get the test results first, but there’s no history of ulcer or recent surgery so they’re probably advisable in this instance. We need to do whatever we can to unclog these arteries.’
As soon as they had Tom stabilised, Nick arranged for him to be transferred to the cardiac unit. Laura watched Tom being wheeled away a little later, and hoped fervently that he would be all right.
‘At least we were on hand to treat him,’ Nick said. ‘If he had been on his own, I doubt whether he would have survived. As it is, he’s in the best place.’
She had the feeling that he was trying to comfort her. ‘I know. I haven’t known him for very long but, even so, I get on very well with him. He’s so kind and thoughtful, and he always has time for other people. He was very good to me when I started here.’
‘He’s good to everyone. His problem has always been that he works too hard, and doesn’t pay enough attention to his own health. If he had done, he might have heeded some of the signs that things were going wrong. Perhaps now he will begin to listen.’
Laura bit her lip. She felt as though she was losing a friend and ally. In the few months that she had known him, Tom had always been steadfast in his concern for his colleagues and his patients, and now he was the one who needed support. What had happened to him this morning was serious and life-threatening, and now he must be feeling vulnerable and frightened.
‘He’s in good hands. Our cardiac unit is one of the best in the country.’
She nodded. ‘I know. We deal with these kinds of incidents all the time, and that should make it easier for us to cope, but Tom is one of our own. He’s not all that much older than my father. It sort of brings things home to you, and makes you think of how these things affect families.’
‘That’s true.’ He was silent for a moment, then said in a musing tone, ‘Talking of families, that was a nasty gash your brother had. Is he keen on DIY?’
‘Not especially, but it makes a change from sitting behind a desk all day. He likes to dabble in all sorts of things that involve keeping busy, like gardening, decorating, sport.’
‘What work does he do?’
‘He works in a bank. He enjoys what he does, but he says that having a desk job means he doesn’t get enough exercise.’
‘Then he wasn’t interested in following family tradition and going into medicine?’
‘No, not really.’
‘He’s very much like your father, physically. Has his lack of interest in medicine caused any friction? I know that David was particularly pleased when you decided to go to medical school.’
‘Perhaps he was, but all he really wants is for us to be happy, whatever we decide to do.’
Nick looked at her curiously. ‘I still think it’s strange that you and your brother are so very different in appearance. I met your mother once, when she came to a function at the hospital, but you don’t seem to take after her either.’
Laura gave a faint, wry smile. She had to give him full points for observation. ‘You’re perfectly right,’ she said softly. ‘The truth is, Matthew is their natural son, but I was adopted. It doesn’t matter to me, because I don’t really remember it being any other way. I love my father dearly, and I miss my mother more than words can say.’
She lowered her head slightly, remembering her adoptive mother. ‘It was a great shock to all of us when she died.’
Nick frowned. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’
She lifted her head and braced herself. ‘That’s all right, I’m fine. I’ve had more than a few years to get over the fact that she’s gone. It’s just that it was so unexpected. She was a good driver, but it was a foggy night and there were patches of ice on the road. That particular bend in the road was an accident black spot. At least now they’ve made it safer by putting warning signs up.’
‘She would have been proud to know that you passed your medical exams, and that you became a fully fledged doctor.’
‘Yes, I believe she would…even though I may still have a lot to learn.’ Remembering his comments on her junior status from a few days ago, she threw him a hooded glance, and perhaps her gibe hit home because his mouth twisted at the corners.
He didn’t follow it up, though, because an emergency admission dragged them both back to work.
The thought still rankled in her mind, though. Whenever she was on duty at the same time as Nick, she felt that he was keeping an eye on her, and she often wondered if he was expecting her to fall flat on her face. A and E was a challenging speciality, and she was doing her level best to master it. You never knew what to expect, but she wanted to do her utmost for her patients, and she knew that she would go on learning for quite some time. She just didn’t need Nick to remind her of that.
When she went back home that evening, Matthew was there with Connor. Her father was showing Connor how to colour pictures on the computer, and he looked up and smiled as she walked into the living room.
‘Matthew tells me that you had to stitch his hand for him this morning. You’d think a doctor’s son would be more careful, wouldn’t you?’
Laura chuckled. ‘You would, but this is Matthew we’re talking about. He’s always been slightly accident-prone. He gets absorbed in what he’s doing, to the exclusion of everything else.’ She sent Matthew a smiling glance. ‘I take it that Catherine’s not back from her shopping trip yet?’
He nodded. ‘She phoned to say that she met up with a friend, and they’re having a meal together to celebrate the friend’s birthday. She’ll be back later on this evening.’
‘Would you like to stay for dinner with us?’
‘That would be great. I’m sure Connor will enjoy spending some more time with both of you.’
Over dinner, she told her father what had happened to Tom.
‘I heard about it,’ her father said. ‘It’s a bad business. I like Tom. We’ve worked together for years, and he’s always been a good friend to me.’
Matthew frowned. ‘Is this the same Tom who goes fishing with you in the summer?’
‘That’s right. I’m sorry to see him brought down by something like this.’ He sent Laura a quick glance. ‘I’m glad that you and Nick were there to take care of him.’
‘I think Nick was expecting it, to be honest. I knew that Tom had been unwell for some time, but I didn’t know how bad it was.’
‘Nick’s more observant than most, I’ll give him that. He’s a very clear-headed young man, but he’s very forthright in his views, too. He doesn’t pull his punches, and he forgets that there is more than one side to most situations.’ He frowned, his mouth tightening in a spasm of anger. ‘We’ve had more than a few arguments over this very subject. He didn’t think Tom should have still been working in A and E.’
‘I know.’
‘Sometimes it seems as though Nick is totally insensitive to what other people are going through. I can
