Anne Fraser - Doctor on the Red Carpet

Elizabeth guessed that the people most likely to require to be flown to hospital in a hurry would be the stuntmen. Kendrick in particular. She wondered if he’d thought about who would fly him if he got badly hurt.

‘The cost of a trip to LA is nothing in the scheme of filming a movie like this,’ Kendrick continued. ‘Besides, sometimes I fly Tara and Jack to LA for the weekend to save them hiring their own planes. It’s all part of the service. We stuntmen do all sorts of stuff on set.’

‘In that case, would you clear it with him and let him know what’s happening? Sunny, do you want to grab what you need for a couple of nights in hospital? You might want to phone your family and let them know what’s happening. While you’re doing that I’ll speak to the admitting attending at the hospital so they know we’re coming.’

By the time she’d spoken to the hospital, Sunny had packed a bag and was waiting by the door of the helicopter. Kendrick was in the pilot’s seat, doing some sort of checks, or so Elizabeth assumed.

The helicopter was small with only just enough space for Sunny and Elizabeth in the back.

‘Philip’s not too happy about me going,’ Sunny said. ‘He depends on me. Are you sure it’s necessary? I don’t feel that bad.’ Then she groaned. ‘Just really, really tired. Is it okay if I lie down?’

‘Sure,’ Elizabeth said. Sunny was definitely deteriorating. It was good that they’d be at the hospital in thirty minutes.

Elizabeth’s stomach dropped as Kendrick took off and she found herself clutching Sunny’s hand.

‘It’s okay,’ Sunny mumbled. ‘I’ve see him fly. Believe me, we’re in safe hands.’

As soon as they were airborne and the helicopter levelled out, Elizabeth was too busy monitoring her patient to worry whether they’d make it to the hospital in one piece. At least until they got into Los Angeles city and she saw that they were flying just over, and sometimes between, the skyscrapers. At that point she wished she could keep her eyes closed.

Kendrick put the helicopter down so gently Elizabeth almost didn’t realise they had landed on the roof of the LA city hospital. Almost before the rotors had stopped turning, the hospital staff were wheeling a gurney towards them.

Sunny opened an eye and tried to protest that she could walk, but she didn’t have the energy. Elizabeth quickly updated the doctor, who nodded. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take it from here. I’m afraid you’re going to have to move that chopper from the landing pad. We’re expecting another casualty in a few minutes.’

Although she knew the hospital was first class, Elizabeth didn’t want to abandon Sunny. But she didn’t really have an option. She bent over her patient.

‘I’ll phone and find out how you’re doing as soon as I can.’ She squeezed Sunny’s hand. ‘You’re going to be fine.’

Kendrick had hopped out of the pilot’s seat in time to hear the doctor’s words.

‘Jump in beside me, Lizzie. We’d better get out of the way,’ he said.

Reluctantly, Elizabeth did as he suggested. She wasn’t at all sure about being in front with Kendrick where she had a bird’s-eye view of the buildings they had to negotiate their way through, but now was clearly not the time to argue. As Kendrick started the engine he passed her a pair of headphones and indicated she should put them on. Then with another stomach-lurching lift, they were back in the air.

‘I should have stayed with her,’ Elizabeth shouted above the noise of the engine.

Kendrick winced. ‘You don’t have to yell.’ His amused voice came over the head phones. ‘Just speak normally. Sunny will be fine, I promise. Besides, you might be needed back on set.’

Elizabeth couldn’t say anything as they flew between the buildings. She was clenching her jaw too tight. Thankfully, and not a minute too soon, they were leaving the city behind.

‘How come you guessed it was malaria?’ she asked as soon as she could speak.

‘Saw a bit of it in the army.’

‘You were in the forces?’

‘Yup.’ He didn’t elaborate.

Kendrick surprised her more and more. Thank God he had recognised what could have turned out to be very nasty for Sunny if she hadn’t been sent to hospital.

‘I should have picked it up,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t.’

‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Kendrick said. ‘It happens.

‘But not to me. I hate making mistakes.’

Kendrick’s smile was back in action. ‘I might not have recognised what it was if I hadn’t known she was in Tanzania a couple of weeks ago, so I wouldn’t call it a mistake, exactly.’

‘What would you call it, then?’ Elizabeth snapped.

Immediately she felt ashamed. She was tired and out of sorts but that didn’t excuse any of it.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I’m not usually this touchy. It’s just …’ She stopped herself just in time. If her history got out, if people knew the real reason she was here, they would be sympathetic and want to know all sorts of stuff she didn’t want to talk about. More worryingly, they might wonder if she should be back at work and if she was up to the job. Especially if they knew she had almost missed diagnosing Sunny immediately. Of course, as soon as the blood results had come back she would have known that there was something more seriously wrong than flu. But by then it might have been too late. She shivered. Sunny had two small children depending on her.

Kendrick was looking at her as if she puzzled him. It was hardly surprising. Her behaviour must seem odd at the least.

She forced a smile. ‘Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.’

Kendrick studied her intently for another moment, before touching his hand to his head in an informal salute. Elizabeth wanted to tell him to keep an eye on where he was flying but she had the horrible suspicion that if she did, he would tease her by doing some trick with the helicopter. It was just his style.

As they flew out over the desert Elizabeth began to relax. At least out here there was nothing to crash into.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been in a place quite as desolate as this before, but it has its own magic.’

‘I’ll show you more of it when we have time off,’ he said.

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she wouldn’t dream of spending a minute longer with him than she had to, but she bit back the words. She’d been quite rude enough for one day. It wasn’t his fault that he made her feel on edge.

‘I’d like that,’ she said.

‘It reminds me of my folks’ home,’ he continued.

‘Where is that?’

‘A few hundred miles to the north. My father has a ranch near the San Bernardino Mountains.’ He glanced at her. ‘Have you ever been to a working ranch?’

‘No. I would love to see one, though.’

When she saw the satisfied smile on Kendrick’s lips she could have bitten her tongue. Clearly the man thought he was making progress. Didn’t he recognise a friendly, polite response when he got one? But anything she said now would only make it worse.

The rest of the short journey passed quickly. Kendrick made a short detour to point out the San Andreas fault.

‘Have you ever experienced an earthquake?’ Elizabeth asked. The thought of one happening, even though they were so close to the fault, didn’t concern her. How could it? The worst had already happened.

‘I was involved in the rescue mission after the quake in Kashmir. The army used the helicopters’ heat-seeking equipment and radar to locate trapped bodies.’ He brought his dark eyebrows together and his silver eyes darkened to pewter. ‘It was tough. I sure hope we don’t see anything like that here, even though they think it’s inevitable.’