Dr Constantine's Bride

‘Simon Bradshaw, aged nineteen, injured when his parachute collapsed while he was parasailing.’ She grasped a corner of the spinal board, keeping up a flow of information about the young man’s pulse, BP and sats levels as they moved him across to the bed. ‘Possible spinal injuries, plus injuries to his left leg and foot.’

‘Was he conscious when the crew got to him?’ Christos demanded.

‘Yes. The pilot of the speedboat told the paramedics that he was conscious and breathing when they pulled him out of the water.’

‘Good.’ He bent over the young man. ‘My name is Christos Constantine and I’m the head of the trauma unit. I need to assess the extent of your injuries, especially any damage that has been done to your spine, so I’m going to have to leave you on this board for a while longer. OK?’

‘Yes.’ The young man groaned. ‘My left leg is killing me. And my right arm doesn’t feel too clever either.’

‘Good. The fact that you can feel pain in those areas means there’s a strong chance you haven’t damaged your spinal cord,’ Christos said calmly. ‘I’ll give you something for the pain after I’ve finished examining you.’

Katie moved aside as he bent over and shone a light into the patient’s eyes. He was blocking her path so she stayed where she was until he finished. He was so close to her that she could see that there wasn’t a trace of silver in his thick black hair, and frowned.

How old was he? she wondered suddenly. He exuded such an air of authority that she’d assumed he must be a lot older than Petros, but from what she could tell he could be only in his late thirties. Petros was thirty-two so there wasn’t that big of an age gap between them. However, Petros definitely didn’t inspire the same degree of confidence that his cousin did.

It felt strange to find herself comparing the two men, and stranger still to realise that Petros had come off worst. As Christos moved away, she felt a little pang run through her. It was understandable that her feelings towards Petros should have changed after what had happened, but if she’d loved him as much as she’d thought she’d done then surely she should have remained true to him? Real love was supposed to last for ever; it wasn’t supposed to fade as soon as it encountered an obstacle. However, she couldn’t put her hand on her heart and swear that she loved him as much as she’d done when they’d been in England. It made her wonder if there could be any guarantees where love was concerned.

‘There’s some swelling over the cervical spine. I’d like another X-ray of the area, please.’

Christos glanced over his shoulder to check the Takis had heard him and frowned when he saw the expression on Katie’s face. He had no idea what was going through her mind at that moment but he didn’t think he’d seen anyone who looked so lost before. He cleared his throat, not wanting her to suspect how much it had unsettled him.

‘I need another litre of saline, Katie. And a second line put in, please.’

He turned away as she hurried off to carry out his instructions. Fortunately, the beds in Resus were multi-functional; there was no need to move the patient to get the shots he wanted. He reviewed his findings while Takis organised the X-rays.

The first set of films had confirmed that Simon Bradshaw had a fractured left tibia as well as a serious fracture of the left calcaneus, or heel bone. There was compression of the bone which could cause permanent damage to the joints involved in turning the foot in and out, and create problems walking. Christos made a note to ask his colleagues in Orthopaedics to review the X-rays before the patient left Resus, but at the moment he was more concerned about the possibility of spinal damage. Fortunately, the radiography equipment was linked to a sophisticated computer system and it took only minutes before the images were ready to be displayed on the screen.

‘It looks as though one of the discs in the cervical spine has ruptured.’ He pointed to the area in question as Yanni came to join him. ‘See how the prolapsed disc is protruding into the spinal cord. It’s compressing the root of the nerve leading to the arm.’

‘Do you think it will it need surgery to repair it?’ Yanni asked.