Summer With A French Surgeon

‘The reason I sent out a questionnaire before you arrived here, asking about previous experience of hip replacement surgery, was to ascertain who might be a likely candidate for the first operation of the course. Several of you indicated varying degrees of competence. I consider that some of you would be perfectly capable of being my second assistant this morning.’

He read from a list, Julia holding her breath apprehensively after she heard her name read out.

‘There’s no need to be worried. We are a teaching hospital with excellent insurance.’ His smile broadened. ‘There is a stipulation that patients must be chosen with care and must agree to everything that might happen during their surgery. The patient we will operate on this morning is a retired surgeon herself and fully co-operative. Now …’

He paused and looked around the class. ‘Who would like the opportunity to work with me this morning?’

Talk about adrenalin pumping! Her heart was pounding so quickly she felt everyone in the room would hear it. This was the opportunity she should seize on. The opportunity she’d asked Bernard for. The old Julia would have been leaping to her feet, desperate for the experience. These days she could feel real fear whenever opportunity knocked.

Seconds dragged by. Nobody had moved. Several throats had been cleared, including Bernard’s. She could feel his eyes boring into her. What had her father always told her? Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Her hand shot up, seemingly having a life of its own. Every fibre of her body was warning her to hold off, not to stick her neck out, but this was why she’d come here. To challenge herself and banish her insecurities. She could do this! Raising her eyes tentatively towards the rostrum, she was rewarded by a look of intense pride.

Bernard knew he’d goaded her on that morning. He’d deliberately put her to the test and she hadn’t failed him. He’d already seen for himself how knowledgeable she was about her passion but, from what he’d learned during their brief time since she arrived, she was a student who needed her confidence boosted. And this could only be done by subjecting her to difficult and demanding situations that required top-class skills, diligent training, impeccable qualifications and endless energy. The ability to carry on long after your whole body was experiencing real physical weariness, if required.

Though he didn’t doubt that intellectually she was probably streets ahead of her louder colleagues he worried that she might not be physically strong enough at times. He would have the same concerns with any female student. A fact that had made him consider hard about offering her a place on this course. If he was honest with himself, he’d only admitted her to the course as a favour to his old friend Don Grainger. Don was no fool. He wouldn’t have put her forward to take the course if he didn’t think she was a natural surgeon.

But Julia still had to prove herself to him. Although he trusted his old friend, he needed to be in Theatre with her himself to actually make a sound judgement.

He composed his features back to the completely objective, professional tutor he was supposed to be. But it was difficult to hold back the elation he felt now that his plan had worked. The teacher in him wanted to build up her confidence, which he surmised had for some reason taken a knock somewhere along the way. The fact that he found her impossibly attractive must be dealt with as a separate issue, which couldn’t in any way colour his professional judgement of her.

‘Thank you, Julia. Would you meet me in the ante-theatre at ten-thirty, please? We shall be using the teaching theatre where those of you not required on the lower surgery area will sit on the raised seats behind the transparent screens. You will be able to hear everything, take notes and ask questions at the end of the operation.’

Julia dealt with the moment of panic that suddenly came over her. She needed to escape and scan her notes. She mustn’t leave anything to chance during her debut in Theatre. And she wanted time to check out the patient. That was always important. She wasn’t dealing with an abstract. This was a human being who deserved respect so perhaps it would be possible to …

Thoughts tumbled through her mind as she hurried to the door, only to find that Bernard was waiting there for her.

‘Would you like to meet the patient?’

She gave a sigh of relief. ‘That’s definitely on my check list … along with everything else I need to do.’

‘Don’t worry. There’s plenty of time.’

She revelled in his smooth, soothing voice and remembered that he must have had to go through difficult situations to reach the heights of his profession. She had a lot to prove to him so she felt intensely nervous because he still hadn’t thawed out with her. Could she work alongside him without making a fool of herself?

She squared her shoulders. She would do the best for the patient, as she had always done, and Bernard’s opinion of her didn’t matter. Oh, but his opinion of you does matter, said a small, nagging voice in her head.

‘You look nervous, Julia,’ he said, as if reading her thoughts. ‘Take a deep breath. Now let it out. That’s better. I wouldn’t let you operate on my patient if I didn’t think you were capable, extremely capable according to your previous tutor.’

She felt as if she’d grown taller already and much stronger. Her thoughts were clearing and she could feel a list of priorities forming in her head.

He led her along the corridor, speaking now in a gentler tone than he usually used. She felt comforted, supported both physically and mentally. His arm brushed hers as they walked together and she was surprised by the sparks of attraction his close proximity aroused. Not an easy situation to be in. Nervous of Bernard because he would be judging her performance in Theatre, concerned about their patient and surprised at the frequent frissons of attraction towards her boss. This was going to be an intensely difficult situation.

He had a difficult job as tutor to ten students who had begun to regard him as the enemy. But she was beginning to view Bernard differently. Again she felt a tingling down her spine and knew she mustn’t give in to this strange insane feeling that was forcing itself upon her.

‘You see, Julia, in most hospital situations the surgical team meet the patient before they operate, don’t they? So I do like my students to be involved in the pre-operative and post-operative care of their patients, working alongside the full-time hospital staff.’

She felt her clinical interest rising along with the added interest engendered by simply being alongside this charismatic man. On this, her surgical debut day, when she wanted to use her skills and knowledge as best she could, she was also trying so hard not to let her personal interest in him get in the way.

‘Yes, as I told you, I would very much like to meet our patient. You said she was a surgeon?’

‘An extremely eminent surgeon here in France. As a student I was very much in awe of her.’

‘So you’ve known her a long time?’

He smiled as he looked sideways at his demure companion,

looking so fresh, so young, so infinitely … he checked his thoughts … capable. Yes, she was capable. That was all that mattered.

He composed his thoughts again. ‘I feel we shall experience full co-operation from our learned colleague. She was a great help when I was a young student in Paris.’

They walked together along the corridor, he adapting his stride to her slower pace. In the orthopaedic ward Bernard led her into one of the single rooms.

‘Hello, Brigitte. How are you this morning?’

The patient, who was seated in a comfortable armchair by the window, smiled and put down her newspaper.

‘Bernard! I’m very well, thank you, and so relieved that I’m going to have my operation today.’

He introduced Julia as a well-qualified doctor from England who was working towards a career in orthopaedic surgery.

‘Julia has had a great deal of surgical experience. She has been mentored by our esteemed colleague Don Grainger and comes to us with his own high recommendations.’

The patient smiled. ‘High praise indeed from Don.’

‘Well, he’s been Julia’s tutor since medical school and he wrote in glowing terms about her capabilities. So much so that I’ve decided to tell my designated assistant to remain on standby in the theatre. I may or may not need him. How would you both feel about that?’

Brigitte leaned forward towards Julia. ‘I would be delighted to help you up the career ladder in any way I can, Julia. After the operation—at which, of course, you must assist—we must have a long chat. I truly miss my days in surgery but my arthritis cut my career short. I like to keep up with the latest developments, though.’

Bernard was waiting for Julia’s answer. ‘And how do you feel about assisting with the surgery, Julia?’

‘Very honoured.’ She felt confident. Why shouldn’t she be, with such generous support from the patient and professor?

‘Excellent!’ Bernard smiled.

Jeanine, the orthopaedic sister, came in to explain that they were about to prepare their patient for surgery. Did Bernard wish to do a further examination? He said he would like a few minutes to show his assistant the extent of the arthritic damage to the hip. Brigitte, walking with a stick, made her way back to her bed and lay down with a thankful sigh of relief.

She pointed out the most painful areas of her leg, which were around the the head of the right femur. Bernard held up the X-rays so that Julia could see the extent of the arthritic erosion and they discussed the method they were going to use to remove the damaged bone and replace it with a prosthesis.

Leaving the patient to be prepared for Theatre by the nursing staff, Julia still felt slightly apprehensive but at the same time she realised how lucky she was to be given an ideal situation like this in which to move forward, gathering confidence along the way. At the same time she would not only be furthering her career, she would be easing the pain and improving the health of a patient, which was why she and all the members of her family had joined the medical profession.

She walked towards the medical quarters. She needed a few minutes of peace and quiet to gather her thoughts and focus on the operation in front of her. She no longer felt the need to check her notes. Every bit of knowledge she needed was stored in her brain. She’d assisted at a hip replacement before on several occasions, actually performing part of the surgery with an experienced surgeon hovering nearby, watching her every move, ready to stop or correct anything he didn’t approve of.

It wouldn’t be any different this time, except that it would be Bernard who would be doing the hovering. And this affinity she felt with him, this desperation to please him was something that unnerved her. It wasn’t just that he was her chief in this situation. It was something more than that. Something definitely emotional. An emotional connection. And she was trying to avoid emotion.

Where relationships were concerned she didn’t trust herself, judging by her track record. At least she should leave all emotion outside the door of the theatre and concentrate all her training and expertise on doing the best for her patient.

Bernard was waiting for her when she nervously pushed open the swing doors of the ante-theatre. He gave her a smile of encouragement.