Seven Nights with Her Ex by Louisa Heaton Page A

and pulled out a chocolate bar. Not just any chocolate bar, but her favourite .
    She blinked uncomprehendingly. Then she reached out and picked it up, almost not believing it was really there until she held it. Her anger—which had been simmering quietly ever since she’d stepped foot into that ranger station and seen him there—disappeared.
    â€˜I love these.’
    â€˜I know.’
    â€˜But...but you didn’t know I was going to be on this course.’
    â€˜No, I didn’t. But I’ve always bought them. Ever since...’ He stopped talking and looked down at the ground. ‘Anyway, you can have it. Seeing as you skipped dinner.’
    He walked back to the campfire and joined the others, his back towards her.
    She stared at the chocolate bar, which was slightly crumpled and soft from where it had been tightly packed into his bag, and felt her heart melt just a little bit more.
    He still bought them. Even after all this time.
    And I’ve just said all those horrible things...
    Beau swallowed hard. Now she felt guilty. Guilty for being so harsh towards him just because she’d been feeling confused. Was it his fault that she felt that way? No. She should be in greater control of her feelings. Hadn’t she always been before? Since he’d left her, she’d kept a rigid control over everything. Even down to making sure there were no unexpected surprises during her day. Her life had been timetabled to within an inch of its life. Knowing what would happen and when had kept her safe for so long. Had kept her from being hurt again.
    But maybe...maybe surprises could be a good thing? Maybe a little uncertainty, a little risk, was okay? Didn’t babies learn to walk by falling over? They didn’t expect the fall, but they learnt from their mistakes.
    Perhaps I need to let myself make a few mistakes? Take a few risks? Maybe there might be a little something out there for me, too.
    She peeled open the chocolate bar and took a small bite.
    * * *
    The next morning Mack woke them early again and began teaching them another lesson. The topic this time was fractures.
    â€˜You have to know, even as a layman, how to evaluate an injury—either for someone else in your group or yourself.’
    Beau could appreciate that. She was having a hard time assessing herself right now.
    â€˜You need to consider three things—the scene, a primary survey and a secondary survey if you’re to come to the most accurate conclusion and assist yourself or another hiker out in the wild.’
    â€˜What’s a primary and secondary survey?’ asked Leo. ‘I always get confused about those things.’
    â€˜Good question. A primary survey means looking at your patient and checking for life-threatening injuries or situations. So ABC. Airway. Is it clear? If not, why not? Can you clear it? Breathing. Is your patient breathing? Is it regular? Are there at least two breaths every ten seconds? And last of all circulation . Is there a major bleed? What can you do to stop it? That’s your primary survey.’
    â€˜And if there aren’t any of those signs?’
    â€˜Then you do your secondary survey. This also consists of three things. Remember with first aid and CPR there’s generally a rule of three—ABC is one set of three. Scene survey, primary survey, secondary survey is another. If you remember to check three, you can always feel secure in knowing that you’ve checked everything. The secondary survey includes checking vital signs, taking the patient’s history into account and a full head-to-toe body exam.’
    â€˜I’ll never remember it all!’ declared Barb.
    â€˜You’d be surprised,’ Gray said.
    â€˜Once you’ve checked their vitals are okay, you can ask if they have pain or an injury. Find out how that injury occurred. Does it sound like there was enough force to create a fracture? Then you check the body, feeling firmly