Harlequin Medical Romance: January 2022 Box Set 2 of 2 by Juliette Hyland

Author:Juliette Hyland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

‘CLAIRE, THERE’S A patient in the monitoring room requiring urgent attention. I think she should be in ED.’

Claire put aside her coffee and followed Nicolas out of the staffroom. A week had passed since she had been out to his place, and in that time they’d worked together two days. ‘What’ve we got?’

‘Josey Brown, thirty-one, fell off bike alongside Taylor River. Rapid heart rate, light head, bruising on the ribs. No history in her file of anything other than a fractured tibia four years ago, though that mightn’t be up-to-date.’

‘Why is she here and not ED already?’

‘Her partner brought her in, and won’t listen to Charlene telling her to go next door. The partner’s not someone I’d argue with either.’

‘I might be about to.’ She stepped into the room and crossed to the only occupied bed, where another woman sat on a chair, looking ready to pounce. ‘Hello, I’m Claire McAlpine, a doctor. Can you hear me, Josey?’

‘Hmm.’

It was something, though not enough. ‘I understand you came off your bike. Did something go wrong with your ride? Or did you have a medical incident that caused you to crash?’

‘She wobbled after dodging a small rock and fell,’ the partner answered, glaring at her. ‘We’ve told the nurse all this.’

‘I’d like to hear what Josey has to say,’ Claire said in her firm, I’m-the-doctor tone. ‘Josey?’

‘Was light-headed. Rock in the way. Lost control.’ Her speech was a little slurred and disconnected.

‘Pain anywhere else?’

‘No.’

‘Any history of headaches, high blood pressure?’

The partner interrupted. ‘What’s with all these questions? Why aren’t you examining Josey?’

‘I’ll get there a lot quicker if you let me do my job,’ Claire replied, and noted a glint of interest in Nicolas’s eyes. Didn’t think she could be tough when required? He had a lot to learn. ‘Josey, answer me.’

‘No.’

‘No history, or no you won’t answer me?’ Pedantic maybe, but necessary if she was to make an informed decision about the woman’s condition.

‘No history.’

‘She’s very fit.’ The partner added her bit.

Fitness didn’t give everyone a clean bill of health all the time. ‘What about family history of high blood pressure or strokes?’ She read the monitor, noted the raised blood pressure.

‘My mum.’

Again her partner interrupted. ‘Her mother had a fatal brain haemorrhage at the age of fifty.’

You knew that and didn’t go to ED?

There was a possibility Josey could be following in her mother’s footsteps. ‘Right, this is what we’re doing. Josey, I am transferring you to the emergency department, where they have more equipment to monitor you. They can also admit you to hospital, and call on a specialist.’

‘Why can’t you do that from here?’

‘Because we’re a private centre, and all our cases go through either ED or back to a patient’s GP.’

‘This is wasting time.’

Nicolas was reading the heart monitor and said, ‘Josey’s getting excellent care right now. Taking her through to the hospital department will up the ante.’ He flicked Claire a look of What the hell? and said aloud, ‘I’ve got this,’ with a small smile aimed directly at her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.