CHAPTER 17
I made sure I got our bosses to let me go to court for that one. I wasn’t needed as a witness, but the sight of a paramedic, in working rig, with a shiner, might help gee up the Bench.

Affray, assault, ABH times three, assault on an emergency worker, oh, and possession of a Class B drug, amphetamine to be precise; guilty, to all. He at least had the good grace to mouth ‘Sorry’ at me from the dock. Unfortunately for him, he was already on licence for burglary, so off he went to Cardiff for an en-suite holiday at someone else’s expense, and I got two hundred pounds in compensation.

CHAPTER 16
I looked round the room, remembering Elf’s words.

‘Marlene won’t allow face coverings, after the Admiral Duncan bombing. No furries, no puppy boys, but everyone else, aye? Safe space’

Safe space.

“What can you offer, Lil?”

“Careful who you say that to, woman. What’s your usual poison?”

A gala drawing gives Samantha a role Samuel never asked for: princess. But helping a frightened child may force him to see the experience differently.

CHAPTER 3
“Take a seat. Please”

He slumped into one of the armchairs, setting his briefcase upright on the floor beside him, where it promptly fell over.

“Harry… “

He stopped abruptly, looking down at his clenched hands, then slowly relaxed his fingers before looking back up at the two of us on the settee.

“There have been rumours, you know. I wasn’t sure… Short form, then. Mary, could I have that tea after all? Please?”

She brought an extra mug from the kitchen, and the three of us sat silently as she poured and handed him the cup.

“What do I call you? Harry seems a bit awkward”

“What everyone else does”

“Ellie? I always did wonder about why you pushed that one. Bit too glib, I thought, and I was right, wasn’t I? So, please, executive summary”

I looked quickly at my wife, then jumped in. Soonest humiliated, soonest over.

“Lots of cliché stuff, really, so I won’t go into the usual rigmarole”

Having been invited out by an old acquaintance Barb goes with Cindy a short shopping trip.

CHAPTER 15
I had indeed been squeaky new when I had met Hira, just settling in at the Cardiff hub as I was. I had realised early on in my training that while I was competent at driving the big box of an ambulance, I didn’t have the spatial awareness of someone like Tom, who seemed almost to wear the vehicle like a second skin. My forte was that of an advanced nurse practitioner, with extra trauma skills, so I concentrated on those aspects. It meant a lot of mixing and matching crews for a long time, but eventually Tom and I gelled.