Six Sexy Doctors Part 1 (Mills & Boon e-Book Collections): A Doctor, A Nurse: A Little Miracle / The Children's Doctor and the Single Mum / A Wife for ... / The Playboy Doctor's Surprise Proposal

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘Central venous pressure?’ Robert asked, frowning at the reply.

  A nurse wiped Annie’s chest with generous quantities of a povidone-iodine antiseptic solution, to disinfect and prepare her pale skin for the operation, then Annie’s left arm was raised above her head to give access to the site. Feeling helpless, Nathan watched as Robert skilfully opened the chest wall at the medial end of the fifth intercostal space and made a lateral cut above the sixth rib into the axilla. Retractors opened the cavity. Needing more space to work and access the heart, Robert extended the incision and separated the sternum. It seemed as if everyone in the resus bay held their collective breath as the consultant worked as swiftly as possible, making a longitudinal incision in the pericardium—the blue-coloured sac surrounding the heart, which had been punctured by the screwdriver. There was so much blood…

  ‘Suction!’ Robert called, and a nurse hurried to comply, keeping the cavity clear so he could see what he was doing.

  Nathan wanted to remind the consultant to take extra care not to damage the phrenic nerve, but he managed to halt the words as he saw Robert move to increase the pericardial incision with his fingers to avoid lacerating the nerve. He was no doubt already annoying everyone by demanding updates on Annie’s vital signs, Nathan acknowledged, but they were kind enough to humour him, and he was grateful for their tolerance and that he’d not been banished from the room.

  ‘There’s a hole in the right ventricle,’ Robert announced, once the heart itself was exposed.

  Will’s voice cut across the electric silence. ‘She’s arrested!’

  ‘Nathan, put your finger in the hole,’ the consultant ordered, maintaining his composure. ‘And do bimanual internal massage.’

  He didn’t think, he just acted, plugging the wound and stopping the haemorrhage, using the flat of both hands on either side of the heart to maintain a rhythmic compression. Having something constructive to do kept him focused. Despite having done this once before, he felt a moment of awe and wonder that he actually held Annie’s heart in his hands. The responsibility was overwhelming.

  Aware of Will beside him, it occurred to him for the first time to question why the other man was working as normal on Annie while he himself had been told to stand aside because he was too involved. Surely the same applied to Will? He shook his head, too stressed to fret about it now. He just wanted Annie safe. So did the team. They all cared about Annie and would give everything for her now.

  ‘The A positive blood is here,’ a nurse called, hurrying into the room.

  ‘Good.’ Robert didn’t look up from his task, suctioning the remaining clots and blood from the cavity around the heart and checking for any other sites of damage. ‘Will, get the first unit up and running in.’

  When the consultant was ready to begin suturing the wound in the chamber of the heart Nathan had to adjust his hands to give him room to work. His own heart was in his mouth as Robert closed the hole in Annie’s right ventricle, using uninterrupted non-absorbable proline sutures buttressed with teflon pledgets. It seemed to be taking for ever, but he knew it was only minutes before the task was done and her bleeding stopped.

  ‘Cardiac rhythm and output?’ Robert requested.

  Gail was ready with the information. ‘She’s fibrillating.’

  ‘Internal paddles.’

  They were immediately placed in Robert’s hands, and as Nathan withdrew he inserted them into Annie’s chest, one over each side of her heart, ready to deliver the electric shock to defibrillate and bring back a rhythm.

  ‘Five joules to start.’

  ‘Still fibrillating,’ Gail called, after the first jolt had been given.

  ‘Again … ten joules this time.’

  Nathan stared at the tracing on the monitor and prayed as he’d never prayed before. It took three more attempts, with increasing amounts of energy, before Annie’s heart began to beat on its own.

  ‘We have a pulse!’ The announcement from Gail brought a cheer to the room. ‘And a rhythm!’

  ‘OK, let’s guard against hypovolaemia and any cardiac concussion,’ Robert directed.

  ‘Cardiac output is stabilising,’ Will updated, giving details of the central venous pressure, too. ‘And her BP’s up; her pulse is strong.’

  ‘Sats are improving. We’re up to ninety five per cent and rising,’ the anaesthetist added, a broad smile on his face.

  Nathan wanted to burst with joyful relief. They still had a way to go, a voice in his head cautioned, but Annie was back and clinging to life, and he wasn’t going to allow her to do anything less. Still tense, he watched closely as Robert closed the pericardium with vertical mattress sutures. Will and Gail continued to gave updates on Annie’s stabilising cardiac output and rising BP.

  ‘I can’t see any damage to the lungs, major vessels or anything else,’ Robert commented in apparent satisfaction, doing a thorough examination now the bleeding had been stopped. Nathan’s relief increased. ‘Insert an arterial line and a urinary catheter,’ he instructed. ‘And redo U&E, glucose, FBC and clotting. I’ll ligate the internal mammary arteries and then we’ll defer to the cardiothoracic surgeon for further management. He can double-check everything and do the closure in Theatre.’ Robert glanced up and looked at him. ‘I assume you’ll be going up with Annie?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ Nathan was grateful for the understanding. ‘Thank you—for saving her.’ He looked round the bay at all the colleagues who had worked so swiftly and diligently, trying to keep his wayward emotions in check. ‘Thank you all.’

  Nodding, allowing a brief smile of his own, Robert concentrated once more on what he was doing and called for antibiotics. ‘Give cefuroxime 1.5g IV.’

  The next minutes passed in a blur as the specialist, Gordon Smith, arrived, with a couple of his assistants, and was brought up to date on the details. He was handed a copy of the notes, with information on all drugs, fluids and bloods given. He cast a curious glance at Nathan, who clung determinedly toAnnie’s hand as she was prepared for the transfer.

  ‘Good job,’ Gordon said, in praise of Robert’s handiwork.

  Then they were whisking the trolley away from Resus, through the still crowded but calmer A and E department, and up to the operating theatre, where the rest of the cardiothoracic team were ready to go.

  Nathan was upset when the surgeon refused him entry to the theatre, but he didn’t waste time arguing, knowing that it was Annie who was important here, not his own feelings. He sank to a chair in the waiting area, nervous exhaustion overwhelming him. Shaking, he put his head in his hands, hardly able to take in everything that had happened in the last half an hour, or how close Annie had come to dying. His scrubs were covered in her blood. So were his hands. As he became aware that the other people in the room were looking at him nervously, he rose to his feet and walked stiffly and unsteadily to the nearest restroom to clean up.

  That done, he stopped at the office on his way back to use the phone and ring Annie’s mother. It was one of the most difficult calls he’d ever had to make. Eve was understandably shocked and emotional. Nathan reassured her as best he could, only hanging up when she sounded more together, knowing she would make arrangements to travel to Strathlochan straight away.

  Bone weary, he went back to the waiting room. To keep himself focused and hang on to the threads of his control, he closed his eyes and imagined what was happening in the operating theatre. In his head he went through the details of how the surgeon would be ensuring there was no other internal damage before methodically rejoining the sternum using wire, then suturing closed the muscle, tissue and skin of Annie’s chest.

  Footsteps sounded in the corridor and Nathan looked up, hope and tension warring inside him as he anticipated that Annie’s operation was over. But it was Will who appeared in the waiting area, and slumped into a seat beside him with a heavy sigh.

  ‘Any news yet?’

  Nathan shook his head. ‘No.’

  ‘Someone should call Annie’s moth
er,’ Will suggested.

  ‘I’ve already done it. Eve’s on her way.’

  Will gave his shoulder a quick pat. ‘Thanks, mate.’

  Time dragged. Each tick of the second hand on the clock on the wall dragged. Nathan was scarcely aware of the other people in the room, who were also stressed and worried and waiting for news of their loved ones. Will disappeared for a few moments, returning with two mugs of tea, but Nathan barely tasted the hot brew.

  ‘She’ll be OK, Nathan. Annie’s tough…a fighter.’

  They looked at each other in silent acknowledgement, united in anxiety and pain.

  ‘Yeah.’ He wanted to believe it. He had to believe it.

  ‘We should talk.’

  Will’s words filled Nathan with a whole new kind of concern. But whatever the other man was about to say was forestalled as Gordon Smith appeared in the doorway, dressed in his scrubs, his protective cap still on his head and his face mask hanging loosely now around his neck.

  ‘Later,’ Nathan commented in response to Will, rising to his feet and crossing to greet the cardiothoracic consultant. ‘What’s the news on Annie?’

  ‘She’s going to be fine,’ the surgeon reassured them.

  ‘Thank God.’

  Nathan seconded Will’s exclamation. ‘And thank you, Mr Smith. Can you update us on Annie’s condition?’

  ‘Of course.’ The surgeon led them to an office across the hall and gestured for them to sit as he walked around the desk to take his own chair. ‘We found no further internal damage. Robert did an excellent emergency repair. After the operation to close was over we sent her for a CT scan, and I’m happy to say that there is no sign of any skull fracture and no clots or bleeding on the brain,’ he continued. Nathan felt another welling of relief and gratitude. ‘At the moment she is heavily sedated and being moved to the Intensive Care Unit. When she does wake up she’s going to have a hell of a headache, not to mention discomfort from the surgery. We’ll keep her medicated, of course, and watch for any signs of complications, but all being well she should make a good recovery.’

  Nathan slumped back on the chair with a sigh, some of the tension leaching from him. He knew Annie was likely to be in hospital for between five to ten days, providing there were no setbacks, and that she would then need time to recuperate. But she was alive. Whatever they faced in the days and weeks ahead—and whatever role he played—that was the fact that he had to hang on to.

  ‘Can we see her?’ Will asked.

  The surgeon looked from one to the other, clearly puzzled at the dynamics of this relationship. ‘Briefly—for now.’

  Conscious of Will keeping pace beside him, Nathan made his way to the ICU. He guessed that Gordon Smith had phoned ahead, because the charge nurse was there to greet them and take them to Annie’s bedside.

  Will’s indrawn hiss of breath matched his own. The sight of Annie so still and pale, looking swamped and fragile in the bed, hooked up to machines and drips and drains, brought a fresh constriction to Nathan’s throat. No matter that they were doctors and saw this every day. It was different when it was personal to you.

  Drawn at once to Annie’s side, Nathan took her hand, holding fingers that felt cool and lifeless against his cheek. He would give anything not to have rowed with her, for last night’s lovemaking to have ended with them being back together and not further apart than ever. But more than anything, whatever happened between them, he just needed for her to live, to heal, to be well.

  He started when Will rested a hand on his shoulder. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled, feeling a mix of guilt and resentment as he stepped back to give the other man access to Annie, hating that Will had more right to be with her than he did.

  ‘I’ll cover for you in A and E,’ Will announced, after staring down at Annie for several moments in silence, an almost greyish tinge to his normally healthy complexion. ‘You stay with her. We’ll have that talk later.’

  Without another word, Will hurried from the ward. Nathan couldn’t understand Will at all, but, no matter how puzzled he was at his exit, at his whole reaction to Annie’s trauma, he was grateful to be the one remaining by her side. Pulling up a chair, he sat down, taking Annie’s hand back in his. Listening to the rhythmic sounds of the machines, and instinctively monitoring her vital signs, he stayed as close to her as he was able, talking to her, giving her his strength, his love, everything he had within him, so that she would pull through.

  He wasn’t leaving until he knew she was safe.

  And so began his vigil.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘ANNIE, open your eyes.’

  The voice seemed to come from a long way off, fighting its way through the layers of pain gripping her body and the fog of confusion muddling her brain. Annie had heard the voice calling to her before. Nathan’s voice. Warm and husky, concerned and cajoling.

  ‘Come on, sweetheart, you can do it. Look at me.’

  She frowned as the command sounded louder and more focused, urging her to obey. Struggling through the darkness, she tried to remember where she was, what had happened, but she couldn’t seem to catch hold of anything tangible. Her thoughts were random, scattered, hazy. Time had no meaning. But for long minutes, or maybe it was hours, she listened to that voice. Several times she thought she heard her mother calling her, too, but Annie felt too lethargic and too far away from them to reach out.

  If she tried to move her whole body screamed in protest. She groaned. Or thought she did. But her throat felt so raw she wasn’t sure any sound emerged. It felt as if an elephant was sitting on top of her—an elephant that had first skewered her chest with a red-hot sabre and smacked her on the back of the head with a tree trunk.

  ‘Can you hear me, Annie?’ Fingertips feathered across her forehead and down her cheek. She was aware of the sensation, and tried to turn her face towards the touch. ‘That’s it, sweetheart. Come back to us. Can you squeeze my hand, Annie?’

  She felt the warmth and strength of Nathan’s hand holding hers. It took almost more effort and concentration than she could muster, but she compelled her fingers to close over his.

  ‘Good girl!’

  She basked in the praise, then felt her hand being lifted before lips and warm breath brushed across her skin. Drawing on her flagging reserves, she tried to prise stubborn eyelids apart. For a moment Nathan’s face swam muzzily into view. He looked drawn and tired, a shadow of stubble darkening his jaw. Somewhere inside her she knew that he shouldn’t be here with her, but she was very glad he was. Lips that felt dry and unwieldy parted, but his name sounded more like a hoarse, whispery moan than anything else.

  Overwhelmingly tired, she allowed her eyes to close again. Her head was throbbing, and moving it made her feel nauseous. She was aware of other voices in the background but she tuned out the words, focusing on Nathan’s nearness, on the reality of his fingers linked with hers. Then she felt the brush of something cool…an ice cube on her parched lips. She parted them, welcoming the blissfully chilled melting water drizzling over them and into the rawness of her mouth and throat.

  Why did she hurt so much? Why couldn’t she move? As she grappled with the disorientation a single tear welled from the corner of one eye. She felt it escape and track down her face, and then the pad of Nathan’s thumb was there to catch it, gently soothing across her cheek before his hand moved to stroke her hair.

  ‘You’re going to be fine, Annie.’

  Nathan’s words and his calm, compelling voice reassured her, and she clung to him with all her will, as if he was a lifebuoy keeping her safe and protected, holding her head above water in a stormy, turbulent sea.

  ‘I’m sure you’re confused and hurting and feeling scared, but everything will be all right. Your mum’s here, sweetheart, and so is Will, and your friends…and me.’

  The last sounded hesitant, unsure, but she was too weak to question or protest. The gentle massage of his fingers relaxed her and she felt herself slipping away again.

  ‘We’re looki
ng after you. Try not to worry about anything. Sleep now, and get well.’

  Wondering what it was she had to get well from, and why all those people were coming to see her, Annie sighed and allowed the darkness to reclaim her.

  Nathan had lost track of time. The first hours had passed in a blur of anxiety as he maintained his vigil at Annie’s bedside, refusing to leave her until he knew that she was out of danger.

  Eve had arrived, worried sick about her daughter, and he had done his best to hide his own fears and reassure her. She had moved in to the spare room at his rented flat close to the hospital for the duration of her stay, but, like him, most of her time was spent at Annie’s side.

  It had been a huge relief for everyone when Annie had begun to come round, and those first moments when she had opened her eyes, squeezed his hand and tried to say his name were impinged on his memory. He had been so full of joy and gratitude, and so emotionally and physically exhausted after the endless hours of living with fear and without sleep, that he had needed to shut himself in the men’s room to compose himself.

  Annie had made good progress since then. Although she continued to sleep for long periods, she gradually became more awake and aware, and she had left the ICU after two days and been moved to a quiet room on the surgical ward. Which was when another problem had reared its head. Annie had no recollection of the assault, or the hours leading up to it. A second precautionary CT scan had been done, but Annie had been given the all-clear. There was no swelling of the brain, no bleeding, no clot, no hidden fracture…nothing physical to cause concern.

  ‘Post-concussion syndrome and post-traumatic amnesia,’ the doctor sent to assess Annie had diagnosed. ‘It’s not uncommon, but no one can say how quickly she’ll remember the missing hours.’

  The last thing she remembered was driving down to visit her mother. Which meant she had no recollection of making love with him, or of the difficult situation between them afterwards when she had left his bed to return to Will. Hurt pierced him even now. Although he knew that it was unlikely to have changed what had happened in A and E later, he felt guilty for not listening to her when she had wanted to talk to him. Now, though, as Annie asked more questions and became more alert, her lack of memory made things awkward, and Eve, Will and himself were trying to be careful what they said.