spend a few minutes in here, and I appreciate you taking a break and having coffee with me, but perhaps now I should start to familiarise myself with the way things work around here.’ She glanced at him. ‘Mr Langton suggested you might be available this morning to give me an insight into the way you run things—where and when you use agency staff, for instance—and perhaps you could let me see your drugs list, so I can gain some idea of expenditure in that area?’
He frowned. ‘Are you sure you want to do that on your first day? Wouldn’t you prefer to take a general look around and get to know some of the staff? I’m sure they’re all anxious to meet their new colleague.’
She nodded. ‘Of course, and I want to meet them, but I don’t want to intrude on them while they’re busy. I’ll definitely make time to introduce myself to them through the course of the day. For the moment, though, I think it would be better if I were to spend time with you…going through the workings of the department.’
‘Hmm…yes…’ He seemed to be distracted all at once, and glanced at the watch on his wrist. ‘Unfortunately, I have an emergency to attend,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘So I’m afraid you’ll have to forgive me. Maybe we could get together some other time?’
She frowned. ‘But I understood that you would be free from clinical duties this morning for a couple of hours. Is that not so?’
He nodded. ‘But then this emergency came up…a thoracic injury, flail chest. He should be coming back from Radiology any time now.’
Alex stood up. ‘But I was really hoping to make a start…’
‘Of course. I appreciate that, but, you know, I don’t actually have the figures you want right at this moment…you’ve caught me on the hop a bit there, and I really do have to go and check on my patient.’ He gave her an encouraging smile. ‘Perhaps it would be best if you go and find our registrar. He’ll help guide you around the department. Ask him anything you want to know. He’ll be only too happy to help you.’
‘But I…’ Alex gazed at him in confusion.
‘I’m sure you’ll soon have all the information you want.’ He laid his hands on her shoulders, his grasp gentle, his fingers warm and strong, causing a ripple of heat to flow through her. It was odd, but all at once, as he held her, she became strangely conscious of her femininity. It was confusing. She was so used to taking charge, of being in control, and yet with just one simple act he had made her overwhelmingly conscious of his powerful masculinity.
‘Take time to ease yourself into the job,’ he said. ‘It will all work out, you’ll see.’ Then he smiled, his blue eyes homing in on her face, taking in the faint line that creased her brow and the look of uncertainty that hovered around her eyes and mouth. ‘You’ll be fine, Alex,’ he murmured. ‘It’s good to have you here.’
Then he released her and strode briskly away, leaving Alex to stare after him in a bewildered fashion. Somehow, she couldn’t help thinking he was fobbing her off, albeit in a kind and gentle manner, and if he was an example of what she might expect from the staff here, it was clear she was in for a tricky time from the outset. His easy charm had befuddled her senses and she was finding it hard to come to terms with that. It knocked her off track, and she wasn’t used to that at all.
CHAPTER TWO
‘IT CAN never be easy, can it, seeing your loved ones this way…even if you’re a doctor?’ The nurse was sympathetic, sensing Alex’s distress. ‘All I can say is that your brother’s condition is stable at the moment. I hope that might be some comfort to you.’
‘It is. Thank you.’ Alex dragged her gaze away from the hospital bed. It was heart-rending to see her younger brother lying there, looking so fragile. He was deathly pale, his hair dark against his pillow, various tubes and drains coming from his body, and there were cables linking him to monitors. Ross, who had always been so vigorous and who could be relied on to brighten any room with his presence, was just a shadow of his former self.
‘It was a nasty accident,’ the nurse added, ‘and there was a considerable amount of lung damage because of the broken ribs he suffered. That’s why he’s still on the ventilator, but he’s receiving pain medication, so at least he should be fairly comfortable.’
Alex nodded. ‘I know you’re all doing everything you can for him.’
The nurse made a note of Ross’s heart rate and blood-oxygen levels. ‘Have you been to see his wife? I know she was badly injured, too.’
‘Yes, I make a point of looking in on her every day. The doctors are treating her for a laceration to her liver, but they found there was some damage to her kidney as well. She’s been through surgery, and she’s in much the same situation as Ross, reliant on tubes and drips and monitors. Even so, she’s fretting over the children.’
‘I’m sorry.’ The nurse laid a hand on Alex’s arm. ‘It must be very worrying for you, especially with the youngsters to consider. I think it’s good that you’ve been bringing them in to see their parents, though.’
Alex sucked in a deep breath. ‘Better for them to see what’s happening, I thought. Otherwise their imaginations might cause them to worry even more. Their grandparents will be coming over at the weekend, so that should help to cheer them up a little.’ Her mouth flattened. ‘My parents have found it hard, being so far away when it happened. But they’ve worked out a schedule so that one or other of them will be over here to spend time with Ross for a good part of the week.’
‘You said they were working abroad, is that right?’
Alex nodded. ‘My father works for an oil company. It’s a really difficult time for him right now, but all he can think about is Ross.’
‘That’s understandable.’
Alex spent a few more minutes by her brother’s bedside until she finally had to acknowledge that time was getting on. She had taken a late lunch, but now she needed to go back to work. Reluctantly, she made her way to the ground floor of the hospital, heading for A and E.
Things were no easier in that department, either. Her work colleagues were uneasy, doubtful about her intentions in her role as manager, and worried regarding their job security.
Alex tried not to let it unsettle her. She would try to put their minds at ease, and she would do the best she could for the department. After all, she was her father’s daughter, wasn’t she, strong, determined, willing to put in every effort for a cause she felt to be worthwhile? And in these difficult times keeping the A and E department viable and open for business was surely the best outcome for everyone?
Today, though, she was here in her role as doctor, and now she glanced at the whiteboard as she walked over to the main desk. ‘Katie, I’ll take the three-year-old with fever in treatment room two.’
‘Okay.’ The triage nurse handed her the child’s admission notes.
Alex headed for the treatment room. As she had told Callum, landing this job had given her the best of both worlds—management took up fifty per cent of her time, and working as a consultant emergency paediatrician took up the rest.
She glanced at the triage nurse once more as she passed by the desk. ‘Is Dr Brooksby about?’ She’d been on the lookout for him all morning.
Katie
