vital signs once more, and only when he was satisfied that he had done everything possible for the boy did he turn back to Katie.
‘Okay, we’ll take him along to the CT unit. Let’s find out exactly what’s going on here.’
As soon as Darren had been placed on the CT trolley, they went into the annexe to watch the images on the computer screen as the technician began the X-ray. ‘You’re right,’ Nick said, after a few minutes. ‘It’s a depressed fracture, with the bone fragments pushing down on the lining of the brain. There’s a large blood clot causing a build-up of pressure. If we don’t act soon, there’s a risk that the brain will herniate.’
He spoke to the technician. ‘Download the films to the computer in Theatre, will you? Dr Kelso will want to see them.’
The technician nodded, but Nick was already striding out of the annexe towards his patient. ‘We’ll have to get him to Theatre just as soon as we’ve cleaned the wound,’ he told Katie. ‘By that time Mr Kelso should be ready for him.’
They went back to the trauma room and Nick began the process of irrigating the wound while Katie looked on.
‘Okay, that should be clean enough now,’ he said after a while. ‘We’ll start him on antibiotics to prevent any infection,’ he told the nurse, ‘and keep on with the anticonvulsant therapy. In the meantime, give Mr Kelso a call and find out if he’s ready for him up in Theatre, will you?’
The nurse nodded. ‘Right away.’
A few minutes later when they had the go-ahead, Nick took his patient to the lift. ‘Will you be here when I come back?’ he asked Katie. ‘I’m going to stay with Darren until the operation’s over, but it would be good to talk to you some more.’
She nodded. ‘I want to see how he does in surgery. Perhaps I should go and talk to Mrs Mayfield? I know Mr Kelso has spoken to her already, but she might appreciate having someone with her to answer any questions.’
‘That would be brilliant, if you don’t mind. I’m sure you and she have already managed to build up rapport and it’ll be good for her to have someone familiar to be with her.’
The lift doors closed behind him, and Katie walked away, heading for the waiting room where Mrs Mayfield was sitting anxiously, hoping for news of her son.
‘Can I get you anything?’ Katie asked, going to sit beside her. ‘A cup of coffee, perhaps?’
Mrs Mayfield shook her head. ‘A nurse brought me one already, thank you.’ She looked near to tears. ‘I’ve been trying to contact my husband. He was at a conference, but he’s coming straight back here now.’ She looked at Katie. ‘Darren’s in a bad way, isn’t he? He was unconscious for so long. What’s going to happen to him?’
‘Darren was unconscious because the impact of the surfboard pushed the bones of his skull inward, causing them to break and press down on the lining of his brain. This damaged some of the blood vessels, so that a blood clot built up quickly between the skull and the lining.’
Mrs Mayfield nodded to show that she understood. ‘And this operation that he’s having—Mr Kelso said they needed to bring down the pressure. How will they do that?’
‘The surgeon will lift up the bone fragments that are pressing down, and at the same time he’ll suck out the blood clot.’
‘But will he be able to stop the bleeding? Won’t the clot build up again?’
‘He’ll use special materials to repair the blood vessels so that shouldn’t happen. You can be sure that he’ll do the very best he can for your son, Mrs. Mayfield.’ Katie used a reassuring tone, her heart going out to this woman who was petrified for her boy’s safety. She couldn’t bear to think how she would feel if she had children of her own. It must be the worst thing in the world to know that they were in danger.
She stayed with her for some twenty minutes, until the door opened and Mr Mayfield walked into the room. He went over to his wife and held her tight, both of them fearful and anxious about their son.
Katie left them alone. A nurse would come by and see how they were doing in a while, and now Katie went along to the emergency room to find out if there was any news.
She knew quite a few of the doctors and nurses who worked there by now, from her work as a paediatrician and first responder. Sometimes she had to liaise with them over the phone, and occasionally, as today, she would ride along with the patient and make the handover in person.
‘No news yet,’ the nurse said, ‘but Nick’s on his way down from Theatre. He wants us to make preparations to send the boy over to the intensive care unit.’
Katie nodded. ‘Thanks for letting me know, Abby. I’ll wait by the nurses’ station, if that’s all right. I really want to know how he does.’
‘Of course it is.’ She smiled. ‘The one consolation is that having you there from the outset must have given the boy at least a sporting chance. Too often, time drags on before people with head injuries have expert treatment. Nick reckons you did a great job.’
Katie gave a bleak smile. ‘Let’s hope we’ve all done enough to make a difference. It’s such a devastating experience all round. One minute the boy’s out there, enjoying the sunshine and the exhilaration of surfing the waves, and the next, in a freak accident, he’s out cold and fighting for his life.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve trained for this, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.’
‘Neither will I,’ Abby said.
‘You get through it by doing the best you can for your patients,’ Nick commented, coming to join them. ‘That way you get to sleep easier at night.’
Katie turned to face him, while the nurse left them to go and fetch linen from the supply room. ‘Maybe you manage to drop off well enough,’ she murmured. ‘I can’t say that it comes that easily to me.’
‘That’s a shame.’ He draped an arm around her. ‘Maybe I could help to remedy that?’ he ventured on a husky note. ‘Perhaps I could find some way to soothe you to sleep.’ He lifted a quizzical brow, looking deep into her eyes.
Katie felt her colour rise. ‘In your dreams,’ she murmured.
He laughed. ‘Well, it was worth a try, I thought.’
‘Not really…and I have to say, your timing sucks.’ She frowned. ‘How is Darren? Did he come through the operation all right?’
His expression sobered. ‘Mr Kelso managed to finish the procedure without there being any added complications,’ he said. ‘The boy’s intracranial pressure is at a safer level now, but his blood pressure’s still alarmingly high. ICU will monitor him closely, of course. All we can do now is wait and see if he can pull through. He’s young and previously in good health, so that’s in his favour.’ He sent her an encouraging smile. ‘The young are quite resilient, as you know. It never ceases to amaze me how they bounce back from even the most traumatic of situations.’
‘I’ll keep my hopes up for him.’ She gazed around the emergency department. ‘Everything seems very well coordinated around here,’ she said. ‘The staff all seem to work very well together—I expect that has something to do with the way you run things. You’re in charge here, aren’t
