For Those In Peril (Book 2): The Outbreak by Colin M. Drysdale Page A

there was a
hint of blue around his lips. ‘I think he’s in trouble.’
    ‘Let
me have a look.’ Claire shuffled across and I moved aside so she could examine
him. Her face changed almost immediately from concern to panic. ‘I think he’s
got a pneumothorax.’
    ‘A
what?’ Daz was leaning over Claire, trying to see what she was talking about.
    ‘A
punctured lung. He must have broken a rib.’ Claire’s eyes darted around the
cabin. ‘I need some sort of tubing.’ She turned to me. ‘Have you got anything
like that on board?’
    I
sprang up and opened one of the lockers. Its contents had been thrown
everywhere, but I eventually found the rubber tubing I was looking for. I held
it out. ‘Will this do?’
    ‘Yes.
What about a plastic bottle? Have you got one of those?’
    I
moved over to the galley, picking my way through the shattered crockery that
littered the floor. In one of the cupboards I found a water bottle which I
handed to Claire. She poured some of its contents onto the floor, leaving it
half full. Taking a scalpel from her bag, she cut the tubing in half, feeding
one end of each half into the bottle; one right into the water, the other just
above it. Using Elastoplast, she then bound them into position. ‘What about duct
tape?’
    I
found that quickly and passed it to her. She wrapped it round and round the top
of the bottle until it was completely sealed. Next, she pulled open Tom’s shirt
and examined his chest. ‘Have you got any alcohol? Whisky? vodka? Something like
that?’
    I
raced back to the galley and returned with an old bottle of gin which had been
floating around in the back of a cupboard for the last couple of years. ‘Will
this do?’
    Taking
it, Claire examined the label. ‘Yeah, that’ll work.’ She unscrewed the lid and
poured about half of it over her hands, the scalpel and the right-hand side of
Tom’s chest.
    ‘What
d’you do that for?’ Daz was following Claire’s every move.
    ‘She’s
sterilising everything.’ Sophie was standing behind Claire, watching her mother
work on Tom. She glanced over at me. ‘You’re bleeding.’
    ‘So
are you.’ I retorted and pointed to her arm. She looked down briefly before
taking a surgical dressing out of Claire’s bag. She applied it to her arm and
then wrapped a bandage around it to keep it pressed tight against the wound.
When she’d finished, she pointed to the nearest seat. ‘Sit!’
    I
didn’t move. ‘No, not until I know Tom’s okay.’
    Claire
looked up. ‘There’s no point in me sterilising him if you’re just going to bleed
all over the place. Let Sophie sort you out,’ Claire smiled at her daughter.
‘She knows what she’s doing.’
    I sat
down and watched as Claire took the scalpel and cut deep into Tom’s chest
between two of his ribs. There was an audible wheeze as air escaped from the
wound. Almost immediately, Tom’s breathing started to become deeper and more
regular; Claire let out a sigh of relief before turning to Daz. ‘I need you to
help me.’
    Daz
stood, staring, as if mesmerised by the blood oozing from Tom’s chest.
    ‘Daz,
snap out of it and get down here!’
    ‘What?
Oh! Yeah.’ Daz knelt down next to Claire.
    ‘Take
that bit of hose and pour some of the gin over it.’
    Daz
did as Claire told him.
    ‘That’s right. Now, while I hold this open, I need you to slowly feed the tube
into it.’
    With
her fingers, Claire levered open the cut she’d made in Tom’s chest, causing
blood to rush out; Daz grimaced in horror, but he did as he’d been told.
    Claire
smiled encouragingly. ‘Perfect. Now I need you to take that Elastoplast and use
it to hold the tube in place.’
    Daz
wrapped the tape around the tube, securing it to Tom’s chest. There was a noise
from the bottle as air started bubbling into the water and colour finally
started returning to Tom’s face.
    ‘That’s the worst of it dealt with. Now let’s get the