Page 27 of Together Again at the Cornish Country Hospital

As he jumped to his feet, unable to believe that this could be happening again, relief flooded his body as the car skidded to a halt in front of him.

‘I’ll get Brenda out, if you can go and let them know we’re coming in please, Wendy.’ Lijah watched as a woman with ash-blonde hair stepped out of the car, and shouted the instruction to another woman who had just got out of the back seat.

‘Okay.’ Wendy disappeared through the doors into the emergency department, and Lijah walked towards the car as the other woman wrestled with a fold up wheelchair that looked too big for the boot of her car.

‘Can I do anything to help?’ He made the offer and she looked up at him, nodding.

‘Yes please. I managed to wedge this thing in here, but I’m not sure how and I can’t seem to get it out. I could do with a bit of muscle.’

‘Sorry, you’ve just got me then. I’m more brain than brawn, trouble is I’m not that clever either.’ Lijah grinned and her shoulders seemed to relax in response, as she looked at him properly for the first time.

‘But you’ve got a sense of humour about yourself, which is worth far more. Are you Lijah Byrne, or do you just really look like him?’

Lijah considered picking the second option for a moment, but then he nodded. ‘That’s me.’

‘I’m Gwen, a friend of Amy’s. She’s told me all about you.’ There was a twinkle in Gwen’s eyes as she looked at him, and he really wanted to ask her what Amy had said. But before he could, she turned back towards the rear passenger door of the car, leaving him to wrestle with the wheelchair.

‘Come on then Brenda let’s get your seatbelt off and get you inside so they can take a look at you.’ Gwen’s tone was gentle but firm, and Lijah had a horrible feeling she’d get Brenda out of the car before he could free the wheelchair. It really was wedged into the boot, forcing him to try and reposition it several times to get the angle right to free it.

‘That’s it, got it.’ Lijah finally managed to get the wheelchair out and set it down, unfolding the seat and clicking the handles into place.

‘Chauffeur service, and they say the NHS is on its knees.’ Brenda smiled at him from her position in the back of the car. ‘The question is, does that service extend to helping one old girl get another even older girl out of the car, because if Gwen tries to lift me she might become a patient too. I usually have to rope my son-in-law in to get me into the wheelchair.’

‘Hey, less of the old girl, Brenda. You speak for yourself!’ Despite her words, Gwen didn’t seem remotely offended. ‘You’re only as old as you feel.’

‘That may be, but eighty-six years of chip butties went into making this body, so I still wouldn’t recommend you try lifting me, even if you feel thirty years younger than you actually are.’

‘I think I’ve met my match in this one.’ Gwen was smiling again as she turned to Lijah. ‘But I don’t want you hurting your back either, so would you mind just making sure Brenda doesn’t try anything silly please, like getting herself out of the car, and I’ll see if I can find a porter to give us a hand.’

‘I thought we’d already established that I’m the muscle around here.’ Lijah took off his hat, putting it on the roof of the car, and mimed rolling up his sleeves. ‘Right then Brenda, let’s do this.’

‘I think I might burst a varicose vein more often, I haven’t had this much attention from a handsome young man since I was in my twenties.’ Brenda looked as though she was really enjoying herself. ‘The only trouble is you really remind me of someone, and I think it’s my grandson. So sadly I don’t think this is going to be the start of something wonderful.’

‘Don’t rule it out before you’ve even given me a chance.’ Lijah grinned before gently helping Brenda to swing her body round, so that her feet lifted over the lip of the car door and she was sitting on the edge of the seat facing outwards. ‘Right, are you ready to stand up? I’ll be there to steady you if you need me.’

‘I’m ready. Ooh it’s almost like we’re dancing.’ Lijah had hooked his arms under hers and she was right, it could have been a slow dance shuffle as he helped her into the wheelchair.

‘Thank you, and if you ever give up the day job, you’ve got a future in portering.’ Gwen gave him a nudge. ‘Although I doubt it pays as well as what you do now.’

‘Please don’t tell me you’re a lawyer, it was going so well between us.’ Brenda wrinkled her nose.

‘No, nothing like that, but I quite fancy the idea of portering, so how about I escort you inside to see if I’ve got what it takes?’ Retrieving his hat, Lijah put it back on his head and pushed the wheelchair towards the entrance of the emergency department, reaching the doors just as Wendy and Amy appeared.

‘Lijah?’ Amy’s face registered her surprise.

‘He’s been such a help.’ Gwen looked from her to Lijah and back again, the look of mischievousness returning to her eyes. ‘I couldn’t get the wheelchair out of the boot and Brenda was struggling to get out of the car too. If it hadn’t been for Lijah, we’d still be out there.’

‘He’s been wonderful.’ Brenda looked at Amy too. ‘And if I was fifty or sixty years younger, I’d definitely ask him for his number.’

‘Looks like you’re the hero of the hour.’ Amy’s expression was hard to read. ‘But I think I can take over from here.’

‘Sounds like a good plan.’ Lijah let go of the handles of the wheelchair and walked around to the front, leaning down to say goodbye to Brenda. ‘You take care of yourself Brenda and make sure those doctors get you sorted.’

‘I think it’s all a lot of fuss over nothing, I bet it’s stopped bleeding now.’ Before anyone could stop her, Brenda gave the bandage on her leg a surprisingly vigorous yank, pulling it downwards and sending a fountain of blood shooting up, making Lijah take the kind of leap to safety that an Olympic long jumper would be proud of.

‘Brenda, I think there might be some people who would have appreciated a warning that they were in danger of being in the splash zone before you took the bandage off.’ Amy didn’t seem remotely fazed, and Lijah watched in amazement as she stopped the bleeding within seconds by temporarily re-dressing the wound. This was what real heroics looked like and it was the kind of thing Amy did every day, with probably far more challenging injuries. Something shifted in his chest as he watched her work, all the feelings he had for her deepening. He opened his mouth to tell her that he thought she was amazing, but she didn’t give him a chance.

‘Let’s get you through to a cubicle then Brenda, I think we’ve established that the bleeding hasn’t stopped.’

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