Page 28 of Falling for Provence

Julien knew that, as soon the nearest stall holder got through on the phone and told theService d’Aide Médicale Urgentethey were coming to a child who was choking, they would send one of their advanced life support units, staffed by a doctor and nurse or highly trained paramedic. In the meantime, he knew he had only a short window of time to save this child.

He scooped the little girl into his arms and turned her face down with her head lower than her chest, flattening his hand so that he could apply back blows that might be effective enough to dislodge whatever was blocking her airway. But when he tried another rescue breath, it was clear that the air was not reaching her lungs.

He could still feel a pulse in her neck, but that window of time had just become smaller; unless he could clear her airway, her heart would stop beating. Julien got to his feet with the child still in his arms. He could get to his consulting room in less than sixty seconds, and he had all the equipment he might need there, like a defibrillator to manage a cardiac arrest, special forceps to try and remove the obstruction, and even the surgical itemsthat would enable him to create an airway in the child’s throat if necessary.

The concerned crowd of onlookers parted as he told people to tell the ambulance crew where to find him, and, as he started moving, Julien noticed two things. One was that the mother of this child was standing very still, frozen with shock. The other was that Ellie was also watching – a reflection of that shock on her own face.

‘Come,’ he told Ellie, as he strode past. ‘Follow me and bring the mother. She needs to be with her daughter.’

As did Ellie, he realised. Both these women needed to see that everything possible was being done to save a young life.

Assistance was also valuable, with his clinic being empty of staff for the lunch break. He laid the girl onto the white sheet covering the couch in his consultation room and called Ellie closer.

‘I need you to do chest thrusts,’ he told her. ‘Like this.’ He took her hand and placed it on the child’s chest. ‘Push with the heel of your hand. As fast and as deep as this.’ He held her hand under his as he demonstrated. ‘It will help to keep her heart going and might dislodge the obstruction.’

It also made it possible to step away and find and prepare the equipment he needed. He chose a curved blade to snap onto the handle of a laryngoscope and clicked on the light to make sure it was working. Then he reached into a cupboard that had emergency kits and found a small-sized pair of Magill’s forceps. Like an elongated and angled pair of scissors with blunt, circular ends, these forceps were specifically designed to be used in airways to guide the placement of tubes or to remove foreign objects.

He slid a rolled-up towel beneath the girl’s shoulders to tilt her head into the best position.

‘Stop for a moment,’ he instructed Ellie.

The bright, focused light from the laryngoscope, with its blade holding the tongue out of the way, was his best chance of seeing and removing a foreign object. And hecouldsee something… As he picked up the forceps and felt his entire body tensing as he focused, Julien could feel a similar tension radiating from Ellie. She was holding her breath. The mother was just as still. The crew from the ambulance were stepping through the door, and they, too, stopped so as not to disrupt his task. It felt like the entire world was holding its breath.

He slid the forceps into place and closed them carefully, but as he tried to pull the small, slippery object clear, it escaped the grip of the metal. He could hear his own breath escape in a hiss of frustration at the same time, and he glanced up, knowing that the SAMU doctor would be ready to step in and perform the surgery needed if this didn’t work. The instant nod he received told him that his silent message had been received.

One more try…

As his gaze brushed Ellie’s on the way back, it was his turn to receive unspoken communication.

You can do this… Please…

It took only a split second, and then Julien was aware of nothing but the need to guide the forceps into place, take the time needed to get the best grip possible and then to pull very slowly and very carefully until…yes…

The sound of the child taking a first, desperate gasp of air in too long a time happened at the same time he lifted up the forceps holding the large, firm green olive. The cry from the child’s mother was almost lost in the sound of other voices as the emergency crew stepped in to help provide oxygen and assess their young patient to ensure she was breathing adequately.

She was doing even better than that. She was regaining consciousness, at first confused and frightened, but then she saw her mother and reached out with both her small arms, andher first word cut through every other sound in the room with piercing clarity.

‘Maman.’

Oh, God…

Thatword. With all its connotations and, on this occasion, the overwhelming relief that was more than enough to bring tears to Ellie’s eyes as she stepped further back to allow the medics to do their job. She could understand nothing of what was being said, but it was obvious they were comforting the mother as they did things like listening to her daughter’s chest. Everybody was clearly very happy with the outcome of this crisis, but it appeared that they were going to take both mother and child away – presumably for a more thorough check in a hospital – so, in what seemed like a very short space of time, Ellie found herself alone with Julien.

She needed to say something. To tell him how incredibly impressed she was with his ability to save a life. That she knew exactly what it would mean to that young mother, but she knew she would burst into tears if she tried to say anything. And maybe she didn’t need to, because the expression in Julien’s eyes suggested that he understood completely how she was feeling about the crisis she’d just witnessed.

More than that, even. That, because he knew about Jack, he understood how it had made her feel when she’d been holding his son in her arms and he’d opened his eyes and said the same thing this child had said when she’d woken?

Maman.

Mammy.

Julien didn’t say anything, either. He took a step towards Ellie. And another. And then he simply took her into his arms and held her. She could feel his warmth. The beating of his heart against her cheek. The strength of his arms as he tightened his hold when she did burst into tears. And still he said nothing. He didn’t move – as if he had all the time in the world to hold her. To comfort her. To let her know that he understood.

To tell her that it was okay? That she was safe?

Ellie wanted all the time in the world. She didn’t want to move. She’d never felt quite this safe in her life and… it was a feeling that was so powerful it was impossible to pull away from it. Far more powerful than any physical attraction she’d discovered to this man, in fact.

You could fall in love with someone who could make you feel this safe.

---