The Entonox mouthpiece made an obscene farting sound as the child sucked on it, the noise and the hit of pain-relieving gas sending him into a fit of giggles.

“You’re doing brilliantly,” Jem said, rechecking the splint around his fractured leg. “That’s it, pretend you’re sucking up a really thick milkshake. What’s your favourite flavour?”

“Chicken nuggets and chips,” he said and took a puff that made him reel like a first-time drunk.

“The ambulance is here,” his teacher told Jem. “And his mum is going straight to the hospital.”

“Great, thanks.” Jem waved at the approaching crew, both of whom were wearing hooded coats and wellies. “How bad is it out there?” she asked, meeting them halfway. She had been waiting for backup for over an hour, and three of the school’s playing fields had been under water on her arrival.

“If you’ve got a couple of oars, a rudder, and a tiller stashed in your car, you’ll be fine,” the paramedic said. “Half the Crofton crews are stranded at home, and Pud brought a lilo and floated it around the car park.”

She laughed. “Outstanding. Right, let me tell you about our chap with the midshaft tib fib.”

She was wading through the car park, cursing herself for not remembering to pack her own wellies, when her radio buzzed.

“Kev wants to see you on station,” Ryan said. “Something about missing morphine.”

“Crap,” she whispered, off the channel. That was the last thing she needed. She hadn’t spoken to a union rep, she hadn’t prepared anything in her defence, and, to be frank, she had enough on her plate today. She thumbed her talk button. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Don’t be rushing in this weather,” he said, obviously reading between the lines. “And if a cardiac arrest comes in, it’s yours.”

In keeping with Jem’s general run of fortune, no emergency dire enough to warrant her attendance prevented her getting to Darnton, even with the roads snared up and traffic moving at a snail’s pace. Her boots squelched on the carpet as she walked toward Kev’s office, announcing her presence to all and sundry, and stopping her from hiding in the loo until Ryan managed to find her a job. She knocked on Kev’s door, listening for his customary “How do!” before she pushed it open.

“Oh.” She hesitated on the threshold. She had assumed he would be with Baxter, but Amira was the only other person in the office. “Sorry. Do you want me to wait in the crew room?”

“No, come on in.” Kev indicated the empty chair beside Amira. “How are you feeling?”

Scared shitless, she thought, and then realised he was asking after her health.