Daring to Date Her Boss

by Joanna Neil

  ‘She talked about it just now.’

  ‘Yes, but she must have thought it was his illness that caused him to wheeze and feel unwell, not the tablets, and perhaps the GP didn’t pick up on it. I asked her if he was allergic to anything and she said she didn’t think so.’

  ‘Okay. Make sure it’s written up in his notes, and send a letter to his GP.’ He paused briefly. ‘Perhaps you’d better let me see your prescription charts for the time being.’

  She stiffened. ‘You don’t trust me to do my job properly?’

  He shook his head. ‘It’s not that. It’s just a precaution. I need to have your back—you’re new here and people will be looking at everything you do. This is a relatively small community. It’s for your own protection.’

  ‘Why would you think I need protecting?’ She stared at him fixedly for a moment or two, and saw the darkness come into his eyes. He wasn’t doing this because of a one-off adverse reaction, was he? There was more to it than that. He’d had misgivings about her all along, and this was just one more black mark to substantiate his fears. Why was he so cautious about letting her do her job?

  ‘This is Michael’s doing, isn’t it? That’s why you don’t trust me.’ She saw the faint widening of his eyes and knew she’d hit the mark. ‘What has he said about me now...that I might make mistakes?’ She pressed her lips together in a flat line. ‘I’m surprised you even let me set foot in this hospital.’

  ‘This latest information came to me after we’d given you the job,’ he admitted. ‘I spoke to Michael Drew this morning about a patient I transferred over there—a woman who had a bleeding ulcer. It prompted him to mention that you prescribed anti-inflammatories for a patient who subsequently was ill through taking too high a dosage.’

  ‘And I suppose you took that to mean that I’d inadvertently prescribed the wrong dose?’ She gritted her teeth. ‘It isn’t true. I don’t suppose he told you that the patient had been buying over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and continued to take them alongside the prescription drug—even though I’d warned him against doing that?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, he didn’t mention that.’

  ‘I’m sure he didn’t. Michael’s working to his own agenda. The patient thought he was doing himself some good by doubling up on the tablets—that it didn’t matter because they were different sorts of anti-inflammatories. He very nearly ended up with a gastric ulcer.’

  Tyler went to sit on the edge of the desk. ‘So what agenda is your ex-boss following? Why would he want to put obstacles in the way of you keeping this job?’

  She gripped the back of a chair, pressing her fingers into the soft leather until her knuckles whitened. ‘Who knows what goes on in his mind? Perhaps he’s hoping I’ll go back to Cornwall and beg for my job back. He didn’t want me to leave.’

  ‘That’s a very peculiar way for him to behave.’ He gave her an assessing look. ‘Did you two have some kind of relationship going on?’

  ‘We did...for a while. But it ended when I found out what he was really like. I knew things wouldn’t work out for us...but I think I’m only just beginning to see the true extent of his capabilities.’

  He sucked in a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry this has been going on and that it’s causing problems for you. I can see why you might feel the need to be on the defensive...but that’s probably all the more reason for me to double-check everything for the time being. It’s for your own safety.’

  ‘I don’t need protecting,’ she said, her green eyes flinty. ‘I’m not a junior doctor.’

  ‘All the same, I have overall responsibility for the patients as well as the people on my team, and I think it’s important to put controls in place.’

  ‘Then there’s nothing more to be said, is there?’ She lifted her chin. ‘Is that all? Are we done here?’

  ‘Yes, we’re done.’

  She left his office, angry and upset at the way things had turned out. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t blaming her...he was acknowledging that other people might. As for Michael, she would have to give him a call and ask him why he was doing this.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Katie gave her a concerned look as Saskia went to look in on her next patient. ‘You’ve had a bit of a rough morning, but it could have happened to anyone, you know.’

  ‘I’m fine, thanks, Katie. Or, at least, I will be. Do you know if young Tom is all right?’

  Katie nodded. ‘I rang the ward to see how he’s settling in. I thought you’d want to know. He’s responding to treatment—his blood pressure’s gone back up towards a more normal level, and he’s breathing more easily now.’

  ‘That’s good to hear. Thanks for checking up.’

  Saskia made a conscious effort to calm down and concentrate on the problems of her next patient, a child who had taken a nasty tumble in the school playground. ‘I’m going to have to put a few stitches in this cut,’ she told the nurse. ‘Would you prepare the suture kit for me?’

  ‘Of course.’

  Noah caught up with Saskia around lunchtime as she was leaving one of the treatment rooms.

  ‘Hi, there,’ he said with a smile. ‘I was hoping you might be about ready for some lunch. Would you let me take you to our restaurant and treat you to something tempting and nutritious? From what I’ve heard, you might need a bit of pampering.’

  ‘Oh, dear.’ Her stomach gave a peculiar lurch. ‘Does everyone around here know what’s been going on?’

  He nodded. ‘I’m afraid news travels fast, especially in this place. That’s why I bought you these.’ With a flourish he produced a posy of flowers from behind his back. ‘I thought you might need cheering up.’

  Tears stung her eyes. ‘That’s so thoughtful of you, Noah. Thank you.’ She held the beautifully wrapped freesias and breathed in the delicate scent. ‘They’re lovely—my favourites.’

  ‘Really? I didn’t know that. I’m glad you like them.’ He crooked his arm and held it out to her. ‘Shall we go? They’re doing casseroled beef and vegetables as the special today. You’re not vegetarian, are you?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. Just let me put these in water, and I’ll be with you.’

  ‘Okay.’

  She went to find a vase from near the nurses’ station and set the flowers down on the desk where they could be enjoyed by everyone who passed by. Tyler was there, slotting a file in a drawer, and he turned to cast a thoughtful glance in Saskia’s direction.

  ‘I wouldn’t like you to misconstrue what I’m saying,’ he murmured, ‘but I think you need to tread carefully. Noah’s a good man and a great doctor, but he does have something of a reputation when it comes to women. I’d hate you to jump from the frying pan into the fire.’

  ‘I’ll bear it in mind,’ she said. Then she walked away from the desk to where Noah was waiting patiently for her, and all the time she was conscious of Tyler’s smoke-dark gaze boring into her back.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘HOW DID YOUR lunch with Noah go yesterday? Did he manage to make you feel better?’ Tyler flicked a sideways glance at Saskia as they drove along the main road towards the coastal town. There was a small frown around his eyes, though whether that was from him needing to concentrate on the road or something to do with her and Noah she couldn’t guess. ‘I meant to ask you in the afternoon,’ he said, ‘but things were a bit hectic in the department and on the way home we were too busy discussing other things—it being your first day.’

  ‘And an eventful one at that,’ she acknowledged soberly. ‘But, yes, it was thoughtful of Noah to try to cheer me up.’ She smiled, remembering how Noah had persuaded her to taste a luscious fruit tart and whipped cream and teased her out of her melancholy with tales of his exploits as a junior doctor. ‘He can be very entertaining. He made me see that these things happen, things go wrong and I shouldn’t take it all per
sonally. I think maybe I’ve tended to be a bit uptight lately with everything that’s happened.’

  ‘That’s hardly surprising in the circumstances. You’ve had to come to grips with an awful lot just lately.’

  ‘Yes.’ She looked out of the window, watching the scenery pass by. It was a murky, cold day, with a brisk wind blowing, but nothing could detract from the beauty of the bay with its clear, emerald waters and long stretch of white sand. ‘Perhaps I should take more time to appreciate this lovely island.’

  ‘You should. That’s a good idea.’ Tyler turned the car off the main road and negotiated a maze of streets. ‘I often go for a walk by the harbour when I want to clear my head.’

  She couldn’t imagine him needing to do that. He always seemed so very much in control of everything. ‘I’ll try to find time to do that,’ she said. They were nearing their destination and that prompted her to ask, ‘Who is it that we’re going to see today? You mentioned the paramedics were having some difficulty treating a patient.’

  ‘That’s right. They were called out to a man who has a heart problem, but he didn’t respond to the medication they gave him. We’re quite close by so I said I’d come out to look at him.’

  He drove along a wide avenue and drew the car to a halt behind an ambulance that was parked by the roadside. Quickly, they gathered up their medical kit and hurried into a small semi-detached house.

  ‘Okay, can you fill me in on what’s happening here?’ Tyler asked as they approached a paramedic who was frowning at the readout on the defibrillator. Another medic was giving their patient oxygen through a mask.

  ‘This is Simon Jenkins,’ the paramedic told him. ‘He was complaining of chest pain, headache and dizziness, as well as feeling sick.’

  ‘Has he actually been sick?’

  The paramedic nodded. He frowned, pressing a hand to his temple as though to relieve a throbbing pain. It seemed he, too, wasn’t feeling too good. ‘He’s also short of breath and complaining of difficulty breathing. We’ve checked out his heart rhythm and it’s showing atrial fibrillation, but he’s not responding to calcium channel blockers.’

  ‘Okay, thanks.’ Tyler knelt down and spoke quietly to Simon, who was fading in and out of consciousness. ‘How are you doing, Simon? Can you hear me?’ Worryingly, there was only a mumbled response and Tyler began to swiftly check him over.

  Saskia went down on her knees beside the man, hastily setting up an intravenous line. Atrial fibrillation meant that the electrical impulses from the heart were disorganised, causing the muscles in the heart to quiver. In turn, this meant the circulation of blood around the body became inadequate, and if this went on for too long there was a strong possibility he could suffer a stroke.

  Out of the blue, Simon’s limbs started to twitch and Tyler said urgently, ‘We need to give him diazepam. He’s having a seizure.’

  Saskia nodded, but even as she prepared the injection she was thinking about why the drugs he had already been given had not done their job. Something was wrong somewhere. She frowned. Even the paramedics seemed to be out of kilter, as though they were both feeling under the weather. Perhaps it was the heat in the room that was causing the trouble.

  She looked around. They were in the living room and because of the chilly morning Simon had lit the wood-burning stove. It burned softly, filling the room with suffocating warmth so that she, too, was beginning to feel lethargic. The room was neat, clean, but near the stove the wall was grubby, with dark, sooty marks spoiling the paintwork. Seeing this, all the connections suddenly came together in her brain.

  ‘Someone needs to switch off the fire,’ she said in a brisk, insistent tone. ‘I think it could be unsafe, giving off carbon monoxide, and that might be why he didn’t respond to the drug he was given earlier.’ It was a worrying situation. Once convulsions had started, the man’s chances of recovery were dire unless they could counteract the poison—they had to get him out of there, fast.

  Tyler was administering the diazepam, but he looked around, suddenly on the alert, and said, ‘You’re probably right. Let’s get him outside into the fresh air—and we need to open the windows in here.’

  The paramedics wheeled the man outside, where they went on giving him lifesaving treatment, but after a while Tyler shook his head and said, ‘I’m going to call for the air ambulance. At least the seizure’s stopped, but his blood pressure’s still way too low and his circulation’s totally inadequate. The carbon monoxide could have exacerbated the atrial fibrillation, but going on his medical history he’s going to need catheter ablation to deal with this heart problem once and for all.’ He frowned. ‘We’ll go with him in the helicopter to try to stabilise him on the journey.’

  Saskia nodded, but at the same time her heart gave a small jump. They would be taking Simon to the hospital where her brother and his wife were patients. Might there be a chance she could look in on them while she was over there?

  She tried to put those thoughts from her mind while she concentrated on setting up a fluid line to help improve Simon’s blood pressure. Tyler was right. None of the measures they were taking would deal with the basic condition that was causing his heart rhythm to go awry. That would only be successfully managed by eliminating the abnormal tissues within his heart, a procedure that had to be done in the electrophysiology suite at the main hospital in Cornwall.

  To her relief, the air ambulance touched down close by a few minutes later and they were able to transfer their patient to the well-equipped aircraft.

  ‘You did well back there, picking up on the carbon monoxide,’ Tyler said quietly once they were airborne. He checked Simon’s vital signs. ‘His colour seems to be improving a bit now with the oxygen, but if he’d stayed in that room for just a little longer I think it would have been the end for him. In fact, we might all have been in trouble if you hadn’t pointed it out.’

  She nodded cautiously, a small shudder going through her at the thought of what might have happened. ‘I think it was the heat from the fire that alerted me. I was beginning to feel drowsy, and I couldn’t work out why that was happening. Perhaps, being a woman, I’m more susceptible than you and the paramedics.’

  ‘It’s possible, though you were closer to the stove than any of us.’ He pulled his mobile phone from his pocket. ‘I’d better give the police a ring and ask them to sort out some action to make the fire safe or at least stop anyone from using it.’

  ‘Yes, I was thinking of doing that myself—though until today I hadn’t realised you could get carbon monoxide poisoning from those kinds of stoves.’

  ‘It can happen if the stove’s badly fitted. The gas is formed when wood or any other kind of fossil fuel burns without a good supply of air.’

  ‘I’ll bear that in mind if I ever get around to buying one. They’re really popular these days.’ She looked at Simon and checked the monitor. ‘His blood pressure’s improving. Hopefully, by the time we get him to the hospital he’ll be stable enough to cope with the preparations for the ablation. I expect he’ll need to be on blood thinners for a few days before they can do it.’

  Tyler nodded. ‘You know, since we’re going to be at the hospital, you might want to take the opportunity to pay a visit to your brother and his wife.’

  Relieved, she smiled at him. ‘Thanks for suggesting that. I was wondering if it would be possible for me to go and see them.’ It had been thoughtful of him to make the offer. ‘I’ve been feeling quite anxious over the last couple of days,’ she admitted. ‘Apparently my brother has some kind of infection that’s pulling him down, and when I rang yesterday the doctors were quite worried about Megan as well. She’s developed some unexpected bruising and swelling to her abdomen. I’d really like to find out what’s happening.’ She shook her head, as though that would help to rid her of these anxieties. ‘I just don’t know how I would tell the children if anything were to happen...�
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  He reached out to her and gently squeezed her hand. The simple gesture melted her heart and made her feel incredibly sorry for herself. Sometimes, over these last few weeks, she’d felt intensely alone, as though her life was one long runaway roller-coaster ride and she was powerless to stop its relentless course. If only she had someone to lean on, someone who might take away some of the burden... It was a foolish, impossible dream, and she was ashamed of herself for succumbing to that moment of weakness.

  ‘It’s amazing you’ve been able to concentrate on anything at all lately,’ he said. ‘If you need anything at any time, Saskia, or if you just want to talk, I want you to know that I’m here for you. Don’t suffer in silence.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She was grateful for his consideration, and the warmth and compassion in his touch and in his voice helped to lift her spirits a little. Tyler might not actually be able to do anything to help but she did appreciate his offer.

  She stared out of the window and tried to divert her thoughts by gazing down at the craggy Cornish coastline. Soon they were flying over green fields, broken up by wooded valleys, isolated hamlets and the occasional white-painted farmstead. Gradually, as they moved inland, the nature of the landscape changed, with the hamlets giving way to towns, until at last she saw ahead of her the sprawling city of Truro. Any time now they would set down at the hospital where they would offload their passenger.

  ‘Are we all set?’ Tyler asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  The helicopter landed and they quickly climbed down onto firm ground, handing over their patient to the waiting medical team.

  Tyler walked with them to the emergency unit, telling the doctor in charge everything he needed to know about Simon’s condition. Saskia followed in his wake. Then they stood back and watched as their patient was wheeled away to the resuscitation room.

  ‘Shall we go and get coffee?’ Tyler asked after a while. ‘You might want to give yourself a few minutes to compose yourself before you go and see your brother and Megan.’