Awakening The Shy Nurse / Saved By Their Miracle Baby

‘Do you go with them?’

‘Sometimes they might need a doctor on board if they’re critical. If someone local doesn’t come with the evacuation crew we might send Tim, who’s qualified as both a paramedic and a nurse and covers a lot of our night shifts currently. Or you might even go as a medical chaperone, depending on what else is going on.’

It was a true statement but Hugh was telling her that she might be involved because he wanted to see her reaction and, sure enough, there was a gleam of interest in those amazing eyes at the prospect of being choppered off the ship and back again. A glow of excitement even, and that gave him an odd little kick in his gut. So, she was up for a bit of adventure, this Lisa, even if she was uptight. This was good. It could make teasing her even more enjoyable.

‘And do you ever do actual surgery in here? It looks more like an operating theatre than an assessment or treatment area.’

‘It is, at times.’ Hugh told her. ‘We have to be able to deal with every situation you could imagine and sometimes we’re out of range of emergency transport for some time. We’ve got anaesthetic and ventilation gear along with the digital X-ray and ultrasound and a full range of surgical instruments, though I haven’t had to use too many of them yet.’

‘But you’ve got a surgical background?’

‘I’ve mostly specialised in emergency medicine and critical care but I’ve got both surgical and anaesthetic diplomas as well. How ’bout you?’ Hugh led the way out of the room. ‘What’s your background?’

‘My early experience was working in A and E,’ Lisa said. ‘Which I really loved. But my last job as head of a nursing home team gave me a lot of scope for first response and medical assessment and that was interesting, too. I’m…between jobs at the moment, which was why a locum position was ideal.’ She had paused to look through the door of the laboratory. ‘What range of tests can you do on board?’

It seemed like asking Lisa a question only made him want to ask more—like why she’d gone to work in a nursing home if she’d loved the emergency department so much? And, if she’d had so much experience already, why did she give off this impression of…well, it was almost innocence. Unworldliness, anyway, and that certainly wasn’t something Hugh normally came across in the women he met these days. He was curious, he realised. A lot more curious than he usually was when he met someone new.

‘Again, we have to be prepared for as many things as possible. We can test for cardiac enzymes if we suspect a heart attack, infections, arterial oxygen levels and blood glucose levels and a dozen or more other things. Janet’s our expert and she can give you a rundown on how to do the tests but it’s mostly automatic so it’s easy. And, speaking of Janet, she’s in our little two-bed infirmary at the moment because we admitted a woman with a severe migraine earlier today for monitoring so let’s go there and I can introduce you.’

‘That will be great, thank you.’

Hugh watched as Lisa took a last, slow glance back over her shoulder towards the areas he’d already shown her, as if she was mentally cataloguing and memorising everything she’d learned so far, and he was almost tempted to give her a quick quiz but then her gaze ended by catching his and there was a note of surprise there. Or maybe it was criticism because she had expected him to be moving by now and taking her to the next source of information about her new job.

She could turn out to be bossy, he decided, once she had settled in and was confident of her surroundings and responsibilities, but he took the hint and led her towards the hospital end of the medical centre.

“Bossy” was the wrong word, he decided moments later. “Feisty” was probably a more accurate prediction. His internal correction made him smile.

Hugh liked feisty. He liked it a lot.

If he was any more laidback, he’d be horizontal.

But Lisa knew that this relaxed impression of complete confidence with a streak of an impish desire to liven things up a little was just one side of the coin as far as Dr Hugh Patterson was concerned. She’d seen him morph into a completely focused professional dealing with an accident scene and she saw the coin start to flip again as they entered the ship’s hospital at the other end of the medical centre. There were two small four-bed wards, one for passengers and one for crew, separated by a nursing station currently staffed by the team’s senior nurse. Janet was older, with a friendly face and a Scottish accent but they had no time for more than a brief introduction before Hugh picked up the chart for their inpatient.

‘She’s responded well to the treatment,’ Janet told him. ‘She’s had a good sleep, her headache’s down to a two-out-of-ten pain score and she hasn’t vomited since her first dose of anti-emetic.’

Lisa saw the frown line of concentration that appeared between Hugh’s eyes as he rapidly scanned the information on the chart of medications administered and observations taken. Then he walked towards one of the only two beds in the room, the frown line evaporating as his mouth curved in a reassuring smile.

‘Rita, isn’t it? I’m Hugh Patterson, one of the doctors on board. It was my colleague Peter who saw you this morning, yes?’

The woman on the bed, who looked to be in her early forties, was nodding. ‘I feel ever so much better,’ she told Hugh. ‘Those pills have been wonderful.’ She was staring at Hugh. ‘Have we met somewhere before?’

His smile was charming but fleeting. ‘I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure but I’m very glad you’re feeling better. I suspect the main thing that’s helped was to give you something for the nausea and vomiting and fix the dehydration that was making things worse. This wasn’t your first migraine, was it?’

‘No, but I haven’t had one for ages. I know to stay away from triggers like chocolate and red wine.’

‘Are they the only triggers that you know of? Flashing lights and loud noises can do it for some people. You haven’t been out partying in the nightclubs on board till all hours, have you?’ His tone was teasing.

‘I should be so lucky.’

Rita was smiling now. And blinking more rapidly, Lisa noticed. Good grief…was she trying to flirt with her doctor? Batting her eyelashes even? If so, at least Hugh wasn’t responding with anything more than a hint of his earlier smile.

‘Might be an idea to keep avoiding anything like that for a day or two. I’m sure you don’t want to be stuck in here and missing out on any more shore excursions.’

‘No…my friends all went out for a horse riding trek today and I was so looking forward to doing that. Oh…’ Rita’s eyes widened. ‘I remember now. I do know you. You’re that Hugh Patterson…’

‘Oh?’ Hugh was looking wary now. ‘Which one would that be?’

‘Your mother was Diane Patterson, yes? The District Commissioner for the Windsor pony club and you used to have a three-day event on your family estate every year. I rode in it more than once—oh, ages ago now but I remember you used to be on the quad bike, doing errands like delivering coffee to the judges.’

Wow… His family had an estate in Windsor? Somehow that didn’t surprise Lisa. That laidback, making the most of good things approach to life often went hand in hand with extreme wealth, didn’t it?

‘Mmm… Ancient history.’

His clipped tone made it very clear that he had no interest in pursuing this line of conversation and Lisa dropped her gaze instantly when his glance slid sideways so she could let him know she wasn’t interested in hearing personal information like this. She could understand perfectly well why he might be embarrassed at having his family’s financial situation made common knowledge and she could sympathise with that. She might be completely at the other end of the financial spectrum but she wouldn’t want strangers knowing about hers either.

‘We’ll be setting sail in the next hour or so.’ Hugh was scribbling something on Rita’s chart. ‘What we’ll do is take your IV line out and give you some medications to take with you.’ He was turning away from this patient. ‘Don’t hesitate to call if you’re not continuing to improve, though. One of our wonderful staff members will be available at all times.’

His smile became suddenly a lot more genuine as his gaze shifted to catch Lisa’s and, for the first time, it was impossible not to smile back. He was making her feel so welcome and as though he really did believe she would be a welcome addition to their team, even though he had only just met her. There could be relief making that welcome more pronounced because he could get away from a conversation he obviously didn’t want to have but it didn’t matter… Lisa was going to make sure that Hugh wasn’t disappointed with his new staff member.

Janet was also very welcoming and, after she had taken out Rita’s IV line, dispensed the medication Hugh had prescribed and discharged her, the older nurse took Lisa to find her uniform and then continue her exploration of the ship’s medical facilities as she heard about what her duties would entail.

It was during this additional tour that Lisa became aware of a background hum of sound that was new and an odd sensation that something was changing in the air around her. Janet smiled at her expression.

‘We’re underway,’ she told Lisa. ‘I love that moment when we leave shore and head out into the freedom of the open sea. It’s what keeps me coming back every season.’

Yes. Lisa could recognise that it was the distant hum and vibration of extremely powerful engines that she could both hear and feel, and the realisation hit her that this massive vessel and the thousands of passengers and crew on board were soon going to be far from land and reliant on what suddenly seemed like a very small medical team to deal with any medical or traumatic emergency that might happen.

They were also on the way to somewhere Lisa had never been in her life and the combination of potential adventure and challenge was…well…it was enormously exciting, that’s what it was. The hum and sensation of movement was coalescing somewhere in the pit of her stomach in a tingle that was not unlike the one she had experienced earlier today, when Hugh Patterson had been holding her hand, but this was far more acceptable. Welcome, in fact, because it was almost completely a professional kind of excitement.

Whatever this exotic position threw at her for the next couple of weeks, she was going to do her absolute best. She always did, of course, but there was an incentive here that was a little different from anything she’d experienced before. She had to admit that part of that incentive was a little disturbing, however. While it was perfectly natural to want to do her job exceptionally well for the sake of anybody who was ill or injured on this ship, and she’d always had that determination wherever she’d worked, what was different this time was why it seemed almost more important to impress her new boss.

I found your ship online. Looks amazing!

It’s totally unreal. There are bars and restaurants open all night, shows like you might see on Broadway, fitness clubs and dance classes—you name it, it’s happening on board this ship.

I found a page with pictures of all the important people who had lots of stripes on their shoulders.

They’re the officers.

Lisa was curled up on her bunk, typing rapidly in the message box on her laptop screen. Conversations with Abby were both more reliable and a lot less expensive this way than by phone.

The ship’s doctors were there too.

They’re considered to be officers as well. The nurses get privileges too. We can go anywhere we like on board and not just keep to the crew quarters for meals and things.

Who’s the doctor with the beard?

That’s Peter.

And who’s the other one? The really *really* good-looking one?

Hugh. He’s the one I mostly work with.

Oooh… Lucky you.

A string of emojis with hearts instead of eyes made Lisa shake her head before she tapped back.

You’re just as bad as every other woman on board. We had four of them in the clinic yesterday, all trying to outdo each other to get his attention and…get this…two of them had come in to ask for the morning-after pill because things had got “out of hand” the night before at some party.

Wow…not the best line to take if you want to get somebody interested, I wouldn’t have thought.

Lisa was smiling as she responded.

No. And anyway there are strict rules about the crew fraternising with the passengers.

What about the crew fraternising with the crew???

It was a winking face at the end of Abby’s message this time.

Not going to happen.

Why not? Is he single?

I haven’t asked him.

Why not?

I’m not interested.

Oh…yeah…right… Why not? Because he’s too good-looking? Doesn’t wear socks with sandals?

Lisa leaned back against her pillow and closed her eyes for a moment. She’d been busy enough settling into her new environment in the last couple of days so that she could concentrate purely on her work and find her way around this enormous ship. There was a lot of work to do during the often busy open surgeries at the medical centre, which ran for a couple of hours both morning and early evening, where she was responsible for triaging any patients that arrived and dealing with minor cases that didn’t need to see a doctor, like small lacerations or medication needed for seasickness.

Between those hours, there seemed to be plenty of administration to take care of, new people to meet and calls to what had so far proved to be easily managed situations in cabins or public areas of the ship.

But now that Abby was teasing her, there was no getting away from the fact that she was not immune to Hugh Patterson’s charms, however confident she was in being able to resist them. Not that she’d had to resist them, mind you. He was both charming, friendly and great to work with, but it was patently obvious that she was a curiosity to him and she knew why. She’d seen one of the type of women he was attracted to, for heaven’s sake, and she couldn’t be more different to the sophisticated, confident and sexy blonde that had accompanied him back to the port in Barcelona.

The woman that he’d been kissing with such…thoroughness…

Oh, no…there it was again. That tingle that she thought she had actually conquered over the last busy days. Distraction was needed.

Lisa opened her eyes and started tapping again.

How are things for you? Do you still like the hostel?

Love it. It’s so much easier to be close to campus like this and the food’s great. Miss you, though.

Miss you, too. Got a date for your driver’s licence test yet?

Next week. And guess what?

What?

I’m going to try out for a wheelchair basketball team. I need some more exercise, what with all the great food in the canteens.

Hope that’s not as dangerous as wheelchair rugby.

Lisa hit the “enter” button before she stopped to think that maybe Abby wouldn’t appreciate the warning but it had always been difficult not to be over-protective of her little sister.

Sure enough, she could almost hear the sigh that came with Abby’s response. And she obviously wasn’t the only one who would prefer a distraction.

Stop being a mother hen. Tell me about where you are. Have you been on a shore excursion yet?

Not yet. My watch was on duty for the stops in both Corsica and Marseilles. Next stop is Nice, though—tomorrow—although we actually stop around the corner in Villefranche sur Mer because this ship is too big for the Nice port and we have to take small boats to get in to shore. We dock at dawn and then the ship doesn’t sail until about ten o’clock at night and I’m just helping with the morning surgery hours so I’ve got most of the day and the evening to go sightseeing.

OMG…on the French Riviera? You’re living the dream.

I know.

Lisa found an emoji with a huge grin.

I’ll send photos but try not to get too jealous.

Don’t send a photo unless it’s you and that cute doctor alone in some romantic French café. Preferably drinking champagne.

LOL Lisa sent back.

Give it up, Abby. Not going to happen.

But, despite any firm intentions, it was what she was thinking about as she shut down her computer, climbed into bed a bit later and switched off her light. Champagne. Delicious food. An outdoor eatery, maybe shaded with grapevines. Someone playing a piano accordion nearby. And a companion who was only biding his time before taking the opportunity to kiss her senseless. Lisa could actually feel the tension of that anticipation. The curiosity. Desire…?

No. She pushed it away, rolling over to find a cool patch on her pillow. She’d certainly never found a kiss that lived up to that level of anticipation. It was the stuff of romance novels, not real life. It was just easier to toy with fantasy when she was temporarily “living the dream”, as Abby had reminded her. Floating on the Mediterranean in a luxury cruise ship. Heading for land in a country that was famous for romance as much as anything else.

And there she was again…imagining being on the receiving side of a kiss like the one Hugh had been giving the gorgeous blonde. Not necessarily with Hugh, of course…just a kiss like that.

Oh…who was she kidding? It had to be Hugh, she realised as she was drifting into sleep. She’d never even seen anyone kissing like that in real life—she’d only read about it, or seen it on a movie screen. But this wasn’t real life, exactly, was it? Lisa was already deeply into a very odd mix of real life and fantasy and the lines between the two were already a bit blurred. About to indulge herself by drifting further towards the fantasy side, it was a rude shock to hear the strident beeping of her pager. She snapped on her light and reached for the small device.

Code One, the pager read. Lido Deck.

Lisa was out of bed and hauling on her uniform in seconds. There was no time to even think about what her hair looked like. Her cabin was the closest to the medical centre. She had to go and grab the rapid response trolley and head for the deck that had the swimming pools. Hopefully, someone else from the team would join her quickly but, for the moment, she knew she was on her own.

Her heart skipped a beat and then sped up as she raced along the narrow corridor towards the medical centre. This was definitely real life and not any kind of fantasy and she was on the front line. Lisa had no idea if any of the other medical staff would also be responding to this call, even if Code One was the most urgent kind of summons. She might well be on her own until she found out whether the situation was really serious enough to warrant extra staff at this time of night.

It had to be well after midnight by the time Lisa had commandeered a service lift to get her to the Lido deck as quickly as possible. Heads turned as she raced past people wrapped up in blankets lying on deckchairs. It was a movie night where a huge screen had been lowered on the other side of the largest swimming pool, the deckchairs lined up in rows to accommodate the audience. Red and white striped bags of popcorn got spilled as a crew member in a white hat jumped out of Lisa’s way. She passed restaurants that were still open and she could smell the variety of food on offer—from burgers to Indian meals.

There were people everywhere, laughing and having fun, even dancing in the area that Lisa was heading for where there was another pool and two spas, which made it feel quite bizarre to find a knot of crew members and others around a figure that was slumped against the side of one of the spa pools, wearing only a bathing suit.

Lisa could hear that the young man was having trouble breathing as she crouched down beside him, feeling for his pulse on his wrist. It was rapid and very faint, which suggested his blood pressure could be low.

‘I’m Lisa,’ she told him. ‘One of the ship’s nurses. Can you tell me your name?’

He opened his mouth but all she could hear was the harsh sounds of him trying to move air through obstructed passages.

‘His name’s Alex,’ someone told her. ‘We got him out of the pool because he started coughing and couldn’t stop.’

‘Are you asthmatic, Alex?’ Lisa was pulling open drawers on the resus trolley. She needed to get some oxygen on her patient and probably a nebuliser to try and help him breathe.

‘He’s allergic.’

Lisa looked up at the young woman in a red bikini. ‘To what?’

‘Strawberries. He told me when he didn’t want to try my strawberry daiquiri.’

‘He said he had an adrenaline pen in his pocket,’ A crew member added. ‘But we haven’t found where he left his clothes yet.’

‘Okay…’ Lisa slipped an oxygen mask over Alex’s face. ‘I’m going to give you an injection right now,’ she told him.

Her own heart rate was well up as she located the drug she needed, filled the syringe and administered the intramuscular injection. An anaphylactic reaction could be a very satisfying emergency to treat if it responded rapidly to adrenaline and the frightening swelling in the airways began to settle, but it could also be a situation that could just as rapidly spiral into something worse—potentially life-threatening.

Waiting the few minutes to see if a repeat dose was needed gave Lisa a chance to take some vital signs and check Alex more thoroughly, and that was when she noted the diffuse, red rash that was appearing all over his body.

‘You didn’t drink the daiquiri, did you, Alex?’

He shook his head. He was holding the oxygen mask against his face and his eyes, above the mask, were terrified. Even through the plastic of the mask, Lisa could see that his lips were swelling.

‘I kissed him.’ The girl in the red bikini burst into tears. ‘This is my fault, isn’t it? He’s not going to die, is he? You have to do something…’

She did. Nebulised adrenaline was the next step, along with a repeat dose of the drug by injection but, even if that started to make a difference, Lisa was going to need help and, as if she’d sent out a silent prayer, the figure that pushed through the group of spectators was the answer she would have wanted the most.

Hugh Patterson.

‘Fill me in,’ was all he said. ‘I’ve got some crew bringing a stretcher.’

‘Anaphylaxis to strawberries,’ Lisa told him. ‘Diffuse rash, hypotensive, tachycardic and respiratory obstruction with stridor—oxygen saturation currently eighty-eight percent. First dose of adrenaline was about three minutes ago but there’s no improvement.’

‘No worries.’ His nod let Lisa know that he’d absorbed all the information and he knew how serious this was. His tone was still laidback enough not to alarm anyone else, however. ‘Let’s get another dose on board. And can you set up a nebuliser as well?’

Lisa drew up the medication as Hugh put a hand on their patient’s shoulder. ‘We’ve got this, okay? But we’re going to take you down to our medical centre where we’ve got all the bells and whistles. I’m just going to pop an IV into your arm while we wait for your transport.’

Lisa knew her way around the trolley drawers by now so she was able to hand Hugh everything he needed before he had to ask. A tourniquet to wrap around Alex’s upper arm, an alcohol wipe to clean the skin, a cannula to slip into a vein and then the Luer plug and dressing to secure the access. Lisa prepped the bag of saline by puncturing the port with the spike of the giving set and then running fluid through the tubes to eliminate any air bubbles. Hugh was attaching the line to the Luer plug as the crew members arrived with the stretcher and then helped lift Alex onto it.

‘Carry that bag, please, Lisa. And squeeze it. We need to get that fluid in fast.’