The Taming of Dr Alex Draycott

‘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 hesitated, tucking a strand of glossy black hair behind one ear. ‘Um…last I saw of him he was in Resus.’

‘Hmm.’ Alex had already checked, and he certainly wasn’t there now. ‘Thanks, Katie. I’m sure I’ll manage to hunt him out.’

She found him a minute or two later in the treatment room next to hers. He was checking an ECG printout, while at the same time assuring his patient that he was in safe hands.

‘You’ve had a minor heart attack,’ he told the middle-aged man lying on the bed, ‘but we have things under control now. The medication should help to open up your blood vessels, and things should soon start to feel a lot easier. Just keep pulling on the oxygen.’

He glanced across the room as Alex put her head round the door. ‘So there you are,’ she said. ‘I’m glad I’ve run into you at last. I’ve been searching everywhere for you.’

‘What it is to be popular,’ he murmured, winking at his patient. He adjusted the settings on the medication pump and checked the drip. ‘What could be better than having a gorgeous young woman seeking you out?’

Alex pulled a face. He obviously knew how to charm the birds out of the trees. ‘I know you’ve a lot on,’ she murmured, ‘but I really need you to go over the drug expenditure figures with me some time soon—and I noticed your casualty cards aren’t up to date. We need to get them filled in so that we can check waiting times.’

‘Yes, of course.’ He nodded agreeably. ‘I’ve been working on it. We always try to fill these things in on time, you know, but it can get pretty frantic around here, and it isn’t always easy to keep up with the admin paperwork.’ He sent her an engaging smile, inviting her to agree with him, his blue gaze shimmering over her so that she found herself unwillingly caught up in his masculine magnetism and his easygoing manner.

‘Yes, well…um…’ She blinked. It was thoroughly disconcerting, the way he managed to tip her off balance. What was she thinking? She made an effort to pull herself together. ‘Maybe we could get together for a few minutes as soon as you’ve finished here and go through a few of the items we need to get to grips with? I’ll be next door in the paediatric bay, working with a patient.’

‘Sounds like a good idea. I’ll see what I can do.’ He was totally relaxed, completely unfazed by her request.

‘Good. That’s encouraging.’ She slanted him a brief, searching glance. ‘See you in a few minutes, then,’ she murmured.

She left the room, with a friendly nod to the patient, who was looking much better than he had done a short time ago, and went to see the toddler next door.

The infant was lying on a trolley bed, clearly feeling too wretched and uncomfortable to be held in his mother’s arms. A nurse was cooling him by holding a damp cloth to his forehead, but as Alex entered, she went to step aside.

‘That’s all right, Charlotte,’ Alex said. ‘You go on with what you’re doing. I’m sure he’ll feel much better for it.’

Alex smiled at the boy’s mother. ‘Mrs Stanhope, I understand Tom has been poorly for several days?’

The woman nodded. ‘It’s horrible to see him like this. He won’t eat, he keeps being sick, and now he has a temperature. I’m really worried about him.’

‘Of course you are.’ She looked at Tom. ‘The poor little chap looks really miserable.’ She spoke gently to the boy. ‘I’m going to try to make you feel a bit more comfortable, Tom,’ she murmured, ‘but I need to listen to your chest first…and maybe look at your tummy. Is that all right?’

The toddler looked uncertain, his lower lip trembling, and the nurse attempted to distract him by producing a teddy bear from a basket at the side of the bed. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘Teddy’s feeling poorly, too. His tummy hurts.’

Tom’s eyes widened and he gazed at the toy, putting out a hand to feel his silky fur. Alex sent the nurse a grateful glance and gently began her examination. When she had finished, she said softly, ‘That’s all done now, Tom. You were very brave.’

The boy clutched the teddy to him. ‘Teddy hurting,’ he said. ‘He feels sick.’ Suddenly all the colour left his face and the nurse promptly moved forward with a kidney dish, holding it in place as he began to retch.

Alex went to sit next to the child’s mother. ‘We tested Tom’s urine earlier,’ she told her, ‘and it looks as though he has a urinary infection of some kind. It’s quite possible that his kidneys are inflamed, so I’m going to start him on a course of antibiotics. I’ll give him the first dose by injection so that it will start to act quicker, but the rest we’ll give by mouth.’ She glanced at Charlotte and gave instructions about the medications. ‘And that includes something to ease the pain and bring down his temperature.’

‘Thank you.’ Mrs Stanhope seemed anxious. ‘How long will it be before he’s better?’

‘It could be two or three weeks. I feel we should admit him to hospital so that we can keep an eye on him—I know that’s probably worrying for you, but we have to make sure we deal with this properly, right from the start, and of course that way he’ll be on hand when we get the results of his urine culture back from the lab.’

Mrs Stanhope nodded. ‘It’s all right. I just want what’s best for him.’

‘That’s good. I’ll make the arrangements.’ Alex stood up and went back to her small patient. ‘Just a tiny jab,’ she told him, preparing the antibiotic injection. ‘It will all be over in a second or two.’

A few minutes later, she left the infant and his mother in Charlotte’s capable hands, and went to look for Callum. He was nowhere to be found, not in any of the treatment rooms, or in Resus, or even out by the ambulance bay. She checked the quadrangle where staff sometimes took a breath of fresh air between seeing patients, but he wasn’t there either.

She frowned. ‘Any sign of Dr Brooksby?’ she asked Katie as the nurse walked towards the reception area.

‘None at all.’ Katie shrugged lightly. ‘I expect he’s gone back to Resus.’

Alex suppressed a sigh. ‘Not to worry,’ she said. ‘I dare say I’ll catch up with him sooner or later.’

Katie nodded. ‘That’s how it is down here, unfortunately. Everyone’s so busy.’

Alex’s mouth made a flat line. Busy or not, they all had to work together to help streamline the department, or before too long the trust board would be calling for closures. One way or another they had to find time to cooperate with her. ‘If anyone needs me, I’m heading over to Pathology,’ she said.

She would take Tom’s sample over to the lab herself for culture, and ask if the results could be hurried up. Once they knew the bacterial culprit, they could choose the most appropriate treatment for the child. The wide-spectrum antibiotic she had used was a catch-all for the most likely bacteria, but given the severity of the infection it was possible that they needed to use something more specific to counteract it.

She walked into the lab a few minutes later, shooting a quick glance around the room. Over to one side, by the workbenches, she saw a by-now familiar figure huddled over a rack of test tubes.

‘So here you are,’ she murmured, after handing over the specimen to the lab technician. ‘I never would have thought to find you here, Dr Brooksby.’

He straightened, turning to look at her. ‘I’m checking on some samples I sent for testing. I want to see how things are coming along, you know.’

‘Really?’ She inspected the label of the sample he was studying. ‘Since when were you working with the staff on the geriatric ward? Was your patient sent there from A and E?’

He frowned. ‘It’s the wrong sample,’ he said. ‘My patient’s elderly, but not geriatric.’

She sent him a cautious look, her grey eyes doubtful. ‘You wouldn’t be deliberately trying to avoid me, would you, Dr Brooksby?’