‘But I still have to stop—’
‘No, you don’t.’ Ally racked her brains for the information the company representative had given her recently. ‘You don’t need test strips—it’s all in the meter so you can test while you run.’
Pete’s eyes were fixed on her face. ‘Without even stopping?’
Ally nodded. ‘That’s right. Want me to find out more for you?’
‘You bet!’ Pete’s eyes were shining. ‘Wow, that would be great. Thanks, Dr McGuire.’
‘No problem.’ Ally glanced curiously at the pair of brand new climbing boots sitting on his locker. ‘What are those?’
Pete coloured and looked proud. ‘Oh, Dr Nicholson bought me those.’
Sean? He’d been to see Pete? Why hadn’t he said?
Ally picked up the boots and turned them over in her hands. They were top quality and from one of the local climbing shops.
‘He says if they don’t fit I can change them when I’m on my feet again, but he never wants to catch me climbing in trainers again.’ Pete’s eyes glowed. ‘And guess what? Dr Nicholson is going to give Andy and me some climbing lessons. Isn’t that cool?’
Ally stared at him. ‘Lessons?’
Pete nodded furiously. ‘He was an instructor in the army, you know, and Mr Morgan says he’s the best at climbing and abseiling and now he’s going to teach us—isn’t that brilliant?’
‘Brilliant,’ Ally echoed, fingering the boot thoughtfully. It wasn’t what she would have expected of Sean. She’d thought he was cold and unemotional and certainly he hadn’t shown any sympathy for the boys when he’d rescued them, but here he was not only buying an expensive pair of boots for Pete but also offering to give up his valuable time to give them climbing lessons. It didn’t sound like the man she’d seen so far. Had she misjudged him?
‘How many times has Dr Nicholson been in to see you?’
‘Twice.’ Pete watched as she placed the boots carefully back on the locker. ‘He gave me a right rocket the first time. Told me I would have died if you and he hadn’t been there—then he sat down and talked to me for ages. All about my diabetes and how I felt and stuff like that.’
Stuff like that. Stuff that really mattered to Pete. Ally bit her lip. Sean had done a good job by the look of it. She’d been expecting the boy to be really depressed, instead of which he was desperate to get better so that he could start his climbing lessons.
She spent a bit longer with Pete, teasing him and generally making him laugh, and then she glanced at her watch and grimaced.
‘Oops, it’s getting late.’ She stood up and pulled on her coat. ‘I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you soon.’
* * *
Ally was pulling up outside the barn when the door of the stable opened and Sean strode out. Judging from the bag in his hand, he was going out on a call, and from the look on his face it was an emergency.
She touched the button for the electric window, shivering as the cold evening air oozed into the car. ‘Problems?’
Sean glanced at his bike, hesitated and then strode towards her car, a decision made. He tugged open the passenger door and flung his bag in the footwell.
Ally immediately hit the accelerator. ‘Where am I going?’
‘Kelly Watson.’
‘Oh, no!’ Ally pulled out into the lane and drove as fast as she considered safe, her mind racing. ‘Another asthma attack, I presume?’
‘Yes, and a bad one from the sounds of it.’ Sean fastened the seat belt in a fluid movement and glanced quickly at his watch. ‘They tried to call an ambulance but there’s been a pile-up on the motorway so there was no chance of anything arriving quickly. Her mother’s in a total panic.’
Knowing Kelly’s mother, Ally could well imagine it. Thank goodness she knew exactly where they lived.
Less than five minutes later she braked outside a row of cottages and jerked her head towards the one on the end.
‘That’s the house.’
Sean was out of the car in a flash, muttering something under his breath as he saw Kelly’s mother hovering anxiously by the front door.
‘Thank goodness you’ve come!’ Mrs Watson’s face was streaked with tears and she hurried through to the sitting room. ‘She’s in here, but she can hardly breathe…’
Sean strode through the door and Ally gave Mrs Watson’s arm a squeeze. ‘Try and clam down if you can or you’ll panic Kelly.’
Mrs Watson gave a huge gulp. ‘Don’t let her die, Dr McGuire—please, don’t let her die—’