Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

I went through the folder, trying to work out if I was missing something. I
opened the medical cabinet, the boxes of rubber gloves and gauze dressings, and
realized I had no idea at all what I should do with any of it. I rang the intercom
to speak to Will’s father, but the ringing sound disappeared into an empty house.
I could hear it echoing beyond the annexe door.
I was about to ring Mrs Traynor when the back door opened, and Nathan
stepped in, wrapped in layers of bulky clothing, a woollen scarf and hat almost
obscuring his head. He brought with him a whoosh of cold air and a light flurry
of snow.
‘Hey,’ he said, shaking the snow off his boots and slamming the door behind
him.
It felt like the house had suddenly woken from a dreamlike state.
‘Oh, thank God you’re here,’ I said. ‘He’s not well. He’s been asleep most of
the morning and he’s hardly drunk anything. I didn’t know what to do.’
Nathan shrugged off his coat. ‘Had to walk all the way here. The buses have
stopped running.’
I set about making him some tea, as he went to check on Will.
He reappeared before the kettle had even finished boiling. ‘He’s burning up,’
he said. ‘How long has he been like this?’
‘All morning. I did think he was hot, but he said he just wanted to sleep.’
‘Jesus. All morning? Didn’t you know he can’t regulate his own temperature?’
He pushed past me and began rummaging around in the medicine cabinet.
‘Antibiotics. The strong ones.’ He held up a jar and emptied one into the pestle
and mortar, grinding it furiously.
I hovered behind him. ‘I gave him a paracetamol.’
‘Might as well have given him an Opal Fruit.’
‘I didn’t know. Nobody said. I’ve been wrapping him up.’
‘It’s in the bloody folder. Look, Will doesn’t sweat like we do. In fact he
doesn’t sweat at all from the point of his injury downwards. It means if he gets a
slight chill his temperature gauge goes haywire. Go find the fan. We’ll move that
in there until he cools down. And a damp towel, to put around the back of his
neck. We won’t be able to get him to a doctor until the snow stops. Bloody
agency nurse. They should have picked this up in the morning.’