Harry tugged on his arm and he gathered himself together and reluctantly began to turn in the direction of the exit.
Megan continued on her way. Perhaps it was just as well that he had gone. Somehow he was managing to cloud her vision and cause a blip in her usually clear thinking. ‘You had better let Mr Edwards know what we’re doing,’ she said to the nurse. ‘He wanted to be kept informed.’
‘OK. I’ll page him. He was working with a patient in Resus a while ago.’
Megan hurried to check on her patient. The woman’s renal system was failing despite the intravenous diuretics and medications she had received.
‘Let’s get her up to the catheter suite,’ she said, when the nurse returned. ‘I’m guessing that she has a critically narrowed artery, and I need to restore her circulation as soon as possible.’
The hour that followed was nerve-racking. Megan introduced a catheter into an artery in her patient’s groin and guided it into the descending aorta, the heart’s main blood vessel, monitoring her progress all the time with the aid of the computer. ‘OK, I see the blockage and I have the balloon in place. We need to set up the pump so that it will inflate and deflate the balloon at the right intervals.’
They worked as a team, and then watched the pump in action to ensure that it was working properly. When the patient’s heart was in the resting phase, the balloon inflated, increasing the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the coronary arteries. When the heart was ready to work, the balloon deflated, decreasing the workload on the heart.
‘Well done, everybody,’ Megan said, moving away from the bedside some time later. ‘We’ve done all we can for now, and we’ve managed to restore her circulation for the time being. The balloon can stay in place until Mr Carlson is ready to operate.’
Her boss, Mr Edwards, met up with her as she was leaving the catheter suite. ‘How did it go?’ he asked.
‘She’s stable for the time being.’ Megan’s expression was troubled. ‘I just hope Mr Carlson will be able to do a coronary bypass before too long. She’s in desperate need of the surgery. She’s still relatively young, and she has a family waiting for her.’
‘It’s always a worrying time for all concerned.’ Mr Edwards walked with her to the lift. He was a tall man, distinguished-looking, with steel-grey hair that was cut close to frame his head. ‘By the way, the nurse on Reception told me Theo Benyon was in here looking for me. She said she saw you talking to him, but then he left… Was there a problem? Do you happen to know where he went?’
Did her boss know the man? Megan shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea. I was just relieved that he gathered up the child that was with him and kept him from getting into any more mischief. I was worried that the equipment would be damaged if he didn’t rein him in.’
Mr Edwards frowned. ‘You didn’t say anything to annoy him, did you?’
‘No. At least, I don’t think so. I may have been a trifle curt with him, I suppose.’ She sent him an enquiring look. ‘Why…is there a problem? Is it to do with the artwork you were thinking of commissioning?’ It suddenly occurred to her that Theo was an artist, and Mr Edwards had been talking about having the children’s wing of A and E spruced up—was Theo famous for his murals, or something? ‘Is that why he was here, to see you about artwork for the children’s unit?’
‘Artwork? No, not at all. Nothing like that.’ Mr Edwards was unusually distracted as he pressed the button for the lift. ‘I operated on the boy’s mother—I expect he wanted to talk to me about that. I hope you didn’t say or do anything to upset him?’
Megan sent him a confused glance. It wasn’t like her boss to be so edgy and preoccupied. Had something gone wrong during the operation? That would be a tragedy in itself, but it was unlikely to have been Mr Edwards’s fault. He was an excellent surgeon with an impressive track record.
It was all very puzzling. What was wrong with the boy’s mother? And if his wife was seriously ill, what had Theo been thinking of when he’d lightly flirted with her? Or had she misjudged his actions? It was possible, of course, or perhaps he was one of those men who saw every woman as a challenge. Either way, the man had a lot to answer for.
‘As I was saying,’ she said as they stepped into the lift, ‘I spoke to Mr Benyon, but I simply suggested that the boy needed to be taken in hand. Of course, I didn’t realise that the child’s mother was ill. No wonder Harry was acting up. He must be very worried about her.’
‘Yes, I expect he is. Anyway, if you run into Theo again, go carefully. I don’t want to alienate him in any way.’
And what was that supposed to mean? She opened her mouth to ask him, but her boss was frowning heavily, deep in thought and locked away in some world of his own. It wasn’t at all like him to be this way, and Megan had no idea what to make of it. Perhaps, though, this was not the best time to start quizzing him.
Anyway, with any luck she wouldn’t run into Theo again any time soon.
The lift came to a halt and they stepped out into the corridor. Mr Edwards headed straight towards his office, and Megan decided to go in search of a late lunch.
Sarah was just preparing to leave her table at the cafeteria when Megan set down her lunch-tray.
‘I heard you had to operate,’ Sarah said. ‘Do you think Mrs Claremont will pull through OK?’
‘I hope so. It all depends on whether Mr Carlson will be able to operate successfully. She’s very weak.’
‘That’s hardly surprising, but you’ve done everything that you could for her.’ Sarah glanced at Megan before pushing her chair back from the table and getting to her feet. Her green eyes were sympathetic. ‘No one could have done anything more, and they’ll take good care of her in the intensive care unit. It’s just a question of waiting to see what happens.’
‘I know.’ Megan sighed and gazed back at her friend. ‘Dealing with a heart attack is difficult enough at any time, but when it happens to a relatively young mother it’s heartbreaking.’
Sarah nodded and glanced down at her watch. ‘I have to get back to work,’ she said, tucking a strand of golden hair back into place. ‘I’ll see you later, Megan. Try to eat something. It will make you feel better and help to keep your strength up.’
‘I will.’ Megan toyed with the salad on her plate, twirling her fork idly in the mound of grated cheese, as she watched her friend walk away.
The food tasted good, and she ate carefully, savouring the variety of flavours—honey-baked ham, crisp red and green peppers and a crusty bread roll.
For just a few moments it was good to relax and enjoy the freedom from responsibility. This job meant everything to her, but she had to acknowledge that she was in real need of a break.
As difficult as it was, heart-rending though it might be at times, her career in medicine was her life. She had worked hard to come this far, and as a specialist registrar inA and E she had a good deal of responsibility resting on her shoulders…shoulders that ached right now with a growing knot of tension.
She put down her fork and sipped at her hot cup of coffee, moving her limbs to ease the tightness in her muscles. It was a relief to be able to unwind for a few precious minutes. Stretching her legs out in front of her, she let her mind drift over
