‘Everything’s such a mess…’
‘Mrs Thomsen! What’s been happening today?’
As nice as it was to see Cole, as the curtain was pulled open, Leah groaned inwardly at his appalling timing, sure that Jan had been just about to open up to her. But this was an emergency department, Leah reminded herself, handing over the casualty card and carrying on with the next patient, hoping Cole wasn’t about to deliver Jan a stern lecture on the perils of not keeping medication locked up. Debating whether to call Cole out and ask him to go a little bit easy on the woman, Leah gave herself a mental shake. It wasn’t her place to tell Cole his job. Anyway, he was a consultant which would mean a query paracetamol overdose in a two-year-old would barely merit a glance, let alone an in-depth consultation.
Or so she thought! It came as a pleasant surprise when Cole tapped her on the shoulder a couple of hours later.
‘Can you hold Riley while I take some blood? I’m going to suggest Mum goes and grabs a coffee while we do it—she’s still a bit on edge.’
‘Sure.’
‘How are you finding things?’ Cole asked as they walked towards the treatment room.
‘Surprisingly good. It’s pretty much the same as what I’m used to, although the patients here are crook instead of sick and there’s a few different drug names to get used to.’
‘You’re doing great,’ Cole said warmly. They were at the treatment room now and Cole pulled her to one side, before they stepped inside, adopting a slightly more formal tone. ‘It would seem the paracetamol belongs to Mr Thomsen.’
Leah gave a frown as Cole thrust a card under her nose, her mind stuck in obs room two where a child had fallen off his cycle, his scream filling the room as Leah attempted to take Tara through the Glasgow coma scale observation chart. ‘He’s away interstate a lot on business.’
‘You’ve lost me,’ Leah admitted.
‘Mr Thomsen had a headache when he was on a business trip in Perth and bought some paracetamol,’ Cole explained patiently. ‘He took a couple then zipped the pack into the front of his toiletry bag and completely forgot about it. Naturally Jan didn’t think to check when she unpacked his case, just took out the toiletries and put the bag back in the bathroom cupboard hence Riley rummaging through the cupboard and finding them. It was a complete accident that could happen to anyone, and if it’s anyone’s fault then I’d say it was more Mr Thomsen’s.’
‘But?’ Leah asked, cutting to the chase, knowing there would be one.
‘Jan’s pretty close to the edge. We’ve had a long chat and it would seem her husband’s been away an awful lot on business recently and when he comes home he seems to expect the house to be perfect, everything running smoothly, which is a pretty tough task given that there’s a five-year-old and six-year-old at school as well as the two little ones.’
‘Do you think she’s got postnatal depression?’ Leah asked, tossing up possibilities and enjoying the discussion. Emergency was a busy place, patients came and went, but one of the nicer parts of the job was delving into people’s lives, going that extra mile to help a relative stranger. It made the work so much more interesting, so much more personal, and she was quietly pleased that Cole seemed to feel the same. Many doctors would have dealt with facts to hand, written up Riley for a blood test and carried right on, but Cole had taken things further, treated not only the patient but his family too. It was as refreshing as it was welcome. ‘I mean, the baby’s only a few months old and she’s got a two-year-old to deal with as well.’
‘She could have,’ Cole agreed, ‘but I’d say that exhaustion is a more probable diagnosis and unfortunately that isn’t going to improve—at least not in the short term,’ Cole added with a dry edge to his voice. ‘I’ve just run a pregnancy test on Jan and guess what?’
Leah gave a low groan as Cole let out a rueful laugh. ‘I’m going to call her GP and ask her to follow things up, not just with the pregnancy. I think Jan needs a bit of support at the moment.’
‘Do you want me to give the social worker a ring?’ Leah asked. ‘I don’t know if that’s how it’s done here, but in England…’
‘Done.’ Cole smiled. ‘Jasmine’s going to come down in the next half hour or so. I told her there wasn’t a huge rush—until Riley’s blood results come back, Mrs Thomsen won’t be going anywhere. Mind you, personally I don’t think it’s Jan she needs to be talking to. I’d say Mr Thomsen needs pulling to one side.’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Leah grinned. ‘She might be able to offer some contraceptive advice.’
He stalked into the treatment room with barely a backward glance, and Leah was infinitely grateful for his apparent indifference to her. Working with your lover wasn’t the greatest scenario at the best of times and since her interview endless problems they could have faced working together, had played on her mind, but thankfully none had come to fruition. Cole had set the tone, and to the world they would seem like normal working colleagues.
Almost.
Practically wrestling Riley to the floor, Fay had come in to help and passed the tubes as Cole took the blood.
‘Swab,’ Cole barked, slipping the needle out.
Leah loosened her grip.
‘Have you got some tape?’ Fay asked pushing down on the swab as she patted her pockets.
‘Ask Leah,’ Cole said, syringing the blood into a couple of tubes. ‘I’m sure she’ll have some stashed away!’
‘I was starting to get worried.’
Leah plonked down on the sofa and kicked off her shoes, letting out a grateful sigh as Cole handed her a welcome glass of wine. Lord, he looked divine, even though she’d seen him all afternoon at work. Out of his suit he looked infinitely more casual, more approachable, more the Cole she adored.
‘Why were you worried?’ Leah asked. ‘My shift didn’t end till nine.’ Glancing down at her watch, she saw it edging past ten and realised how long she’d actually been. ‘Fay handed me the off-duty,’ she said in an almost shy voice, not wanting to blow her own trumpet. ‘She was pretty pleased with how my first day went so she gave me my pick of the shifts that need filling.’
‘You were great,’ Cole said enthusiastically, but Leah shook her head.
‘I was OK,’ she corrected, blushing as she did so, unable to accept his compliment. ‘Great is what I used to be in London—at least I knew what I was doing there! I seem to have spent half the day asking where things were kept and the other half being shown the mistakes I’d made. You’re just biased.’
‘Fay’s not, though,’ Cole pointed out. ‘If anything, she had her reservations about you working there in the first place, so the fact she’s given you first pick of the shifts says a lot.’ He gave a slight grimace. ‘I think she was worried we’d be making smouldering eyes at each other over the drug trolley.’
‘I was worried about that too,’ Leah admitted, grinning as she took a sip of her drink. ‘Not the smouldering-eyes bit, I know we’re both a bit more professional than that, but I’ve never worked with someone I’ve been going out with, and I wasn’t sure how I’d find it.’
‘It was OK, though, wasn’t it?’ Cole asked thoughtfully, and Leah nodded.
‘It was nice having you there. I was nervous enough already and you being there really helped. Riley finally went home,’ she added. ‘It turns out he hadn’t taken any paracetamol after all.’
‘So poor Jan wasted an entire day in Emergency. The little monster.’
‘I don’t think it was a waste.’ Leah smiled, remembering how good Cole had been with the woman.
Watching Cole at work had been a revelation in itself. Although formal and slightly austere at times, there was still an air of approachability about him and Leah had marvelled at the way he ran the busy department, taking time to listen to each and every patient, no matter how big or small their injury. And, more intriguingly, the respect he commanded from his colleagues wasn’t merely related to his status, like so many consultants Leah had worked with, but more a genui
ne admiration for his undoubted skills and the way he effortlessly imparted his knowledge.
Far from her initial doubts, working alongside Cole had only served to make her want him more.
‘I think in the scheme of things Jan will end up being glad today actually happened. Hopefully she’ll get a bit of help now.’
‘And hopefully we’re not going to talk shop all the time,’ Cole said in a low voice, taking the glass of wine from her and fixing her with a look that had Leah’s insides flipping over. ‘Work’s work and home’s…’ His fingers were fiddling with her name tag, pulling at the cord, and it pulled open easily. Security had promised it would ping apart if an angry patient grabbed hold of it, but this wasn’t an angry patient, this was Cole, and he was working his way down the buttons of her polo shirt now. ‘Could this be home, Leah?’
She heard the question in his voice, knew the magnitude of what he was asking, but for a second her mind flashed to the other side of the world, to her family, her flat, her career and a life left at short notice, then back again to the man gazing at her with love blazing in his eyes, a man she could truly love if only he would let her.
‘It could be.’ Her hand reached out to his cheek, capturing the rough scratch of his jaw against her trembling hand, trying to ignore the massive if that seemed to hang over them.
‘Could be?’
Her eyes drifted to the mantelpiece, to his wedding photo, to a carefree man she’d barely glimpsed. And even though patience was a virtue and all that, even though he’d promised that in the fullness of time he would all be hers, she wanted him now, wanted each and every part of him.
‘I love you, Cole,’ Leah said, honesty resonating in her voice. ‘But sometimes I feel as if I barely know you.’
For an age he stared at her, for an age she waited for some sort of response, some sort of answer, but instead of talking he moved in closer, his lips finding hers, chasing away her doubts, her questions, silencing her fears as she kissed him back harder, deeper, longer, the arousal he so easily instigated flicking on like a light switch, his touch, his smell, his taste the eternal trigger. He was pushing her back on the cushions now, the weight of his torso on hers unfamiliar after the gentleness of the previous weeks, unfamiliar but divine. She could feel the hardness of his arousal against her thigh, a bubble of moisture welling between her legs, and the questions that had taunted her flew out of the window as she arched her body towards him.
‘I should have a shower,’ Leah gasped but very half-heartedly.
‘You should eat something,’ Cole pointed out with just about as much enthusiasm.
Five minutes ago Leah would have agreed with him, but any pangs of hunger melted into oblivion as he slipped her shirt over her head and the zipper on the side of her culottes came under attack. ‘Fay had every right to be worried.’ Her culottes were on the floor now and he sat her up slowly. Lowering himself onto the floor, he ran an appreciative hand along the hollows of her waist. And she should have felt stupid, the lights blazing, Cole fully dressed, but something in his eyes told her she was beautiful. Wearing nothing but her undies and a seductive smile, she wriggled in anticipation as Cole slid her panties down before unclasping her bra, letting out a low moan of approval as her nipples stood rigid to attention, swelling further if that were possible as his fingers worked their magic, his tongue flicking them into frenzied life, stopping with a teasing annoyance every now and then as he spoke. ‘If she had any idea the self-control I’ve had to muster all day, she’d never have let you near the off-duty.’
‘You hid it amazingly well!’ Her voice was coming out in small gasps now, the conversation taking place no indicator of the sensual foreplay taking place. ‘You barely gave me a glance.’
Cole was undressing now, Cole pulling off his T-shirt and shorts, and she felt her breath catch in her throat as she gazed down at him kneeling before her as she wriggled back on the sofa, his fingers working their magic now on the nub of her clitoris.
‘I was watching.’ His voice was thick with lust now, his eyes blazing with desire as he reached for the peach of her buttocks, pulling them to the edge of the sofa before diving his swollen length into her. There was no question of holding back, no question of it being too soon. The foreplay had started this morning, the new sights, new sensations she had been experiencing all day, and the one constant had been Cole. As he moved deeper within she coiled her legs around him, her bottom lifting off the sofa as his strong arms cradled her back and forth. ‘I’ve been wanting to do this all day.’ Burying his face in her splendid bosom, capturing her nipples in his cool mouth as she arched her back, her hands gripping his dark hair in spasm as she urged him deeper, talk running out now as their bodies spoke for themselves, the heady rush of her climax the sweetest homecoming of them all.
‘All day,’ he whispered as he held her close and the world slowly came back into focus.
They never did finish that talk, she never did have that shower, but a long bath run by Cole sufficed very nicely and later, much later they lay in bed, eating pizza from the box, still revelling in their post-coital bliss, still revelling in the magic of having found each other and trying to ignore the problems that surely lay ahead.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘IF A doctor doesn’t come in here and see my daughter now, I’ll go and find one and drag him in here myself!’
The angry tones coming from behind the curtain had the hairs rising on the back of Leah’s neck. Casting a nervous look around, she willed a security guard to appear or for Fay to suddenly come over and tell her not to worry, that she’d deal with this.
But there was no one and Leah knew that her moment of truth had come—everyone was stuck in Resus with a multi-trauma and Security were busy ensuring the ambulance bay was clear for the next screeching ambulance that was due to arrive at any moment.
Oh, in the few weeks she’d been back in nursing she’d seen Melbourne Central busy, had even dealt with a couple of rather agitated patients, but they didn’t compare to the furious shouts coming from behind the curtain and busy didn’t come close to describing the emergency department this afternoon. The hot sultry weather seemed to be finally breaking and the highly charged skies threatening to storm matched the tense atmosphere in the department as they received the casualties from a four-car pile-up and the waiting room rumbled with dissatisfaction at the appalling long wait and the fact the coffee-machine had finally given up the ghost.
‘Leah?’ Red-faced and clearly upset, Tara came out from behind the curtain and Leah kicked herself for her indecision, her hesitancy to help, as the young grad nurse came over. She was the RN after all. It should be she herself dealing with this, showing Tara how to handle anxious relatives, and instead she was pretending she hadn’t noticed!
‘I’ve got a one-year-old with gastro. The father brought her up last night and she was seen and discharged. Apparently they gave them some electrolyte replacement sachets for the little girl to take but she doesn’t like the taste and she’s been refusing to drink it. They’ve been giving her water and apple juice but she just keeps vomiting. The dad’s really angry, he wants a doctor to come now, and frankly I can see why. The little girl doesn’t look very well at all. If I were her mother I’d be pretty upset.’
Leah read through the card. Yesterday’s admission notes were neatly clipped to it and from what Leah could see the child hadn’t been particularly unwell last night, but with gastro things could unfortunately change very quickly. Taking a deep breath, Leah tried to ignore the angry noises coming from behind the curtain as she stepped inside.
‘I don’t want another nurse!’ a young man roared as Leah came over. ‘My daughter needs a doctor.’
‘Mr Anderson.’ Leah headed straight for the cot and looked at the little girl who lay spent and exhausted, barely looking up as Leah pulled down the cot sides and smiled gently at the babe. ‘I’m the nurse in charge of cots this afternoon. The doctors are all in treating patients from a serious motor acc
ident at the moment, so I’m going to have a look at your daughter and if needed I’ll get someone in here straight away.’
‘If needed!’ Mr Anderson scoffed. ‘Look at her! She must have been sick fifty times since we left here and all you lot can do is give her some drinks she can’t even manage and tell us to keep bloody persevering.’
Despite her nerves Leah could more than understand Mr Anderson’s agitation. This little girl was sick indeed. Her eyes were sunk in her head and, giving her skin a gentle pinch to check its turgor, Leah knew she was woefully dehydrated. Mr Anderson had every right to be anxious, and no doubt he was exhausted from lack of sleep as well. ‘Tara, can you go and get a doctor please?’ Leah said as she hastily examined the child.
‘I’ve tried. They’re busy in Resus, and the paediatricians are there with a head injury as well.’
‘Tell one of the registrars or consultants to come now,’ Leah said, widening her eyes and hoping Tara could read the urgency in them. ‘Mr Anderson, I’m going to move Jessica to another area,’ Leah said calmly, ‘where we can give her some more help. A doctor will be here soon.’
Picking up the limp infant, Leah made her way swiftly into the paediatric resuscitation area. As Fay had pointed out on her first day, generally sick children were moved to the main resus area but, given that it was already full, for now at least that wasn’t an option. Anyway, Leah realised as she laid the little girl down on the flat, hard resus bed, it wasn’t the ideal place for an anxious family.
Slipping an oxygen mask over Jessica’s face, Leah undressed her quickly then wrapped a tourniquet around the child’s wrist in an attempt to bring up her veins. But she was on the verge of collapse, making her veins difficult to find, and Leah slapped the pale skin to bring them to the surface.
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