by Anne Fraser
‘I am,’ she said, hesitating momentarily. ‘But what about your grandfather? Will he be all right left out here on his own?’
‘I’ll ask Catherine to keep an eye on him. She’ll watch over him from the kitchen window, and come out to him from time to time.’
‘All right.’ She accepted the hand he offered, but as his palm closed firmly around hers she was startled by the sudden jolt of awareness that ran through her. It was as though the warmth of his grasp transmitted some elemental force that surged through her entire body, and when he followed that by placing a hand in the small of her back, she was done for.
She hadn’t expected to feel the ripple of heat that raced through her bloodstream like wildfire, and it took a moment or two to recover her senses.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, thank you.’ She steadied herself, glad of his supporting arm just then, because her limbs were weak and there was a dizziness in her head that she couldn’t account for. What on earth was wrong with her?
‘Are you sure?’ His expression was quizzical, but he wasn’t letting go of her, and that in itself was adding to her problems.
‘I’m sure,’ she said, her voice husky. ‘I think perhaps I must have stood up too quickly.’
‘Hmm. Or maybe the sun is too strong at this time of day. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you around the place.’
Just in case, he put up a sun umbrella for Joseph before he stopped by the kitchen to ask Catherine to watch out for his grandfather, and then he set about showing her the rest of the Manor House. By now, Louise had recovered herself enough to absorb the beauty of her surroundings, and she was struck by the sumptuous quality of the décor and the stylish way in which the rooms had been laid out.
The emphasis throughout was on simplicity, but the furnishings were luxurious and every antique chair or table was carved with exquisite skill, adding to the atmosphere of age-old quality.
‘I had no idea that you possessed such a heritage,’ Louise murmured as they walked through each of the rooms and mounted the wide curving staircase. ‘It’s amazing to think that this has been home to your family for generation after generation. You must be so proud to belong here.’
‘I suppose I am. Though I’m probably the first of my family to break away from tradition. I wanted to follow a career and practise medicine rather than become Lord of the Manor.’
She sent him a swift glance. ‘Has that caused problems for you?’
They were standing in what must be the master bedroom, and she could see that this had been completely redesigned, with modern furnishings that blended perfectly with the period architecture. There was a four-poster bed, with silk curtains drawn back to form an attractive swirl of material.
‘Not so much, up to now. My father wanted me to follow him in running the estate when my grandfather handed over the reins, but he didn’t live to see me go against his wishes. My parents died almost fifteen years ago. They both succumbed to a nasty virus that they caught when they were travelling overseas.’
Her eyes clouded. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He nodded acknowledgement of that, and showed her into another room. ‘In a way, I think their loss helped me to make up my mind about becoming a doctor. It showed me how fragile the human body is and made me want to learn how to put things right.’
He waved a hand around the room. ‘This is my grandfather’s area in the centre of the house. My brother has his own suite of rooms in the west wing and I have the east side of the house, where we’ve just come from. Gemma prefers to live in the barn conversion with her family.’
He glanced at his watch. ‘I’d show you the rest of the house, but we probably don’t have time to do it all if we’re to head back to the hospital in readiness for your shift.’
‘That’s okay.’ So the room with the four-poster bed was his? Louise was still trying to take that in as they headed towards the stairs once more.
She wasn’t at all sure how she felt about knowing where he slept. Just imagining him waking up in that huge bed was enough to send her hormones into a feverish frenzy. It wasn’t like her at all to react in this way. It must be the house that was having this effect on her. Nothing else could account for it, surely?
She shook her head briefly in an attempt to clear it. ‘How does your grandfather feel about you taking up medicine, instead of taking on the management of the estate?’
James shrugged. ‘I think he was fairly philosophical about it, on the whole. He has always put his energy into doing what he felt was right, and medicine is one subject that he feels strongly about. That’s why he funded the paediatric wing at the Royal Forest Hospital.’
Louise came to a sudden halt. ‘He did?’
She reached for the balustrade and steadied herself. Then she stared up at him as the impact of what he had said began to dawn on her.
‘His young nephew was treated there after he contracted meningitis. A paediatric specialist took care of the boy, and my grandfather was tremendously grateful to him for the way he looked after the child and for managing to save his life. After that, he wanted to make sure that the children in the surrounding area had a dedicated team to take care of them. Before his intervention, they were treated in the adult A&E department, but now they have the attention of doctors who specialise in paediatrics to care for them.’
Louise swallowed hard against the dryness of her throat. ‘I can’t believe that I didn’t know any of this.’ She closed her eyes briefly. ‘No wonder you favour the Royal Forest Hospital in the new plans for the region. How am I supposed to fight this battle when everything is stacked up against me?’
His grey gaze travelled over her, capturing her troubled expression and moving to linger on the vulnerable curve of her mouth. ‘Don’t try to fight it,’ he said softly. ‘Accept that these things happen, and let me find you a place at the Royal Forest Hospital where you’ll be appreciated.’
He reached out to her, winding a stray tendril of her silky hair around his fingers. She felt the brush of his hand against her cheek, soft as the touch of gossamer, beguiling her to give in and let him take over.
She pulled in a deep shaky breath. ‘I can’t do that,’ she said in a ragged tone. ‘My A&E unit means everything to me. I won’t let it go.’
Even as she said it, her mind was in a whirl. Somehow, James had managed to work his way into her consciousness, making her aware of his every move, his closeness and gentle manner disrupting her cosy world and leading her to wonder whether somewhere she was missing out on something deep and meaningful.
Was she ready for a relationship? Why was it that work took over, leaving her no time to experience what everyone around her took for granted?
The trouble was, she was afraid to get close to him. She had dedicated the last few years to building up her children’s unit, and he had the power to take it away from her.
CHAPTER SIX
‘I WAS hoping to see how the little boy, Matthew, was doing, but it looks as though he’s been moved from the intensive care unit.’ Louise watched anxiously as the nurse at the central desk checked the computer screen. ‘Does that mean his condition’s improving?’
‘I’m afraid not.’ The nurse frowned as she read the case notes. ‘He’s the infant who swallowed antihistamine tablets, isn’t he? He’s still very poorly, but apparently they needed the bed for a more urgent case so he was taken to the side ward along the corridor.’
‘I’ll go and look in on him,’ Louise murmured. ‘Thanks.’
At least she was prepared for what she might find, and when she entered the ward she saw that the little boy was lying in the bed, unmoving, his eyes closed so that she could see the silk of his eyelashes against his cheeks. The strands of his hair lay in faintly damp swirls against his forehead. He was feverish, and the knowledge that he was still so desperately ill brought a lump to her throat.
She guessed that the staff were doing everything they could to alleviate the damage caused by the pois
on in his system, but the cardiac monitor showed that he was still struggling, and his temperature was raised, causing more problems.
‘They say that he’s having some trouble breathing,’ his mother told her. ‘They told me that the tablets he swallowed caused all sorts of things to go wrong. I feel so terrible. I put the tablets away in a cabinet, thinking that they would be safe in there, but he dragged a stool into the bathroom and climbed up to reach them.’
‘I’m sorry. Children can be quite determined when they want to explore. All I can tell you is that everything possible is being done for him. Is your husband here to support you through all this?’
She nodded. ‘He’s gone to make a phone call. The grandparents are worried sick.’
‘I can imagine they must be.’
Louise spoke to the mother for a while longer, but then she had to go back to A&E and prepare for the day ahead.
As soon as she walked into the unit, she knew that something was wrong. Nurses and doctors were gathered around the desk in the central area.
‘Have you seen this?’ Alice said, holding up the daily newspaper. ‘There’s a whole feature on the options put forward by the hospital Trust for the changes in the region’s delivery of health care. Guess which option the Trust favours.’
‘Let me see.’
Alice handed her the paper and Louise skimmed the article. ‘I knew they would choose closure rather than anything else. There’s a huge push to centralise everything. It makes me so cross.’
‘Have you spoken to James about any of this since your meeting with the executives last week?’ Alice asked.
‘Only briefly.’ Louise was still trying to take in the rest of the article.
‘Spoken to me about what?’ James enquired, coming out from the nearby waiting-room and walking over to them at the nurses’ station.
Louise stiffened. ‘You don’t even get to have three guesses.’ She waved the newspaper under his nose. ‘They’re quoting you in here, using phrases like “rational planning”, “enhancing the quality of provision”, and “inevitable change”.’
She walked away from the desk, not wanting to involve the rest of the staff in this discussion, and James followed. Soon the group that was gathered around the central area broke up as people drifted back to their duties.
‘I see nothing wrong with telling it how it is.’ James didn’t seem to be at all put out by her annoyance, and his calmness riled her all the more.
Louise pressed her lips together. ‘What they should have said was that this reeks of cut-backs and downsizing and a reduction in the quality of care. But then, we weren’t asked for our opinion, were we? This is all executive decision-making, followed by a concentrated public relations exercise, and yet the public have no idea what it’s really all about, do they? They just swallow your medicine and believe you when you tell them you know best.’
‘Nothing has been decided yet.’ James raised a dark brow as though to imply she was blowing things out of all proportion. ‘All the proposals have to be put out to public consultation.’
‘And we all know which option you’re promoting as the best one, don’t we?’ Louise glared at him. ‘And we know why you’ve opted for that one too, yet there’s no mention in the interview of the fact that your grandfather funded the wing at the Royal Forest Hospital, is there?’
‘That would be because this reorganisation of the Trust’s Health Services doesn’t have anything to do with that. It’s to do with putting the resources in the right place where they can benefit most people.’
‘Is it? Is it really?’ Her mouth made a grim line. ‘We’ll see about that, won’t we? I think you’ll find that when I’ve finished, the wider public will have a much better idea of what’s actually going on.’
‘That sounds as though you have something planned.’ His gaze meshed with hers. ‘What would that be, I wonder? A counter campaign?’
‘Too right,’ she bit out. ‘You’re not the only one who can speak to the press. “Hands off our hospital”—how’s that for a headline? By the time I’ve finished, people will know exactly what closing down the paediatric A&E will mean to them and the wider community.’
James shrugged his shoulders, and she guessed that nothing of what she said disturbed him. Of course he wasn’t concerned by what she had to say. He was wealthy and powerful, and he met with the chiefs of the Trust on a regular basis. She was just a feather blowing in the wind, and he could bat her away any time he felt like it.
Except that Louise was not about to give in so easily, and he would discover just how fierce an opponent she could be when she set her mind to it.
‘I have to go to work,’ she said in a tight voice, checking the board for her list of patients. ‘We have a boy coming in—he had a fall from a bike and suffered possible internal injuries from landing on the handlebars.’
‘That sounds nasty.’ He studied her. ‘Have you thought any more about the possibility of my joining you in the department on a temporary basis? I think it could be beneficial to both of us, and I could make a start right away. Or is that completely out of the question now?’ His mouth made a wry twist.
Of course he was expecting her to shut him out. ‘You think, because I’m a woman, that I’m bound to be prone to emotional highs and lows and I couldn’t possibly be expected to make a decision based on simple logic, don’t you?’
Her gaze narrowed on him and he made a vaguely non-committal gesture in return. ‘I know how you feel about the situation,’ he murmured. ‘We’re on opposite sides of the fence, and I suppose it’s only natural that you would let your judgement be swayed by that.’
She glowered at him. ‘I’m also in charge of the A&E unit and I’d be a fool to turn down any offer of qualified help, wouldn’t I?’ She sighed, making an effort to calm herself down. ‘As a matter of fact, I had made up my mind to talk to you about that today. I checked you out, and you were right when you said that you might be overqualified. You specialised in both A&E and paediatrics, didn’t you? Which makes it all the more surprising that you stepped down from practising full-time medicine to go into management. We need people with your expertise working with patients.’
‘We also need people who can see the bigger picture and make changes that will improve the services we provide.’
Her mouth flattened. ‘Perhaps it’s best if we don’t get into that argument again.’ She waved a hand towards the board and its list of patients waiting to be seen. ‘As soon as you’ve signed the relevant forms, the job’s yours. Who knows, you might even begin to appreciate why we need this department to stay in its entirety.’
A flicker of amusement glimmered in his grey eyes. ‘There is that,’ he agreed, but she knew full well he was merely humouring her.
He might well be here to spy on her and gather fuel for his arguments, but it made no odds to her. She would fight him, and in the meantime she would reap the benefit of having one more skilled doctor on her team.
James went off to see the secretary in the human resources department, while Louise made her way to the ambulance bay to receive her patient.
Dean Wainwright, she discovered, was a gangling twelve-year-old boy who was doing his best to be brave. There were abrasions to his face and arms and, from the state of his trousers, she guessed that his knees were grazed too.
‘The paramedic tells me that you came off your bike and fell on the handlebars,’ Louise said as he was being wheeled to the treatment room. ‘Is that right?’
He nodded. She could see that his face was tear streaked from the pain he was suffering, but he was doing his best to fight it. ‘I was racing down the path on the common with my mates, and I hit a rock that was lying on the ground. It sort of tipped me sideways, and then Joey rammed into me, and I somersaulted onto the bike handle.’
Louise winced. ‘And how did Joey come out of all this? Is he in the same state as you are?’
‘Nah.’ He pulled a face as his movements caused him pain. ‘He’s fin
e. He landed on the grass.’
‘Well, Dean, I need to examine you, to see exactly what the damage is, and then I’ll get a nurse to come and clean up some of these cuts for you. Can you show me where it hurts? I’ll be as gentle as I possibly can.’
He pointed to his abdomen, and when she carefully checked him out she discovered that there was tenderness in the upper quadrant. ‘Do you have pain anywhere else?’ she asked.
‘My left shoulder,’ he said, ‘but I didn’t land on my shoulder. I don’t remember doing anything to it.’
‘It sometimes happens like that,’ she told him. In fact, she was pretty sure that he was feeling referred pain that was associated with blood in the abdomen irritating the diaphragm and the phrenic nerve.
‘What we need to do now,’ she said, ‘is to have your cuts cleaned and then send you for a CT scan. That will give us an idea of what’s going on inside. I’m going to give you an injection to take away the pain, and all you need to do is lie still and rest.’
She gave him the injection a moment later and then left him in Jenny’s care while she drew the parents to one side in order to speak to them privately.
‘How bad is it?’ his father asked. ‘He seems to be hurting quite badly.’
‘He’ll feel better in a moment or two when the injection begins to work,’ she told him. ‘It’s possible that he has injured his spleen in the fall. I’m going to do a CT scan to find out what the damage is, and then we’ll decide from there how to deal with it.’
For now, the parents were satisfied to sit back and wait for the results, but Louise was worried that the boy’s injuries might be more severe than they had at first thought.
‘You look concerned,’ James said to her when he came back to A&E some time later.
She was looking at the pictures of Dean’s injury, and now she pointed them out to James. ‘It isn’t looking too good, is it?’ she said in a low tone.
‘He might get away with a repair operation,’ he remarked, studying the films. ‘I suppose it all depends what the surgeon makes of it.’
