Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing.

Chapter Nine

'Louisa.'

Martin leant forward, terrified, and touched her skin. It was warm. Leaning forward he lifted her free arm and fumbled for her pulse. As he felt the movement under his fingers a rush of pure joy raced through him. She was alive! Her pulse was a bit fast but strong and steady.
He turned to the waiting fire fighters,

'I need to climb in. Is it safe?'

'Aye, as long as you're careful.'

Martin carefully slid in to the hole in the rubble, dislodging a small cascade of debris. Over the sound of the debris Martin heard a whimper. Looking past Louisa he saw a girl curled up, rocking. Checking that Louisa's pulse was still steady, he moved towards the girl. As he did so, he became aware of an overwhelming smell of blood and other bodily fluids and he vomited into a sick bag. Looking behind the girl he saw two bodies. Their upper bodies were partially free but the rest of their bodies were buried. Grimly, Martin reached past the rocking girl and checked each neck for a pulse, knowing that he wouldn't find one. Satisfied that they were past his help, he turned to the live child,

'Can you walk?'

There was no reply so Martin reached towards the girl saying,

'It's Doctor Ellingham. You're safe now.'

The girl launched herself into his arms and clung to him, burying her head in his shoulder. He could feel her whole body shaking and he closed his arms around her in silence knowing that nothing he could say would make it any better.
Martin awkwardly manoeuvred until he was facing the entrance and edged past Louisa. Two of the fire fighters pulled Martin out of the hole,

'We didn't even see her! Why didn't she come out when we opened it up?'

'She's in severe shock. Take her to a first aider and see if her parents are here. I'll come and examine her in a minute.'

He tried to pass the girl over but she clung to him with all her strength. Desperately he tried to reason with her,

'You need to let me go. I've got to go and find out how badly Lou…I mean Miss Glasson, is injured.'

'She's dead. They're all dead. I tried to pull Jack and Laura under the table but I couldn't. I pulled and pulled but I couldn't move them.'

Gently, Martin cupped her face with one of his hands,

'It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done. And Miss Glasson isn't dead, I promise you.'

'She isn't?'

'No, but she is hurt so you need to let me go so I can take care of her.'

To his relief she let go of him and went with the fire fighter.

Bracing himself, Martin went back into the hole and started to examine Louisa. He could see a bruise forming on her forehead and when Martin examined her head he discovered two other contusions. Luckily, her skull seemed to be intact. Certainly there were no depressed skull fractures. Breathing a sigh of relief, he checked the rest of her body. He couldn't assess her arm until it had been freed but no other limbs were broken and there were no signs of internal bleeding.
Climbing back out he said,

'She's got head injuries so take extra care when moving her. I need her out as quickly as possible so I can treat her arm. There are two bodies down there. Don't let the parents see them.'

Martin moved out of the way to let the fire fighters get back to work and realised that Al had nearly finished cutting the roof off of the 4x4. Once he'd treated Louisa and whoever was in the car, he'd move over to the Village Hall. He needed to check the children who were over there and any more survivors could be brought to him there.
He was brought out of his reverie by Pauline's voice,

'Doctor Ellingham, they need you at the first aid bench.'

Pushing his way through the organised chaos, Martin decided to give the first aider a blunt assessment of his or her competence. However, when he reached the bench it was to find the little girl who's been beside Louisa curled into a ball, rocking. The first aider was trying to coax her into letting him examine her but she just curled up tighter every time he touched her.

'Pauline, what's that child's name?'

'Chelsey.'

'What?'

'Chelsey, Doc.'

'Why do parents insist on saddling their children with such awful names?'

Reaching the bench, he sat down beside Chelsey,

'It's Doctor Ellingham again, Chelsey. I've just examined Miss Glasson and I think she's going to make a full recovery.'

'But not Jack or Laura. Can't you make them better?'

'No. I wish I could but I can't.'

Chelsey started to cry. Helplessly, Martin put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently,

'Pauline, are Chelsey's parents here?'

'Don't think so but I saw her older sister a minute ago. Hold on. EMILY! EMILY BAKER!'

Pauline's shout brought a teenage girl running. She launched herself at Chelsey,

'CHELSEY! Oh my God! Oh my God! I thought you were dead! Are you alright?'

Chelsey didn't reply so Martin explained,

'Chelsey's had a very traumatic experience. She's in shock. I need you to get her to let the first aider examine her. Then she needs to go to the Village Hall so I can keep an eye on her.'

'Okay.'

Martin left the teenager talking quietly to her younger sister and walked back to his triage bench to wait for Louisa to be brought to him.

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