‘One moment he was eating his supper,’ the landlord said, ‘and then he crashed down on the floor, holding his throat.’

‘He said he felt funny,’ his wife sobbed. ‘He had a strange feeling in his throat. All of a sudden. I’ve no idea why. We’ve been on the beach all afternoon and he was fine. Never said a thing about feeling ill or anything.’

‘Anaphylactic shock.’ Ryan’s mouth was grim and Jenna dropped to her knees beside him.

‘Is he allergic to anything?’ She glanced at the man’s wife. ‘Nuts? Could he have been stung? Wasp?’

The woman’s eyes were wild with panic. ‘I don’t think he was stung and he’s not allergic to anything. He’s fine with nuts, all that sort of stuff—is he going to die?’

Ryan had his hand in his bag. ‘He’s not going to die. Ben, call the air ambulance and fetch me that oxygen you keep round the back.’ Icy calm, he jabbed an injection of adrenaline into the man’s thigh, working with astonishing speed. ‘Pete? Can you hear me? I’m Dr McKinley.’

Catching a glimpse of the role he’d played in a previous life, Jenna switched her focus back to the man’s wife. ‘What were you eating?’ She looked at the table. ‘Fish pie?’

‘Yes. But he’d only had a few mouthfuls.’

‘Are there prawns in that fish pie?’

‘Yes.’ Ben was back with the oxygen. ‘But they were fresh this morning.’

‘I’m not suggesting food poisoning,’ Jenna said quickly, ‘but maybe shellfish allergy?’

Covering the man’s mouth and nose with the oxygen mask, Ryan looked at her for a moment, his eyes narrowed. Then he nodded. ‘Shellfish. That’s possible. That would explain it.’ He adjusted the flow of oxygen. ‘I’ll give him five minutes and then give him another shot of epinephrine. Can you find it?’

Jenna delved in his bag and found the other drugs they were likely to need.

‘Shellfish allergy?’ The wife looked at them in horror. ‘But—this isn’t the first time he’s eaten shellfish—can you just develop an allergy like that? Out of nowhere?’

‘Jenna, can you squeeze his arm for me? I want to get a line in.’

‘Actually, yes.’ Jenna spoke to the woman as she handed Ryan a sterile cannula and then watched as he searched for a vein. ‘Some adults do develop an allergy to something that hasn’t harmed them before.’

‘The body just decides it doesn’t like it?’

‘The body sees it as an invader,’ Jenna explained, blinking at the speed with which Ryan obtained IV access. Her fingers over his, she taped down the cannula so that it wouldn’t be dislodged, the movements routine and familiar. ‘It basically overreacts and produces chemicals and antibodies. Dr McKinley has just given an injection to counter that reaction.’