His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,43

by strong arms around her waist before she could get over the fence.

“Wait, wait, Pip,” someone urged. “Let the medics do their job first.”

She wasn’t aware of who was holding her—only that they were in fact holding her up. She was sure she would’ve collapsed to the grass otherwise. She let out an involuntary sob as her hand shot to cover her mouth. She couldn’t take her eyes from the mass of bodies surrounding Jumal’s still body. Jumal. Oh God, she couldn’t even think of something happening to him. She’d never even had the chance to tell him how she felt, trace his lips with her fingers before kissing him, run her fingers through his hair. She collapsed to the ground, unable to hold back the tears any more.

“Pippa,” a voice called to her. “The polo players are pointing over towards you, honey. Maybe they are looking for his next of kin or something for some information.” Jake, she finally managed to acknowledge.

“What?” she asked, managing to speak despite her falling tears.

Jake bent down, still holding her. “Jumal. Does he have any family here?”

She wiped at her tears with her hand. “N-no, I don’t think so,” she uttered, shaking her head numbly.

She looked up to see a medic approaching, hoping with all her heart that he wasn’t about to break her heart.

“Excuse me,” he said formally. “Are you Miss Darling?”

“Y-yes,” she stammered nervously. “Is he—” she swallowed “—is he okay?” she asked finally, looking up to meet the medic’s eyes.

“He needs to go to hospital urgently. We’re worried about the possibility of internal bleeding and any damage he may have sustained to his spine. Do you know if his next of kin is here?”

She started to shake her head. “She’s his fiancée.” Another male voice informed the medic from slightly behind her. Kahlid, she finally remembered.

She was too shocked to challenge his statement.

“She can travel with him to the hospital, right?” Kahlid asked the medic.

“Oh right, certainly, Miss Darling. We’ve radioed for the air ambulance. It should be here any minute. We just want to get Mr Aldabbagh on a brace first—just as a precaution,” he quickly added, his hand raised in response to her gasp and frightened expression, “until we can get him scanned.”

“Can you tell me if he has any allergies we need to know about?”

“Erm. Yes, penicillin. He’s allergic to penicillin,” she answered quickly. Thankful that she’d completed and memorised Jumal’s medical insurance renewal just days ago.

“Okay, that’s fine. Come on,” he encouraged, holding his hand out to help her through the wooden gate. She paused and looked back over her shoulder towards Kahlid and Jake.

“Go on,” Kahlid encouraged. “We’ll take care of things here.”

“Call me later if you can, okay?” Jake.

“Y-yes, okay, thanks. Will you find Melina and let her know where I’ve gone?” she asked, running her hands anxiously through her hair.

“Yes. Now go,” he bit out, almost pushing her towards the medic.

The ground staff had cleared the polo pitch as Pip made her way towards the still-motionless Jumal. She dropped to her knees and sobbed. “Oh God, Jumal,” she pleaded, reaching for him.

Another first-aider approached her and pulled her away gently, his arm around her in comfort. “Sorry, miss. We need you to just step back whilst we look after him.” She allowed herself to be guided to the side as she heard the helicopter approaching.

The helicopter came into view, hovered for a moment before landing, then two other doctors jumped from it and rushed towards Jumal. Pip heard the instructions passing between the two teams of medics before one of the men nodded towards her.

“Miss Darling? Come along and we’ll get you strapped in so we can leave immediately.”

She was bemused as Jumal was carefully lifted onto a board, his head and legs strapped down, presumably to stop any movement of his body whilst they were in flight.

She sniffed again, trying to compose herself. “Can I hold his hand?” she asked the medic monitoring Jumal while the co-pilot strapped her into her seat.

“Sure.” He nodded, offering her a half smile. “He’s stable. Are you okay? You look a little—”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll be fine. Just a little nervous, that’s all. So do you think he’ll be okay?” she pressed.

“It’s too early to say but rest assured, your fiancé will get the best medical attention available, miss.” She offered a close-mouthed smile, her mind racked with guilt that they thought she was his fiancée.

A nurse offered her a reassuring smile as she offered her a