The Pregnant Intern

‘That was close,’ Fi said.

‘Very,’ agreed Alice. ‘He just seemed to go downhill so quickly.’

Fi nodded. ‘Young, fit ones often do that. They hold their vital signs stable until the last minute. By the time a young guy like that drops his BP you’re often too late. I’m sure there’s a far more technical way of explaining it, but I’ll leave that for Jeremy to explain.’

‘Thanks, Fi, if it hadn’t been for you...’

‘Don’t sell yourself short. It took a lot of guts to ring Jeremy.’

They both looked up simultaneously as Jeremy coughed, making his presence known.

‘I agree.’

Alice didn’t answer.

‘How’s Lachlan?’ Fi asked. ‘Will he be going back to Theatre?’

Jeremy shook his head. ‘Not at this stage. He’s had an ultrasound and it doesn’t look as if there’s a collection in his abdomen. He’s septic from the infection, we think. Hopefully we can keep him going until the antibiotics kick in. His parents have arrived. I was wondering if you could come in with me, Fi?’

Fi nodded. ‘I’ll take them down to the day room.’

‘You might as well head off to bed, Alice,’ Jeremy said, without meeting her eyes.

‘I’ve still got a patient in A and E to clerk.’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ Jeremy said, rather too lightly. ‘I’ve rung A and E and they’re going to send him straight up—he can be clerked later. Linda’s going to be up all night with me, anyway. I can tell her to head over here and do it when there’s time. Is there anything else outstanding?’

‘Just some two a.m. bloods.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Which are just about due.’

‘I’m sure Fi can help with that. If not, I’ll come and do them.’

‘You?’ Alice said rather ungraciously. Since when did a consultant offer to do an intern’s two a.m. bloods? ‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure I can handle it,’ Jeremy said in his superior way, and then his tones softened. ‘Let’s say I owe you one. Linda, too, for that matter,’ he added darkly. A ghost of a smile touched his lips. ‘Go on, get some rest. You might even cram in a couple of hours’ sleep.’

It was then that Alice noticed how pale Jeremy looked. The night’s events had obviously shaken him up as well.

‘Thanks, then,’ she said gratefully. ‘But call if you need me.’

As she made her way out of the room Jeremy called her back.

‘Likewise, Alice. You call if you need me as well. I’ll always listen.’

Never had the thin, hard, on-call bed looked more tempting. Aching and exhausted, Alice slipped off her shoes and slowly lowered herself onto the mattress. Normally she slept on her stomach, but her ever-increasing size had meant that for the last few weeks she had been forced to sleep on her back or side, which inevitably meant most of the night was spent tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. With a groan she placed her pager on the bedside table and flicked off the lamp, tucking a plastic-covered hospital pillow under her bump she rolled onto her side. A couple of hours sounded good from here. There was still a full day’s work tomorrow to get through. Fancy Jeremy telling her to go to bed. Under normal circumstances she would have insisted she was fine, but Brett Halliday’s warnings had hit home and she wasn’t going to do anything to risk her health—too much depended on it. Anyway, given how the night’s events had panned out, Linda probably did owe her one, Alice mused. Still, it had been extremely nice of Jeremy to pull rank and, in his own way, to thank her. But, then, that was how Jeremy had been all the time she had worked for him—extremely nice. Low as her expectations had been about his demeanour, he had surprised her. Drifting off into a deep sleep, her last conscious thoughts were of Jeremy, and as her subconscious kicked in, her dreams for once were not filled with Marcus and unborn babies, but a certain consultant with blond hair and a smile that set her heart racing.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_d2331c8e-bf86-5a1f-92d7-f492023a07a5)

‘GOOD morning, Dr Masters, your six a.m. alarm call.’

‘But I didn’t book one,’ Alice replied, fuddled and confused. Flicking on the light, she reached for her watch, trying to orientate herself to her surroundings. With a jolt of panic she reached for her pager. ‘Has anyone been trying to get hold of me?’

‘Not as far as I know,’ the switchboard operator answered cheerfully. Replacing the receiver, Alice sat up slowly.

‘Good morning to you, too,’ she said, as the baby let out a huge kick.

Standing under the shower jets, Alice closed her eyes as the warm water slowly brought her around. Four solid hours’ sleep on an on-call night was a luxury she hadn’t even dared dream about. Thank goodness the switchboard operator had called, Alice thought. She was so tired she might have slept in until midday. Pulling on some fresh greens, she made her way down to the canteen, but the bleeping of her pager foiled any thought of lingering over a cooked breakfast. After purchasing a muesli bar and a coffee from the machine, she made her way over to the surgical unit.

‘Morning, Fi, how has it been?’