He was breathtakingly handsome and very much in control of the situation.

Which was a relief because she felt completely and totally out of her depth.

He kept his voice low, explaining what he was doing as he worked. And he worked quickly.

‘Normally we wouldn’t handle the injured part without splinting,’ he told her after they’d given the man drugs to control the pain, ‘but in this case there’s severe deformity and the blood supply is compromised.’

‘So that could damage the soft tissues?’

‘Exactly. A good blood supply is vital to limb survival. So in this case I’m going to apply gentle traction to restore the alignment of the bones. Then we’ll splint.’

Katy blinked in surprise as one of the paramedics took a Polaroid photograph of the wound before covering it with a sterile dressing.

‘Why did he do that?’ She spoke in a low voice even though the patient was drifting in and out of consciousness, barely aware of what was happening.

‘Because exposing the wound again in the A and E department will increase the risk of infection, so if we can we take a photo at the roadside before we cover it,’ Jago explained. ‘No one will disturb the dressing now until this chap reaches Theatre.’

Katy watched while he reduced the fracture and then checked the pulses in the limb.

‘OK.’ He glanced up at the paramedics and ran a hand over his face to clear his vision, his thick, dark lashes clumped together in the rain. ‘I need a long leg splint.’

They produced one immediately and Jago immobilised the leg with help from Katy and one of the paramedics.

‘Splinting the leg will help control the pain but we need to get him to hospital fast. Blood loss from limb wounds and internal bleeding from fractures contribute to shock so we need to resuscitate him carefully.’ His eyes flickered to Katy. ‘Don’t forget that blood loss from open fractures can be two or three times greater than that from closed fractures.’

Katy listened, taking in everything he was saying, totally in awe of his amazing calm and the amount of knowledge he displayed.

He seemed totally indifferent to the rain and darkness, acting with the same degree of supreme self-confidence that he displayed in the well-equipped A and E department.

He was talking again. ‘One of the advantages of attending the scene of the accident is that you get a real picture of what happened and that helps you assess the possible injuries.’

She was eager to learn from him and for a brief moment their past history was forgotten, the tension between them easing as they concentrated on the patient. ‘And that’s why you always question the paramedics about whether the patient was a passenger or the driver?’

Jago nodded, his attention fixed on the patient. ‘It’s important to know whether they were in the vehicle or a pedestrian. Whether they were restrained by a seat belt. The direction of impact and the degree of damage to the car.’