Summer of Love by Marie Ferrarella (easy to read books for adults list .TXT) 📕

Your Dr Kennedy told the lad to tell us to have an ambulance on standby and to inform the hospital to prepare for a serious chest trauma.’

Emma felt her face heat. He wasn’t her Dr Kennedy; he never had been hers in any way, shape or form. It was on the tip of her tongue to point that out until she realised how silly it was to make a fuss. She was supposed to be trying to think of Daniel as just another ex-boyfriend!

‘It might be best to have the air ambulance on standby,’ she suggested, confining her thoughts to the matter at hand.

‘We’ve already done that,’ Mike informed her. ‘Air Ambulance Control has logged the request, although they can’t guarantee another call won’t come in in the meantime.’

‘Of course not,’ Emma agreed, shivering as she glanced towards the hills. The rain was much heavier now, a heavy blanket of clouds overhead stealing the light from the day. Although it was barely the middle of the afternoon, it looked more like evening. She knew that the longer Daniel and the boy were missing, the greater the risk of them not being found before night fell. The thought spurred her to a swift decision.

‘I’m coming with you.’ She held up her hand when Mike started to protest that it wasn’t necessary. ‘No, I want to come. I’ll be able to help with the boy if nothing else. Give me two minutes to change and I’ll be right with you.’

She ran back into the house, quickly exchanging her lightweight jacket for something more suitable. Her walking boots were on the mat where she’d left them and it took only seconds to slip them on. She knew the team carried basic medical supplies as a matter of course so didn’t need to worry about that. Within a couple of minutes she was back at the Land Rover.

‘Ready,’ she told Mike as she climbed into the rear seat. She could feel her tension building as they drove into the centre of the town. The rest of the team was gathered outside the church. There were about a dozen altogether, all of them volunteers.

Emma nodded hello then stood to one side while Mike spread an Ordnance Survey sheet on the bonnet of the car. He ringed Pilgrim’s Point in red then turned to the boy. Emma bit her lip when Ryan explained that it had taken him just over two hours to reach the town. It was already three o’clock, which meant it would be going dark before they got back to where Daniel was waiting and that was assuming they could pinpoint his location. Finding people lost in the Dales wasn’t easy, as any member of the team would confirm.

She took a deep breath as Mike folded up the map. The thought of Daniel being at risk was more than she could bear, even though she refused to ask herself why.

Without a watch to refer to, Daniel had no idea how much time had passed since Ryan had gone for help. It seemed to be hours since the boy had left yet he knew that it was probably his mind playing tricks. As he checked Jack’s pulse again, he found himself praying that help would arrive soon. The boy had lapsed into unconsciousness a while ago and there was no doubt that his condition was deteriorating. He needed to be admitted to hospital as quickly as possible if he was to have any chance of pulling through.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the boy suddenly stopped breathing. Daniel quickly rolled him onto his back and checked his airway. Once he was sure it was clear, he pinched Jack’s nostrils closed and breathed into his mouth, sharply, four times to inflate his lungs. He then checked his pulse and was relieved to find that his heart was still beating. He breathed into his mouth again and continued doing so for several more minutes until Jack started breathing for himself again.

After placing the boy in the recovery position, Daniel stood up, groaning as he stretched his aching limbs. He was soaking wet, thanks to the rain, and freezing cold too. He jumped up and down to try to generate some warmth in his body, flapping his arms as well for good measure. It helped a bit but he knew that the effects wouldn’t last. Night was drawing in and the temperature would drop even lower then. What wouldn’t he give to be sitting in front of a roaring fire with Emma curled up beside him …?

He blanked out that thought. He was feeling miserable enough without making himself feel even worse because the chances of Emma ever curling up beside him were nil!

Although Emma must have walked along the route dozens of times before, she had never attempted it in such appalling weather. The rain was beating down now, turning the path into a sea of mud in places, so that it was difficult to keep her footing. It didn’t help either that some of the streams had burst their banks, forcing them to wade ankle deep through icy-cold water. It was only the thought of Daniel and the injured boy waiting for them that kept her going. They had to find them.

‘OK, let’s stop for a moment while we get our bearings.’ Mike called the group to a halt, waiting until they had formed a circle before he continued. ‘By my reckoning, we should be fairly close to where young Ryan here said he left his friend so we’ll split up into groups and see if we can find him and the doc.’

Everyone nodded. Within a very short time they had formed four groups. Mike turned to Emma. ‘You and the lad can come with me. They can’t be far from here so let’s hope we can find them pretty soon.’

He didn’t add anything else as he started walking again but he didn’t need to. Emma knew that once it got dark, the