about having to work with a female colleague?
‘Both, probably.’
Hawk’s apparently pertinent comment to her unspoken thought was startling, but as Charlotte leaned into the car to stow the theodolite she realised that the comment was referring to the permanence of Cam’s new interests. She straightened.
‘Is Cam likely to change his mind, then?’ She smiled sweetly at the three male officers. ‘And there I was thinking that was a woman’s prerogative.’
Hawk showed no reaction to the meaningful glances his colleagues bestowed upon him but his eyes narrowed as he slid behind the wheel of his car. So, that plump paramedic had repeated what he’d said to her friend, had she? That figured. You couldn’t trust a woman to keep her mouth shut. He’d have to be very careful what he said in future.
He’d spent less than two hours in this woman’s company and Hawk already had the uncomfortable feeling that working with her, even temporarily, was going to be more of a challenge than he’d anticipated. So far, the opportunities to try and establish control appeared to have backfired in some mysterious manner. Hawk was silent throughout the journey back to Headquarters. Another opportunity was bound to present itself and he needed to be ready for it. If ground rules were being set, then he intended to be the one to put them in place.
Charlotte used her lunch-break to collect the last item of her personal work supplies from her hatchback in the building’s basement car park. She also took the time to try calling Laura on her mobile phone.
‘You busy?’
‘No, we’re just heading back to station for lunch. We just took a kid with febrile convulsions into Emergency.’
‘How did it go with our car-accident victim this morning?’
‘Fantastic result! He was in normal sinus rhythm by the time we reached Emergency. He’s woken up since and has a bit of short-term memory loss but that’s all.’
‘Any evidence of an MI?’
‘No. They’re thinking the collapse might have been rhythm related. Long QT syndrome maybe. He’s lined up for electro-physiology testing in the next day or two.’
‘He’s been lucky.’
‘I’ll say. It was also lucky he didn’t have his family in the car or involve any other vehicles.’
‘Made my job easier,’ Charlotte said wryly. ‘Which was just as well seeing as I was under a performance review.’ She sighed. ‘We probably won’t need any of it, anyway, seeing as it’s not a fatal. All that stress for nothing.’
‘How’s it going with the hawk?’
‘Interesting.’ Charlotte found herself smiling. ‘Bit of a power play so far. Would you believe he holds doors open for me? And offers to lift heavy stuff?’
‘That’s very gentlemanly.’
‘I think it’s intended to be more of a put-down,’ Charlotte countered. ‘But don’t worry. I got to one door first when he was showing me around so I held it open for him.’
Laura chuckled. ‘You sound like you’re enjoying it. What’s your office like?’
‘OK. It’s got everything we need. Bit on the small side.’
‘I’d reckon something the size of a football field would be on the small side with that man sharing it.’
Charlotte grinned. ‘We’ll sort it out. I think we’re due for a showdown of some sort before the day’s out and I might have just the thing to set it off.’
‘What’s that?’
‘My paramedic kit. I’m about to lug it upstairs and let him know we need to find room for it in an already over-stuffed squad car. It should open that can of worms fairly effectively.’
It did.
Hawk eyed the large modified backpack that Charlotte carried into the office as though it were an unexploded bomb.
‘What the hell is that?’
‘My paramedic kit,’ Charlotte replied calmly. ‘Lance Currie told me he’d let you know that I was authorised to carry it in our squad car.’
‘You could go camping for a week with a pack that size.’
‘I carry full intubation gear, cervical collars, IV supplies and fluid. Also a range of drugs, a Hare traction splint and a small oxygen cylinder. Basis equipment for resuscitation and stabilisation of a severely injured accident victim.’
‘Even I know that splinting something isn’t a priority in a life-threatening situation.’ Hawk’s resolve not to show his ignorance in medical matters had deserted him. ‘Whatever that rabbity thing is, it’s probably taking up unnecessary space.’
Charlotte tried to control the twitch of her lips but wasn’t entirely successful. ‘A Hare traction splint is used for a broken femur. It helps control bleeding. Blood loss from a long bone fracture can be as much as a litre. If that’s added to blood loss from other injuries, it can stack up to fatal hypovolaemic shock in a short space of time. Any blood loss needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.’
Hawk hated being in no position to argue. ‘We share a squad car, not an ambulance. If carrying all your luggage interferes with me being able to do my job then it’s gone.’
‘What’s your problem here, Owen? Finding room for my “luggage” or me being a paramedic as well as a crash investigator?’
‘Trying to do two jobs at the same time,’ Hawk snapped. ‘What’s probably going to happen is that I’ll end up doing the job you’ve been employed for while you’re fluffing around on scene, sticking needles into people.’
‘Like I did this morning?’ Charlotte made an incredulous huffing sound that filled Hawk’s silence. She wasn’t about to be intimidated by his aggressively prolonged eye contact either. She stared right back at him. ‘And did you really say fluffing?’
Hawk broke the eye contact and glared at the offending kit instead. ‘We have enough to do on scene without distractions. OK, you didn’t get so involved this morning because there was already an ambulance on scene. What happens if we get somewhere first? How can you possibly give this job the concentration it has to have if you’re dealing with patients?’ He was being unfair, he knew that, but this was the opportunity. Or he’d thought it was. Now he wasn’t so sure but he couldn’t afford to back down.
‘I “deal” with patients only if there’s no other medical assistance available or when my qualifications allow me to assist a crew that might not include someone with my level of qualifications. My input is limited to the point where victims are transported to hospital.’ Charlotte was clearly making an effort to maintain a tone of reason. ‘The preservation of life and the safety of everybody on scene is the first priority for any emergency service personnel arriving at any incident. Or would you disagree?’
Hawk was losing here, he could sense it. The sensible thing to do would be to retreat with as much dignity as possible.
‘I
