was doing.
‘Now you’re here, what do you think?’ She gestured to the screen.
‘I’m pretty sure he has an infarct of the right cerebellum,’ he said after only a few moments. He pointed to the area of the brain he was talking about. ‘But we need to find out what caused it. I’m guessing a clot. We should let the radiologists do an angiogram. If there is a clot they can be pretty good at aspirating it.’
Dr Stuart turned to Sally, who had been listening to the exchange with frightened, uncomprehending eyes.
‘We think that your husband might have a blood clot blocking an artery inside his brain. That’s what is making him so unresponsive. There is a procedure that can help. The radiologists put a catheter, a fine tube, into the artery in his groin and locate the blockage. If there is a clot present, they’ll try to suck it out.’
‘But …’ Olivia shot Dr Stuart a warning look ‘… you should be aware that the procedure carries some risks.’
‘What kind of risks?’ Sally’s voice rose to a squeak.
‘It’s possible that the procedure could well make whatever is wrong with your husband worse.’
‘On the other hand, if he doesn’t have it, he may not improve from where he is.’ Dr Stuart interrupted.
Typical of a surgeon, Olivia seethed. Any chance to intervene and they always took it over the more conservative approaches. She kept her voice level and matter-of-fact. ‘If Brad has had a stroke then he might well improve over the coming months.’
‘That’s true,’ David said easily. ‘But until we do the angiogram we won’t know for certain. Here’s what I suggest we do. We get him up to the MRI suite, ask the radiologists to take a look, and make a decision from there. How does that sound, Dr Simpson?’
It was, Olivia had to admit, a sensible approach. There was no point at this stage in giving the wife options and possibly scaring her further until they knew what the radiologists had to say.
‘Why don’t you come up and, if my diagnosis proves correct, watch the procedure?’ Dr Stuart said to Olivia. ‘You’ll find it interesting. The radiologists can do some pretty amazing stuff.’
‘Let me check what Kelly has waiting first, but if they can spare me, yes, I’d like to watch.’
Olivia took Sally by the hand and spoke soothingly to her. ‘Try not to worry too much until we hear what the radiologists have to say. Then we can decide how to proceed from there.’
Candice looked across at them. She was positively preening under the neurosurgeon’s gaze. ‘I’ll check that they’re free upstairs, shall I?’
David flashed her a grin and Candice blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘That would be helpful,’ he said.
Sally looked relieved that she didn’t have to make a decision just yet. Olivia gave her shoulder one final squeeze and went in search of Kelly. She had only got a few steps when she heard Dr Stuart’s voice coming from behind her.
‘Good thing I was in the department.’
She whirled around. ‘I’d have seen it eventually, Dr Stuart.’
‘It’s David.’ He cocked his head to the side and regarded her from his silvery eyes. ‘But you might have wasted time getting the Infectious Disease consult. You can cancel them.’
‘Shouldn’t we wait?’
‘Absolutely not. I’m almost certain. Brad needs the blockage cleared—either an angioplasty or clot aspiration—and the sooner the better. I’m the attending, so the decision is mine.’
Olivia’s pulse was racing and she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it had something to do with the way his grey-blue eyes locked onto hers. She shook her head slightly in an attempt to regain her focus. He was right. This was his area of expertise. She was letting her peculiar reaction to him make her flustered, behave out of character and question his judgement.
‘I’m happy to wait to see what the radiologists have to say,’ David continued mildly, ‘but I’m convinced they’ll confirm my diagnosis. We can discuss it before speaking to his wife about his treatment options. Okay?’
Olivia forced a smile. ‘Fine by me.’
She turned to the head ER nurse, who had been watching the exchange with obvious amusement. ‘Kelly, is there anything you need me for in the next hour or so?’
‘If there is, I’ll page you. There are other doctors on duty, you know.’ It was a barbed reference to the fact that Olivia liked to be involved in as many cases as she could. Apart from Kelly, Olivia was often first in and last out. As chief resident, the work of the interns was her overall responsibility—a responsibility she took very seriously indeed. Just because she was going on maternity leave in a few months was no reason to let her standards slip.
David reached across Olivia and swooped down on the box of doughnuts. ‘Worth coming down here just for this,’ he said as he took a bite out of one.
Olivia glanced at her watch. ‘We don’t have time.’ She reached across and removed the remains of the doughnut from his hand and chucked it in the bin. David stared. He lifted an eyebrow and grinned.
Kelly looked at Olivia and then at David. ‘You’re causing a bit of a ruckus in my department, young man. I just hope you’re as good a surgeon as everyone says you are.’
Upstairs in Radiology, Olivia watched as they injected dye through the arterial catheter in Brad’s groin. David murmured something to the radiologist when almost immediately a blocked vessel showed up on the screen. ‘There’s our culprit. The vessel wall looks quite normal so it must be blocked by a fresh blood clot,’ David said. He turned to Olivia. ‘There’s no time to talk to his wife—we have to remove it.’
The radiologist inserted a suction adapter onto the groin catheter and Olivia held her breath as he carefully sucked out the clot. Within minutes Brad’s eyes opened briefly to the call of his name and he appeared to look at them purposefully.
David lifted his head and grinned at her. ‘Pretty impressive, huh?’
Olivia nodded. It was a procedure she hadn’t witnessed before. And as David had said, it was pretty dramatic.
‘I’ll let his wife know he’s regained consciousness,’ she said.
She left the X-ray suite and hurried back downstairs, Kelly’s words echoing in her mind. David might be as good a surgeon as everyone said he was. Pity about the rest.
Olivia tossed her car keys onto the table by the door before going into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water. The remainder of her shift in the ER had been hectic. Not long after she’d come back down from Radiology a multiple RTA had come in. It had been an hour after her shift was due to finish when they’d finally sorted everyone out and either sent them home or to the OR. Thankfully all the casualties had survived.
She tipped some dog food into Bouncer’s bowl, which he devoured in three quick mouthfuls. When he looked up at her hopefully she shook her head.
‘No, you know you’ll get fat,
