Rachael’s back with us after a year away.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Rachael smiled accepting his hand.
‘Newly married?’ His eyes were smiling, his question utterly merited, given the snippet of information Helen had so readily parted with, but the gentle pre-handover murmur that had filled the office stilled, the silence broken only by a couple of nervous coughs as Rachael stood there, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
‘Newly divorced, actually.’ In an attempt to sound casual her voice came out too loud, too joky, and as she took her hand away she noticed a flicker of embarrassment flash over Hugh’s face as Rachael’s own colour deepened. ‘And loving every minute,’ she added, but her attempt to inject some humour into the embarrassing exchange only served to increase the awkwardness.
It was Hugh that gave a slightly embarrassed cough this time. ‘Glad to hear it,’ he said, flashing a quick on-off smile which went nowhere near his eyes. With a brief nod he picked up his stethoscope and pager as Rachael sat down, her cheeks burning, trying and failing to focus on the handover sheet in front of her, aware she had made a total fool of herself.
Again.
It was an all too common occurrence these days, almost as if she didn’t know how to react to people any more. Even the most basic of polite exchanges seemed to end in awkward blushes and not for the first time Rachael questioned the wisdom of coming back to work. If she couldn’t deal with her colleagues, what chance would she have with the patients?
But sitting moping at home hadn’t been getting her anywhere, and it certainly wasn’t going to get the bills paid—there really hadn’t been any other choice but to come back to work. Anyway, Rachael consoled herself, at least she wouldn’t have to see that Hugh Connell much—after all, the surgical unit rarely had cosmetic patients. She was reading far too much into it. He’d probably forgotten the whole embarrassing exchange by now.
So what if she had made an idiot of herself?
At least she hadn’t cried.
‘The bad news is that all the beds are full,’ Helen started. ‘But the good news is that at least we can’t accept any more patients. Oh, and, Rachael, I don’t know if you’re aware of it but we’re no longer just a general surgical ward. We’ve got twelve cosmetic beds now or, as Hugh keeps reminding me, twelve ‘plastics’ beds, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it if you ask me.’
‘Oh, no.’ Rachael let out a groan as she ran her eye down her patient list. So much for avoiding Hugh!
‘Oh, yes!’ Helen said, but without any enthusiasm, completely misinterpreting Rachael’s misgivings. ‘I felt exactly the same.’
‘So when did this happen?’
‘Last month. The refurbishment of the private wing of the hospital is taking longer than expected so, rather than lose the admissions, they’re being ‘blended’ into the public wards—and that’s Admin’s expression, not mine! The surgical wards were all supposed to take eight each, but because our ward’s new and has the best facilities we’ve been lumbered with more than our share.’
‘So they’re private patients?’
Helen rolled her eyes. ‘Private patients on a public ward—not the greatest mix at the best of times, and they’re all constantly pushing their bells, asking for their water jugs to be moved two inches to the right. But what can you expect when they’ve got a doctor like Hugh?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He treats them like china. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is too much trouble for him.’
‘Well, he’s being paid to be nice,’ Rachael grumbled, but Helen shook her head.
‘He’s just nice, full stop, as well as a good doctor, which makes it hard to point out just how difficult it can be. He’d move the jug, so to speak, and move it again and again if it would keep his beloved patients happy. So a word of warning for you when you’re in charge—it doesn’t matter if it’s midnight on New Year’s eve, if one of Hugh’s patients is unwell he wants to be informed. So whereas with most doctors you might sit on things for a while, don’t even think about it with Hugh—he likes to keep his finger on the pulse.’
‘He can keep it on mine.’ Bev, one of the other nurses, laughed.
‘And mine,’ Trevor chimed in, which had everyone in stitches until Helen let out a yelp as she glanced at the clock. ‘Come on, guys, let’s get handover out of the way.’
Rachael knew that once the report was over she wasn’t going to get away that lightly from Helen, and was already half expecting it when Helen called her back as she made her way out onto the ward.
‘Here’s your pager,’ she said, handing Rachael the small fluorescent orange bleeper.
‘What on earth is this for?’
‘You’ve got Orange Bay.’ She laughed at Rachael’s bemused face. ‘The new system is finally under way. Now, when a patient presses the call button, their allocated nurse is alerted directly by their pager.’
‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ Rachael asked, slowly turning the small pager over.
‘Oh, I’m serious all right. You can’t escape for a moment, not even when you go the bathroom. And look at this.’ She tapped the computer in front of her. ‘This records how long it takes for you to answer the call bell—a bit ‘‘Big Brother’’ if you ask me, but you soon get used to it.’
‘And here was me thinking I’d take up where I left off. A year’s a long time in nursing these days.’
‘It’s a long time, full stop,’ Helen said gently. ‘We really have missed you, you know.’
‘I know.’
‘You’re looking great.’
Rachael gave a thin laugh. ‘You mean I’ve lost weight.’
‘Not just that, you look fabulous.’
‘Amazing what a year of stress will do,’ Rachael said dryly. ‘I’m sure Richard would still be able to find fault.’ She tapped the edge of her cheekbone. ‘I mean, look, horror of horrors, I’ve still got a mole.’
Helen rolled her eyes. ‘So have a couple of supermodels I can think of but, then, no doubt, that ex-husband of yours would find fault even with one of them.’
‘Look, Helen, I’m sorry I didn’t return your calls and letters …’
‘You had enough on your mind.’ Helen waved her hand dismissively. ‘I’m just glad that you got them, glad that you knew I was thinking of you. So how are coping?’
‘Getting there.’ Rachael gave a small shrug. ‘Helen, I know you mean well, and I don’t want to come across rude, it’s just that …’
‘It’s none of my business?’
‘No,’ Rachael answered quickly, somewhat taken aback at Helen’s take on things. ‘I just can’t talk about it. I know talking
