Luca's Bad Girl - By Amy Andrews Page 0,49

His badly fractured leg had been left in the splint and he’d drifted off to sleep on a morphine cloud.

Finally they both settled back into their seats. The wind howled around the chopper and whistled through the shattered glass at the front. She could feel the slight shuddering of the aircraft as the wind buffeted it from what seemed like all directions. The steady beep, beep, beep of the monitor seemed alien amidst the wild brutality of Mother Nature.

‘How long do you think the oxygen will last?’ Mia asked into the growing silence.

She knew that Brian didn’t really need it but she was aware it was a finite commodity and that they had no idea how long they’d be there. They’d completed a thorough primary and secondary survey of Brian’s injuries but what if they’d missed something? What if his condition worsened?

‘Quite a few hours, I expect. It’s only running at one litre.’

Mia nodded. Would that be enough? How long would it be before they were rescued? The way the wind howled and the rain beat incessantly against the window, it didn’t look like any time soon.

She tried really hard not to think about the precariousness of the situation. Their position might feel stable enough but that didn’t alter the fact that they were still in a great deal of danger.

‘So, now what?’ Mia asked.

‘We should get some sleep too,’ Luca said into the silence.

Mia shook her head, reaching across to feel once again for the pulses in Brian’s foot. They were there but feeble and Mia guessed the injury was compromising the blood flow lower. ‘I’m worried about the circulation,’ Mia murmured. ‘It’d be awful to survive a crash like this then go on to lose your leg.’

Luca, who was worried too, gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Hopefully we’ll be out of here before it comes to that.’

Mia nodded. Suddenly aware she was still wearing her helmet, she pulled it off.

Luca placed a stilling hand on her forearm. ‘You should leave it on,’ he said.

Mia shook her hair free and finger-combed it. ‘I’ll feel ridiculous sitting here for the next who knows how long in this stupid helmet.’

Luca sought her gaze. ‘If whatever’s supporting us gives way, that helmet could be your lifeline.’

Mia glanced away from the stark reality she saw in his deep, dark eyes. ‘Well, I doubt very much it’ll prevent my neck from being broken, which is the most likely outcome if this thing plummets to the ground.’

Luca knew she was right. Spinal compression injury would be the true killer. That and the many other possibilities in between flitted through his mind as he watched Mia with a growing sense of helplessness.

He hated being powerless to affect change in this situation. That all three of them were dependent on things outside his control—the weather, branch structure, the expertise of others.

He’d been taking care of himself for a long time now. So, he suspected, had she. This kind of impotence was reminiscent of his past. And he’d had a little too much of that already this last week.

He took off his own helmet and ruffled his hair.

‘We’re going to be fine,’ he murmured. If he had to hold this helicopter in place through sheer force of will, he would. He wouldn’t let Mia down. He tapped the top of her helmet. ‘Keep it close.’

Mia nodded. ‘I don’t suppose Air Control said what was happening with the patient we’re supposed to be evac’ing?’ Luca had talked with Air Control while she’d been inserting the IV.

‘They’re coming in by road. No choice now.’

Mia knew that would be an hour or so’s drive in these treacherous weather conditions, even with lights and sirens. The mountain roads were dangerous when wet and low cloud would further inhibit speed.

‘Hopefully the patient’s spinal condition is minor,’ Mia commented, rubbing absently at her arms. Although she doubted very much they would have been sent out on such a night for a chipped vertebra.

‘You cold?’ Luca asked.

‘A little,’ she admitted. The breached cabin was a perfect conduit for the freezing wind and the temperature inside the crippled aircraft had dropped considerably.

They’d covered Brian in a space blanket but now her adrenaline had settled and their activity had ceased she was starting to feel cold gnawing at her arms. ‘You must be too,’ Mia said. ‘Your overalls are wet around your shoulders and chest.’

Luca wasn’t really. His body was still on high alert, his metabolic rate steaming along like a whistling kettle. But they were probably