thought she saw a flicker of amusement and admiration in Alessandro’s eyes as she walked towards the phone.
By the time she’d finished, Alessandro was examining the patient, who by now was so drowsy she could barely answer and was making little sense at all.
Christy was just wondering whether the woman had actually lapsed into unconsciousness when she gave another groan, rolled onto her side and vomited weakly.
Christy got the bowl there in time and Alessandro frowned.
‘We need to give her some morphine and an anti-emetic. Christy, I want you to arrange an urgent CT scan and contact the neurosurgeons.’
‘I’ve already arranged the scan and the neurosurgeons are on their way down.’ Christy drew up the drugs that he’d requested and gave them to him to check while Billy stared in amazement.
‘You called the scanning department already? When did you arrange that?’
‘At the same time that I arranged the chest X-ray. It seemed sensible.’ Christy checked the woman’s observations on the monitor. ‘She’s showing signs of raised intracranial pressure, do you want to give her some IV mannitol?’
‘We’ll do the scan straight away and discuss it with the neurosurgeons,’ Alessandro said, a strange light in his eyes as he looked at her. ‘I’d forgotten what it was like to work with you.’
She gave him a cool look. ‘Had you?’ He thought of her as the mother of his children, she realised suddenly. He didn’t really see her as an individual any more.
Didn’t think she was a capable nurse.
‘Is there anything else you need?’ she asked. ‘Because her sister is in the waiting room and she needs an update. I can send Donna through to help you here and go with her to the scanner.’
‘Go and talk to the sister,’ Alessandro said immediately, ‘and tell her I’ll be able to tell her more once we’ve done the scan and talked to the neurosurgeons.’
Christy pulled off her apron, washed her hands and then walked towards the relatives’ room.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘SO WHAT’S it like having your wife under your nose in the department,’ Jake asked cheerfully as he piled butter onto a baked potato and dropped two bars of chocolate on his tray.
‘Surprisingly good. At least she knows what she’s doing, which is more than can be said for half the people I’m expected to work with at the moment.’ Alessandro eyed Jake’s tray with disbelief as they stood in the queue, waiting to pay. ‘Blackwell, you do realise that the contents of your tray are likely to give you a heart attack before morning?’
Jake shrugged. ‘Chocolate and baked potatoes are the only edible objects in this restaurant. And I don’t see why you’re surprised about Christy. She was always a brilliant nurse. The brightest I ever worked with.’
‘I forgot you worked with her.’
‘She did an obstetrics module. All the doctors were crazy about her.’
Alessandro scowled. ‘I didn’t need to hear that.’
‘Why not? It’s the truth.’ Jake studied a cake loaded with cream. ‘Christy is gorgeous.’
‘You’re talking about the mother of my children,’ Alessandro said coldly, and Jake shrugged and walked past the cake.
‘So? That doesn’t stop her being gorgeous. And, anyway, I thought you didn’t want her any more.’
Alessandro inhaled sharply. ‘Who said I didn’t want her any more?’
‘You didn’t follow her to London.’
‘She left to get away from me,’ Alessandro said grittily. ‘I assumed that following her would inflame the situation.’
‘Did you?’ Jake shot him a curious look. ‘You really don’t understand women at all, do you?’
Alessandro stared at his friend with mounting irritation. ‘And you do?’
‘Of course. I’m an obstetrician. I’m paid to understand women.’ They arrived at the till and Jake beamed at the plump, smiling woman who looked at his tray and clucked with disapproval.
‘Where’s the nutrition in that lunch, Dr Blackwell?’
‘I need energy, not nutrition, Delia,’ Jake said cheerfully. ‘We’re busy on the labour ward and I’m going to need more than carrots to see me through until midnight. That’s a nice jumper. The colour suits you. Is it new?’
‘You always notice the little things.’ Delia beamed and handed him his change. ‘Early Christmas present from my daughter who lives in Canada.’
‘Is that Gillian? The one with the two-year-old?’
Delia blushed with delight. ‘Is there anything you don’t remember, Jake?’
‘I’m programmed to remember the details of everyone’s labour and delivery,’ Jake responded with a cheerful wink as he pocketed the change and lifted his tray.
Alessandro rolled his eyes as they walked to the nearest vacant table. ‘Do you have to flirt with every woman you meet?’
‘Yes, I think I probably do.’ Jake sat down and picked up his fork. ‘Believe it or not, Garcia, women like it when you notice them. You ought to drop your intimidating Mediterranean macho act and try it some time. Having a guy who behaves like a caveman might be a woman’s fantasy, but when it comes to reality they want a man to talk to them.’
Alessandro bit into his sandwich with more savagery than was strictly necessary. ‘What are you implying?’
‘Nothing.’
Alessandro put the sandwich down on his plate. ‘You’re suggesting that I don’t talk to Christy, but she was in London before I realised anything was wrong and now she’s back I can’t seem to reach her.’
‘No.’ Jake dug his fork into the potato and gave him a bland smile. ‘Of course you can’t.’
‘Did you think Christy was happy being a practice nurse?’
Jake chewed thoughtfully. ‘Well, she liked the hours, of course, because it meant that she could always be there for the children.’ He waved his fork. ‘But she missed the pace of A and E. Hardly surprising, really. I think she quite liked things like the asthma clinic because she could make quite a difference to the patients’ lives, but syringing ears and doing dressings drove her nuts.’
Alessandro stared at him. ‘When did she tell you all that?’
‘I don’t know.’ Jake pushed his plate away and reached for his first bar of chocolate. ‘We’ve chatted about it over the years. Christy was quite a high-powered nurse. She invariably knew more than the doctors when she worked in A and E. It’s hardly surprising that she was frustrated, working in a village practice. A bit like
