Hawaiian Sunset, Dream Proposal

‘Nothing will go wrong,’ she said softly. ‘I’m going to take good care of you, I promise, and you have to know that Professor Halloran is the very best.’

He didn’t speak any more after that, but lapsed into what seemed like an exhausted sleep. The heart monitor began to bleep, the trace showing a chaotic descent into a dangerous rhythm, and Amber called for help. ‘I need a crash team here—now. Call for Professor Halloran.’ Her patient was going into shock, and cardiac arrest was imminent. ‘He’s in V-fib.’ Ventricular fibrillation meant the heart was unable to pump blood around Martyn’s body and without swift intervention he would die.

James and Sarah rushed to the bedside. Sarah started chest compressions, while James set the defibrillator to analyse the patient’s rhythm and prepared to deliver a shock to Martyn’s heart. Amber was aware of Caitlin standing in the room, watching everything that was going on, tears rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t let that distract her. She worked quickly to secure Martyn’s airway with an endotracheal tube and ensure that he was receiving adequate oxygen through a mechanical ventilator.

‘Stand clear, everyone,’ James said. As soon as the shock had been delivered, Sarah continued compressions. Amber checked for a pulse and looked to see if the rhythm of the heart had changed.

‘He’s still in V-fib,’ she said. ‘Let’s go again with a second shock.’ By now, Caitlin was making small sobbing sounds, and Amber was aware of another strange background noise, an odd swishing sound that she couldn’t quite make out.

James set the machine to deliver the second jolt of electricity, but Amber could see it hadn’t had the desired effect. ‘Keep up the compressions,’ she said. ‘I’m going to give him a shot of adrenaline.’

They continued to work on their patient, but after a while, when Martyn’s response was still insufficient, Amber added amiodarone to his intravenous line. She wasn’t going to give up on this man, no matter how resistant his condition seemed to her efforts.

‘You can do this, Martyn,’ she said, under her breath. ‘Come on, now, work with me. You’re going to the catheter suite and you’re going to come through this. Don’t let me down.’

James glanced towards Caitlin, clearly disturbed by the girl’s distress, but he could see that Sarah was tiring and moved to take over the chest compressions. Sarah watched the monitors and recorded the readings on a chart, while Amber worriedly assessed the nature of the heart rhythm and debated whether to add atropine to the medications she had already given him.

Professor Halloran came into the room, taking everything in with one sweeping glance. ‘How’s he doing?’ he asked. ‘Do you have a normal rhythm now?’

Amber checked the monitor and turned towards him. ‘We do,’ she said, relief sounding in her voice, and Professor Halloran nodded in satisfaction.

‘Well done, everyone.’ He turned his attention to the flat screen of the computer monitor that had been set up on a table across the room. He held up his hands in a thumbs-up sign. ‘He’s back with us,’ he addressed the screen, and now, at last, Amber realised where the swishing sound had been coming from.

The screen was filled with the image of a man standing on what appeared to be a wooden veranda, surrounded on all sides by a balustrade. He was looking towards them, long limbed, lean and fit, with broad shoulders that tapered to a slim, flat-stomached midriff. He was wearing casual clothes made of fine-textured cotton that would be cool and comfortable in the heat of the Hawaiian summer. In the background she made out a palm tree and the clear blue of ocean waves lapping on a golden, sandy beach.

‘I see that,’ the man said. ‘I saw it all, as clearly as if I had been there.’ He moved closer to the webcam, and Amber realised that the computer must be situated on a ledge in front of him. The screen showed him now in clear view, blotting out most of the background, and she was aware of the strong, angular lines of his face, of thick, black hair cut in a way that perfectly framed his features. Most of all, she was stunned by his clear, blue eyes, the exact colour of the sea, that appeared to be looking right at her.

‘We’ll take your uncle up to the catheter suite right away,’ Professor Halloran said. ‘It’s important that we get to work as soon as possible.’ He glanced at Amber. ‘I’ll leave you to bring him up in the lift, Amber, while I go and prepare.’

Amber nodded, dragging her gaze away from the image on the screen. She was glad to have something to distract her. There was something about the way Ethan Brookes looked at her that was infinitely disturbing. It was as though he could see into her very soul, and that was an unnerving thought.

Even more unsettling, though, as her gaze swivelled to the doorway, was the sight of James, deep in conversation with Caitlin.

‘I don’t know what to do,’ Caitlin was saying. ‘He’s all I have in the world.’

‘You’re not alone,’ James murmured. ‘I’ll look after you. I’m off duty for a while now, and we can talk. Maybe we could even get together later this evening when my shift finishes. I know you’ll probably want to talk some more. These things can hit you very hard. It’s a worrying time.’

The girl lifted tear-drenched eyes towards the young doctor, and James reacted in the way that men have reacted throughout time. He melted in the face of her vulnerability, draped an arm around her and gently led her away. It was an innocent, caring gesture, but somehow, seeing his tenderness and concern for this young woman, it rocked Amber to the core. James hadn’t taken his eyes off Caitlin’s face. He looked at her with compassion and something else, something akin to adoration. He appeared to be totally, utterly smitten.

‘Dr Shaw? Are you with us?’ Ethan Brookes’s voice cracked across the void, and Amber blinked, coming back to reality and trying unsuccessfully to blank out the image that was imprinted on her mind.

‘I should thank you for your prompt action,’ he said, and she lifted her gaze towards the screen once more.

Those steely blue eyes raked over her, as though he was making a thorough assessment of her. ‘You’ve bought my uncle a little more time, and I’m grateful to you for that.’

She gave a brief, noncommittal nod in his direction. ‘That’s what I’m here for,’ she murmured.

‘Yes, but it’s obvious that you’re also young and relatively inexperienced. You did well to cope as you did…but I’m wondering if I should arrange for a private specialist to come and take charge of my uncle’s case. I don’t want anything left to chance.’

She braced her shoulders. She was a senior house officer, more than capable of doing what was required. ‘Of course, that’s your prerogative,’ she murmured. ‘It wouldn’t be wise to delay proceedings, though. He needs to go to surgery now, and we have his full permission to go ahead…so if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and take him there.’

‘I understand that. I won’t get in your way…now…and thanks again for what you did.’

Ethan Brookes was thanking her, but his words had an empty ring about them. The image of his cousin and her boyfriend came into her mind once more, and right now she couldn’t help momentarily wishing that the Brookes family had never come into her life.

CHAPTER TWO

‘WE’VE done all that we can for him for the moment,’ Professor Halloran told Amber as they left the catheterisation suite some time later. ‘We may have cleared up the immediate problem, but Mr Wyndham Brookes is still a very sick man.’

Amber nodded. ‘At least you managed to remove the blood clot that was causing the trouble. It’s unfortunate that he has a lot of other things to contend with alongside that.’ Martyn was lucky to be alive, but from the results of tests and the indications they had discovered during the operation, his quality of life was going to be severely restricted.

‘I expect his nephew will want to know exactly what we’ve found,’ Professor Halloran added, ‘although the medical notes he sent us were a good pointer to the cause of the problem.’ He frowned. ‘Ethan Brookes is certainly keen on being kept fully involved, even though he’s living thousands of miles away. Maybe you could explain to him that his uncle will need to take great care with his health over the next few months.’

‘Are you not going to talk to him yourself?’ Amber looked at her boss in surprise.

‘Yes, I will…later. Right now, I have to go back to my pacemaker patient. His needs are greater right now.’ He gave her a beaming smile. ‘Besides, I’ve every confidence in you. Talk to Miss Wyndham Brookes, as well. I’ll speak to both of them this afternoon, when I’m free.’

Amber was glad he had such faith in her to do the right thing, though she suspected it was a ploy…he was a much better surgeon than he was at talking to patients. As to speaking to Martyn’s nephew herself, she was conscious that Ethan wasn’t entirely pleased that she was the one taking day-to-day responsibility for his uncle. He wanted the best…but Professor Halloran was not readily available to be there for him one hundred per cent of the time.

She went back down to A and E and went in search of Martyn’s daughter. She could understand how distressing this situation was for the girl, but the image of James consoling her and leading her away with his arm draped protectively around her had been running through her mind over and over again as if in a film loop these last few hours.

Perhaps she was taking things too personally, though. Wasn’t it entirely natural for any normal, thinking person to want to comfort someone in their hour of need? James was a good, kind man. She ought to be pleased that he was so considerate towards others.

While she had been in the catheter suite, James had apparently been working his way steadily through the mounting list of patients who had arrived at A and E. He met her as she walked over to the central desk in the unit a few minutes later.

‘I picked up this letter for you from your mail box,’ he said, handing her an envelope. ‘It looks official, so it could be news of the job you applied for.’

‘Oh, thanks.’ Amber frowned, looking at the logo on the envelope. He was right…the letter probably contained the information she was waiting for. She glanced up at him. ‘Did you hear anything about the job you were after?’

His mouth made a downward turn. ‘Yes. It turns out I didn’t get the job. The letter was waiting for me when I went back to the mailroom. They appointed another candidate, but wished me luck for next time.’

Amber felt an immediate rush of sympathy for him. ‘Oh, James,’ she said, reaching out to give him a hug, ‘I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted that post. You must be feeling really down about it.’

He nodded briefly, trailing an arm around her in return. ‘I was almost expecting to be turned down, but it came as a shock, all the same.’

‘It must have done. What will you do now?’

He gave a negligent shrug. ‘I’ll have to think about some of the other research projects available. They weren’t nearly as appealing as this one, but at least I stand some chance of getting one of them.’

‘Sorry to interrupt, Amber,’ Sarah said as she approached the desk, ‘but Mr Wyndham Brookes has just been brought back down to his room. His daughter is feeling anxious because he doesn’t look too good…and I think she’s been looking at the medical notes that were sent over from Hawaii—that was never going to make her feel better. Her cousin advised her against it, and so did Professor Halloran, but she was determined to go ahead anyway. Do you want to come and have a word with her?’

‘Yes, of course. I’ll come along right away.’

Amber sent a worried look in James’s direction, but he was already lifting up a patient’s chart from the tray on the desk, and she started to turn, getting ready to walk away with Sarah.

James frowned. ‘I feel sorry for the girl. It’s bad enough that her father has been taken seriously ill, but she’s a long way from home and virtually on her own.’

‘I expect she appreciated you trying to help her,’ Amber murmured. She slipped the envelope into her pocket. If it was bad news about the job she’d applied for, she’d rather deal with it when she was on her own back in her rented apartment. ‘You were very kind to her. I imagine she’ll look to you for help from now on. I heard you telling her that you would be free to talk to her after your shift finishes.’