being delivered filled the resuscitation room. ‘Is that him?’
Technically Tessa didn’t need to answer. Discussing other patients was taboo at the best of times but, given that only a thin curtain separated the two patients, it seemed cruel and pointless to dismiss Phil’s heavy question with a dismissive shrug, so instead she gave a small nod, watching as Phil’s face dropped, placing a gentle hand on his good arm.
‘They’re doing everything they can.’
‘How’s it going?’ Jane’s grim face popped around the curtain.
‘Emily’s just popped his shoulder back, he’s a lot more comfortable.’
‘Do you want to move him over to one of the cubicles?’ Jane’s wide eyes left Tessa in no doubt that the news was only going to get worse for the young jet-skier. And it would probably be kinder to move Phil, less traumatic for him to be in his own space with his own thoughts, rather than listening to the terrible events unfolding a few steps away. Now was a time for one of nursings tough calls. Despite the reduction of his shoulder dislocation, Phil’s blood pressure was still dangerously high, and Tessa still wasn’t satisfied with his consciousness level. The ease at which he drifted off when she wasn’t prompting him worried Tessa, and the thought of him unobserved in a cubicle couldn’t be justified because of the traumatic events taking place in the resuscitation room.
‘We’ll keep him here for now.’ Tessa made a small gesture to the monitors and Jane nodded her understanding, moving aside as Luke appeared with the portable X-ray machine and handed Tessa a lead gown.
‘I think Max wants a quick C-spine in the next cubicle,’ Tessa said in businesslike tones, ignoring the rather eager smile Luke was wearing. Six weeks ago they had shared one very questionable date, and for Luke, at least, it wasn’t over yet. ‘Then, no doubt, there’ll be a pile of films for you to do here. I’ll take a lead gown for the doctors, and Kim next door as well.’
‘Tessa.’ Kim’s call from the next cubicle merited more than a ‘yes’ and, nodding to Emily, Tessa ducked round the curtain, attempting to slip a very heavy lead coat over Max’s head as he examined the patient, tying it up at the sides she tried, and failed, not to notice the musky scent of him, the light hairs on his arms, the quiet strength of his lean body.
He didn’t acknowledge her and neither did Tessa expect him to.
‘Sorry to be a pain,’ Kim started, as Tessa offered to slip a protective coat gown on her, her face red from the exertion of giving cardiac massage. ‘It’s just...I’d rather not be here while they do the X-rays.’
Her already red face was almost beetroot now and Tessa felt sorry for her. That was the trouble with nursing: nothing was sacred. The fact Kim didn’t want to stay while the films were being done could only mean she was either pregnant or hoping to be, and while most of the general population were able to sit on their secrets, emergency nurses didn’t have that luxury. Though Tessa’s curiosity was naturally aroused, she didn’t show it.
‘Sure,’ Tessa said lightly. ‘You take over Phil next door and duck outside while the X-rays are being done.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Kim said again, needlessly. ‘I should have said something earlier.’
‘That’s the trouble with this place,’ Max said dryly, ‘it’s never early enough. Go,’ he said with a small wink. ‘Tessa and I know now, that’s enough to be going on with, and don’t worry about Fred here.’ He gestured to the anaesthetist who looked up at the mention of his name. ‘We’ll cover for you till you’re ready for the world at large. Isn’t that right, Fred?’
‘Sure,’ Fred mumbled, obviously bemused at what he was agreeing to.
‘Thanks, guys.’
Taking over the massage, Tessa called Kim back. ‘Phil’s upset about this one,’ she said in low tones, ‘but I don’t think he’s well enough to be moved. I know that he looks pretty good on paper, but I’m not happy with him.’
‘What does Emily say about him?’ Max asked, not even bothering to look up from the array of monitors he was watching like a hawk.
‘Not much,’ Tessa said tactfully. ‘She’s reduced his shoulder, so he’s a lot more settled. She’ll probably do another neurological assessment now that he’s calmer.’
‘Well, keep a close eye on his neuro obs, and if you’re worried, I’m only here,’ he offered, which was the closest to an acknowledgment of Emily’s poor communication skills they were going to get.
‘Sure.’
Fred spoke with an air of weary resignation. ‘Max, we’ve been going for fifteen minutes with no response—there’s been nothing since he arrested in the ambulance.’
‘He had a pulse when they pulled him out of the water, and a pulse when he first arrived here,’ Max snapped, but the anaesthetist shook his head.
‘Yes, but he wasn’t breathing, heaven only knows for how long. His neck’s broken, he’s got multiple injuries—’
‘Let’s just wait for the X-ray, shall we.’ It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, and Fred shrugged and raised his eyebrows at Tessa who, in an attempt at diplomacy, said nothing. There was nothing unkind in Fred’s words or actions, just the awful deliverance of the truth.
But Max didn’t want to hear it.
Fred held the X-ray film against the patient’s neck as Luke lined up the machine for his shot.
‘What time do you finish, Tessa? I thought we might hit that new wine bar that’s opened.’ Luke’s apparent casualness belied his slightly nervous stance.
‘I don’t think so,’ Tessa said abruptly, annoyed with Luke not only for embarrassing her but also for his blatant disregard for the patient. Unconscious he might be, but attempting to arrange a date when a young man lay desperately ill was pushing the boundaries of decency in Tessa’s book.
Max’s, too, from the dark look he shot at them both.
‘I’ll take over the massage.’ Max moved in, clearly annoyed. ‘You wait outside.’
Tessa shook her head. ‘I’m fine,’ she said quickly. ‘We’ve already had one change-over with the massage, it’s better not to disrupt things again. Anyway, it’s only one X-ray and I’ve got a protective gown on.’
‘Which isn’t done up,’ Max pointed out. ‘Hold on a second, Luke.’
Like a reflex action, Tessa pulled in her stomach as Max came around, his deft hands pulling the ties together as Tessa worked seemingly unruffled by his closeness. ‘Got to protect those ovaries.’
Another tiny comment, another little reference to her femininity, and from anyone else it would have left her mind as soon as it had been said.
But that was the problem with being in love.
Every tiny statement, every throw-away comment was stored and filed then taken out later, poured over and analysed. And every touch, however fleeting, however unambiguous, registered like a size five earthquake on the Richter scale.
It
