“Mum! Mum! … oh God, mum…!”
Her eyes flickered open and she seemed to look in all directions at once before focussing on me.
“Wha… wh….?”
She brought up a scraped hand to my face and tried to wipe away the tears which were now freely flowing down my cheeks. Then she lifted her other arm around the back of my head and pulled me down to her chest.
“What the fuck just happened?”
“A car… fucking idiot didn’t stop…. the bastard…. you’re OK now… you OK? Jeez. Hold on, don’t move…”
“I don’t think I can.”
I scrambled back up to my bike and took out the first-aid pack I’d thought to bring along and then scrambled back down to her.
She was rubbing the side of her head.
“Don’t move. Look, mum, we’ve got to see what condition you’re in, so just don’t move, OK?”
“OK boss…. be gentle…” She closed her eyes, but I knew she might have concussion so I couldn’t let her lose consciousness. I slapped her a couple of times on the cheek.
“Stay with me, all right? Stay with me. I need you awake..”
“Ow, that hurt….”
“I’m going to look you over, see what the damage is..”
Did I see her actually smile when I said that?
But now I was totally concentrating on the job at hand. The blood turned out to be mostly superficial, from her right leg and arm. I had her move all her joints. I pressed into her back and into her stomach and asked her did it hurt? could she feel what I was doing? was there pain here? there? her ribs maybe? Only her ankle. It wasn’t broken, but she’d twisted it. I sat back.
“I think you can try and sit up now.”
“Thanks, doc.”
“Look, there’s another stream back there. Thank heavens we’re in the Peak District, they seem to have streams all over the show. I’m going to bring some water and get you cleaned up a bit and we’ll get some iodine on those scrapes..”
I went to get the thermos from her pack, but the glass inside had splintered in the crash. So I took a couple of plastic cups. When I got back she was still sitting in the ditch but she’d taken her dress off and was examining herself, trying to look under her arm and behind her.
“Let me do that.”
I didn’t think twice and unhooked her bra and pulled the side of her panties down over her hip. There was a long scrape down the side of her body. I went to work with my T-shirt which I used as a towel to wipe her clean, and then dabbed iodine into the injuries with cotton wool. As I worked, my eyes were drawn to her breasts. She wasn’t covering them and I was surprised at how firm they seemed to be, very little sag, and the nipples, pointing…maybe she was cold? shock, maybe?
I looked up. She was watching my face. She was smiling.
“Come here.”
She held out her arms and I fell into them, my face pressed up against her breast, her nipple oh so close to my mouth – I could stick out my tongue…. She kissed the top of my head. I kissed her breast.
I lifted my head away from her and we both looked into one another’s eyes, then fell back into a tight hug. We stayed like that for a minute or so, and then reason prevailed. Mum, all business, said,