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‘Making myself as small as possible. I don’t want to get snagged on something in borrowed clothes.’

‘Liv, I can’t ask you to do this.’

‘No, you can’t. But you can’t ask me not to either.’ She sighed as she dragged the gloves back on. ‘You don’t get to ask anything of me anymore.’

* * *

She knew it didn’t really make any different to the size and shape of her shoulders, but Liv couldn’t help but hold her breath as she wriggled through the very narrow hole in the rubble, terrified of disturbing something important. She didn’t breathe again until her feet connected back with the ground. Wincing, she brushed painful shards carefully off her elbows before peering back at Callum. ‘Bag please.’

‘Liv, please be careful,’ he begged as he handed the bag through to her.

‘I am. I promise.’ She crunched a few feet further.

‘I can hear you!’ Sarah’s voice was excited.

‘I can hear you too, fairy, I’m nearly with you,’ she called back, before looking around the mess in front of her. The front section of what she now realised was one of the large café booths had been crushed by a falling beam and rubble. It looked like the whole thing had been picked up and shoved sideways, before being toppled over, and its heavy, old table had been thrown with it, blocking part of the entrance to leave just a small gap. While it was going to be difficult to get in, somehow it must have protected the people inside.

The weak light from the phone flickered out of the gap and bounced off the mess behind her.

After a few seconds, Sarah’s face appeared in the small space. ‘Livvy!’

‘Hi, Sarey-fairy.’ She held out her arms and tried not to squash the little girl in her relief at finding her alive and well. She rubbed her back gently, letting Sarah sob against her. ‘It’s all right, Sarah, I’ve got you.’

‘I knew you’d come save me.’

The trust she had in her was painful, but Liv didn’t have time to think about it, so instead she shouted back. ‘I’ve got her, Callum. She’s fine.’

‘Thank goodness.’ His voice echoed back, bouncing around eerily.

‘Hello?’ A shaky voice called out from beneath the table. ‘Who’s there?’

‘It’s Dr Emery,’ Liv called back as she tucked Sarah against her side. ‘Good to hear you’re awake, Mrs Turner. How are you feeling?’

‘I’m fine. Just a bit sore, and I can’t really move. But . . . Angela’s not answering. Can you please reach her?’

‘Of course, I’ll check on her now.’ Liv hoped she sounded more confident that she felt. ‘Sarah, I need you to wait here while I check on Angela, all right?’

‘Do I have to?’

‘Yes.’ If things were the worst they could be, she didn’t want Sarah to see them. The poor girl was going to be traumatised badly enough as it was. They all were. ‘You’ll be able to see me, and I might need an assistant to pass me things from my bag.’

‘I don’t like this,’ the little girl admitted.

‘I don’t blame you.’ Liv crawled towards her patient. ‘There’s a big torch in the front, top pocket. It will be brighter than the phone.’

She blinked a few seconds later when high-strength, halogen light pierced the dust around her. Sarah was right, there was blood, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared, though she could immediately see the problem. Poor Angela’s right leg was badly twisted, and she could see the pale bone of the femur sticking out through the top of her leg. There was blood around her, but not so much as to suggest she had damaged the femoral artery. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Angela’s chest rise and fall steadily. It was bad, but it was far from as bad as it could have been.

‘Angela, can you hear me?’ She thought she saw the woman’s eyelids flicker. ‘I’m just going to check you over. Sarah, can you tell Mrs Turner that Angela . . .’ She paused, not quite sure how to phrase the next bit. ‘Tell her that Angela has a poorly leg, but that she’s OK.’ She prayed she was telling the truth as she started her clinical examination. A few minutes later, she was satisfied that, although severe, Angela’s injuries weren’t immediately life-threatening. ‘Right, you’ve got a badly broken leg, Angela, but you probably already know that. I’m guessing you’ve been in quite a bit of pain, so I’m just going to grab some things from my bag, and get you patched up. The emergency teams are on their way, but there’s no need to make you wait.’

She crawled back to Sarah and her bag. ‘You still all right in there, Mrs Turner?’

‘Yes. How’s Angela?’

‘She’s got a bad break to her leg, and is experiencing a bit of shock, but I think she’s all right otherwise. I’d like to give her some pain meds. Is there anything she’s allergic to?’

‘No. Nothing I know of.’

‘OK, let me get her patched up and I’ll give her some fluids and pain meds, then I’ll come and check you out properly.’