get him to hospital. They talk about the golden hour, but we’re fast losing ground there.’
Jessica was puzzled. ‘What’s the golden hour?’
Alex was attempting to find a vein, and Katie realised that it was going to be difficult if the man’s circulation was shutting down.
‘It’s the maximum time lapse from when the trauma happened to arrival at hospital, if the patient is to stand a good chance of survival.’ He slid the needle into place. ‘I’m in.’ Quickly he set up the IV line and hooked up the Ringer’s solution, using an overhead branch to keep the bag above the level of the patient.
‘At least…’ Jessica’s voice broke, becoming thready. ‘At least he has you and Katie to look after him.’
Alex gave her a brief smile, and perhaps he realised that she was very young and vulnerable because he said softly, ‘We’re doing everything we can for him.’
Jessica nodded, and watched as Alex drew up a syringe. ‘What’s that you’re giving him?’
‘It’s an antibiotic. We haven’t been able to use sterile equipment out here, so this should help to ward off any infection.’ He sent her a thoughtful glance. ‘You seem very keen to know what’s going on. Are you thinking of going into medicine like your sister? I suppose she must be a great influence in your life, working as a doctor?’
Jessica gave an awkward shrug. ‘I’m not sure what I want to do. I used to go and see Katie sometimes when she worked in A and E and she explained some of it to me, but she doesn’t work there now, and I’m not sure I’d be able to do that kind of job. I know Katie gave it up. She doesn’t work as a doctor any more, and I don’t know if I’m cut out for it either.’
Alex turned his gaze on Katie, his brows meeting in a dark line. ‘Is that true? You’re not working in medicine now?’
Katie nodded. ‘It isn’t easy to find placements these days, as you probably know. Anyway I wanted a change, so I found myself a job in a rehabilitation centre. It was good. I enjoyed working there.’ She grimaced wryly. ‘Unfortunately, the place closed down this afternoon, so it looks as though I’ll be looking through the situations vacant columns for something else first thing tomorrow.’
He opened his mouth as though to say something, but in the distance a siren sounded, growing nearer. They both checked their patient, relieved to find that his condition was reasonably stable for the moment. Alex began to gather up the equipment they had used, closing his medical bag and handing the first-aid kit to Jessica as the ambulance arrived.
The paramedics oversaw the patient’s transfer to the waiting ambulance, and Alex gave the team a rundown of the man’s injuries. ‘We’ll need to get a CT scan and move him to Theatre as soon as possible,’ he said. ‘I’ll follow you to the hospital and help with the handover to A and E. Martin’s on duty today, isn’t he?’
The paramedic nodded. ‘We’ll get in touch with him and tell him to stand by.’
‘Good.’ He stood back and waited while the men made sure their patient was securely strapped in place in the vehicle. Turning to Katie, he said, ‘There’s a place for you on my team if you want it. I’m in charge of the A and E department at South Lake Hospital. I’ve been advertising for a senior house officer for a few weeks now, and so far I haven’t managed to fill the position. None of the candidates have been right for the job. If you drop by the department some time tomorrow, we could go through the application forms together.’
Was he actually offering her a job? Katie’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly attempted to recover herself. ‘I don’t think so,’ she murmured. ‘I mean…thanks all the same, but I think I’ll take some time and look around.’
He was frowning again. ‘I don’t understand why you’re hesitating. Didn’t you say that you were out of work and posts were hard to find?’ His grey-blue eyes homed in on her with laser-like precision. ‘I’ve seen you in action and I’ve no doubt that you know what you’re doing. You acted promptly in an emergency and you probably brought this man back from the brink. Is there a problem of some sort, a reason why you won’t consider the offer?’
She shook her head. ‘There’s no problem. I just prefer to give it some thought, that’s all.’ Her chin tilted. She didn’t see why she had to lay her life bare for this man. He had dropped into her life from out of nowhere, and he could just as easily disappear into nothingness once more. Out of sight, out of mind—wasn’t that what people said? And that being the case, the spectre of working in A and E once more would disappear along with him, wouldn’t it?
‘I can’t stay and debate the matter with you,’ he said on a brisk note, ‘but I think you’re making a mistake.’ He pressed his lips together in a straight line. ‘I have to go.’
He glanced at Jessica, who had gone to stand a short distance away from the ambulance, watching the paramedics make their preparations to leave. Then he turned his attention back to Katie.
‘How are you going to manage? Don’t you owe it to that young girl to keep a roof over her head?’ His grey eyes darkened. ‘Or maybe she comes a long way down on your list of priorities? I suppose that could explain a lot.’
Katie straightened her back. ‘You don’t know anything about me, or my sister,’ she said. ‘How can you presume to judge me when we’ve only just met?’
He inclined his head a fraction. ‘That’s true,’ he murmured, and his mouth indented in a vestige of a smile. ‘You’re definitely something of an enigma, Katie Sorenson…but I dare say I’ll fathom the puzzle somehow.’
He moved swiftly away from her and headed towards his car, stopping only to say a quick goodbye to Jessica. Then he slid behind the wheel and sped away in the wake of the ambulance.
Jessica came over to where Katie was standing. ‘Did I hear him offer you a job?’
Katie nodded. ‘Yes. He seems to think I could find a place in his A and E department, but I told him I wanted to look around for something else. That’s why I moved here, so that I could put all that behind me and make a fresh start.’
Jessica nodded. ‘Yes, I know, but you’ll be going to work in another A and E department at some point, won’t you? You have to, surely? You’re a good doctor, and you’re needed out there. Anyway, you weren’t ever going to stay at the rehab centre for very long, were you?’
Katie started to walk towards her car. ‘Actually I found that it was far more rewarding than I expected. It was certainly less frantic than what I was doing at the hospital, and I wasn’t planning on making a change yet.’
‘But you told Alex that you were out of work now.’ Jessica shook her head, so that her glossy brown curls danced in the afternoon sunlight. ‘You can’t give up on being a doctor. It isn’t right. Just because things went wrong for you back home. I don’t care what anybody says, I know you, and I know you couldn’t have done anything wrong. You’re always so careful, so good in everything that you do. Everyone knows that…Mum says that’s why they haven’t put anything bad in your work record.’ She looked at Katie. ‘They haven’t, have they?’
Katie bent her head a fraction, so that her chestnut curls momentarily fell across her cheek, covering her features. ‘That may be so, but I still don’t feel that I can work in A and E.’ She frowned, her blue eyes clouding. ‘I was getting on all right at the
