Cinderella and the Surgeon

by Scarlet Wilson

  He booked the theatre time for the next day and spoke to Francesca before heading back down to A&E. It only took him a few minutes to find Esther again. She was clearing up a tray of bloody swabs.

  ‘Whoa.’

  She looked up. ‘‘Gunshot wound. Thankfully it was just a graze.’

  ‘Do midwives normally treat gunshot wounds?’

  She blinked. ‘I’m a nurse too. That’s why I get to work in A&E.’ She paused for a second and then added, ‘How’s your baby in France?’

  He pulled a face. ‘Post-op complications. He developed a pulmonary embolism. Probably not much bigger than the head of pin. But in a twenty-five-weeker...’

  He looked up and realised she was holding her breath. ‘Oh, everything’s good now. We’re back to a “wait and see.”’

  ‘How come you were down covering?’

  ‘I’d just got back from France and came in to check on Billy. I’d gone along to the ward and saw the messages about the A&E referral. The doc in Paeds was dealing with a meningitis case so I offered to cover.’

  ‘That was nice of you.’ Her eyebrows were raised.

  ‘What? You don’t think I can be nice?’

  She tilted her head to the side. ‘To be honest, I don’t know what I think of you, Harry Beaumont, or should I call you the Duke of Montrose?’

  He winced. His title followed him everywhere. Not that he ever really used it. Only at family occasions when he had to.

  Her hand went to her mouth to cover a yawn, and he was instantly suspicious.

  ‘Excuse me,’ she said as she dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out some antibiotics, tipping one out and swallowing it.

  ‘You’re still not feeling better?’ They were under the bright lights of the treatment room and it struck him that she pretty much looked like when he’d seen her on that first day.

  She gave a half-hearted shrug. ‘They’ve changed my antibiotics. I was resistant to the first lot and I didn’t get the message until today.’

  ‘So, you still have a temp and feel knackered?’

  She spun towards him in surprise. ‘Since when did you get all Scottish?’ She let out a little laugh. ‘Have you any idea how that word sounds in an accent like yours?’

  He grinned at her. ‘Does it sound any better when I say Crabbie Rabbie?’

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest. ‘Right, that’s it. It’s official. You’re banned from saying that. In fact—’ she headed to the door of the treatment room ‘—you’re banned from any Scottish words.’ She shot him a teasing glance. ‘I’m not buying the Duke of Montrose title. You’re about as Scottish as the London subway.’

  He opened his mouth in pretend horror. ‘Esther McDonald, are you mocking me?’

  She gave a shake of her head. ‘Oh, Harry, I haven’t even started yet.’

  She started to walk away, ‘Sorry, got to run. Busy.’

  * * *

  Things just got crazier. And Esther got more and more tired by the second. Could there be a chance the second set of antibiotics weren’t right for her either? That would definitely be unusual. Plus it would start to freak her out that she might have an infection that was multiresistant. That had never happened to her before, and she knew they could be serious.

  The more tired she got, the more patients crowded through the door. She spent time with a young woman who came in with symptoms of pregnancy that she clearly was ignoring. She kept refusing to accept she was pregnant and her behaviour got more and more erratic. Eventually Esther realised she needed someone other than the A&E docs to assess this young lady. She called one of the psychiatric liaison nurses who was able to discover that their patient had a pre-existing mental-health condition and had in fact realised she was pregnant, and had stopped her regular medication in case it caused harm to her baby. Now, her condition was spiralling and she needed some help.

  Next up was an elderly lady who’d fallen and broken her hip, lying on the ground for a few hours before she was found. Hypothermia was setting in, and Esther had to try and get her warmed up in the first instance before she could even be assessed for potential surgery.

  As the evening progressed Esther started to develop an unconscious itch. She couldn’t understand it. It started on her back, then moved to her abdomen. She was monitoring her lady’s temperature for the fifth time when Harry caught her standing on one of the corners of the department using the wall edge to scratch her back.

  He stopped walking and looked at her. ‘Esther, have you looked in the mirror lately?’

  ‘Do I look as if I’ve had time to look in a mirror lately?’ It was snappier than she meant it to be.

  He put his hands firmly on her shoulders and walked her across the corridor to the accessible toilet that had a large mirror on the wall. He flicked on the light and she gasped.

  Red blotches stared at her, climbing all the way up her neck. ‘Oh my...’ Propriety was out the window. She pulled up her scrub top and looked at her abdomen. Yip. Covered, along with a whole host of scratch marks. She lifted her scrub top at the back. ‘Can you check my back?’

  She wasn’t the least embarrassed to ask. He was a doctor, and he was right there.

  He bent down and took a look, just in time for one of the other A&E members of staff to walk by and raise their eyebrows. Thankfully Harry didn’t notice as he stood up and shook his head. ‘You’re covered.’ His finger touched the top of her arm where her scrub top ended. ‘Look, they’re starting to appear on your arms too.’

  She looked down; sure enough, a red, angry-looking blotch was only half hidden by the sleeve of her scrub top.

  ‘No wonder I’ve been so itchy.’ She sighed. She’d been so busy she hadn’t had time to stop and think about it.

  ‘New body lotion? New washing powder?’ he asked.

  She shook her head. ‘No, nothing.’ Then something lined up in her brain. ‘Oh, darn it.’ She reached into her scrub top and pulled out her pill bottle. ‘These antibiotics. I’ve never had these before. It must be them.’

  Before she had a chance to say anything else Harry reached over and wrapped his hand around her wrist. She didn’t get a chance to object as he led her down the corridor to the treatment room. He stuck his head back out. ‘Rob!’ His shout was loud and commanding, and a few seconds later Rob the ANP appeared.

  ‘Do you have the key for the medicine trolley?’ Harry asked as Esther let out a few coughs.

  Rob frowned, glancing from Harry to Esther, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. He pulled the keys from his pocket. ‘Yes.’

  Harry held out his hand. ‘I think she’s having an allergic reaction to those new antibiotics. I’m going to give her some antihistamines.’

  Rob moved over, touching her face and turning it from side to side to check either side of her neck. ‘Any wheezing? Difficulty breathing?’

  She shook her head but let out another cough.

  ‘How bad is the rash?’ he asked. She sighed and partly lifted her scrub top again, letting Rob bend down to have a quick check.

  ‘Darn it,’ he said. ‘I’m going to record this in your notes and get you something else.’

  Harry named another antibiotic. ‘Try that one,’ he said to Rob as he opened a bottle of tablets and tipped two into Esther’s hand.

  Esther turned on the tap and swallowed the antihistamines with a little water in a medicine cup. This rash was getting itchier by the second.

  Okay, she’d been itchy earlier. But she knew this was psychological. Now she’d seen it and realised it was there, she just wanted to claw at herself. Lovely.

  Harry had a worried look on his face, and she wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful, or a bit annoyed. She put her hand on the worktop in the treatment room for a second as a wave of tiredness hit her.

  She calculated in her head how many days she’d been
fighting this infection now. The tiredness had still been there but she’d tried her best to ignore it, believing as soon as the antibiotics kicked in, it would just lift. That’s what had always happened in the past.

  ‘I have to go back and check obs on my woman,’ she said to Harry. ‘Thanks for the help. I guess I’ll see you later.’

  ‘You can’t go out there looking like that. And wait until Rob comes back with some new antibiotics. I think you should sit down for a while.’

  Her face went automatically into a frown and he held up both hands. ‘Not trying to tell you what to do.’ His mouth started to form other words and she thought for a second he was going to use her nickname, but he smiled, must have thought better of it and stopped. ‘But have you had a break today?’

  She shook her head. ‘Then what about a coffee? Even in the staff room for five minutes? Let Rob write up his paperwork and come back with something.’

  The thought of sitting down for five minutes was tempting. ‘But what about my patient?’

  ‘Cubicle five?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Let me tell the charge nurse you need a five-minute break and ask if someone else can check on your lady.’ Harry pulled a face. ‘I hate to break it to you, Esther, but you are actually having an allergic reaction to antibiotics. It’s quite severe. Let’s just be sure it doesn’t progress. Let’s be safe.’

  It was the way he said those words. She was so much of the ‘drag yourself into work no matter what’ mentality—one that a lot of nurses had—that she never really stopped and took time for herself. The truth was, with the extra hours she’d been doing, she hadn’t had any time. Would five minutes really matter? She should have been sent for a break a few hours ago.

  ‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly.

  Harry nodded and walked down the corridor in long strides. Esther made her way to the staff room and flicked the switch on the kettle.

  There was a huge box of cupcakes and doughnuts in the middle of the table from a bakery that was quite exclusive. Anything left in the staff room was pretty much a free-for-all and she was surprised there were any left.

  As she took down a couple of cups Harry came back through the door. ‘All sorted. I told Rob where we are and he’s just finished the paperwork.’

  Where we are. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that phrase.

  She turned back. ‘Does that mean you’re planning on hanging around?’

  He nodded. ‘I’m monitoring your reaction.’

  As soon as he said those words she scratched again.

  ‘Whilst eating cakes,’ he added.

  She spooned coffee into two cups and filled them with boiling water. It would be rude not to, but she didn’t plan on being too hospitable. ‘Milk’s in the fridge if you want it,’ she said as she handed over the cup.

  He stood quickly to get some. ‘Don’t you want some?’ he asked as he added milk to his cup.

  She smiled. ‘No, not here. I never trust milk dates when I’m in the hospital. I always drink my coffee black in here.’

  He stared suspiciously into his cup as he sat back down. ‘Yeah, thanks for that.’ He pushed the box towards her. ‘Eat something.’

  ‘I wonder where these came from?’ she asked as a strawberry cupcake seemed to shout her name.

  ‘Me,’ he said.

  ‘You brought cakes to A&E? You didn’t even know you’d be down here.’

  He gave her a calculating smile. ‘I brought multiple boxes. I left one in NICU, one in Paeds and one down here.’

  ‘Trying to win people around because occasionally you can be a bit brusque?’

  He lifted a chocolate doughnut and met her gaze. There was something quite electric about those eyes. She was glad she was sitting, because the look would likely have stopped her in her tracks. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you speak your mind?’

  She laughed. ‘No. Why would anyone ever tell me that?’ She nibbled at the cupcake. ‘But let me warn you, you think I’m bad? Try meeting Oona our charge nurse. If you think I was smart about the entourage, she would have chewed you up and spat you out.’

  ‘Nice.’ He nodded. ‘Okay, then, if this is a teaching hospital, exactly how many am I allowed to bring in to NICU?’

  ‘Students?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Two. And they better follow the infection control procedures. To the letter.’

  He leaned over and gently slapped her hand. ‘Stop scratching.’

  He was right. She was clawing away at her neck again and hadn’t even noticed. ‘When are these antihistamines going to start to kick in?’ She let out a long, exhausted breath.

  Harry glanced at his watch. ‘Probably not for another hour at least.’

  Now she’d sat down, tiredness was really starting to overwhelm her, and it didn’t matter how nice Harry had been to her today, because of their altercation a few days before, the last thing she wanted to do was show him just how tired she was at work. Not when she had patients to see, and other staff relying on her.

  But Harry was being nice to her. She couldn’t pretend anything else. Today, he’d given her space to deal with the mother and baby. Not all doctors were like that. Some would just have barged in and taken over.

  The truth was, she was slightly curious about him. He must have worked hard to gain his position as a neonatal cardiac surgeon. As for the duke stuff? He certainly hadn’t told anyone his title, but information like that was quick to follow a person.

  She was suddenly conscious they were the only people in the room, and even though she was at the other side of the coffee table, his fresh scent was drifting over towards her. When she was feeling as tired and woozy as this, it was kind of hypnotic. She felt as if she had to get out of here.

  She pushed herself up. ‘I better get back. I have another hour before I’m off shift. You’ve seen it out there, it’s chaos. I can’t stay here eating cakes.’

  She’d made it to the door by then, but Harry was right alongside her, his fingers brushing her arm. ‘Even if you’re sick?’

  She licked her lips. She couldn’t pretend she felt one hundred per cent. She was feeling hot again, and she wanted to find Rob and get started on the third set of antibiotics. No wonder her body felt so tired from constantly fighting an infection.

  She gave him a tight smile. ‘You know how the health service is.’ She ducked out the door before Harry had a chance to say anything else, his fingers burning an imprint on her skin.

  * * *

  She didn’t finish her shift an hour later. Harry knew, because after reviewing Billy in NICU, and making arrangements for the new baby’s surgery, his feet just seemed to automatically take him back downstairs to A&E to check on her.

  It was crazy. He didn’t even understand it himself. But there was something about this occasionally angry Scottish midwife that was just pulling him in.

  He was quite sure she didn’t want him there. But even though they’d had a bad start, he’d watched her interactions with others, with patients, and the respect she had from other staff, and all of it intrigued him.

  So he stood in the corridor as he watched her dash back and forward between cubicles. Rob came and stood alongside him, folding his arms and leaning against the wall like Harry, mirroring his stance.

  ‘Are you doing what I think you’re doing?’

  ‘Her rash seems to have died down a bit, but shouldn’t she have gone home by now?’ He turned towards Rob. ‘Shouldn’t you have gone home too?’

  Rob shrugged. ‘You know how it is.’ His eyes went to Esther, who hadn’t noticed either of them as she stopped for a second in the corridor and put her hand on the wall. She looked absolutely exhausted.

  They shot each other a glance and walked over to her. ‘Okay,’ Rob said quickly. ‘Esther, I’m officially sending you home. I should have done
it earlier, but to be truthful I thought you would have responded much quicker to the antihistamines. I’m sorry.’

  ‘But my patients...’

  Rob interrupted her. ‘They’ll be reassigned.’

  She sagged a little as relief clearly flooded over her. ‘Great.’

  He tilted his head and looked at her again. ‘Is there someone at home with you?’

  She scowled. ‘No. Why?’

  Rob bit his bottom lip. ‘I actually wonder if I should make you stay overnight in the combined assessment unit—you know, for observation?’

  He was glancing at Harry again.

  She shook her head fiercely. ‘No way. Not a chance.’

  ‘Esther, I’m not sure I should let you go home. What if something happens in the middle of the night? What if you feel unwell? How will you get back in?’

  Esther gave Harry a look of panic. The dark circles under her eyes pulled at something inside him.

  No member of NHS staff wanted to see a colleague look like this.

  Harry stood for a few moments next to her, not wanting to leave. It was a strange sensation for him. A few days ago he’d been ready to do battle with this midwife, questioning her competence. But here she was, working in A&E as well as NICU. There had to be a story there, and he was curious what it was. Now he’d seen her working, he knew she was dedicated. He just didn’t know why she was taking on so many shifts to the detriment of her own health. He might not be an expert, he might not even know her that well, but from what little he’d seen, Esther was on the verge of burnout.

  She gave a soft smile, and shook her head again. He could tell she was going to try and persuade Rob to let her go. She gave an unconscious scratch of her neck and gave Harry a sad kind of smile. ‘Thanks for looking out for me earlier.’

  ‘Of course.’ He meant it. He’d look out for any member of staff that was clearly unwell at work.

  He held up his hand. ‘Stay here. Both of you. Don’t move.’

  There was a phone on the nearby wall and he picked it up, calling up to first NICU, then the paed ward. Everything appeared to be under control. The other doc on call was more than competent. ‘Head home, Harry. Anything happens with your own patients I’ve got your mobile and I’ll give you a call. But you can trust me, you know?’ he added in a jokey tone.