‘I got it, Gio! I got the job!’ She didn’t know what to do with herself, doubling back into the lounge, hands on her hips, her breathing ragged. ‘I have a job, Gio. A proper one. A real one, one that might last!’
He wrapped her in a hug and held her until she’d calmed down a bit. This was the kind of buzzy mood that reminded him of days when she’d been happy about something – anything – and usually, it had ended up with a celebration, with booze in amounts that would make most people’s hair curl.
‘Well done. When do you start?’ he asked.
‘Tomorrow lunchtime. Oh, Gio, it’s for a reputable agency. I’llhave a steady income, I’ll have clients – that’s what they call them,clients.And they’ll train me up, the hours are flexible. I never thought they’d be interested in me, but they are, they really are.’
‘Mum, it’s really great.’
She’d already picked up her phone. ‘I have to tell Marco and the kids.’
Gio left for work, hoping Marco answered the call, hoping he’d see what was happening with their mother, that she really was turning her life around.
Everything was changing and in a good way.
And by the time he arrived at the fire station, his brother had messaged him to say he was pleased about Marianne’s new job.
Was it too much to hope that, finally, things were looking up in the Mayhan family?
8
Hovering above the Dorset countryside in the darkness in Hilda, Bess felt her chest tighten like it had a physical weight on it every time she thought about what she’d done.
In the locker room before The Skylarks had got their first call of the shift, Bess had checked her bank balance. The payday loan she’d applied for online a couple of nights ago had been approved quickly, in her account swiftly, and without delay, she’d paid the amount owed on the loan she’d taken out for the new boiler, hopefully putting a stop to the loan company taking further action. At least for the time being. She still hadn’t paid it off in full but it was enough to stop them hounding her for a while. Relief, however, was temporary, because now she had another loan of £1,000. And this one came with a ridiculously high interest rate that would increase her debt by a couple of hundred pounds even if she paid it off within the month.
But Bess couldn’t let those thoughts invade her head too much right now, because The Skylarks were en route to a job.
The nights were drawing in all the more now they were well into November and the crew were wearing night-vision gogglesas they made their way to the scene of a structure fire where there were possible multiple casualties. Bess took the radio update from the HEMS desk – the initial fire was almost out, half a dozen people had been inside the building and all had made it to safety as the firefighters continued to put out the blaze in the building next door to the original structure affected. Proximity of the industrial estate to an ambulance base meant that the road paramedics were already in attendance along with the fire brigade, joined by the police, and the air ambulance had been deployed in case they were needed for transportation or help at the scene. The Skylarks hadn’t been out as quickly on this job as they would have been in daylight hours because in order to fly at night, they had to follow extra protocols. Before lifting into the air, they had to establish two or three possible landing sites, all of which were required to be larger than they would be in daylight in case online maps failed to identify something which may now be occupying the area such as a new building or campers or temporary structures. Once they were in the air, they had continued to recce landing sites from overhead as usual.
Bess hoped the crews managed to put out the fire quickly, unlike the personal fires she kept creating for herself – it was as though her debts were one big blaze and embers kept flying off and starting little fires everywhere.
‘Two minutes to go,’ Maya announced into her headset.
They’d already decided back at base that they could land in one of three car parks, the biggest being at the north end of the industrial estate. The crew kept everything crossed that that car park would still be empty as they’d been advised.
Maya hovered the helicopter above the centre of the car park. The downdraft blew a dilapidated fence to the right, sent a few cones on the other side flying, but with the guidance of a policeofficer down below using hand signals to assist with the helicopter’s landing, they set down safely.
As soon as the doors were declared clear, Noah and Bess leapt out and hauled their bags onto their backs as well as the rest of the kit and the scoop. It was a short distance away from the fire engines and police had blocked off both ends of the road so there was no passing traffic.
The police officer who met them in the car park updated them further as they made their way towards the site. The surrounding premises had been evacuated. Six casualties were already being treated by road paramedics but the fire was still blazing and as they got closer, thick, grey smoke billowed into the air. Bess could see jets of water behind the structure as they approached. There were a lot of buildings and businesses along this road, plenty of livelihoods at risk as well as the threat to life.
Bess wouldn’t have known the firefighter out front was Gio until she heard the crew member he was standing with yell to him, ‘Do not go in, that’s an order, Mayhan!’
It must be the officer in charge and there was obviously a clash about something. Gio had always been a strong character, never a pushover; those were among the many traits of his that she admired. She wondered then how it was going with his mother. They hadn’t had a chance to catch up since bumping into each other in the supermarket that day. Both of them had such busy lives with demanding jobs. If she ever found a life partner, they’d have to understand that too.
Bess and Noah took a wide circle around the scene to keep themselves as safe as possible as they tried to reach the patients and the road paramedics further along.
One of the road paramedics advised Noah and Bess that all victims were good to go by road ambulance. There were onlyminor injuries, some smoke inhalation, and no co-morbidities to worry about.
But Bess didn’t have time to feel relieved about that or respond because they all turned at the roar of a voice.
‘Mayhan!’
And Bess saw a brief glimpse of what could only be Gio’s form running towards the building they had evacuated.
What the hell was he doing? Obeying orders didn’t mean you were a pushover. Those orders were usually given for a reason. He should be listening.
Mind back on her own job, she and Noah continued to talk with the road paramedic and agreed they would wait to see if they were needed for anyone else on scene.
