High-Altitude Doctor Page 10

  And then Finn muttered, ‘Oh, my God.’ She heard a hideous grinding, crashing noise as the helicopter plummeted onto the rocky surface of Base Camp.

  ‘He’s lost control.’ Finn was out of the tent in an instant, immediately assessing the damage and taking charge. In his usual calm, authoritative way he kept people back from the helicopter, gesturing to Juliet to follow him. ‘We need to get them out.’

  She followed him, scrambling over boulders and rubble, slipping on patches of snow, her heart thudding hard from exertion and reaction.

  The helicopter lay on its side like a huge, felled beast and as they reached it the door opened and the pilot scrambled out, blood pouring from a wound on his head, his eyes shocked.

  ‘Take him to the tent and get some oxygen straight on him,’ Finn ordered grimly, and Juliet nodded, knowing that the pilot had come straight up from the Kathmandu valley and used oxygen to make the flight to this altitude. Without additional oxygen now he would soon develop AMS—acute mountain sickness.

  He ran the risk of becoming severely ill very quickly.

  It was a reminder to all of them just how high they really were, she thought as she introduced herself to the pilot and slipped an arm round him to give him some support.

  Billy stepped forward to help her and together they left Finn to deal with the copilot while they helped the pilot to the medical tent.

  Juliet gave him oxygen and then examined him swiftly. The cut on his head was superficial and she cleaned and dressed it and then looked up as Finn arrived with the copilot.

  He, too, appeared relatively uninjured, which was nothing short of a miracle.

  ‘They’re heroes, even attempting to fly up here,’ Finn muttered as he handed the copilot an oxygen mask and gave him a thorough examination. ‘I can’t believe their injuries aren’t worse.’

  ‘I’ve radioed for another helicopter,’ Billy said, coming back into the tent to reassess the situation. ‘They can take Lopsang and then come back for the pilot and copilot. We’re going to sort out a suitable landing spot.’

  Juliet glanced up as a Sherpa appeared in the doorway, looking apologetic. He was complaining of a terrible headache and she gave him some aspirin just as Neil appeared.

  ‘Looks like I’ve been missing all the action.’ He grinned and glanced back at the downed helicopter with a shake of his head. ‘Can’t you get anything right without me?’

  Juliet smiled, pleased to see him. ‘Drama, drama, drama,’ she said wearily. ‘Just don’t you collapse on me or I’ll fire you from the team. How’s your headache?’

  ‘Gone. I’m fully acclimatised. Fit as a fiddle.’ Neil flexed his muscles. ‘And just to prove it, I’ll go and heave boulders with Billy.’

  The second helicopter made two journeys to evacuate the Sherpa and the pilots of the abandoned aircraft and two hours later everything at Base Camp was once more quiet.

  That evening the Everest expedition team joined Finn’s team for ‘dinner’, which turned out to be yak stew and rice.

  ‘I’m definitely turning vegetarian,’ Juliet muttered, nibbling the meat cautiously and then wishing she hadn’t. ‘I think I’ll stick to the rice.’

  ‘You’ll never grow big and strong like that.’ Neil reached across and helped himself to her meat. ‘Won’t reach the top of Everest if you don’t eat.’

  Juliet caught Finn looking at her and knew what he was thinking.

  That she shouldn’t be going to the top of Everest at all.

  After dinner they all gathered in the mess tent to watch a DVD and Juliet marvelled on how incongruous it was, to be sitting where they were, watching a film.

  Somehow she found herself seated next to Finn and she could feel the hard press of his thigh against hers and the brush of his shoulder.

  Her whole body tingled with awareness.

  He was the only man who had ever done this to her.

  The only man to make her feel like a complete woman, no matter what the circumstances.

  Here they were, at a ridiculously high altitude, wearing thick clothing, and all she could think about was what it would be like to kiss him again.

  She cursed herself mentally and tried to concentrate on the film.

  She’d rebuilt her life without him and now, seeing him and working so closely with him, had somehow unravelled her.

  She was feeling things that she didn’t want to feel. Things that she hadn’t felt for years.

  It was just attraction, she told herself firmly. Finn was a staggeringly attractive man and if she was in any doubt about that, she only had to watch the way all the other females in Base Camp gravitated towards him, hoping to snare his interest.

  Even now, Anna, from her own team, was smiling at him flirtatiously from across the room as they argued a point about climbing technique.

  Juliet felt something twist inside her.

  She wasn’t jealous. She absolutely wasn’t. Because to admit that she was jealous would mean admitting that she had feelings for Finn. And she didn’t. She absolutely didn’t.

  He was a friend, nothing more.

  And she needed to keep her distance from him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  OVER the next week the various teams climbed up to the different camps in their preparations for the push to the summit, which would hopefully come in early May.

  Juliet spent a grim, freezing night at Camp II before descending back to Base Camp where she found herself kept busy seeing a steady stream of sick climbers and Sherpas.

  Finn was up on the mountain, and when he finally descended she managed to keep herself so busy that they barely saw each other for almost a week.

  Not all the expeditions had doctors with them and she was more than happy to help anyone she could, relieved that she’d been generous when she’d been judging the quantities of supplies to bring on the trip.

  A nasty stomach virus attacked Base Camp and laid everyone low for several days, followed by a fever and cough which managed to keep a large proportion of the teams off the mountain for several days.

  The weather gradually deteriorated and Base Camp was battered by howling winds that threatened to drag the tents from the snow-covered glacier and hurl them down into the valley.

  Wondering what it must be like for the climbers high up on the mountain in the current storm, Juliet lay huddled in her tent, wearing almost all the clothes she possessed, listening to the screaming howl of the wind and wondering whether the tent was going to blow away, taking her with it.

  Through the shrieking of the wind she heard her name and struggled forward to unzip her tent, wondering who on earth needed her in these conditions.

  Finn pushed through the flap, bringing a flurry of snow and freezing air with him. He turned and zipped the tent up behind him with a gloved hand. ‘I was just checking up on you.’ His powerful shoulders dominated the confined space and Juliet wriggled back against the tent wall and immediately regretted it as snow showered over her.

  She shivered. ‘You let all the cold into my nice warm house,’ she muttered sarcastically, and he grinned.

  ‘You always did have a penchant for five-star accommodation.’ He glanced around him and then back at her. ‘Only on Everest does it snow inside your tent. Are you all right?’

  Her teeth were chattering. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’

  ‘Well, for a start you rejected your yak for supper yet again,’ he said in a conversational tone, ‘which means that you’re considerably lighter than the rest of us. I’d hate you to be blown away down the valley.’

  ‘Is that why you’re here?’ She huddled deeper into her down jacket. ‘To help weigh my tent down?’

  ‘Something like that.’ His gaze roamed over her face. ‘I’ve hardly seen you the last week. You’ve turned into the unofficial Base Camp doctor. All I hear is praise for Dr Juliet.’

  She tried to smile but her teeth were chattering too much. ‘I’m glad I’m down here and not up there.’

  He nodded. ‘Camp
IV is being hammered by winds. These are prime conditions for developing frostbite. If the weather doesn’t improve, no one will be going for the summit for a while. The forecast is terrible.’ He reached out a hand and touched her face. ‘You’re losing weight, Jules.’

  ‘Everyone loses weight at this altitude,’ she croaked, trying not to react to his touch. ‘It’s basic physiology. You know that as well as I do. Up here the body gradually deteriorates.’

  Finn gave a crooked smile. ‘Your body still looks fine to me. Or I should say, what I can see of it underneath that sexy gear you’re wearing looks fine to me.’

  Despite the cold, she couldn’t help laughing. He’d always been able to make her laugh. Her heart bumped against her chest. ‘How long do you think this storm will last?’

  He shrugged. ‘Who knows? It’s not looking good though. Why?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you scared?’

  She glared at him, her green eyes fierce. ‘I’m not scared of anything.’

  He gave a soft laugh. ‘Oh, yes, you are, sweetheart.’ His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there. ‘You’re afraid of standing in front of an altar and saying “I do”. You’re afraid of commitment. You’re afraid of loving and you’re afraid of losing.’

  The wind screamed around the tent, obliterating all other sounds, giving them total privacy. The other climbers might as well have been a million miles away.

  Trapped in the confined space of the tent, she was breathlessly aware of every male inch of him. ‘I’m sorry about everything, Finn. I just want you to know that.’ Who knew what might happen in the next few days up on Everest’s slopes? There were things that she needed to say and she knew she had to say them now. ‘I didn’t think about you. Just about me.’

  ‘You were confused, scared and sad about the baby,’ he said roughly, letting his hand fall to his side. ‘I understood.’

  ‘I know it was an accident but I wanted our baby,’ she whispered, and he nodded.

  ‘I know you did. I wanted it, too. We should have talked about it at the time.’

  She shook her head. ‘I just couldn’t. It was weird. Part of me was terrified by the responsibility but another part of me was thrilled to be pregnant. Then I lost it and it was like a sign…’

  Finn let out a long breath. ‘It wasn’t a sign, Jules. It was just nature being her cruel self, sweetheart.’

  She wrapped her arms round her waist. ‘If I hadn’t lost the baby—’

  ‘We’d be happily married.’

  ‘I’d be at home with our child and you’d be up here, risking your life,’ she said flatly, and he looked at her in silence for a long time.

  ‘Is that what you think?’

  ‘I’ve seen it over and over again, and so have you.’ She ignored the sudden shriek of the wind that almost drowned their conversation and she ignored the increasing chill of her fingers and toes. ‘Climbing mountains is not compatible with family life.’

  ‘There are plenty of climbers who have perfectly rewarding family lives.’

  ‘It would never have worked.’

  He slid a hand behind her head and forced her to look at him. ‘Tell me you loved me, Jules.’

  She stared at him, her heart thundering against her chest. ‘I didn’t love you.’

  She’d never been in love. She’d seen the agony of love firsthand and she’d always promised herself that it wasn’t going to happen to her. She made sure it didn’t.

  Frustration, irritation and something approaching anger flickered in his dark eyes. ‘Jules—’

  ‘I’m sorry, Finn,’ she croaked, jerking her head away from his hand, ‘but I don’t love you. We would have got married because of the baby. That’s all true. But I don’t love you and I never did.’

  He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes hard and his jaw tense.

  And then he moved back to the entrance of her tent and dragged down the zip.

  Juliet watched him go, her thoughts numb and tangled.

  She didn’t love him. She didn’t. She just didn’t.

  So why, since he’d left, did the air suddenly seem so much colder?

  And why did her tent seem bleaker and more lonely?

  Her feelings clearly didn’t go beyond friendship.

  Finn lay in the privacy of his own tent, listening to the relentless assault of the wind and the deep, agonising groans of the glacier beneath him. It was almost as if the mountain was exploding in a fit of temper, reflecting his own anger.

  Because he was angry.

  With Juliet. With life for dealing them a lousy hand. But mostly with himself.

  He’d been so sure that she loved him. So sure…

  And yet he was starting to believe that he’d made a serious misjudgment.

  He’d thought she was afraid of commitment. He’d believed she was afraid to allow herself to love.

  But he’d never, once, no matter what the circumstances, been able to persuade her to admit that she loved him. So maybe she didn’t. Maybe she never had.

  Perhaps he was being arrogant in even thinking that she had.

  Now it was time to give up.

  Time to move on and acknowledge that Juliet Adams didn’t have feelings for him and never would.

  He was going to climb this mountain and then put thoughts and memories of her well and truly behind him.

  He was going to get on with his life.

  The storm had eased by dawn and Juliet gingerly opened the zip on her tent and surveyed the damage to Base Camp.

  Several tents had been ripped by the wind but things could have been worse.

  ‘Dr Juliet.’ The Sherpa who did the cooking for their expedition brought her a cup of hot tea which she accepted with a grateful smile.

  Her head was throbbing, her chest was hurting and she felt run-down and exhausted.

  She still wasn’t sleeping well but suddenly her dreams were all about Finn. Finn kissing her. Finn stripping off her clothes…

  With an impatient sound she concentrated on her tea and told herself firmly that anything was better than nightmares about her brother.

  She took an aspirin, hoping that it would relieve her headache, and resolved to drink as much liquid as she possibly could over the coming day.

  Suddenly she thought of Simon and his comment that climbing Everest was ‘easy’. She wished he were here now, with his feet in her boots, experiencing what she was.

  There was certainly nothing easy about it, she thought gloomily as she forced herself to pull on extra layers and walk over to the mess tent for breakfast.

  The altitude had totally killed her appetite but she knew the importance of eating so she tried to force down some mouthfuls of porridge, even though the effort nearly choked her and she felt physically sick.

  Around the camp climbers were emerging from tents, assessing and repairing any damage caused by the high winds, exchanging information on the higher camps.

  ‘The Russians have lost two tents at Camp III,’ Billy told Juliet as he joined her in the mess tent, ‘and the winds will delay laying ropes up to Camp IV. But on the whole we’re doing all right. Tomorrow you can push on up to Camp III.’

  Juliet gave up on food and forced herself to drink. She couldn’t imagine having the energy to climb up to Camp III but she knew that somehow she’d manage it.

  Resolving to have as quiet a day as possible, she spent the time checking her equipment, making sure that everything was in good order for the climb ahead.

  Several times during the day she spotted Finn, but he merely nodded in her direction and spent the time with his own team.

  And she wasn’t missing him, she told herself firmly as she laid out her crampons and selected two ice axes. They were friends, nothing more. Colleagues. She wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t come over to talk to her. Not at all. In fact, she was relieved, because she didn’t want the entire camp speculating on the exact nature of their relationship.

  Fortunately the weather had been too wild for anyone to
have noticed his presence in her tent the previous night.

  Juliet tried to occupy herself but inside she felt heavy and flat and couldn’t work out why.

  Usually she loved being in the mountains but today the snowy flanks of Everest seemed threatening and menacing and the creaks and groans of the icefall seemed to be a warning not to enter.

  And in two days she’d be back up there.

  Risking her neck to climb a mountain that had already claimed the life of her brother.

  Was Finn right?

  Was she doing it for the wrong reasons?

  If it weren’t for Dan, would she be here?

  ‘Dr Juliet, come quickly!’

  Juliet woke from a light sleep to find one of the Sherpas hovering by the entrance to her tent, shining a flashlight directly in her eyes.

  She sat up and put a hand over her eyes, still groggy, crushed by the lack of air and the nagging, throbbing pain in her head that never seemed to ease. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘A climber is very sick, Dr Juliet. You must come quickly. Dr Finn says it is urgent.’ The flashlight was still shining in her face and she squinted as she struggled out of her sleeping bag, gasping as the cold night air bit straight through to her bones.

  ‘Sick?’ Shivering and tired, she dragged on her down jacket, moving as quickly as she could. ‘Who is sick?’

  ‘Spanish boy very sick.’

  Juliet frowned. The Spaniards were a small, experienced team who were travelling without a doctor. She knew that they’d already been up as far as Camp III and had seemed to be doing well.

  She walked the short distance to their tents and found Finn already on his knees, examining the sick climber who was writhing and moaning on the floor and coughing up blood-stained, frothy sputum.

  For a moment Juliet froze.

  She knew exactly what she was seeing.

  As she watched, Finn pushed his knuckles hard into the man’s sternum and the climber waved an arm to push him away.

  ‘He’s responding to painful stimulae.’ Finn glanced up at her, a stethoscope looped round his neck and a grim expression on his handsome face, ‘but nothing else. His pulse and respirations are rapid and I’m hearing crackles in his chest. To be honest, I don’t even need to use the stethoscope. It sounds like sucking liquid through a straw.’