Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 79

Daisy called an ambulance.

One look at Yvonne was enough to tell her that was what was needed, although beyond that, she had no idea.

‘Is she breathing?’ the person on the end of the line asked.

‘I… I think so?’ Daisy stood over her friend, searching for some sign of life. There was something you did to check someone was breathing, wasn’t there? Something with a mirror. At least, that was what she remembered from first aid at school. Not that it helped her now. Instead, Daisy put her ear to Yvonne’s mouth, where the softest, shallowest wheeze floated from her lips.

‘I think so. Yes, yes,’ Daisy said with certainty. ‘She is. But not strongly. It’s very quiet.’

‘And she’s unresponsive, you say?’

Daisy didn’t need to check this one. She had tried shaking Yvonne by the shoulders several times, only for her body to flop around like a rag doll. And Johnny had been licking her hand since he’d been allowed into the room. So far, Yvonne hadn’t so much as blinked in response.

‘Definitely unresponsive. What should I do? How long are they going to take to get here?’

‘The ambulance is on the way,’ the responder assured her. ‘Just a few more questions while I’ve got you here. Was she unwell, that you know of? Any history of heart attacks? Hereditary illness?’

‘No, I don’t know,’ Daisy said, tears welling in her eyes as she struggled to keep control. ‘No, wait, she’s on some medication. I think I saw it in her drawer.’

‘That’s great. Can you find it and tell me what it is? The paramedics will need to know.’

‘Yes, yes.’ Daisy felt relieved to have something productive to do as she left Yvonne’s side and opened the drawer beside her bed, revealing a medley of medication.

‘Okay, this is what I’ve found…’ Daisy read off the list of the medications, her chest growing tighter with each one. Medication always sounded serious when you read out its proper name, even for something as straightforward as paracetamol. But somehow Daisy knew that wasn’t what these were. ‘Do you think she’d forgotten to take one of them?’ she asked, voicing her thoughts, mainly because the silence was so unbearable. ‘We had a bad day yesterday. Someone broke into the boat. She could have forgotten. Could that have caused this to happen?’

‘Possibly.’ The responder was utterly non-committal in her response, but now the thought had formed, a surge of guilt flooded Daisy.

Why had she not asked Yvonne more about the medication she was on? Why had she not dug deeper when Yvonne had been struggling? But her bad days seemed so sporadic.

‘How long now?’ she asked. ‘Will they be here soon?’

If this had happened on Wildflower Lock, Daisy would have known what to do. She would have had people around her. People who knew Yvonne. But here, she had no one. She was utterly on her own.

‘Don’t worry, they won’t be long,’ the woman said. ‘You’re doing a great job. Just keep her head up and make sure her airway is clear. They’ll be there soon.’

Daisy blinked away her tears and nodded silently. There was nothing she could do but wait.