Emergency: Christmas by Alison Roberts

Author:Alison Roberts [Alison Roberts]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Harlequin Medical Romances
ISBN: 9781460377826
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘I’VE got vomiting and diarrhoea. And a sprained ankle.’ Belinda was writing details on the whiteboard near the sorting desk. She wrote ‘X-ray’ beside the soft tissue injury listed for cubicle 2.

‘Poor you.’ Penelope grinned at Belinda but she wasn’t going to be outdone. ‘I’ve got an intentional overdose and a sore back.’ The day had not been filled with challenging patients so far.

‘I’ve got a foreign body in the left eye.’

‘Ha! I’ve got a foreign body in the right nostril!’

Belinda laughed. ‘OK, you win! I can’t compete with that. What is it?’

‘We think it might be chewing gum. Nobody’s been able to delve close enough to find out yet. Haven’t you heard the screaming?’ Penelope was still smiling broadly as Jack approached the two nurses.

‘You’re looking far too happy to be working in here.’ The senior consultant paused and then grimaced. ‘Who’s making that dreadful noise?’

‘A two-year-old in cubicle 6,’ Penelope answered.

‘He’s got something indeterminate lodged up his right nostril,’ Belinda added. The nurses exchanged a glance and giggled.

‘Nice to see people so happy in their work.’ Jack smiled before casting a thoughtful glance at Penelope. ‘Mind you, you’ve been looking happy for days. Positively glowing, in fact.’

‘She’s on cloud nine,’ Belinda confirmed. ‘I’m dead jealous.’

‘Am I allowed to know the reason for the current bliss?’ Jack was still smiling. ‘Or is it just the pleasure of the challenging cases we’ve been getting lately?’

‘Ask Mark Wallace,’ Belinda suggested. ‘Or wait until tomorrow when you see the ring.’

‘Bindy!’ Penelope’s eyes widened in consternation. ‘It’s supposed to be a secret.’

‘Everybody knows,’ Belinda retaliated.

‘I didn’t.’ Jack looked delighted. ‘Congratulations, Penny.’

‘Thanks.’ Penelope glared at Belinda. ‘It was supposed to stay private until we found a ring.’

‘You’re taking far too long,’ Belinda said airily. ‘It’s been over a week and you know perfectly well that you can’t keep a secret in this place.’

‘Not with friends like you, that’s for sure.’

‘It wasn’t me that let the cat out of the bag,’ Belinda protested. ‘More like the fact that Mark was sitting in the staffroom last week with the Yellow Pages, making a list of all the addresses of the jewellers’ shops in the city.’

Matt joined the small group at the whiteboard. ‘Trauma team call,’ he announced. ‘ETA ten minutes.’

‘Excellent!’ Belinda’s face brightened. ‘I’ll have to give away my vomiting and diarrhoea.’

‘What is it?’ Penelope was also delighted to face a potential challenge.

‘Multi-system trauma. Car versus tree. Status one. GCS of 3.’

Jack nodded. ‘Intubated?’

‘No. They’ve been unable to intubate due to trismus. There’s a query basal skull fracture as well so the paramedics haven’t used a nasopharyngeal airway either. Oxygen saturation is around eighty-five per cent at present.’

Belinda and Penelope were already on their way to the trauma room. They pulled disposable aprons from the slot in a large box.

‘GCS of 3.’ Belinda shook her head at Penelope sadly. ‘Same as the tree!’

Penelope put on her apron and tied the strings behind herself. The Glasgow coma scale was used to measure a patient’s level of consciousness.

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