Hot Docs On Call: One Night To Forever?

CHAPTER FIVE

EVERY MOMENT MATTERED.

Victoria was well trained to respond to major incidents, and as soon as they were out of the car they ran to get changed.

The station was busy with many vehicles already out at the fire and off-duty staff arriving to provide backup and relief.

She went to the female changing room and took off her jeans and silky rust-coloured top that she had been wearing and then pulled on her overalls and boots. In the main station area she then collected her communication radio and ran out to the Rapid Response vehicle, which Glen was just boarding.

They hit a wall of traffic as soon as they left the station.

Already ambulances, perhaps the first vehicles at the scene, were making their way back to Paddington’s with sirens blaring.

It felt as if it was taking for ever to get there.

They had their lights and sirens on but the streets of London were gridlocked. Drivers were moving their vehicles and mounting the kerbs in a bid to try and let the emergency services through.

As well as ambulances there were fire engines, police cars and emergency response workers on motorbikes heading there too, and there was the sound of many sirens as finally they approached the school.

They could hear the chatter over the airwaves. Children were being dragged out and there were reports of firefighters going back in over and over again in an effort to reach the ones that were trapped. Most had been evacuated and, as per protocol, were lined up on the playground, far from the burning building. The numbers had to be checked and constantly updated but panicked parents were also starting to arrive on the scene and the police were having trouble keeping some of them back as they desperately wanted to see for themselves if their own child had made it out.

‘Your children don’t go to Westbourne Grove?’ Victoria checked.

‘No,’ Glen said. And then he added, ‘Thank God!’

The stretch of silence between those words felt like the loudest part of his response and, Victoria knew, Glen was picturing just that—his children trapped in a fire.

A couple of months ago, when they had been called out to a particularly nasty motor vehicle accident, Glen had started relating everything back to his own family. He took it all so personally, and it was getting worse.

Victoria had, on several occasions, warned Glen that he would soon be on stress leave if he carried on like this and had suggested that he speak to someone.

Glen insisted that he was fine and that everyone had their Achilles’ heel, and then he had turned it into a joke. ‘Except for you, Victoria.’

That had given her pause, for while Glen’s stress levels worried her, Victoria knew that she went the other way and stuffed down her feelings so that no one, not even her trusted colleague, could guess what went on inside her head.

Perhaps Glen was right and his responses were more normal, Victoria had reasoned, for there was a part of her that was perhaps a little jealous.

Not just of Glen and his ability to show emotion, but that he was part of a loving family and thought about them all the time, just as they all thought of him. Throughout the day Hayley would call and at night before the children went to bed, if able to, Glen would find the time to call and say goodnight.

‘Let’s just hope they’re all out,’ Victoria said as they got their first good look at the scene.

There was smoke billowing into the air, thick and black, as they were waved through the cordons. Some parents were being physically held back, not understanding the chaos they would create if let past.

They were guided to park behind the fire engines and they carried out their stretcher and equipment.

On a playground there were firefighters breathing in oxygen, and lines of children stood crying on a nearby playing field, clearly shocked and scared.

But they were alive and safe.

Some of the more seriously injured children were being treated on the playing field and it was then that she saw Dominic and two paramedics working on a child and draping the little body in saline sheets.

There were constant headcounts of the children taking place by the teachers but, Victoria and Glen were told, it was estimated that there were still two children in the building.

As the burnt child was being moved onto the stretcher a call went up for them to urgently move.

‘Stay back.’ A fire officer was pushing back the emergency personnel. ‘One of the internal structures is about to collapse.’

They were told that the next casualty, be it child, staff member or firefighter, would be for Victoria and Glen to treat and that for now all they could do was watch and wait.

There was the violent sound of an explosion followed by a deadly silence. And Dominic, who was loading one of the burn victims into an ambulance, turned and looked at the building.

There weren’t just children in there; there were firefighters too.

Dominic dealt with trauma daily.

He was trained to the hilt for this and, seeing the child into safe hands, he moved fast to get back to the changing situation.

But as he ran towards the line of emergency personnel, he saw a firefighter emerge, and then, too far to do anything to halt her, he watched as Victoria started to run.

Fury ripped through him at her blatant flaunting of the rules, for it was not only Dominic that called out to her to get back.

But no, she and Glen were moving towards the firefighter and child.

With good reason though.

Victoria took safety very seriously.

They were still being told to stay back, as another explosion could often follow the first, but as practical as she was, Victoria was in the business of saving lives and she could see that this little life was ebbing fast.

The firefighter was struggling, and as Victoria approached he dropped to his knees. She could see that he, too, was injured and had given all he had to get the child out. Victoria knew help was close for him but for now she was more concerned with the child.

It was a little boy and he was bleeding profusely from a neck wound and, as he was laid on the playground, Victoria knew that time was of the essence or he would soon bleed to death. She applied pressure to the wound with her gloved fingers as Glen, who had also ignored the orders to stay back, opened a pack. He passed her some swabs but, though she tried, Victoria could not stop the bleeding. But then she found the spot and Victoria let out a long breath of relief that the bleeding had stopped.

She looked up and saw that Dominic was running over and as he approached he let rip.

‘What the hell are you guys doing running forward, when the order was to stay back?’

Victoria shot him a look that said she was a bit too busy to row right now. Dominic dropped down to his knees and his silence agreed to the same as he examined the child.

‘It’s venous blood,’ Victoria said, not moving her fingers. If it had been an artery he would have been dead before the firefighter could get him out but, even so, he was practically exsanguinated.

Glen put oxygen onto the child and Dominic inserted an IV and took blood for cross-matching. He pushed through some IV fluids while calling to Karen to run through the O-negative blood that the Mobile Emergency Unit had brought with them.

It was the most precious commodity in a major incident; O negative is the universal donor and can be given to all without cross-matching. It was used sparingly and Dominic was now grateful for a couple of earlier decisions he had made to withhold some of this most precious resource, believing those patients could wait till they got to the hospital.

This child could not wait.

‘We need to get him to Paddington’s,’ Dominic said. ‘Now.’

They were working on him on the playground and Victoria looked up to a colleague. ‘Can you bring the vehicle in closer?’

Just as she looked up, Victoria saw that another child was being carried out in the arms of a firefighter. The child had red hair. That was all she could make out—and that the child was limp in the firefighter’s arms. Another crew was available to take care of them and so her focus went back to her own patient.

A teacher came over and identified the child that they were working on as Lewis Evans. ‘His mother’s here. She’s frantic.’

‘Get the police to take her to the hospital,’ Dominic said. ‘I’ll speak with her there.’

Dominic could see the redheaded child receiving care from a Rapid Response team and a doctor, and his decision was made to leave the scene and escort this patient.

It was a very difficult manoeuvre into the vehicle. Even lifting little Lewis onto the stretcher caused Victoria to lose the pressure point for a few seconds.

It was enough to know that it could not happen again.

Through the streets the ambulance blue-lighted them towards the hospital. The police had the traffic under control now and streets had been closed off so that their return journey was thankfully far speedier.

Victoria’s arms ached as she knelt on the floor, and Dominic was calling ahead to Paddington’s and explaining he needed a theatre held and the head-and-neck surgeon to meet them in there, when she saw Lewis’s eyes flicker.

The blood and oxygen were starting to work.

‘Hey, Lewis, you need to stay very still,’ Victoria said. ‘You’re in an ambulance and we’re taking you to Paddington Children’s Hospital.’

Lewis didn’t answer but she spoke on as if he could hear her and her voice was calm and reassuring.

‘I’m Victoria,’ she told him. ‘You’re doing so well. I know you are scared and in pain but you’re going to be okay. I just need you to stay very still.’

And then she looked up and arched her neck and Dominic offered her some water.

She nodded.

He held her head steady and she took a drink and then Victoria saw the familiar building come into view but she could not relax just yet. Lewis had already lost an awful lot of blood, his heart was beating rapidly and his blood pressure was barely recordable.

‘Keep the pressure on,’ Dominic told Victoria, and he saw her slight eye roll—she was hardly going to let go!

The stretcher was very carefully lowered so that Victoria could keep the vital pressure sustained.

‘That’s it...’ Dominic said, and someone helped guide her out of the back. Victoria let out a sigh, not quite one of relief, but it was good to be on solid ground and have the patient at Paddington’s where he would at least stand a chance.

It was chaos outside the hospital, and security and the police were working together to keep the foyer clear for patient arrivals.

Some parents had headed straight to the hospital in a bid to find out more, as had some reporters. As well as that, there were some people who loved to have a good look at others’ misfortune.

It was a relief to step inside.

They didn’t turn for A&E, instead they moved swiftly through the corridors, guided by a team leader, and with relief, Victoria saw that an elevator had been held for them.

Theatre was waiting and their efficiency was amazing, so much so, that Dominic raced back down to the Accident and Emergency unit as his skills were still in heavy demand.

It was so calm in the theatre and it was just a blessing to be there.

The head-and-neck surgeon had finished scrubbing and was speaking with the anaesthetist about their approach to the neck wound.

Lewis was being given blood through both arms now and he had been given sedation before they went ahead with the intubation.

And Victoria felt dizzy.

Ignore it, Victoria told herself.

But she had been standing there for what felt like a very long time.

‘How much longer?’ she asked, because she was starting to see stars.

And whether it had anything to do with her complexion or voice, or just that they were ready now, the theatre nurse took over just in time.

‘Come on,’ Glen said.

Glen led her out of the theatre and down a corridor and Victoria bent over in the hallway with her hands on her thighs and took some deep breaths, but when that wasn’t enough she sat on the floor and pulled her knees up and put her head between them.

‘Do we have to go back to the school?’ Victoria asked.

‘No, we’ve been stood down,’ Glen informed her. ‘I’ll go and find you some water.’

‘Did they get them all out?’ Victoria asked as Glen walked off, though she did not look up.

‘I believe so,’ Glen answered.

He returned a little while later and Victoria took a long, grateful drink as Glen spoke. ‘Some have been taken to Riverside but most are here.’

She nodded and, having taken a drink, put her head back down. Victoria wasn’t so much dizzy now but replaying the rescue in her head and questioning her decision to dash forward.

It had been instinct, she knew that, but now it was starting to hit home that it wasn’t just her own life on the line.

And some time later, that was how Dominic found her.

Slumped against the wall, head between her knees, and Dominic was cross all over again with her for flouting the rules and crossing the line.

‘How’s the redheaded kid?’ Glen asked Dominic as he approached.

‘I’ve just brought him up for an urgent head CT and handed him over to Alistair, the neurosurgeon,’ Dominic said.

He stood over her and she could feel him demand that she meet his eyes.

She looked up then and the look he gave her felt hostile, even if his voice was even.

‘How bad is he?’ Glen asked.

‘GCS of six,’ Dominic answered Glen while looking at Victoria. ‘He was hiding in a cupboard.’

‘Poor kid,’ Glen said.

It was Glen who asked all the questions, Dominic noted, but he had one of his own, and though it was for the two of them he spoke directly to Victoria.

‘Do you always ignore orders? You were told to stay back because a building had the potential to collapse.’

‘I could see that the firefighter was struggling,’ Victoria explained. ‘And that the child was bleeding profusely.’

Victoria was starting to feel a bit better, but she was herself questioning the decision to run forward. She really didn’t want to deal with Dominic right now and so she pulled herself to standing and spoke to Glen. ‘Let’s get back to the vehicle.’

‘One moment...’

Victoria turned to the sound of Robyn’s voice. Robyn Kelly was Head of Surgery and very much a part of the new drive to save Paddington’s.

‘Dominic, we need you to speak to the press.’

The hospital had been stretched today but the critically injured were now all in the right place and order was restoring. Speaking to the press after incidents like this was a part of the job and so Dominic nodded.

‘And you too,’ Robyn said, looking over to Victoria.

‘Me?’

‘They want a representative from all branches of the first responders,’ Robyn explained, and then nodded her head towards a staff room. ‘Come and see this.’

The news was on and the cameras were trained on the fire that was still burning but had been brought a little more under control.

And there, in the top right hand of the screen, was an image of Dominic and Victoria bent over little Lewis and together fighting to save his life.

‘Angela Marton, a reporter, just asked the viewers to consider how much more seriously things might have played out if Paddington’s had been closed,’ Robyn said. ‘There are people talking about it all over talkback radio...’ She looked over to Victoria. ‘Finally there’s some anger being generated about the merger.’

‘Good,’ Victoria said.

‘This image is on all the channels...’

Both Dominic and Victoria did their best not to catch each other’s responses as Robyn told them that they had just become the poster picture for the campaign to save Paddington’s.

Robyn had to get on, and so it was Victoria and Dominic with Glen by their side who walked back through the hospital.

Glen was asking about all the injuries and Dominic was doing his best to reply, but of course his mind wasn’t really on the conversation.

It was also moving on from the disaster and back to a few moments before the major incident alert had been put out.

He thought of Victoria sitting in the Imaging Department waiting room, and then he thought of her sitting slumped and pale on the floor outside the theatres.

Anyone would be feeling a bit faint, Dominic told himself. Victoria had been pushing on Lewis’s neck for ages.

Then he looked over to her and he could see her staring fixedly ahead.

Once outside they walked over to the press area and Victoria spoke with her supervisor where she was given a brief.

The police would speak first, then the firefighters, followed by Dominic, and then Victoria was to speak briefly about the ambulance response.

‘The last child pulled out was Ryan Walker,’ she was informed. ‘He’s six years old.’

‘Okay,’ Victoria said, and she deliberately did not look over to Glen.

He had a son called Ryan and she knew he would get upset at the link.

She went and took her place in the line-up.

Yes, her mind was busy working out ways to get the angle she wanted included, but she was also acutely aware of the man who now stood next to her.

The cameras were on them as they stood side by side and she could feel his tension.

Though, this time, it was not of the sexual kind!

‘We need to talk,’ Victoria said as she looked straight ahead. ‘Though not here.’

‘Obviously,’ came Dominic’s rather scathing response.

She turned and looked at him, and wasn’t sure if he was annoyed that they were going to be forced together as the poster image of Save Paddington’s as Robyn had suggested.

Or if, somehow, he knew.

CHAPTER SIX

DOMINIC KNEW.

Or, at least, he was starting to!

He was trying very hard not to believe she might be pregnant by him, and was very determined that history would not repeat itself, and he would not be made a fool of twice.

The press conference went well. Dominic said that it had been a multifaceted effort. Victoria got in her little plug about the potential closure by pointing out that the most urgent cases had needed the proximity of Paddington’s to have the best chance for a positive outcome and then they all went their separate ways.

The department was terribly busy and there was soot everywhere and the smell of smoke in the air. As well as injured children, there were staff and firefighters too but, by evening, the department was clearing and they were taken off bypass, which they had been placed on so that they could deal with the sudden influx of patients.

Dominic had been working since seven that morning, and after twelve eventful hours he should perhaps be heading for home.

Instead Dominic showered and changed into black jeans and a shirt and walked over to the Frog and Peach pub where the Save Paddington’s meeting was being held tonight.