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‘It’s time to go home again, Patrick,’ Amy announced. Mrs Benny would be back from X-ray soon and the increase in general activity and noise beyond the cubicle curtain indicated that the quiet spell was over. Amy helped Patrick to his feet where he stood for a moment, swaying slightly. She pulled back the curtain, glancing up automatically as she did so.
It seemed as though the stranger had been waiting for her to appear. How else could she have caught his eye so instantly? He wasn’t laughing this time. Not even smiling, but Amy recognised him. She tore her gaze away. It was like a physical touch, that eye contact. It was too personal. Intimate, even, which was ridiculous. Amy made eye contact with perfect strangers all the time. Why on earth should this man be any different?
‘Come on, Patrick. You’re all right now.’
Amy turned so that she was side on to the stranger. He was talking to Noel Fenton, an orthopaedic registrar who was probably on his way to see Mrs Benny. Could the man be a relative perhaps? Mrs Benny’s son? Amy shook her head unconsciously. No. Mrs Benny was in her eighties and this man didn’t look much over thirty. A grandson, maybe.
Amy waited patiently while Patrick collected his hat and walking stick from the end of his bed. She was quite aware of the men in her peripheral line of vision, however. Noel was introducing the man to Gareth Harvey. Amy risked another glance as he shook hands with the consultant. He was smiling again now. His manner was as relaxed and casual as his faded jeans and the leather jacket over an open-necked shirt. Not a frantically worried relative, then.
Amy turned away quickly as the trio of men started moving towards her. Her movement coincided with Patrick’s tentative foray back into the world, and the old man staggered a little. He caught Amy’s arm and then hooked her waist with a bony hand.
‘You’re an angel, Amy Brooks,’ he proclaimed loudly. ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’
Amy prised the hand from her waist. ‘Come on, Patrick.’ She could sense the proximity of the consultant and his companions. She heard the appreciative chuckle that could only have come from one person. Amy gritted her teeth and spoke with quiet desperation.
‘Come on, Patrick.’ Amy kept hold of her charge’s arm and began to steer him very firmly towards the door. Patrick was looking back over his shoulder.
‘Sent by heaven, she was,’ he informed the department triumphantly. ‘An angel, to be sure.’
Amy’s blush had finally receded by the time she had signed Patrick out and seen him to the taxi stand outside the waiting room. The nurse manager, Peter Milne, signalled to her on her return.
‘Can you give Jennifer a hand to sort out Resus 1? It’s still a bit of a mess.’
‘Sure.’ Amy smiled willingly. ‘Any word on Daniel yet?’
‘Still in Theatre, but Noel was in there to check on the leg and things were going pretty well. The bleeding’s under control. Ruptured spleen and some liver damage. I think he’ll pull through.’
‘That’s great.’ Amy spared a thought for the relief Daniel’s mother would feel. Jennifer had the same thought when Amy relayed the information.
‘Can you believe Janice brought her in here at that point in time? You’d think she’d know enough to check first.’
‘I think she feels uncomfortable dealing with relatives,’ Amy said. ‘And sometimes it is better to let them see that everything possible is being done, especially if the outcome is likely to be bad.’
‘Hmm.’ Jennifer was counting empty drug ampoules as she slotted them into the sharps container. She didn’t sound convinced.
Amy began collecting the discarded sterile packaging. ‘Patrick just proposed to me again.’
‘So we heard.’ Jennifer grinned. ‘You’re an angel, to be sure.’
Amy returned the grin. Suddenly the moment she’d been waiting for seemed to present itself. ‘Hey, Jen?’
‘Mmm?’ Jennifer was now peering into the drugs cabinet.
‘About tonight,’ Amy said carefully. She didn’t want this opportunity to go the way all the others had. ‘I thought—’
‘No,’ Jennifer interrupted firmly. She kept her gaze on the contents of the cupboard. ‘We’re low on adrenaline in here. Pretty low on morphine as well. I’ll go and get some more.’
‘Please, Jen,’ Amy said forlornly. ‘I really want you to come to this party.’
‘No. Sorry, Amy, but I’m not going to change my mind.’
‘But you love parties.’
‘Not this one I don’t. I’d rather stay home and stick needles in my eyes.’ Jennifer glanced at Amy. ‘Which reminds me. How are those IV cannula supplies?’
‘Down on 14-gauge,’ Amy responded automatically.
‘I’ll get some of those, too, then.’
Amy straightened the ECG electrode wires and rolled up the blood-pressure cuff. She was tucking in the clean sheet on the bed as Jennifer returned. Amy accepted the bundle of cannula packages and caught her friend’s eye hopefully.
‘It won’t be that bad, you know. The party, I mean.’
‘Yes, it will.’ Jennifer was arranging the fresh supply of ampoules in the drug cabinet. ‘A pack of stuffy consultants and their wives. All geriatric,’ she continued decisively. ‘There’ll probably be a string quartet in the corner and a waiter with a tray of sherry. Everybody will be overdressed and horribly superior.’ Jennifer clicked the cabinet door shut and locked it. She gave Amy a reproachful look. ‘And your boyfriend will be the worst of the lot.’
Amy sighed. This wasn’t going the way she’d planned it at all. ‘Don’t start on Nigel,’ she begged. ‘He’s not that bad. He really wants you to come.’
‘Oh, sure.’ Jennifer’s expression was now openly sceptical. You’re talking about the man who told me, only yesterday, that if my neurons could get close enough to hold hands occasionally then I would have had those scan results available before he had to disrupt his precious schedule to come down to Emergency.’
Amy’s glance slid sideways. ‘OK, so he can be a bit sarcastic sometimes. Major trauma cases can be stressful, as you well know.’
‘He hadn’t even got anywhere near the patient,’ Jennifer countered. Her expression softened. ‘I admit he probably has his good points. He can be very charming when he wants to be.’ It was Jennifer’s turn to sigh. ‘I just can’t pretend to like him, Amy. There’s something about him that I don’t trust, and it’s more than the fact that his eyes are far too close together. I still don’t understand why you started going out with him in the first place.’
‘He asked me,’ Amy said simply. ‘Anyway, that’s months ago, now. It’s ancient history.’
‘Like Nigel.’
‘He’s only forty-two,’ Amy said impatiently. ‘And he’s a very talented surgeon. You don’t have to like him, Jen. Just come to the party. For me.’
‘No way.’ Jenny pulled back the curtain. Resus 1 was ready to go again. ‘Catch you later, Amy. Looks like there’s some work to be done out here.’
A new stretcher was coming through the automatic double doors from the ambulance bay. The bed arriving from the other end of the corridor that led into the hospital was returning Mrs Benny to the emergency department. Amy caught up with her patient.
‘That was nice and quick. How are you feeling, Mrs Benny?’
‘Dreadful. They moved my leg and the pain is ever so much worse.’
‘Is is?’ Amy helped the orderly position the bed back in cubicle 4. ‘I’ll get one of the doctors to come and organise some more pain relief for you.’
Amy’s route to notify one of the registrars of Mrs Benny’s need for more analgesia took her past Jennifer, who was helping a woman towards the toilet. The smile that the two nurses exchanged was fleeting but it was enough to reassure Amy that Jennifer was not really bothered by her persistent efforts over the last week directed at getting her to accept the party invitation.
The difference of opinion concerning Amy’s dating of orthopaedic surgeon Nigel Wesley hadn’t been enough to seriously compromise their friendship. Yet. Amy’s spirits sank a little further. That was something that could well change after tonight, and Amy dreaded that possibility. Somehow she had to warn Jennifer of developments and ensure that their friendship wasn’t going to suffer irreparably. Persuading her to attend the party and then making sure she enjoyed herself was the only plan Amy had, so far, been able to concoct.
Perhaps she should just come straight out with it and tell Jennifer the truth. If she was really confident that she was doing the right thing, then it shouldn’t be a problem, but confidence was an emotion that Amy generally associated only with her professional abilities. Anything else was too risky to be confident about, but this was a risk she was happy enough to take. It was the right thing to do. It had to be. Time was running out in more ways than one.
Maybe the doubts that were troubling her were due to the sneaking suspicion that a friendship might have to be sacrificed. Not just any friendship either. The one and only really close relationship that Amy had ever had with another person. Nobody else had ever come close. Not her school friends and definitely not her parents. Not even Nigel. Maybe especially Nigel. Jen was the one person in the world who loved Amy for who she really was. Jen made her feel good about herself and had always supported her wholeheartedly. Well, almost always. At least until Nigel Wesley had surprisingly shown an interest in Senior Nurse Amy Brooks.
Gladys Benny was transferred to a ward half an hour later. Due to her patient’s reluctance to let go of her hand, Amy accompanied the bed as far as the lift. It was on her return that she spotted the man for the third time. He was now in the emergency observation area—a mini-ward, adjacent to Emergency, that could hold non-urgent patients for up to twenty-four hours until a decision was made regarding their need for admission. Amy didn’t give him the chance to look in her direction this time. She sped on and didn’t stop until she found Jennifer. She followed her friend into the sluice room.
‘Who is that man in the leather jacket?’ Amy demanded. ‘He’s been hanging around Emergency all day.’
‘So have I,’ Jennifer groaned. She dropped the container she was carrying into the infectious waste disposal unit and stripped off her gloves. ‘My feet hurt.’ She gave Amy a concerned glance. ‘How’s your leg?’
‘Fine.’ Amy wasn’t going to be distracted. ‘You must have noticed him,’ she persisted.
‘Why? Is he cute?’
‘I suppose,’ Amy admitted grudgingly. ‘He’s tall with straight black hair. Kind of spiky.’ She eyed Jennifer’s tufts of short blonde hair. ‘A bit like yours, only longer.’
‘I like him already,’ Jennifer declared. ‘Who’s he in here to see?’
‘That’s what I was trying to find out.’ Amy shook her head. ‘He looks too happy to be a relative.’
‘If he looks happy, he can’t be a staff member either.’ Jennifer grinned.
‘I’m not sure about that. Noel Fenton was introducing him to Gareth a while ago.’
‘What?’ Jennifer’s jaw slackened. ‘You mean Noel Fenton was here and I didn’t notice?’ Her face screwed itself into total dismay. ‘Damn it! That probably means he didn’t notice me either.’
Amy looked suddenly thoughtful. ‘Noel is Nigel’s registrar.’
‘I know that.’ Jennifer leaned back against the wall, clearly grateful for a short respite. ‘Just because Noel is indescribably gorgeous doesn’t make Nigel suitable, however. You could do so much better for yourself, Amy.’
‘I haven’t so far.’ Amy lost her train of thought regarding Noel Fenton. ‘I’m nearly thirty, Jen.’
‘So? You’re gorgeous. Far too good for Mr Wesley.’ She nudged Amy. ‘You might have hazel eyes instead of blue but, as Patrick says, you’re an angel, to be sure.’
Amy laughed. ‘If I’m so terrific, how come all my romances have been such dismal failures?’ she countered.
‘You just haven’t found the right man.’
Amy took a deep breath. ‘Maybe I have now.’
‘Ha!’ Jennifer shook her head vigorously. ‘For God’s sake, Amy. Nigel Wesley still lives with his mother!’
‘It’s a huge house. She has a completely self-contained wing. They lead totally separate lives.’
Jennifer eyed her dubiously.
‘The house is awesome, Jen. You really should come and see it. There’s an indoor swimming pool and a conservatory. Six bedrooms and all of them have en suite bathrooms.’
‘You sound like a real estate agent.’
‘The garden’s well worth seeing. It got photographed for House and Garden last year.’
‘It’ll be dark.’
‘It’s floodlit,’ Amy told her enthusiastically. ‘And the kitchen’s amazing. All stainless steel and very high tech.’
‘Sounds like an operating theatre.’ Jennifer giggled. ‘Does the food come out on a tray covered with a sterile drape?’
‘There’s a breakfast room that leads into the conservatory. It has cane furniture and lots of bright cushions. It’s really rather nice.’
‘You sound like you’re planning to move in.’
Amy’s hesitation was just long enough for Jennifer’s eyes to widen in a horrified expression. ‘This party that you’re so keen to drag me along to tonight. You’re not…’ Jennifer swallowed deliberately. ‘It’s not for some special announcement, is it?’
‘Please, come, Jen.’ Amy bit her lip. ‘I need you there. I need someone on my side.’
‘If it feels like a battle then it’s not right. Don’t do it, Amy.’
‘I’m not talking about Nigel. It’s the rest of them I’m not so sure of. And I don’t think his mother really likes me.’ Desperation planted a last ray of hope for Amy as she remembered her earlier inspiration. ‘Hey, Jen? What if I got Nigel to invite Noel Fenton to the party?’
‘He’d probably bring his wife.’
‘I don’t think he’s married. In fact, I’m sure he isn’t. You could wear something gorgeous and he’d have to notice you. You’d stand out a mile amongst all those consultants’ wives.’ Amy had noticed the gleam of interest her friend was trying to disguise. ‘I can see it now,’ she said cunningly. ‘There they all are. Middle-aged and dressed in sophisticated but terribly boring black evening dresses. And there you are—wearing something—’
‘Black,’ Jennifer supplied. She grinned at Amy’s frown. ‘But black with a difference.’ She straightened and headed for the door. ‘I like it,’ she announced. ‘I think I will come to your party after all.’
Amy breathed an inward sigh of relief. A bit of moral support was all she needed to make the evening perfect.
‘You know…’ Jennifer had paused in the sluice room doorway to glance back at Amy. ‘I think tonight might just be a turning point in life.’
Amy nodded happily. ‘For both of us.’ She was still smiling as Jennifer disappeared. It was certainly going to be the turning point of her own life.
Amy Brooks had no doubt at all about that.
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_ac7720f1-ceaa-5289-bbbb-e9c04b60e19f)
THE nudge from Jennifer Bowman’s elbow was none too gentle.
‘What is that, might I ask?’
Amy’s smile was embarrassed. ‘It’s a string quartet,’ she admitted.
‘And where is it?’
‘In the conservatory.’
‘And where is Noel?’ Jennifer asked pointedly.
‘I’m not sure.’ Amy cast a hopeful glance at the new faces appearing in the crowded drawing room. ‘He’ll be here very soon, I expect.’
‘He’d better be,’ Jennifer muttered darkly. She, too, glanced at the gathering of people. ‘This is even worse than I expected. Look—half of them are drinking sherry.’
‘I see you found the champagne, though.’
‘Of course. Where’s yours?’
