The Firefighter's Fiance. Kate Hardy

need us to open the car. We’ll stabilise the vehicle for now.’

      ‘I’ll keep talking to him,’ Kelsey said. ‘Let him know what’s going on.’

      She’d just leaned into the back of the car and reassured Harvey that they were going to make the care safe so it wouldn’t move and jolt him or cause him further injury when a hand rested in the dip of her back. A touch she recognised. A touch that melted away her tension.

      ‘I wondered if you’d be here. How’s it going, Kels?’

      Kelsey felt a jolt of pleasure as she heard Matt’s voice. All the paramedics she worked with were good, but Matt had something extra. And it wasn’t just bias because she’d shared a house with him for eighteen months and he was officially her best friend. There was something about him. Something calming—as if he could take the weight of the whole world and keep you safe, and still keep smiling. Right now, he was the person she wanted to see more than anyone else in the world.

      ‘Cavalry’s arrived,’ she told Harvey with a smile. ‘Want the good news or the good news?’

      ‘Uh-huh.’

      ‘You’ve got one of the best paramedics in the area to treat you,’ she told him. ‘I’m just going to get out of his way so he can have a proper look at you, but I’ll be right here beside him.’ Where she often was: because they made a great team. Between them, they could get casualties out fast and stabilise them. Save lives. She straightened up and drew Matt back out of Harvey’s earshot. ‘His name’s Harvey. He’s talking—but not as much as he was. He’s complained of pain in his neck and his legs. I can’t tell if he’s bleeding or not—there’s too much in the way for me to see any external haemorrhage—but I don’t like his colour.’

      ‘Better get him out fast once we’ve got a spinal board on him,’ Matt said.

      Kelsey turned to Matt’s crew partner. ‘Dale, the lorry driver’s going into shock but his breathing’s fine, he was talking lucidly, and I’ve got him sitting on the hard shoulder in a space blanket. I promised him I’d be back, but…’ She gestured to the car. ‘The driver’s in a bit of a mess. And he’s scared as hell. I couldn’t really leave him.’

      ‘There isn’t enough space for two of us to work here, so can you go to see the lorry driver?’ Matt asked his crew partner.

      ‘Sure,’ Dale said, and headed for the hard shoulder.

      Ray came over. ‘The car’s stabilised, Matt. Just tell us if you need more access.’

      ‘Will do. Thanks, Ray.’ Matt slid into the back of the car and introduced himself quickly to Harvey. ‘I’m going to put a neck collar on you to keep your spine nice and stable.’ He assessed the situation swiftly. ‘They’re going to need to cut you out so Dale—that’s my crew partner—and I can move you safely.’

      ‘Mmm,’ Harvey mumbled.

      Kelsey and Matt exchanged a glance as he withdrew.

      ‘How fast can you do it?’ Matt asked.

      ‘Ten, fifteen minutes,’ Kelsey said, ‘but it’s going to be noisy.’

      He nodded. ‘I’ll get the collar on him while you lot get the rams and spreaders sorted. Then I’ll sit in the back with him and keep him talking while you cut him out.’

      ‘You’ll never squeeze into the back,’ Kelsey said. ‘I’m smaller than you—I’ll fit better. Why don’t I sit in there and protect him with the shield while the lads do the cutting? If his condition changes, I’ll give you a yell.’

      ‘OK. Thanks.’ He smiled at her.

      By the time Matt had put the collar on Harvey, the cutting equipment was ready. ‘OK for me to go in the back?’ Kelsey asked Ray.

      At his nod, she grabbed the blue tear-shaped plastic shield and slid into the back of the car.

      ‘Harvey, we’re going to cut you out so the paramedics have got enough space to treat you. It’s going to be noisy,’ she warned, ‘but I’m here with you. And I’m going to put this shield up so you won’t get any glass in your face or anything.’ In the past, windscreens had simply popped out; in modern cars, the windscreens were bonded to the vehicle and had to be cut through.

      ‘It sounds scary,’ she said. ‘But I promise you, you’ll be fine. Nothing’s going to hurt you.’

      ‘Do this a lot?’

      He sounded slightly slurred. ‘A few times,’ Kelsey said. ‘And I’ve been cut out of a car myself. So I know what it feels like to be sitting where you are.’

      The noise. The splintering glass. The fear that something was going to go wrong and you’d be hurt even more. The absolute conviction that you were going to die and you weren’t going to get the chance to say goodbye to the people who mattered.

      Again, she damped down the memories. Now wasn’t the time. ‘You’ll be out of here really soon,’ she said.

      Though every second seemed to drag. The noise felt as if it was never going to stop. And all the while she kept talking to Harvey, trying to get him to respond.

      As soon as the fire crew had finished getting the access the paramedics needed, she climbed out of the car and Matt and Dale took over.

      ‘I want to get some fluids into him,’ Matt said. ‘He’s going into shock. Kels, can you do us a favour?’

      ‘Sure.’ It was firefighter protocol for the crew to help other teams where they were needed most once they’d done their own job in making sure the area was safe. And she’d worked with Matt enough times to know what he wanted her to do. ‘Hold the drip and squeeze the bag so you can get the fluids in faster?’

      He blew her a kiss. ‘Perfect answer. We’ll make a paramedic of you yet.’

      ‘Not before we make a firefighter out of you,’ she retorted with a grin.

      ‘Oi, do you mind? I’m not losing my best partner ever,’ Dale cut in. ‘No, we’d rather pinch you for our team, Brains. Then we might stand a chance in the pub quiz.’

      ‘No way. Your uniform’s not as sexy as mine.’ She winked at him. ‘Isn’t that right, Harvey? Firefighters are sexier than paramedics?’

      Their patient mumbled something none of them could understand. Matt raised an eyebrow and put the line in Harvey’s arm and directed Kelsey to start squeezing the fluid through. Calm, professional, no hint of panic in his voice—even though Kelsey could tell from the look on his face that Harvey was in for a rough time.

      But when it came to moving him… ‘His leg’s stuck,’ Matt said grimly.

      ‘What do you need—dashboard roll or pedal release?’ Kelsey asked.

      ‘Pedals.’

      ‘OK. I can do that.’ She handed the drip bag back to him and grabbed the cutters. She slid the shield over Harvey’s legs to protect him, then used the cutters to snap the pedal that had trapped Harvey’s foot.

      ‘Remind me not to arm-wrestle you,’ Matt said as she gently moved the pedal away to allow Matt to finish getting Harvey out of the car.

      ‘Chicken,’ she teased.

      ‘I’d be chicken, too,’ Dale said with a grin.

      She put her hands on her hips and tutted. ‘Weaklings, the pair of you.’

      ‘Yeah, yeah. But thanks for your help, Kels.’ Matt’s eyes crinkled at the corners. Amazing blue eyes, the colour of a summer evening sky. Eyes that had reputedly melted every female’s heart at the hospital, though Matt rarely dated—a fact which shouldn’t have pleased Kelsey nearly as much as it did.

      ‘Any time.’ She smiled back at him. ‘See you later.’

      ‘And