Chapter Text
It was necessity that made Robyn pull into the service station on the A1 just off from Banbridge, having been on her feet since six thirty not to mention the endless pacing around the hospital all afternoon. That and the fact that her tears were now really clouding her vision, she had to sit in her car for nearly forty minutes before she actually managed to compose herself. Her octopus was covered in tear stains and completely misshapen as she had been squeezing it so hard to her, the grumpy face staring at her in a sad upturned frown.
Putting the octopus on the passenger seat which only held her phone and purse, Robyn suddenly felt warm and overheated and struggled to get her blazer off, having to open the car door and get out to physically pull it off her, throwing it into the car, her hands gripping the roof of the car while she tried to calm herself down.
Her morning had started out as every other morning. A quick text to Taron to wish him a good day, grinning as she got the sleepy emoji back in reply and then she made her way to work to open the creche. Everything was running smoothly until she heard a crash from upstairs and taking the stairs two at a time, ran as fast as she could as she heard Lisa scream her name. She nearly skidded across the landing and into the Preschool room, the two staff members standing still, Lisa crying, Jade frozen, all the children huddled together in the construction area.
Robyn saw for herself what all the commotion was for and she was the first one who actually jumped into action, yelling at all the four-year-olds to move. The children ran out of the way, giving Robyn the space she needed to get in closer to the heavy wooden shelf.
“Beth!”
“Beth is stuck Robyn!”
Finally piecing together what happened, Robyn could only hear Beth crying, though crying wasn’t exactly the right word to explain the horrible distressed sound coming from the little girl. All Robyn could see of her was her arm sticking out from under the shelf and while her heart thumbed roughly in her chest, she ignored every disturbing imagine of Taron that popped into her head and working off adrenaline, grabbed the corner of the shelf and lifted it, groaning hard as she struggled with the weight of it by herself. It was one of the heavier made wooden shelves and she knew she would never lift it on her own, even with her blood bumping rapidly around her body.
“Help me!” She shouted to the other staff in the room, Lisa the first to make a move, Jade following and together the three hauled the shelf up, a loud bang echoing through the room as it was pushed back into place.
Straight onto the floor, Robyn knelt beside Beth, seeing the little girl raise her arms to be lifted, the older woman immediately letting her eyes run over her body, her hands quickly following checking for any obvious injuries. She didn’t want to move her until she was absolutely certain Beth wasn’t seriously hurt and moving her would only hurt her more. After a quick but thorough check, Robyn couldn’t see or feel any injuries, her head definitely taking a bit of hit from one of the blocks, a bump and cut on her forehead and she saw that Beth was holding her left arm against herself. Solid and hard blocks were used in the construction area and even when Robyn worked in the room, there was always an extra eye placed on them because it was so easy for one to hurt a young child by accident and with their compact and dense material, a bunch of them falling down in one was going to cause some damage. The pile of blocks that fell from the shelf as it fell, has piled together and thankfully had been enough to keep the shelf from crushing Beth but it didn’t mean she had escaped being hurt and as Robyn lifted the young girl onto her lap, cradling her right side against her chest, a loud cry of pain came from her and Robyn eased her grip around the girls arms, moving her hands so Beth’s arms were free, hugging her around her waist with her left arm. Robyn placed her right hand over Beth’s left cheek, ignoring the wetness from tears on her fingers. Looking to her staff who were staring at her, Robyn muttered one word, saying it a second time much louder, Lisa walking around the small hexagon table to get the phone from its charging dock.
Once she had the phone in her right hand, Robyn quickly dialled nine nine nine, speaking calmly to the operator, explaining the situation, saying she immediately needed an ambulance. Details handed over, Robyn gave the phone to Lisa to stay on the line with the operator so she could concentrate on Beth in her arms. Again she had to direct the girls to help her, asking Jade for the first aid box from the office, while she continued to comfort Beth who was still crying but now more so because of the ache she felt, rather than being so scared. Robyn kept talking to her, telling her she was so brave, cuddling her as close as she could.
When Jade eventually came back with the first aid box, Robyn took her hand from Beth’s face, ignoring the wetness she could also feel on her chest where Beth’s face was buried, once again pushing those thoughts of Taron to the back of her mind, concentrating only on Beth and what she needed.
“I am going to need some help.” She looked to Jade, who shook her head and then to Lisa who nodded, still holding the phone, coming to sit beside Robyn. “Triangle bandage.” Robyn could tell from the cry of pain and the way Beth was holding her left arm, that it was badly hurt and needing to get it supported, she wanted to put it into a sling straight away.
With Lisa’s help, after she put the phone on speaker, they got Beth’s left arm up in a neat sling, both older women cringing as the little girl cried harder when her arm was moved but once it was supported her cries settled down to little sobs, curling into Robyn’s warm body under her tightly.
“It’s hurts.”
“Oh chicken, I know but you are being so brave. You just close your eyes and rest against me ok? I am not going anywhere sweetheart.” She gently kissed her head, closing her eyes, feeling her hands shaking a little. It was so hard not to think of Taron, his beautiful face in pain as he held her hand tightly. As much as she was still working and working hard with her therapy sessions, there was always going to be something that would make her remember and as Robyn instructed Lisa on which items she needed from the first aid box, it was definitely hard to now focus on what she needed to do but reminding herself that Taron was fine and sleeping soundly two hours away from her, it helped her to concentrate on what needed to be done for Beth.
Giving her head a shake, Robyn took some deep calming breathes and got Lisa to drench some cotton pads in the saline solution, taking to them to gently clean the left side of Beth’s face, getting Lisa to take Beth for two minutes so she could wipe the cut on the right side of her forehead, the wound still dribbling a little blood as she took her back, settling her face once again into her chest, Beth cuddling right into her.
“Great day to wear white.” Robyn said to Lisa with a half grin, knowing her white silk blouse was either going to have to be dry cleaned or thrown out. She made sure Beth was comfortable in her arms, giving her head a small kiss, finally getting to look at the two staff, her concerns about Beth on hold for a moment as the seriousness of the accident finally could be spoken about. “What on earth happened? The kids have only been in for three hours?”
“That shelf…” Jade began.
“The one I asked you to switch with the one against the wall yesterday?” Robyn spoke sternly to Jade who had started to answer her, a deep growl in her throat.
“Well yeah.”
Robyn let out an angry puff of air. “You want to ring Beth’s mother to tell her what has happened then?” She looked to the young girl and Robyn saw the look of horror in her face. “Then bloody do what I ask when I ask for it to be done!” Robyn roared, feeling her cheeks heat up with her frustrations. “I asked yesterday morning for this shelf to be moved into the smaller room and against the wall, the other shelf brought out here because we knew that one was off balance. I have the handyman coming to fix it this evening but no, you didn’t do it and look what happened!” Robyn’s voice rose with each word. She held in the curses on the tip of her tongue and cuddled Beth closer to her. Closing her eyes, once again she was hit with those images of a bloodied Taron and she could feel that panic inside her rising. It was just way too close to home for her and while she was beyond annoyed, she was also reliving her horrible memories of having to help him when he was stuck. “I am so mad at you both and you know that is something that doesn’t come too easily to me.” She looked up from Beth’s hair to the two staff who were looking at the floor. “I don’t walk around this service asking for these things to be done for the good of my health girls. I have a job to you and you have a job to do and if you followed through with your job, I wouldn’t be sitting here on the floor with a scared little girl who is waiting for an ambulance!”
“Sorry Robyn.”
“Sorry.”
“I don’t want your apologies.” Robyn spat. “You realise the mess this is going to cause for us? This is not only going to have to be properly risk assessed with the reason for the accident, which is now going to fall on my head because you girls didn’t do as I asked, it also will be to be reported to the insurance company, we will probably end up having an inspection and then there is Beth’s mother.” She could feel her hands shaking from anger now, her voice trembling with her annoyance. She tried to calm herself down, knowing Beth needed her to be composed and relaxed but it was so hard. She was furious and the more she spoke about it, the more she could feel her self-control leaving her.
“Robyn…” Lisa stopped speaking when she saw the glare come her way. “I am so sorry and I know this can’t be easy on you after…”
“I wouldn’t even try to finish that sentence.” Robyn warned. “This is about Beth and that stupid shelf!”
“Robyn!”
Emma ran into the room and froze, seeing the mess in front of her. Normally she would find Robyn in the office first thing in the morning, ready to talk to her about the evening before as Robyn was on the early shift and she was on the late and she was so surprised to see it empty and after speaking with the girls downstairs, ran up to be met with a huge accident and unexpected Friday morning incident. She quickly walked over to the construction area and while her eyes were on Robyn, she could also see the other children in the room, all standing in the book corner staring at Robyn, their little faces in shock and confusion at what they were looking at. She glanced again to Robyn who had her face buried into a child’s hair, realising now it was Beth who she was holding and then saw the first aid supplies all over the rug. Seeing a blank expression on Jade’s face and Lisa standing closer to Robyn, she immediately did a quick assessment of the situation, her head going back to the young children.
“Right so Jade, how many children do you have?”
“I… well… there is… I think…”
“Seven.” Robyn looked up from Beth’s hair. “You have seven. James isn’t coming today and the McLoughlin twins are on holidays.”
“Jade, bring them outside. Let’s get these guys outside for a play.”
Emma quickly got the other children in the room into their coats and down the stairs with Jade to go outside, the manager coming back up quickly to the room. “Robyn?” She crouched in front of her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling a hand placed on hers. “Talk to me.” Robyn raised her eyes to her friend and manager and swallowed the lump in her throat. Emma could see the anger in her face but also the worry in her tired blue eyes. “Ok first what can I do?”
“We need to call Margaret.” Robyn said looking to Emma. “I haven’t got there yet.”
“Sure of course. I will do it now.”
“We still have the emergency operator on the phone.” Lisa said, looking to Emma, seeing the surprise quickly fill her face to hear that they had called the emergency services.
“That’s fine. We won’t hang up on them. I can use my mobile. I will call Beth’s mam. What happened?” Emma asked looking to Lisa, not too sure if Robyn was ready to speak just yet.
“The shelf fell over.”
“The one you were asked to move yesterday?” Emma saw Lisa’s face fill with guilt and the slightest nod of her head. “You didn’t move it when you were asked?” Lisa didn’t need to answer Emma, her shame as clear as day. “Lisa…” Emma said, staring at her. “Go on.”
“The kids were playing, leaning on it and the whole thing went over and Beth was playing with the blocks behind it and she got stuck under it.”
Emma immediately looked to Robyn who was avoiding eye contact, her face still buried into Beth’s hair, whispering to the little girl. She gripped Robyn’s shoulder again. She could only imagine where Robyn’s mind was right now and prayed her little gesture of support helped her, so proud of her for her quick actions, as she was sure Robyn was nothing but lightning fast to help the little girl.
“Robyn ran up the stairs and we lifted the shelf and she helped Beth. We called an ambulance. It is on the way as fast as it can.”
“This conversation about the shelf is not finished Lisa.” Emma said firmly. “But right now Beth is most important. Did the operator say how long it would be before the ambulance comes?” Emma asked.
“As quick as they could.”
“Robyn do you want to bring Beth downstairs?”
Lifting her head, Robyn shook it with a no. “I will stay here with her. I would rather not move her.” Robyn slowly brushed the back of her right index finger down Beth’s cheek. “I am not moving.”
“You sure? Want me to swap with you?” Emma asked.
“No I am ok.”
“Need your phone?” She asked kindly.
Robyn let out a slightly shaky breathe. “No I am alright for the moment thank you Emma.”
“Do we need to have a serious chat with staff?” The tone of the manager’s voice changed, the softness she had been using with Robyn now laced with a hard edge as the topic of conversation changed.
“I would much rather if you would do it alone please because I will lose my shit if I even start to speak to them.” Robyn knew she cursed in front of the little girl but didn’t really care. She was thoroughly pissed off. “I have already had to stop before I say something I didn’t mean and I know if I say anything else, words will be exchanged that I will not be able to take back.”
“I am sorry Robyn. I went to move the shelf yesterday but Jade needed help with something and then the time…”
Emma gave Lisa a look and the young girl stopped speaking, the operator coming through over the speaker phone to say the ambulance would be there within half an hour, asking how the little girl was. While she wasn’t crying any more, Robyn knew she was scared and hurting and hugged her close to her warm body. Nowhere near as hurt as Taron was when he was caught under the shelf, it didn’t make the situation any easier to deal with and the work she had put in with Penny on Wednesday evening at her session was quickly evaporating and she kept her eyes closed, trying to keep positive. As much as she wanted to text Taron and she knew she would, right now just wasn’t right time. Beth was much more important.
“What do you need Robyn?” Emma asked.
“One of the blankets from the dress up. Just to keep her warm.”
“Sure.” Emma stood up and walked over to the shelf and grabbed a pink blanket and came back over to the two on the ground and carefully covered Beth with it. “Robyn do you need anything?” Emma made sure to stress ‘you’ when she spoke.
Robyn shook her head. “Maybe get the blocks picked up, the room tidy for when the paramedics arrive.”
“Lisa, you look after that. I am going to go and ring Margaret. Explain to her what has happened.”
“Emma she is ok. She will be ok.” Robyn assured her. “She is the best and bravest little girl I know.”
Emma crouched down and once again placed her hand on Robyn’s shoulder. “I have no doubt in my mind. She is in the best hands with you. I can get your phone Robyn. Just to text him.”
“I will text him. I promise but when I get Beth settled and he is sleeping right now. He’s on night shoots.”
“I am going to get it anyway.” Emma said. “After I ring Margaret, I will bring it up to you.” She stood up and walked out of the room, walking down the stairs quickly and into the office. It was a part of her job that she hated, having to call parents for difficult conversations and this one wasn’t going to be an easy one but knowing Beth was upstairs with Robyn would give her mother some relief though Emma was immediately concerned about her supervisor. She knew Robyn would only put the children first before anything, even her own needs but hoped Robyn actually meant it when she said she would text the one person who would help her through the unexpected incident she found herself in the middle off. Pulling out her mobile phone from her bag, she opened the filing cabinet, taking out Beth’s file to get the phone number and as she called Beth’s mother, quickly thought through how she was going to start the chat with the little girl’s mam.
Once Emma had spoken to Beth’s mam, she took Robyn’s phone from her locker and walked up the stairs with it back into the Preschool room. Robyn was still cuddling Beth to her but also talking on the creche phone to who she presumed was the operator.
“Great thank you so much.” Robyn hung up the phone and dropped it on the floor. “Ambulance is about five minutes out. Margaret?”
Emma crouched down in front of her. “So thankful for your quick actions. Stuck in Wicklow in meetings.” She saw Robyn’s face change. “But is leaving immediately and once we know which hospital they are going to take Beth too, will make her way there straight away.”
“She must be so worried.”
“Of course but I told her everything that happened, how you are looking after Beth. I told her we will call her with updates, you will too.”
“Yeah of course I will.”
“Where is Lisa?”
“I told her to go outside.”
“You are really mad with them.”
“Emma if I didn’t send her out, I was going to scream. She was hovering around after she tidied up the room. I am disgusted with the two of them at the moment. I don’t want to say something I will regret later.”
Emma nodded. “No I understand how angry you are. The shelf should have been moved when you asked. I will speak to both of them for you.”
“Thank you Emma. I just can’t do it.” She gently rubbed Beth’s back. “I am glad we were able to help her so quickly, that the ambulance was so quick.”
“Paramedics are really that close?” Asked Emma
“Yeah I just had to direct them to the creche. Can you meet them at the door.”
“Sure Robyn.” Emma laid her hand on Robyn’s shoulder, frowning as she felt her shivering. “What can I do? Let me take her. I brought your phone.”
Robyn shook her head. “I am ok. I want to stay with her.” She lightly stroked Beth’s temple, the little girl finally calm in her arms. “And thanks for the phone.” She took it from Emma and left it on the rug beside her. “I will text him.”
“Call him Robyn. You have a few minutes.”
“Are you talking about Taron?” Beth lifted her eyes to look at Robyn. “I like him.”
“Yeah chicken. Me too. Now you relax ok.”
Robyn was taken aback at how amazing and still Beth was because she was sure she was terrified and Robyn was definitely feeling frazzled as she sat on the ground with her, waiting for the ambulance to arrive and keeping true to her word, she contacted Taron but through text rather than a phone call and it was just a simple rocket and man emoji. It had taken her that long to think of what to text him that by the time she had made up her mind of what to say to him, she heard the commotion of the paramedics coming up the stairs, it was the quickest thing she could send him. Although she had been settled in Robyn’s arms, Beth was so scared when the paramedics arrived, it took a lot of coaxing for her to move from Robyn, the young girl refusing to move from her lap completely, wanting to sit with someone familiar as the male paramedic examined her.
“Doesn’t look too bad at all. No concussion but that arm is going to have to be x-rayed.” Gavin, one of the paramedic’s explained once he did his best to check over the little girl, finding it little tricky as she stuck herself to the woman behind her. “She is lucky. You acted so quickly.” Robyn’s heart raced as she heard those words many times before but nodded. “But we will still have to bring her to the hospital.”
“Robyn?” Beth turned to look at her, her eyes full of fear. “I want my mammy.”
“Oh shh darling. It is ok.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“I will go with you and when we get there, your mammy will be there. We need the doctor to check your arm and Gavin and Ian will bring you there.”
“In the ambulance?” Beth asked.
“How fun huh?”
“Fun?” Beth didn’t sound so sure.
“Of course. It has this really cool bed in the back and you get to lay down and wear this special seat belt and what is even better is that the driver can turn on the siren which makes all the other cars pull over so we get to go faster and past all the cars and even some times we get to go through the red lights.”
“No!!” Beth smiled. “Really?” She looked to the paramedic who had been helping her.
“Really, though I don’t think we need to break any red lights but we can definitely put on the siren and we have special medicine in the ambulance that will help your arm stop hurting.”
Beth looked to Robyn. “Is that what they gave to Taron?” She asked. “When he was hurt? Special medicine?”
Robyn swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. The Preschooler’s wanted to know as much as they could about Taron after they had met him and because Beth had met him more times than the others, was very curious as to how he was Robyn’s friend and Robyn had told her the truth, just leaving out some details. “Yeah Beth but Taron got really strong medicine in the ambulance because he had more than a sore arm. He was really sick. Gavin and Ian will give you different medicine.”
“If we go, will you come with me?”
“Of course I will. I will stay with you until your mammy comes.”
“Then I will be like Taron.” Beth smiled a little. “Ok I will go in the ambulance to get my arm fixed.”
Robyn looked out of the side of her eye to Emma, who was staring at her and then to the paramedic who was also staring at her.
“Sounds like you have been here before?” He said as he packed up his bag.
Robyn nodded. “Seems to be a pattern with me lately.”
“Taron?” Asked Gavin. “I know I have heard that name before.” He zipped up his bag. “Ahh yes. My daughter.” He said with a smile. “Raves about this actor. Name is Taron.”
Robyn couldn’t help but return his smile, still holding Beth tight. “She tell you anything else?”
“Well if what she said is true, then I am glad this little one had you around.” Gavin reached out, to playfully tap Beth’s nose.
“It’s true.” Robyn confirmed quietly.
“Lucky lucky man.” He gave Robyn a half smile and then turned his attention to the little girl. “So Miss Beth, shall we go and see my really cool ambulance?”
“Robyn you are really coming?”
“I am not leaving you.”
With a few more assurances and a lot of coaxing, Beth let Gavin lift her into his arms, the paramedic making sure he didn’t jingle her arm too much and once she was happy and secure in his arms, they made their way down the stairs.
“Beth I am going to get my coat, I will follow you right out.” Robyn explained as Gavin carefully walked out the door with her. At her locker, Robyn pulled out her purse and car keys, slamming it closed, heading straight to the office to get her blazer from the back of her leather chair. She was making her way out of the office when Emma walked in, slightly blocking her way.
“Call him.” She simply said.
Robyn nodded. “I will.”
“Let me get you Margaret’s number.” Emma stepped past her and scribbled down Beth’s mam’s phone number on a post it for Robyn. She turned around and handed it out to her. “I can go with her if you want.”
“No.” Robyn said quickly. “If I stay here, I will literally blow a fuse.”
“Robyn…” Emma stepped forward and took her friend in for a tight hug. “I haven’t seen you this angry in a long time.” She rubbed her back. “You sure it is just anger or are you hiding your true emotions?”
“No not at all. I am just pissed off.” Robyn let out a long sigh. “And sure of course there are a number of horrible thoughts in my head right now but Beth is most important.”
“Call him.”
Robyn let Emma go. “I will.”
“Now.”
“What?”
“Quickly before you go. I want to see you call him.”
“The paramedics…”
“Are talking Beth into getting into the ambulance.” Emma walked out to stand in the front doorway, Robyn following. “Please call him and don’t forget I still have his number.”
With a threat of someone else speaking to Taron before she got a chance too, Robyn pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly tapped his number in, holding the phone to her ear, hearing it ring and ring until it went to his voice mail. “Hey Rocketman. I know you are sleeping but when you get this before you head to set, will ya give me a call. Just a shit day at work already and I need to hear my favourite Welsh accent for a bit. Thanks Taron.” Robyn ended the call and looked to Emma. “Satisfied?”
“Partly. He’s really on night shoots?”
“Yes. Until next week when he is back in London. Now can I go please? They are waiting for me.”
“Keep in touch with me and I will keep in touch with Margaret for you.”
“Thanks Emma.”
“And don’t you worry about those girls. I will be having that stern word before lunch and this does not fall back on your shoulders Robyn before you even think that way ok? You asked them to do something and I know you followed up with it again yesterday afternoon when it still wasn’t moved so this is on those girls and they will be given a proper warning for it. Lisa should know better.”
Robyn nodded. Although Lisa was her friend, when it came to work, Robyn had a huge responsibility on her shoulders and the safety of the kids came first. “I’m gonna go.” She walked out the door and turned back to Emma. “Please don’t call him. I don’t want him to overly worry when he sees your number again. He will call me back as soon as he sees the message.”
Outside the creche, Gavin was having a hard time convincing Beth to get in the back of the ambulance and when Robyn appeared, Beth jumped into her arms and she could feel her shaking and crying again. “I don’t wanna go in there.”
“Hunni, you…”
“No Robyn! I don’t want to.”
Robyn looked over her head to the paramedics who had been upstairs then seeing a new face among the other two.
“This is Ken. He is a garda but training to be a paramedic. He is spending some time on our rig with us.” Gavin explained. “I think she got a fright when he came around the ambulance.”
“No worries.” Robyn cradled Beth against her, trying to think of how she could coax her into the ambulance, when an idea came to her. “Give me two minutes.” Carrying Beth back into the creche, she picked up something from her desk and slowly walked back outside. “You wanna mind him for me?”
“Really?” Beth asked.
“Of course.” Robyn awkwardly turned the blue happy octopus around to the sad purple one. “You take him and you turn him around to his happy face when you are ready.” She handed it to her. “You know who gave this to me?” She asked, nodding to the paramedic as she stepped back, Robyn heading for the back of the ambulance.
“Who?” Asked Beth, distracted with the conversation and little excitement of getting Robyn’s octopus.
“Taron.”
“Really?”
“Sure did.” Robyn carefully climbed up the steps of the ambulance. “He gave it to me for when I feel sad and need to talk to someone. I send him a picture of wyth when he is sad and Taron calls me so we can talk. Then when I feel better I turn wyth back around to his happy face.”
“What is wyth?” Beth asked as Robyn carefully set her down on the bed in the ambulance.
“Well the octopus is. That is his name. Wyth means eight in Welsh.”
“Welsh?” Beth’s face crinkled up, making Robyn smile and she gave a little nod to Gavin who was waiting outside the ambulance to come in.
“Hmm. Welsh is what people from Wales speak. Like how we speak Irish. Taron is from Wales. He gave the octopus his name.”
“Taron is your best friend.”
“Yes he is.”
“I wish I could see him again.”
Robyn grinned. “I think he would love that. You see where we are?” Robyn asked, placing her hands on Beth’s knees.
“In the ambulance.”
“Not so scary right?” Beth shook her head. “Gavin is going to stay here with us and remember? Give you the magic medicine to help you feel better.” Beth nodded. “I will be here too.”
“And my mammy?”
“Will go to the hospital too.” Robyn said.
“Ok Robyn.”
“That’s my girl.” She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Nicely done.” He crouched down in front of the little girl. “Can I get you to lay down little one? Just for the drive.”
With encouragement from Robyn, Beth lay down and let Gavin close the security belt around her. Robyn picked up her keys and purse to move them out of the way and then froze, with the keys in her hand. Suddenly it dawned on her, that she had to get back home from the hospital. Gavin must have seen her puzzled face as she felt his hand on her shoulder. “You ok?”
“Yeah just thinking about how I am going to get home from the hospital. My car will be here.”
“No one could come and get you?” Gavin asked.
“Seems so stupid when I could follow the ambulance in my car.”
“She will not let you leave her.” The paramedic whispered, watching as Beth cuddled the octopus to her with her right hand. “What about Ken?”
“Ken?”
“Garda? Could follow us in your car, then you would have your way home.”
“Think he would do that?”
“Sure. Let me ask.” Gavin climbed out of the ambulance and was back in seconds with the garda. “Yeah Robyn. That’s no problem.”
With a nod, Robyn handed over her keys. “I make no excuses for the CD.” She said with a little grin, knowing well there was an eighties rock CD in her car.
The journey to the hospital was calm and quiet, Beth happy to sit with the octopus, Robyn sitting at her head, gently brushing her forehead with her finger tips. Without even thinking about it, she started to sing Tiny Dancer quietly, memories flooding her of her time in the ambulance with Taron. Gavin had set the little girl up and carefully cleaned her face. Robyn was so glad to see the cut on her head was very small despite the amount of blood. Gavin was surprised at how easy it was to help Beth now that she had a little toy octopus with her and a friend in Robyn. He quickly got some pain killers into her, knowing it was another reason why she had been settled in the back of the ambulance, but as he watched the young woman comfort the little girl, it was so clear if it wasn’t for Robyn, his job would have been a lot harder.
“So it is really true then?” Gavin asked as they travelled to the hospital. “Taron?” He probed with a raised eyebrow.
Robyn nodded, but kept her eyes on Beth. “All true.”
“Not an easy thing to do.”
“Nope.”
“He’s ok?”
“Yeah he is.”
“You keep in contact with him?”
Robyn couldn’t help but smile a little. “Constantly.” She turned her attention back to Beth and tried her hardest not to see Taron’s face under her left hand as she continued to gently stroke Beth’s forehead but it wasn’t as easy as that, Beth’s green eyes making it even harder to not think of Taron.
Gavin didn’t ask any more questions about Taron after that and a forty-minute journey later, the ambulance pulled into its parking bay. The back doors opened and Ian’s face appeared.
“Bad news.” He said. “There are been a massive pile up on the N11 and we gotta go. Just came over the radio. Four or five cars.”
“Give me ten to get Beth settled inside and we will go. You can turn the ambulance around. Find Ken.”
Once they got Beth’s seatbelt opened, Robyn carried her inside the white building, following Gavin to the A&E waiting room.
“I had called ahead earlier Robyn but now with this accident, I think this little one might be pushed back. Let me talk to the nurses really quickly.”
“Sure.”
Robyn waited patiently at the glass window, glancing to all the people waiting in A&E and prayed the fact that they had arrived in an ambulance would get them seen too quicker but when she saw Gavin’s face, knew they were in a for a long wait.
“I am so sorry.”
“It’s ok Gavin.”
“I did try.”
“No I get it. A massive accident will take priority over Beth.”
“Here is your ticket. The medicine I gave her should last a few hours but if she shows any sign of pain, please come up to the desk. I don’t want this princess uncomfortable.”
“Thank you so much.”
“You did most of it for me.” His head turned as his name was called and his partner walked over.
“Your keys.” He handed the bunch of keys to Robyn. “Ken has your car parked in section thirteen, row three and he told me to tell you, he approves of your choice of CD.”
With a smile, Robyn took the keys. “Thank you.”
“Look after yourself.” Gavin tapped Beth's nose. “And you too little one.”