The Life Daisy Devlin Designed

CHAPTER 51

“ Matt! ” Daisy waded forward to help him.

His face had emerged from the water, his eyes closed, his head back, and he seemed to be unconscious. Hunkering down, she tried to slide an arm around his shoulders but her hand snagged on something hard and rough and she realised there was a large jagged rock under the surface. He must have hit his head on it. Shit! She managed to get her arm around his neck and pulled him upwards.

“ Matt! Matt, wake up! ”

She put a hand on his chest and was relieved to find he was breathing. Then he moaned, but didn’t open his eyes.

Crap! What was all that dark stuff on her sleeve? Oh God, blood! The back of his head had been cut badly. Fuckity-fuck! This was really serious. He could die! Could he die?

Now what? If only she’d done that first-aid course in college. It had clashed with the upcycling clothes module. And lovely as it was to give charity castoffs a new life, it was feck all use right now.

Should she try slapping his face? Maybe not! If she started she mightn’t be able to stop. Instead, she leaned close to his ear. “ Matt? Can you hear me? Wake up! ”

She could cheerfully strangle Niamh right now. If she hadn’t flounced off like that, at least she’d have some bloody help. Right, there was nothing for it!

Half-standing, she dragged Matt closer to the car and, with a lot of swearing, managed to prop him against the side. Then she tugged at the end of her skirt, hoping to tear off a strip of it. Shit, they always made this look so easy in films! The bandage! She’d nearly forgotten. She took it out and tore open the wrapping. Fumbling, she tied it as tightly as she could around Matt’s head, trying to ensure that the knot was over the wound in the hope that the extra pressure would lessen the blood flow.

She’d done as much as she could. Bracing herself, she tucked her skirt into her knickers and managed to scramble awkwardly onto the side of the car.

Crouching close so she wouldn’t fall off, she shone the torch in through the open door. Kayley was lying wedged between the two front seats, her eyes closed. Drew was slumped in his seat belt. Daisy couldn’t tell if he was breathing.

She clung on to the top of the car as tightly as she could as she reached in, grasped Kayley’s thigh and shook it. “ Kayley? Wake up! ”

Kayley gave a soft moan and Daisy sagged in relief.

Slowly, Kayley’s eyes opened. “Daisy!” she gasped.

“You’re okay, Kayley. Help is coming.” She hoped to Christ it was, and quickly.

“Is Drew okay, Kayley?”

“I can hear him breathing,” she said.

“Okay, good.”

“What about my concert tomorrow?”

As if that mattered! “Least of our worries! Can you get out if I pull you up?”

“I can’t.” Kayley winced. “I think I’ve dislocated my shoulder. The car tipped over and I got out of my seatbelt, but I slid down here and now I’m stuck. I think I passed out for a while after I called Matty.” She moaned in pain. “Where is Matty?”

Thunder rumbled again in the distance, and Daisy sent up a quick prayer that it wouldn’t move across to them before the rescue services arrived.

“Matt’s right here. He’s actually sitting on the ground, because he fell as he was getting the door open.” She saw Kayley’s expression, and added hurriedly, “He’ll be fine, honestly.”

God, she really hoped he’d be fine! It’d be nice to have some help, but she didn’t think she’d be getting any from Matt. Which seemed strangely fitting.

“There’s help on the way,” she said. “Just try to hang in there! And don’t move! Being stuck between the seats is keeping you safe.”

Kayley gave a faint smile. “You’re sweet. I can see why Matty was with you for such a long time.” She winced, briefly closing her eyes. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better.”

Or at all! Daisy was pretty sure Kayley hated her.

“He told me about you, you know.” Kayley’s voice was a bit weaker now, and Daisy hoped she didn’t lose consciousness. “I was kinda afraid you’d want him back.”

“Ah no, definitely not. We’ve both, uh , moved on.” Nope, this was peak weirdness.

“You know, it meant a lot to Matty ...” Her eyes fluttered closed again.

“ What meant a lot? Kayley? Kayley? ” Daisy no longer cared what Matt thought or felt, but she was fairly sure she had to keep Kayley awake. “ Kayley? About Matt! ”

With an obvious effort, Kayley opened her eyes again.

“He told me you guys are back together,” Daisy said. “I’m glad.”

“Yeah.” Kayley sounded exhausted. “I don’t want to keep it quiet this time. I don’t care what Matty says. Things are different now – I’m in a good space. Rehab was the best thing I ever did. For me and Matty.”

Daisy wondered why Matt would have wanted to keep his relationship with Kayley a secret. Maybe for the sake of her career? Fans preferred their idols to be single and notionally “available”.

Kayley moaned again, and Daisy silently willed the emergency services to arrive. They’d probably have a boat, although she’d no idea how they were going to get Kayley out of the car. Shit , the tree! How would they lift her over the tree into a boat? Maybe she should phone them back – although they were probably already on their way!

Kayley’s face spasmed in pain. “Where are they?”

“They’ll be here soon.” Glancing down, Daisy could see the top of Matt’s head. At least he was still upright, she thought grimly.

She froze, as what sounded like thunder threatened to deafen her. As the noise grew louder, she strained her head back to look up. To her relief, she saw it was a rescue helicopter.