life choices any head space at all? Blake jammed his helmet onto his head and kicked the engine of his bike into life. He took off with perhaps a bit more acceleration than was strictly necessary so it really shouldn’t have surprised him that she turned her head to stare at him.
What did come as a surprise was that he rather liked the idea that she was watching him.
* * *
‘How long will I have to wait?’
‘I’m not sure, Jess.’ Sam had come into one of the cubicles assigned to her on this shift, to do the obs on a patient who’d been brought into the ED by ambulance earlier this morning. She watched the drip rate of the IV fluids and slowed them a little by turning the small wheel on the line. These fluids were running simply to keep a vein open in case medication was needed at some point. ‘I can make a call and try and find out, if you like?’
She knew which of the phones on the main desk she could use. And who to call. After a week in her new department, Sam was comfortably familiar with where things were, subtle differences in protocols and her new group of colleagues, both in the department and the consultants who got called in. They were a great bunch of people and Sam knew she was going to make new friends here. She particularly liked Kate Mitchell, an O&G surgeon, who was apparently also a member of the SDR team although she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet. She lived in the same apartment building as Harriet so maybe she should suggest that they all meet up for a drink one evening, or something.
‘That would be great.’ Jess nodded. ‘I’ve let them know at work that I’m going to be late but I haven’t worked there that long, you know? I don’t want them to think I’m a liability.’
‘I get it. I’m pretty new here, myself. Let me just do your blood pressure and things and I’ll get on it.’
At twenty-five, Jess was only a few years younger than Sam so she already felt an affinity with this patient. That she wanted to impress people at a new job gave them another connection. Sam smiled at her as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm. Not that she’d managed to impress anybody here yet, as far as she was aware, but at least she’d been able to keep her head down and work hard and had, thank goodness, avoided calling attention to herself for any less than desirable incidents.
She still felt like she was on probation, however, whenever Blake Cooper was in the near vicinity. Which seemed to be an awful lot of the time. She’d developed a kind of internal radar that alerted her to his presence in the department, even when he wasn’t visible, which was a bit weird but she’d proved herself correct often enough to trust it now. It was like some kind of energy that gave a recognisable crackle to the atmosphere.
She wasn’t into auras or anything like that, but it wasn’t hard to recognise charisma and she’d already been intrigued by this man. When she’d seen him roar off on his motorbike that evening last week, the jolt of what could only be described as pure lust had been shocking enough to explain the crackle she was now so aware of. It was also the reason she was avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. It wasn’t easy, either, because that feeling of being on probation came from the knowledge that he was keeping an eye on her.
Watching what she was up to and whether she was doing her job to an acceptable level of expertise.
How embarrassing would it be if he could see how attractive she found him?
She noted a normal blood pressure and then picked up the tympanic thermometer.
‘I’m sure I don’t have a temperature,’ Jess told her. ‘I don’t feel sick.’
‘We’re just keeping an eye on things. An infection is one of the things that could be interfering with your anti-epileptic medication.’
‘I don’t even think I had a seizure. I just fainted or something.’
‘You may as well get checked out properly while you’re here.’
‘I wouldn’t be here, if that cop hadn’t been in the coffee shop when it happened. He was the one who called an ambulance.’
‘I might have done the same thing myself, if I’d noticed your MedicAlert bracelet.’
‘But I was fine by the time it arrived. If he hadn’t threatened to call my parents if I didn’t go to the hospital, I’d be at work now and wouldn’t be here wasting people’s time.’
‘When was the last time you had an EEG?’
‘After my last seizure, nearly two years ago. Oh...’ Jess groaned. ‘I was just about to be able to get my driver’s licence back, you know? This really sucks...’
‘I know.’ Sam wrote the normal temperature onto the chart. ‘It’s a bit stressful starting a new job. Have you been sleeping okay? Eating well?’
They were all questions that had been asked by the junior registrar who’d been assigned this patient but, sometimes, people found it less intimidating to chat to their nurse and new information could be forthcoming.
But Jess just shook her head. ‘You’re starting to sound like my mother.’
‘Sorry.’ Sam grinned. ‘Helicopter parent, huh? I know what that’s like.’
‘You’d think I was still six years old, not a responsible adult.’ Jess sighed heavily, leaning her head back on her pillows. ‘I don’t blame them, you know? My brother died in a car accident when he was seventeen. They’ve been watching me like a hawk ever since and I know how much they care. That’s why I can’t let them know I’m in here. My mother would totally panic.’
Sam had frozen for a moment, after clipping the chart back onto the end of the bed.
‘I understand,’ she said quietly.
Man...she had way more in common with this patient than an age group or a new job.
‘And I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. That’s really rough.’
She knew exactly how rough. Not that her brother had died in a car crash. No. Alistair had been feeding his adrenaline addiction and climbing a mountain. He’d been twenty-five. Sam had only been sixteen and the loss of her only brother and her best friend had been devastating. Her parents were never going to get over it.
‘It wasn’t his fault. They said it was, because he was driving but I don’t believe it. One of his mates in the car said he collapsed at the wheel but he’d had a head injury and nobody believed him.’
There were tears rolling down Jess’s face. ‘It changed everything, you know? It was when I had my first seizure and knew how terrified my parents were. We all miss him...so much...’
Jess was sobbing now. Sam moved to put her arms around her patient. She needed to comfort her. Emotional distress like this wasn’t going to help. It could even possibly trigger another seizure.
And, even as the thought appeared, she could feel the sudden change within her arms. The instant lack of any muscle tension.
‘Jess? Jess...?’
The lack of any response was no surprise. Swiftly, Sam removed the pillows from behind Jess’s head and tilted her chin to ensure her airway was open
