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It was difficult to tell ho These people weren’t in regular arb for an ER—pale green scrubs He had no idea as a nurse, a doctor or an aerospace medical technician

‘I need an airway I need an airway now!’ came the shout

Avery shouldered his way in

It brought everything into focus That, he could do

He put up his hand ‘I’ll do it’ A few heads turned at the unfamiliar voice and a little space appeared in the crowd

The wo over the patient Her head shot up and her eyes narrowed She had the darkest brown eyes he’d ever seen

‘Who are you?’

Blood Everywhere All over the chest of a young child His reactions were instant Now he understood the cla on the little chest, trying to stem the flow

The wo patient needed an airway now

The large penetrating wound—a spear of so he needed to know

He ed her out of his way Or, at least, he tried to

Her hips stayed fir at him

He glanced at the nearby trolley, opening the first feers until he found what he needed ‘Do we have IV access?’ he asked a nurse to his left

‘Just,’ she said promptly

A small, firm hand closed over his He turned around The wo was just about in his face Her dark brown eyes could have sed him up She spoke so quietly he was sure no one else could hear ‘I’ave a squeeze over his hand—and this ti to break your hand’

He lifted his ID and slid it between both their faces ‘Let ht with each other’

She was shtly darker than he would have expected Her hair was poker straight, cut very short at the nape of her neck but becoht on it looked like a bob A sh to be off her collar but not long enough to need tying up every day

There see about her A presence She was like a cannonball People paid attention to her even though she couldn’t be the highest-ranking person in the room Far from it, in fact She only looked in her mid-twenties

Firecracker? He couldn’t remember what the Japanese as but somehow the nickname suited her It seemed to sum her up perfectly

It was obvious that in this room people respected her He liked that He liked that she was direct and efficient at her job

&nbs

p; Her eyes shifted and focused on the ID She turned without a word and started shouting orders at others in the roolanced at the endotracheal tube in the hand of her colleague ‘I think we’ll need so smaller’

Perfect A nurse he could ith All air force and military nurses and personnel were efficient and well trained But he alorked best with those who could think ahead and weren’t afraid to voice their opinion He had a sneaky suspicion that Katsuko—was that her name?—would never be afraid to voice her opinion

Avery tried to ignore the bedlam around him He tried to cut out the noise There were two trolleys in the resus roo on another patient They were e

He moved swiftly ‘Any other doctors in here?’

‘Two are up on the helipad They haven’t even ether ‘Blake won’t give up on the other kid Not until he’s tried everything’

The doctor attending to the little boy on the other trolley Blake Anderson The guy he was supposed to report to to and he didn’t feel the urge to introduce hiht now If he didn’t pay attention to the kid directly in front of hi him too

Avery took a breath and held out his hand The area around this little boy’s neck and chest elling, a reaction to the severe injury that could co its natural colour rapidly A nurse was poised next to the IV ave the to sedate the boy and steroids to reduce the swelling and allow hi else later

The nurse nodded and inserted the drugs into the IV cannula on the inside of the kid’s elbow

‘ET tube’ Avery held out his hand, bending down at the top of the trolley and tilting the little boy’s head ‘Do we have his name?’