Page 84 of The London Girls
The fireman shrugged, calling over his shoulder as he ran back to his vehicle. ‘Only that there was a motorcycle involved.’
Her blood ran cold. ‘A motorcycle?’ she called back. But he was already gone.
Jack’s hand was steady on her shoulder. ‘It doesn’t mean anything,’ he said. ‘It could be anyone on a motorcycle, it could be—’
‘I hope Ava didn’t do anything stupid,’ she said, as they hurried back to Petal, who was almost unrecognisable with her newly charred exterior. Jack was slow, his legs always stiff after sitting down for too long, and she had the engine running by the time he got in.
‘There’s no way she would be allowed on a motorcycle without being cleared,’ Jack said, as he pulled his door shut and she took off.
Florence sighed. ‘Then you don’t know Ava. That girl could talk her way out of murder if she needed to.’
Jack chuckled and she glanced at him as he settled into the seat. ‘Eyes on the road,’ he said.
She tried to release her grip on the steering wheel a little, relaxing her body back into the seat slightly, but it didn’t work. Within seconds she was gripping it tightly and leaning forward, accelerating as they hit a straight stretch of road.
If it was Ava, she was going to kill her with her own bare hands for being so irresponsible. But at the same time her heart was pounding.Please Lord, don’t let it be her.
‘Oh, good lord,’ Florence whispered as she slowed, approaching the scene. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw a motorcycle wedged beneath a large overturned lorry, and she found her eyes searching for a familiar pink ribbon. She couldn’t see it, but it did little to allay her fears.
‘Pull over there,’ Jack said, his voice gruffer than usual as he directed her.
She pulled Petal to the side of the road and they both got out, the fire engine parked just in front of them and a small group of firemen crowding around the overturned lorry.
‘What are we dealing with here?’ Jack called out.
‘Lorry driver died on impact, but the motorcycle rider—’
‘Olivia!’ Florence’s scream cut through the otherwise silent morning air, and all the men turned to stare at her as she ran forward, dropping to her knees and reaching for her friend.
‘We don’t know the best way to get her out, to avoid ...’ The firemen continued talking, but she blocked everything else out, gently touching her friend’s face, stroking her hair as beautiful, big blue eyes blinked back at her. The skin on her face was smudged dark, and she was bleeding from her nose, but it was, unmistakably, Olivia.
‘We’re going to get you out of here, sweetheart,’ she said, not trusting her voice but knowing she had to say something to comfort her. ‘Everything’s going to be absolutely fine.’
Olivia’s lips parted and her mouth moved, but Florence couldn’t work out what she was trying to say. Tears fell from her eyes on to Olivia’s face, and she quickly, gently, wiped them away with her fingertips, leaving a streak on her cheeks.
‘Jack,’ Florence said in her calmest voice, not taking her hands off Olivia as she looked back. ‘Jack, we need to get her out from under here.’
Jack was beside her now, so close she could feel his breath on her shoulder as he peered under the lorry.
‘They’re waiting for a tractor to try to move it,’ he said quietly. ‘They want to try to clear it before—’
‘We don’t have that long!’ she said. ‘We need to try to move her now.’
‘If we move her now—’
‘If we don’t move her, we lose her,’ she interjected. ‘We’re doing this now. I’m taking charge of this situation.’
Florence looked at the mangled motorcycle half wedged beneath the truck and wondered how on earth Olivia was even breathing still, it was so badly damaged, but she pushed all that out of her mind as she placed her hands gently on her friend’s shoulders.
Olivia murmured something again, but Florence still couldn’t work out what she was saying. She wished she could ask her where it hurt the most, what had happened, but Olivia wasn’t capable of communicating and they didn’t have time. Every second of not getting her medical treatment could be the difference between losing her and saving her life.
Jack stood and indicated that she do the same, and although she didn’t want to leave Olivia for so much as a moment, she did what he asked.
‘If I hold her shoulders and gently pull her out, can you crawl under there and make sure there’s no part of her body impaled or stuck on anything first?’ Jack asked.
Florence looked at the lorry and the small space she’d have to navigate. There was only a narrow gap because it was wedged against a tree.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said. ‘Of course I’ll do it.’
