Gillian Kearney Fan, you could be right! Ethan is a really lovely man and Taylor would be mad not to love him! Thank you for your review.
EDSidekick, thank you for your review - I'm really happy the chapter made you laugh! I love that you're wondering what's going to happen next- it really is lovely and flattering that you care about the story that much!
Tanith Panic, I love getting emotional over stories - it's lovely to read you're getting emotional over mine! I do feel a bit guilty about making Ethan suffer - he doesn't deserve it! Thank you for your review.
Tato Potato, Happy New Year! I'm glad you like Ethan and Taylor's date - I don't know if it would really happen on an ice-skating rink, but it seemed more interesting than just skating again. Thank you for your review!
ETWentHome, thank you for your review. I think Honey probably hurt Cal more than Noel did! I can imagine Ethan being willing to suffer to make the girl he loves happy.
20BlueRoses, yes, Cal probably did deserve it! Though I'm sure Honey didn't tell Noel quite everything about her relationship with Cal. Taylor has definitely gone back to the charity for a reason... thank you for your review.
The meal was wonderful. Getting used to eating on ice wasn't easy for Ethan, and several times, he moved his feet, only to find them sliding away from him. This made him cry out in alarm the first few times, but it never bothered him for long because he was so happy.
It didn't seem to bother Taylor either, if the affectionate look on her face was anything to go by.
Once they'd finished their meal and had some coffee, Taylor helped Ethan onto the dancefloor. As the couples had just eaten, everyone was moving very slowly: just swaying to the music.
"There's a space over there," said Taylor, pointing. "We'll go there."
Ethan knew Taylor had chosen the space because it was next to the rail and he'd be able to hold on, but he appreciated her thoughtfulness. She was always thinking of him and he was the luckiest man in the world.
Taylor helped Ethan to the side of the rink and placed his hand on the rail. He put his other arm around Taylor, who held him as steady as she could while they swayed in time to the music. There were more than a few ungainly moments from Ethan, which he knew were nothing to do with the ice as exactly the same thing happened on solid ground, but Taylor was gazing at him with an expression Ethan would have described as 'adoring' if she'd been looking at anyone else.
"If you want to go and dance properly, I'm happy to watch," said Ethan.
Taylor shook her head. "I just want to be with you." She kissed him softly on the lips. Ethan let go of the rail and put his arm around Taylor. They were still kissing when they heard a loud thump and several gasps.
Ethan swung round and lost his balance. He gasped with pain as he landed on his bottom, but his eyes were already seeking out the cause of the thump and the gasps. A short distance away, a man was lying on his back while a woman knelt beside him, begging someone to help.
"Ethan, are you okay?" said Taylor.
"I'm fine." Ethan quickly crawled across the ice towards the fallen man. "Hello, my name's Ethan. I'm a doctor. Can you hear me? Please open your eyes if you can."
Ethan began the primary examination. He knew the most likely scenario by far was that he'd slipped on the ice and knocked himself out, but he couldn't rule out a cardiac arrest. The man didn't respond to Ethan's voice or to physical contact, but to his relief, he was breathing properly, though the pulse was rapid, which could indicate the onset of shock.
"Can someone call an ambulance, please?" said Ethan. He quickly gave the details to relay to the emergency services and a man, clearly an expert skater, quickly made his way across the ice.
"Thank you," Ethan called after him, and turned to the injured man's girlfriend. "Could you tell me your name and your friend's name?"
The woman gave a gulping sob. "I'm Sheree and my boyfriend is Rory."
Ethan smiled as reassuringly as he could. "Thank you, Sheree. It is useful to know names. I'm sorry: I realise this might be distressing for you, but can you tell me what happened, please?"
"He fell!" said Sheree hysterically. "He's not a very good skater, but I was pushing him to dance with me. It's all my fault!"
"I'm sure it's not," said Ethan. "Accidents do happen on skating rinks. I'll do my best for Rory. Ethan could see she was shaking so he asked a bystander to bring over a chair for her. Once it had arrived, he asked: "Does Rory have any medical conditions we need to be aware of?"
Sheree shook her head tearfully.
Ethan nodded, though he knew it was possible she just didn't know. "Thank you," he said, and looked around for Taylor. To his surprise, she was still standing over by the rail. "Taylor, can you come and help me, please?"
For a startled moment, he thought Taylor was going to ignore him, but then she skated over. Her face was the same colour as the ice. "Are you putting him in the recovery positon?" she said, her voice jerky.
"I'd rather not at this point because of the risk of a spinal injury," said Ethan. "He is breathing normally. Could you hold Rory's head for me, please?"
He expected Taylor, as a trained medic, to obey immediately, but instead, she stood looking down at Rory with something like horror. Of course, a lot of the people at the rink were clearly shocked, but Taylor had dealt with much more frightening situations than this.
But of course, every medic froze sometimes, and often not in the most terrifying situations. Ethan spoke gently. "Would you rather do the secondary survey while I support his head?"
"No!" Taylor said loudly. "I mean, I'll hold his head. That's fine. I was just… making a quick visual survey of the situation."
She knelt down beside Rory and grasped his head firmly in both hands.
It was wrong. She was doing it completely wrong. Ethan stared at her for a second, then he quietly and calmly gave her the instructions he'd never dreamed she would need. "Could you move round a bit so your knees are next to the top of his head? That's right. Well done." He took Taylor's hands gently in his and put them in the correct position. "That's it. Keep them there. It's okay, Taylor. You're doing really well."
He knew Rory was going to get very cold, lying on the ice, so, after loosening the patient's shirt and tie, Ethan took off his jacket and placed it over him. Once the rink's medical staff arrived, it might be possible for them to roll Rory onto his side and put a blanket underneath him, but Ethan knew it wouldn't be a good idea to attempt it alone. Sheree had said Rory's body had twisted as he fell and this, combined with the sickening thump as he'd hit the ice, made a spinal injury a strong possibility.
"Rory, I'm just going to examine your head and neck," said Ethan. He doubted Rory could hear, but if he could, at least he would know what Ethan was doing. "I'm really sorry if my hands are a bit cold: I had to crawl across the ice because I'm such a terrible skater. Taylor, can you move back a little bit so I can feel Rory's scalp? No, keep your hands where they are. That's good: thanks." He quickly glanced at Sheree and was relieved to see she was being comforted by a couple of onlookers. "Here we go, Rory: I hope my hands aren't too cold. I tend not to bring my gloves with me on dates."
He felt under Rory's head as best he could without moving it and detected a depression in the parietal bone. This concerned him, but he continued to speak reassuringly to Rory as he went on with the examination, occasionally turning to Sheree or giving Taylor an encouraging word.
As he expected, he found no signs of injury to Rory's face, which was a good colour and not clammy, but of course, he couldn't clear the cervical spine while the patient was unconscious. Before moving to Rory's chest, Ethan checked his vital signs again. His breathing was still normal and the pulse, while worryingly rapid, was still fairly strong.
About halfway through the examination, the rink's trained first aiders arrived. One of them offered to take Taylor's place holding Rory's head, and Ethan said that might be a good idea as Taylor had no gloves. The look Taylor gave him held both gratitude and fear. As Ethan continued with his examination, Taylor moved away, outside his line of vision, but he knew he couldn't worry about her now.
He had to do his job. Only once Rory was safely in the ambulance could Ethan think about his relationship.