, before waiting for the reply, he started lifting me into his arms and stood with me against his chest.
I knew a fair bit about head injuries, and I was sure that a huge adrenaline rush, losing the ability to breathe, and your heart stopping directly after one was ill-advised. However, this was my uncontrollable reaction to being held against the hard, warm expanse of his chest.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked, horrified. They had finished up with the patient and all eyes, including the patient’s, were now staring at me and Tom in fascination.
‘Taking you to A&E,’ Tom declared, pushing through the double doors with me still held tightly in his arms.
‘Are you mad?’ I breathed as he strode down the corridor, totally confident and oblivious to the curious stares we were receiving, like he carried women around the hospital every day.
‘A&E’s not far and you’re not heavy,’ he said dismissively.
‘That’s not exactly the point, Tom. You can’t carry me there. What will people say?’
‘I don’t really give a shit.’
‘I can walk,’ I said, struggling slightly in his arms, which tightened around me in response.
‘Stop wriggling,’ he said in a hoarse voice, and I saw his jaw clench.
‘Put me down,’ I begged, ceasing my fruitless battle against his solid strength.
‘Frankie, you look like a ghost, you’re so pale. You can’t walk,’ he told me firmly as he pushed through the doors to A&E.
‘Oh fy duw!’ I heard a voice in front of us, and turned my head to see Lizzy emerge from one of the cubicles, the shock of seeing me in Tom’s arms flipping her back into Welsh. ‘Frankie, are you okay?’ Lizzy was an A&E registrar and a friend of Lou’s and mine. She was short, plump and pretty, with dark hair in a pixie cut.
‘Um –’ I started, but was cut off by Lizzy.
‘Let’s get you into a cubicle.’
I breathed a sigh of relief as she hustled us both behind the curtain. ‘You can put her down by here Dr Longley.’ She was looking at us both with open curiosity. Tom still kept his arms tightly around me.
‘Tom,’ I called, giving his neck a squeeze, then unwinding my arms from around it. He looked dazed for a moment, and then seemed to snap back to attention.
