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‘Good.’ Megan began to wrap a blood-pressure cuff around William’s arm.
‘What’s the matter with my daddy?’
Megan looked up to see that Nicky was anxiously watching what was happening.
‘He’s not feeling very well, Nicky,’ she said. ‘We need to send him to hospital so that the doctors can make him more comfortable.’
Nicky stuck his thumb in his mouth, his eyes wide and troubled. Megan looked up at Chloe. ‘I wonder if you could take him to look at the ducks?’ she suggested softly. ‘This is perhaps a little too upsetting for him.’
The girl nodded, and Megan tacked on, ‘Just keep an eye on him and see to it that he doesn’t go too close to the water.’
‘I will.’ Chloe took off with Nicky in the direction of the canal wharf. ‘Come on, squirt,’ she said. ‘We’ll see how many ducklings we can find.’
‘Do you have any idea what might be wrong with my husband?’ the woman asked.
‘Not yet,’ Megan answered. ‘They’ll have to do tests at the hospital, and possibly a scan.’ She was concerned about the way his muscles were twitching, and as she watched him his body began to jerk uncontrollably. ‘Does he have any history of epilepsy?’
The woman shook her head. ‘No. The only thing he ever mentioned is a sort of cramping pain from time to time.’
‘Show me where it was that he had the pain,’ Megan said, and the man’s wife showed her an area around his kidneys.
‘Is that any help to you?’ the woman asked.
‘Possibly, but we won’t know anything for sure until he’s undergone thorough tests.’ Megan frowned. ‘His blood pressure is very high. Has he had problems with that before?’
‘Not that I am aware of, although he has been getting headaches. Is it important?’
‘It could be. I’m going to have to give him an injection to control the seizures,’ Megan murmured. ‘With any luck, the ambulance will be here before too long.’
The paramedics arrived within a few minutes, and Megan supervised William’s transfer into the ambulance, walking with them to the pub car park, where their vehicle was waiting.
‘I thought your stint on duty had finished a few hours ago,’ the lead paramedic said, acknowledging Megan. He grinned. ‘You can’t stay away, that’s the truth of it, isn’t it?’
‘Too right,’ she said with a faint smile. ‘I expect I’ll see you again bright and early tomorrow.’
‘I want to go with my husband,’ Alice put in. ‘Can I do that, and take Chloe and Nicky with me?’
The driver nodded. ‘We should be able to squeeze you in.’ He ushered them inside the vehicle and then closed the doors on them, leaving his partner to attend to the patient on the journey. ‘We’ll be on our way, then,’ he told Megan.
She inclined her head and waved them off. Then she turned, and realised that the artist was standing just a short distance away, watching her.
‘You seem to know them quite well,’ he said, throwing a glance towards the disappearing ambulance. ‘Are they colleagues of yours?’
‘Yes, I see them most days. I work in the A and E department at the Borderlands Hospital.’
‘Ah.’ He tilted his head backwards a fraction, and for a moment she wondered if there was something familiar about him.
‘Have we met before this?’ she asked him on an impulse. ‘I suddenly have the feeling that I’ve seen you around and about.’
He smiled briefly. ‘It’s possible, I suppose, though I doubt it. I’m sure I would have remembered if we’d been introduced.’ His glance shimmered over her. He put out his hand and she lifted hers in return, feeling more than a little overwhelmed as his palm covered hers in a warm embrace. ‘I’m Theo Benyon,’ he said, drawing her close to him.
‘Megan Rees.’
‘Perhaps we’ll meet again before too long?’ he murmured. His blue gaze drifted over her.
‘It’s possible, I dare say.’ She sent him a long look from under thick, dark lashes, an imp of mischief coming to her. ‘If you’re not too busy with your painting, you might want to help out in one of my “Keep Children Safe” workshops. We run them from time to time at the hospital, and we’re always looking for people to lend a hand.’
He threw back his head and laughed. ‘You don’t give up, do you, Megan Rees? I guess you like to involve people in your good causes—but I think I’ll pass on that one if it’s all the same with you. I have quite enough to deal with at the moment, one way and another.’
‘Do you?’ She wondered what those things might be as she smiled gently and tugged her hand free. ‘I have to go,’ she said. ‘Things to do, people to see. I’ll leave you to go and retrieve your painting.’
It was an excuse, but suddenly she felt the need to put distance between them. Her hand was still tingling from the warm intimacy of his grasp and her body quivered in response to the lingering look he had bestowed on her. All at once he seemed like the Devil personified, and her instinct was to retreat, fast.
She wasn’t quite sure why she felt that way, but if instinct was urging her to run, she would follow it. Theo was a red-blooded male, young and vigorous, and she couldn’t help but sense his interest in her. That alone was enough to put her on her guard. Hadn’t she already discovered that there was some kind of a flaw in all the men who crossed her path?
CHAPTER TWO
‘IT WAS definitely a heart attack. Look at the lab results…they show that her cardiac enzymes are elevated.’ Megan scanned the report on screen and then switched to the results of the echocardiograph. ‘See this area here?’ She glanced at the senior house officer by her side and pointed out the region that was giving her concern. ‘The heart function is definitely impaired.’
‘I see it. It’s not good, is it?’ Sarah winced. Her face was pale against the gold of her hair, and Megan guessed the long hours on duty were beginning to take their toll on her. She hoped she could send her to the doctors’ lounge to take a well-earned rest soon, as things had been hectic in A and E.
‘Not good at all.’ Megan turned her attention to the monitor that was recording her patient’s vital signs. ‘Her heart rate is way too high and her condition’s deteriorating fast.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Sarah was worried, her gaze troubled as she studied the laboratory results. ‘You’ve already given her glyceryl trinitrate and diamorphine, along with an infusion of tirofiban and heparin, but the chest pain is coming back, and she’s struggling to get her breath.’
Megan pressed her lips together. ‘We’ll leave her on the infusion for a while longer to see if things settle down.’ She frowned, pushing back a silky lock of chestnut hair that tumbled across her cheek. ‘Is there any news of Mr Carlson yet? We’re running out of time. If we don’t get her to surgery soon, she could go into cardiogenic shock and that would be grim.’
‘I’ll go and check, but last I heard he was tied up in Theatre at a hospital across the county.’
Megan winced. ‘We really need more people that we can call on. We’ve been understaffed for months now, and the situation doesn’t show any sign of changing for the better, does it?’
Sarah shook her head. She went to make her phone call, while Megan spoke quietly to the nurse who was assisting, before checking the infusion meter and keying in the appropriate settings.
‘Let me know if there’s any change,’ she murmured, and the nurse nodded.
‘I will.’
Megan drew in a quick breath and went in search of her next patient. It had been non-stop from the minute she had come on duty. A traffic accident at a notorious road junction had kept her and her colleagues busy for most of the morning, tending to the injured, and then she’d had to deal with a patient who couldn’t breathe properly and a child with a broken arm. Then had come the woman who had suffered a heart attack.
Just another day in the emergency department, and problems were piling up on one another, thick and fast. Wasn’t that the nature of the job?
An hour or so later she headed towards the central area to see who was next on her list.
‘Ouch.’ A small voice caught her attention and she glanced into one of the treatment rooms off the central area in time to see a small boy clambering up onto a trolley bed. He was attempting to unhook an oxygen mask and tubing from the outlet on the wall at the back of the bed, and it looked as though he had banged his leg in the attempt. He stopped to rub his injury momentarily and then went on with his examination of the oxygen equipment.
What on earth was he doing in there on his own? Megan went to investigate.
‘Is someone looking after you?’ she asked. He couldn’t be much more than five years old, she guessed.
The boy glanced at her and then nodded without saying anything.
‘Are you sick?’
He shook his head.
‘That’s good. But I saw that you banged your leg on the bed. Do you want me to take a look at it?’
Again there was a perfunctory shake of the head, an action that sent his dark hair into a quiver. Losing interest in her, he tugged at the tubing and started to play around with the mask.
‘You really shouldn’t be playing with that,’ she told him. ‘If you pull on it like that it might get damaged, and then it won’t be of any use if we need it when someone needs help to breathe.’
‘Oh.’ He put the mask down on the pillow and looked around him in a disgruntled fashion. ‘I don’t want to stay here,’ he said, giving her an accusatory glance. ‘I want my mum.’
‘OK.’ Megan studied him, wondering what had brought about the downward slant to his lip. ‘I’ll see if we can do something about that.’ She held out her hand to him. ‘Do you want to come with me and we’ll see if we can sort this out?’
His glare was truculent. ‘I don’t know you. You’re a stranger.’
‘Ah…’ For a second or two his simple logic knocked her for six. ‘Well, yes, you’re quite right about that,’ she murmured, recovering. ‘And it’s very sensible of you to stay put, under the circumstances.’ Her mouth twisted as she thought things through. ‘Who is supposed to be looking after you?’ she asked, trying another tack. ‘You really shouldn’t be here on your own, you know.’
A boy of few words, he pointed to the central area beyond, and then shrugged his shoulders upwards, clamping his bent legs with his arms and burying his chin on his knees. Watching him, Megan didn’t think she was going to get much more out of him.
She looked to where he had pointed and saw that Sarah was talking to someone who had his back to her. She stared for a moment at that tall, grey-suited figure, and all at once she stiffened. There was something instantly recognisable about those broad masculine shoulders and the long sweep of taut legs.
What was Theo Benyon doing here? And did he make a habit of leaving children to their own devices?
‘Stay here,’ Megan said to the child. ‘What’s your name, by the way? What should I call you?’
‘Harry.’ His blue eyes held a belligerent spark, but she sensed that underneath all the muted aggression there was a troubled, vulnerable little boy.
‘I’ll be back in a little while, Harry.’
Sarah was clearly captivated by the artist’s easygoing manner. There was a flush of warmth in her once pale cheeks, and her green eyes were lit with a kind of awed expectation.
Megan clamped her lips together. Theo was a disruptive influence. Why was he taking up space in their A and E unit if he wasn’t sick?
‘Well, hello, there,’ she said on a brisk note as she approached him. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you again quite so soon. Is there something we can do for you, Mr Benyon?’
‘Theo, please.’ A faint smile hovered on his lips, but it disappeared almost as soon as he met her gaze. ‘Uh-oh,’ he said, narrowing his eyes. ‘Am I in trouble again? I seem to recognise that expression on your face. It’s the look that says, You had better watch your step, because I’m not best pleased.’
‘I can’t imagine why you should think that way,’ she murmured. Turning to Sarah, she said softly, ‘Why don’t you go and take a break for a while, Sarah? Things seem to be calm around here for the moment.’
Sarah smiled. ‘You know that’s the cue for all hell to break loose, don’t you?’
Megan’s mouth curved briefly. ‘I do, but we’ll manage somehow if it does.’
‘Good. I could do with a coffee. I’ll just check on my patients, though, before I go.’ Sarah glanced at Theo. ‘It was interesting talking to you. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.’
She walked away, leaving Megan to direct her attention towards Theo. ‘I hardly like to bring the subject up,’ Megan said in an even tone, ‘but young Harry over there says he belongs with you and he doesn’t look to be a very happy bunny right now. I’m afraid he might get into mischief if he’s left to his own devices for much longer.’
Theo frowned, as though he had no idea what she was talking about. ‘I’ve just rescued the oxygen equipment from his inquisitive fingers,’ she explained, ‘and…’ her glance went to the treatment room, a line indenting her brow ‘…it looks as though he’s moved on from there. It would be my guess that the trolley bed is about to go walkabout any moment now.’
Theo’s blue eyes narrowed. ‘He was supposed to be looking at picture books.’
Her mouth flattened. ‘Was he? I can’t imagine why he’s not looking at them when there’s a whole ward full of gadgets to explore.’ Her tone held a hint of sarcasm. ‘Clever boy. It can’t have taken him above two seconds to figure out the wheel-release mechanism.’ Her brows met in a fine, dark line. ‘I just hope he’s worked out how the brake operates.’
‘I don’t know about clever,’ Theo said under his breath. ‘What Harry has in abundance is determination. Excuse me.’ He was already striding purposefully towards the treatment room.
A moment later he was back again, with a scowling Harry in tow. ‘I want to see my mum,’ the boy said.
‘You will.’ Theo lightly tousled the boy’s hair. ‘Just let me apologise to the doctor for leaving you to fend for yourself. She thinks I don’t know how to look after young children, and you’ve more or less proved her point.’ He turned his gaze on Megan once more, treating her to the full blaze of eyes that were the colour of a summer sky.
‘I was entirely in the wrong,’ he said, bowing his head in a way that might have signified contrition, if she hadn’t caught the faint glimmer of a smile in that devilish glance. ‘I thought I could rely on him to stay out of trouble for a minute or two while I left a message for Mr Edwards, but obviously my faith was misplaced.’
‘I dare say these things happen,’ she returned evenly, ‘though I don’t know of any child who can resist exploring. But I guess things turned out all right in the end. It would probably be better if you were to keep him by your side from now on.’
‘I’ll do that.’ His mouth pulled wrily. ‘I’ll take him away and we’ll leave you in peace.’
Megan nodded. She might have said more, but he was already starting to turn away from her, and the nurse who had been assisting with the cardiac patient came hurrying forward, saying in an anxious tone, ‘Mrs Claremont is going downhill fast. I think she’s going into cardiogenic shock—all the signs you said to look out for are there, and her circulation appears to be shutting down. Will you come?’
‘Of course. Phone through to the catheter suite and tell them I need to operate, will you, and ask the senior house officer on duty to assist me? I’ll need two nurses to come along as well.’ She started to swivel around in order to hurry back to the observation ward, but added, ‘I don’t suppose there has been any news from Mr Carlson?’
‘He phoned to say it’ll be several hours before he can get away. He said to put her on thrombolytics.’
Megan winced. ‘We’ve done that, but it isn’t working. I’ve no choice but to do an emergency angiography and try to open up the blood vessel with a balloon implant. I just hope we can buy her some time.’
She glanced back towards Theo, something in her drawn to seek him out. He, too, had stopped in his tracks, she discovered, and he was watching her, an odd expression on his face, one that she could not read, no matter how she tried. Then Harry tugged on his arm and he gathered himself together and reluctantly began to turn in the direction of the exit.
Megan continued on her way. Perhaps it was just as well that he had gone. Somehow he was managing to cloud her vision and cause a blip in her usually clear thinking. ‘You had better let Mr Edwards know what we’re doing,’ she said to the nurse. ‘He wanted to be kept informed.’
‘OK. I’ll page him. He was working with a patient in Resus a while ago.’
Megan hurried to check on her patient. The woman’s renal system was failing despite the intravenous diuretics and medications she had received.
‘Let’s get her up to the catheter suite,’ she said, when the nurse returned. ‘I’m guessing that she has a critically narrowed artery, and I need to restore her circulation as soon as possible.’
The hour that followed was nerve-racking. Megan introduced a catheter into an artery in her patient’s groin and guided it into the descending aorta, the heart’s main blood vessel, monitoring her progress all the time with the aid of the computer. ‘OK, I see the blockage and I have the balloon in place. We need to set up the pump so that it will inflate and deflate the balloon at the right intervals.’
They worked as a team, and then watched the pump in action to ensure that it was working properly. When the patient’s heart was in the resting phase, the balloon inflated, increasing the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the coronary arteries. When the heart was ready to work, the balloon deflated, decreasing the workload on the heart.
‘Well done, everybody,’ Megan said, moving away from the bedside some time later. ‘We’ve done all we can for now, and we’ve managed to restore her circulation for the time being. The balloon can stay in place until Mr Carlson is ready to operate.’
Her boss, Mr Edwards, met up with her as she was leaving the catheter suite. ‘How did it go?’ he asked.
‘She’s stable for the time being.’ Megan’s expression was troubled. ‘I just hope Mr Carlson will be able to do a coronary bypass before too long. She’s in desperate need of the surgery. She’s still relatively young, and she has a family waiting for her.’
‘It’s always a worrying time for all concerned.’ Mr Edwards walked with her to the lift. He was a tall man, distinguished-looking, with steel-grey hair that was cut close to frame his head. ‘By the way, the nurse on Reception told me Theo Benyon was in here looking for me. She said she saw you talking to him, but then he left… Was there a problem? Do you happen to know where he went?’
Did her boss know the man? Megan shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea. I was just relieved that he gathered up the child that was with him and kept him from getting into any more mischief. I was worried that the equipment would be damaged if he didn’t rein him in.’
