The Doctor's Family Secret

‘A triple bypass would give him a new lease of life.’

‘That’s true enough.’ He shook his head in grim reflection. ‘It’s a sad fact, but I can’t see him being able to come back to work. He’s only a year or so off retirement, and I think in the end he’ll come around to the fact that he will have to accept his limitations.’

‘That’s probably true, but at least he’ll have his family around him. That will be something for him to look forward to.’

Her father nodded. ‘I’m sure he’ll be glad of their support.’ His expression was sombre. ‘On the other hand, as far as we’re concerned, this whole sorry business leaves us with something of a predicament.’

Laura looked at him curiously. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that the A and E department has been left with no consultant in charge.’

‘Yes, I had thought of that. I suppose, if Tom is ill for any length of time, which seems likely, the hospital will have to appoint an acting consultant, a locum perhaps.’

‘I don’t imagine it will be easy to get someone suitable as a matter of urgency. What’s most likely to happen is that Nick will be asked to stand in temporarily.’ His features darkened. ‘I expect he’ll be glad enough to step into Tom’s shoes. With nobody standing in his way, he’ll have free rein, won’t he? What is there to stop him from going after what he wants?’

Laura’s eyes widened. ‘You mean that he will be in charge?’

‘Unfortunately, I think that’s a strong possibility.’

Laura struggled to absorb that. Nick, in charge? While she respected him as a doctor, there was no way she would be happy for him to have overall control of her daily work situation. It was bad enough at the moment, when there seemed to be constant friction between them. She was forever having to bite her tongue when their sometimes heated disagreements threatened to get out of control. How would it be when he was the acting consultant?

And that was without even beginning to consider the damaging effect his sudden promotion would have on his working relationship with her father. The result would be calamitous and didn’t bear thinking about.

CHAPTER THREE

LAURA wiped yet another name from the board. That was one more patient she had treated and discharged that night. How many more were there likely to be before her shift ended? It seemed as though she had already dealt with hundreds. Flexing her tired muscles, she reached for another treatment chart.

Wayne Golding was waiting in cubicle number four, and she went there now, drawing back the curtains.

‘Hello, Mr Golding,’ she greeted him. ‘I’m Dr Brett.’ She glanced at the chart, and added, ‘I understand you’ve had a nasty gash to your hand. Perhaps I could have a look at it.’

‘Oh, so you’re finally ready for me, are you?’ he snarled disagreeably. ‘How long does it take for you doctors to get around to looking at your patients around here? I could have bled to death by now.’

Taken aback, Laura viewed him warily. He was a big man in his forties, with ruddy cheeks and nose in a well-worn face that made him look as though he had lived life to the full. He also reeked of alcohol.

‘I’m sorry that you’ve been kept waiting. We’ve been very busy dealing with emergency patients elsewhere in the department.’

He glared at her, his body stiff and threatening, so that she surreptitiously looked towards the alarm button. ‘I haven’t seen any emergency activity around here. I think you’re just making excuses. I’ve got better things to do than sit around for hours on end.’

‘I’m sure you have,’ Laura said, hanging onto her patience by a thin thread. ‘No one enjoys having to wait, but I can assure you that if we had made our road accident patients wait, they certainly wouldn’t have lived to see the day out.’ Her chin lifted in a determined and businesslike way. ‘Perhaps if you let me take a look at your hand I’ll be able to see what needs to be done and send you on your way.’

He thrust his hand towards her face so that she took a step backwards. ‘It’s obvious what needs to be done, isn’t it?’ He spoke to her as though he thought she was an idiot. ‘It needs stitching up.’

She inspected the wound. His knuckles were lacerated, the skin split in several places. She probed gently, searching for any injury to the underlying tendons and ligaments. Growling, he pulled his hand away.

‘Watch what you’re doing. You don’t need to maul it like that,’ he snarled. ‘For all you know, it could be broken.’

‘I’m sorry if I hurt you,’ Laura said quietly. ‘Have you been in a fight?’

‘Someone came at me and I let him have it. If my hand’s broken, he’s going to pay for this.’

‘Fortunately the X-rays don’t show any broken bones,’ Laura murmured. ‘The downside is that there is a nasty infection in there, possibly from an old wound.’

His eyes narrowed on her suspiciously. ‘So what does that mean?’

‘It means that I’ll need to wash the wound out with a medicated solution, and then I’ll put a dressing on your hand so that it stays clean. I’ll prescribe an antibiotic as well to clear up the infection.’

‘You mean you’re not going to stitch it up?’ Angrily, he got to his feet, and Laura quickly drew back, startled.

‘I’m afraid I can’t, not while there’s an infection present. You’ll need to come back the day after tomorrow so that we can look at it again.’

‘You’re doing this to wind me up.’ He lunged towards her, his face a mask of aggression.

‘I’m not, I promise you.’ She tried to stay calm, but his anger was making her feel uncomfortable. ‘If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, I’ll go and get some supplies.’

Without giving him any chance to object, she walked out of the cubicle and drew the curtains behind her. Pulling in a sharp breath, she went to the desk at the far end of the room and began to count soundlessly to ten.

‘Is there a problem?’ Nick flicked a glance over her, appraising her carefully from head to toe.

‘None at all.’ The last thing she needed was to admit to Nick that she was having difficulty treating a patient. He placed a lot of emphasis on treating patients with respect. Pain sometimes made people unreasonable, he had said, and it was their job in A and E to look beyond a person’s critical or tetchy comments.

‘Really?’ he said drily. ‘I heard someone shouting. Are you having trouble with a patient?’

‘It’s nothing that I can’t handle,’ she said tersely.

‘I’d still prefer it if you’d told me what’s going on,’ he persisted. ‘It’s late at night, and we’re busy in the department. Tempers get frayed, and things can easily get out of hand.’

Laura grimaced. He thought she was going to mess things up, didn’t he? That wouldn’t go down well. Tom Edwards had been easygoing and tolerant, but Nick was a different animal altogether. Over these last few weeks, while he’d been in charge of A and E, he had made it clear that he liked things to run smoothly, and he was keen on keeping the department up to full speed.

‘I won’t let that happen.’

‘You came on duty tonight to help out because we were short-handed, didn’t you? This isn’t your usual shift.’

‘That’s right.’ She looked at him steadily. ‘What difference does that make?’

‘It means that you haven’t had much of a break between shifts, and I know that you haven’t had a coffee-break for some time. I think you should go and get one now.’

‘I’m in the middle of treating a patient, or had you forgotten?’

‘I’ll deal with him.’

Laura shook her head. ‘I would prefer to do that myself. It’s a matter of professional pride.’

His mouth crooked in a half-smile. ‘You can be a very stubborn woman at times, can’t you?’

‘I prefer to use the word independent.’ She moved away from him towards a cupboard. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I need to get some supplies.’

He watched her go, and Laura turned her attention to getting the irrigation equipment. It took her a few minutes to find what she needed, and when she returned to the cubicle where she had left Wayne Golding, she was startled to see that Nick was already in there.