Nurse In Need

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‘Time to go, Amy,’ he suggested firmly.

Before she could make any kind of protest, Amy found herself swept up in the man’s arms. He turned and strode out of the room. For the first time Amy became aware of the amount of attention she had drawn to herself. Shocked and disapproving faces seemed to be turned on her from every direction.

‘Oh, no!’ Amy moaned. She buried her face in the leather-covered shoulder, wrapping her arms around the man’s neck to make her defensive position more secure.

‘What have I done?’

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_f8399780-0eeb-5be1-a6df-82f13abccf0e)

AMY BROOKS had ruined her life, that’s what she’d done.

It took until Sunday evening for the physical aftermath of the party to abate completely. By then it was only too clear that the emotional damage was irreparable. While Jennifer had been sympathetic enough concerning Amy’s physical woes, she was demonstrating a sad lack of empathy for Amy’s state of personal anguish. Admittedly, it was fair enough that Jennifer had escaped by working her rostered day shifts on Saturday and Sunday. As far as Amy was concerned, it hadn’t been a matter of vital necessity that Jennifer had accepted the date with Noel Fenton on the Saturday night. And she really didn’t need to look quite so cheerful as she tackled her pile of ironing on Sunday evening.

‘Do you want me to iron a uniform for you as well?’

‘I don’t need one,’ Amy said gloomily. ‘I’m not going to work tomorrow.’

‘Yes, you are,’ Jennifer contradicted. ‘You have to help me pay the rent.’

‘I’ll get another job. I’ll become a photographer’s assistant and spend my days locked in a darkroom.’

‘You love your job.’

‘Not any more, I don’t. How can I even show my face at work? The entire hospital must be talking about me.’

‘Not so far.’ Jennifer was pulling a pair of black tights from the washing basket. ‘These are yours,’ she announced, rolling them up and throwing them to where Amy was sitting, curled up on the end of the couch. Amy caught the tights and dumped them on the pile of unfolded underwear she was accumulating beside her.

‘I’ve ruined my life,’ she said mournfully. ‘Nigel will never speak to me again.’

‘Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess.’ Jennifer was unsympathetic. ‘Here, is this your uniform?’ She held up a crumpled white smock.

Amy nodded. ‘You can have it.’

‘It wouldn’t fit me. Anyway, you’ll need it tomorrow morning.’

‘No, I won’t. I’ll call in sick.’

‘I’ll tell them,’ Jennifer threatened. ‘For God’s sake, Amy. If people do hear about the party they’ll think you’re a hero. Nobody really likes Nigel Wesley.’ Jennifer spread the uniform over the board. ‘Except maybe his mother,’ she added thoughtfully. The iron was picked up but then thumped back onto its holder. ‘He’s the one who should feel embarrassed. He’s the one who got dumped.’

‘I didn’t dump him,’ Amy wailed. ‘It was just a misunderstanding.’

Jennifer began ironing again. ‘I suspect that telling Nigel you’d rather stick needles in your eyes than marry him might just have given him the impression he was being dumped,’ she suggested wickedly.

Amy groaned.

‘Especially when it was done in front of about a hundred people,’ Jennifer continued remorselessly.

Amy closed her eyes. Jennifer ironed in silence for a minute and then sighed with what sounded suspiciously like pleasure. Amy cracked one eye open cautiously. Yes, her flatmate was smiling.

‘It was really quite romantic, you know. It’s a shame you weren’t conscious enough to appreciate it.’ Jennifer sighed again. ‘It was just like that scene in An Officer And A Gentleman. You know, the one where he sweeps his girlfriend into his arms and carries her off through all the people in the factory?’

‘I’m not his girlfriend. I don’t even know the man.’

‘Yes, you do,’ Jennifer said reproachfully. ‘I told you all about him yesterday.’ She eased Amy’s uniform onto a hanger. ‘His name’s Tom Barlow and he’s our new locum emergency department consultant. He’s come from a specialist trauma team in Chicago.’ Jennifer hung the uniform from the top of the door. ‘Let’s hope he doesn’t miss all those gunshot and stabbing injuries too much.’

‘Let’s hope he does,’ Amy muttered. ‘He might go away again.’

‘He grew up here. He wanted to come home.’

‘You seem to know an awful lot about him.’

‘He was very helpful when Noel was driving us all home from the party. After we’d poured you into bed, we had a coffee. Tom wanted to know all about you.’

‘And you told him?’ Amy squeaked with indignation as she sat bolt upright on the couch for the first time that evening.

‘Not everything,’ Jennifer said soothingly. ‘In fact, not much at all, really. It was more your relationship with Nigel Wesley he was interested in.’

‘What relationship?’ Amy groaned.

‘Exactly. He seemed very pleased that you’d ended it.’

‘I haven’t ended it,’ Amy protested wearily. ‘At least, I didn’t mean to.’

‘Tom said the bit he liked the best was when you told Nigel he should marry his mother.’

‘Oh, God,’ Amy breathed. ‘Did I really say that?’

‘You did.’ Jennifer nodded seriously. ‘I was so proud of you. I think Tom was pretty impressed, too. And Noel thought you were great.’ Jennifer beamed at Amy. ‘It’s entirely your doing that Noel has finally noticed me. I’ll love you for ever. He said he’d never been to a more memorable party and he’s really looking forward to working tomorrow.’

‘Why?’

‘He said that Nigel Wesley’s temper can be bad enough on a good day. He reckons that tomorrow might set a record that will go down in hospital history. He promised to take me out for a drink and tell me all about it.’

‘That does it.’ Amy closed her eyes again. ‘I’m definitely not going in to work.’

The emergency department at Queen Mary’s looked just the way it always did. Amy could almost imagine that nothing cataclysmic had happened in her life when she arrived to begin her early shift at 6 a.m. the next day. By 9.30 a.m. she was beginning to forget her dread of being there. So far, there had been no terrible reminders of Friday night. Nobody had said anything. The department was busy and Amy was able to throw herself into her work with an almost normal level of enthusiasm.

The department was busy but not stressed. There were three cases of chest pain, a case of pneumonia, a woman with severe abdominal pain, a young man who’d suffered a seizure, some minor injuries from a car accident and a child with possible meningitis.

‘It’s probably flu,’ the registrar told Amy after he’d checked the toddler. ‘There’s no sign of a rash or any neck stiffness. What’s the temperature at the moment?’

‘Thirty-nine point nine,’ Amy supplied.

‘Has she vomited again since she’s been here?’

‘No. She’s pretty miserable, though, and she’s been knocking her head on the mattress, so her headache hasn’t responded to the paracetamol yet.’

‘She’s a bit dehydrated, which won’t be helping. I think we’ll get some fluids into her IV and admit her to the paediatric observation unit, at least for the day. Can you give them a ring? I won’t put the IV in until we know we’ve got a bed available. I’ll go and check that chest pain in Resus 2 while you sort that out.’

Amy dodged an incoming stretcher and made for the telephone on the sorting desk. She checked the laminated chart on the wall for the extension number she needed and was about to dial when she felt a touch on her elbow.

‘Amy, have you been introduced to Tom Barlow?’

‘No,’ Amy said truthfully. Even before she turned she could feel that tactile gaze from those brown eyes fixed on her. She directed her gaze towards nurse manager Peter Milne. ‘I think I…I saw him around, though,’ she stammered. ‘On Friday.’

‘Tom’s going to be heading the resus team when he’s on duty.’ Peter didn’t seem to notice Amy’s discomfort. He turned to the man beside him. ‘Tom, this is Amy Brooks. She’s the circulation nurse on the team.’

Amy had to look at him now. She had to accept the outstretched hand.

‘I’m delighted to meet you, Amy,’ Tom Barlow said politely. The brown eyes held a disconcertingly amused gleam. ‘It’s not often I get introduced to a genuine angel.’

Peter looked nonplussed but then grinned. ‘Oh, of course. You were here on Friday, when Amy was looking after Patrick.’

Amy pulled her hand free. ‘I hope you’ll enjoy working here, Dr Barlow,’ she managed evenly.

‘Call me Tom. And I expect it will be heavenly.’ Tom’s smile expanded lazily and Peter chuckled.

‘Don’t expect perfection, Tom. While I have to admit I’ve never seen Amy behaving badly, I’m sure it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.’

‘I’m sure it’s not.’

Amy could feel the ominous prickle of embarrassed heat assault her neck. Was he referring to the spectacular scene she’d created at the Wesley household which Peter seemed mercifully unaware of? Or was it the fact that she’d kissed a complete stranger—correction, let a complete stranger kiss her, presumably only minutes away from announcing her engagement to another man. If Amy remembered nothing else with vivid clarity from that disastrous evening, she certainly remembered that kiss. The heat had reached more than her cheeks by the time she’d picked up the phone and dialled the extension number.

‘Hi,’ she said hurriedly. ‘It’s Amy here, from Emergency.’ It felt like tiny flames might erupt from her face at any moment but the men beside her still hadn’t moved away. ‘We’ve got a three-year-old girl here who came in query meningitis. She’s dehydrated and pyrexic. We’d like to admit her for observation and some fluid replacement, at least short term. Have you got a bed available?’

They were finally moving away. Amy took a deep breath and sighed with relief. She didn’t have to look at Tom Barlow again for the moment. With a bit of luck the overpowering internal sensation which the memory of his kiss had again provoked would now fade completely. Amy wished, somewhat desperately, that she never had to look at Tom Barlow again. The memory would be hard enough to banish all on its own.

The music had to be faced some time. Amy might have guessed that the downward slide would begin when Janice Healey came on duty at midday. Start times for shifts in the emergency department were staggered to allow for more continuity of patient care. Jennifer was doing the same shift as Janice today but she’d arrived earlier and was now sitting in the staffroom, sharing Amy’s lunch-break.

‘I hear it was an interesting party on Friday night, Amy.’ Janice was unpacking food supplies from her shoulder-bag.

Amy glanced suspiciously at Jennifer who grimaced ruefully. ‘I think Noel might have been entertaining the other registrars a bit yesterday,’ she admitted.

Janice flicked her sleek bob as she turned to flash Amy an expression of bemusement laced with satisfaction.

‘You must be mad,’ she suggested, looking pleased with her analysis of the situation. ‘There’s no way I’d stuff up an opportunity like that.’ Janice shook her head and opened the small fridge.

‘You never know, Janice,’ Jennifer said kindly, ‘you might just be lucky enough to get an opportunity like that one day.’

‘Luck has nothing to do with it.’ Janice removed someone’s lunch-box from the shelf to make room for her supply of yoghurt and fruit. ‘I have every intention of being married by the time I’m twenty-five.’ She peered at her container of yoghurt. ‘There’s no way I’m going to end up going past my “use by” date.’

‘How old are you, Janice?’ Amy queried.

‘Twenty-four. And a half.’ Janice smiled knowingly. ‘But six months is plenty of time when the right man is available.’

‘Nigel Wesley’s available,’ Jennifer said with a straight face. ‘Go for it, Janice.’

‘Hmm.’ Janice appeared to give the option due consideration. ‘Well, he’s older and quite successful. And he is a doctor, but he doesn’t quite make the grade. Unfortunately, I can’t stand facial hair.’ Janice’s shudder was beautifully done.

‘What poor victim did you have in mind, then?’ Jennifer demanded. Her glance towards Amy suggested that it had better not be Noel Fenton.

‘Not telling.’ Janice smiled. She shook the wings of black hair away from her face and glanced at the clock. ‘Time for work,’ she announced cheerfully.

Jennifer scowled at Janice’s back as she left. ‘Who’s she working on? That’s what I’d like to know.’

As though in answer to her question, another figure appeared in the staffroom doorway.

‘Hi, Tom.’ Jennifer’s greeting was warm. ‘How’s the first day going?’