St Piran's: The Fireman and Nurse Loveday by Kate Hardy

Author:Kate Hardy
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781408924396
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd
Published: 2011-02-28T23:00:00+00:00

Five minutes into the second half, one of the players fell to the ground and rolled onto his back, clutching his leg. The referee stopped the match. Automatically, Flora went over; her skills were needed, and that was enough to push her shyness and feelings of awkwardness into the background. ‘I’m a nurse,’ she explained. ‘Can I do anything to help?’

The referee gave her a grateful look. ‘Yes, please. This is Ian.’

‘What happened, Ian?’ she asked.

‘My ankle’s killing me,’ he groaned.

‘Can I take a look?’

He nodded, his face white with pain.

‘I’ll need to take your boot off. Is that OK?’ When he gave his consent, she crouched down, removed his football boot and drew the sock down so she could see his ankle properly, then probed his ankle gently.

‘Ow. That hurts,’ Ian said.

‘It’s a pretty nasty sprain,’ Flora said. ‘Looks like you’ve landed awkwardly—you’ve twisted the joint and it’s damaged your ligaments. I’m afraid you’re not going to be able to play for the rest of the match. Did you hear a “pop” in your ankle when it happened?’

‘Yes—and then it started hurting like crazy.’

‘I’m pretty sure it’s not a fracture, just a simple sprain, but it’s going to hurt for a couple of weeks,’ she warned him. ‘You’ll need to rest it for the next couple of days with ice to reduce the swelling, wrapped in some kind of cloth so it doesn’t burn your skin. I’d suggest fifteen minutes of ice treatment per hour, but no more than three hours in total over the next twenty-four. You also need to use an elastic bandage from your toes to the middle of your lower leg, to support the sprain. And if you can put a couple of pillows on a chair and prop your ankle up so it’s higher than your heart, it’ll help it heal more quickly. If you’ve got some ibuprofen at home, that’d be best painkiller to use because it’ll help reduce the swelling.’ She smiled at him. ‘If it’s still giving you a lot of gyp tomorrow it might be worth going to the emergency department at St Piran’s and ask them to take a look, but I’m pretty sure it’s only a sprain rather than a fracture.’

‘I know you from somewhere, don’t I?’ he asked.

‘I’m a nurse at the Penhally Bay Surgery,’ she said. ‘And I’m the school liaison nurse.’

He nodded. ‘That’s where I’ve seen you—my boy’s in Year Six. He’s been nagging me lately about my lunchbox not being healthy enough and telling me to swap the cake for another piece of fruit.’

She laughed. ‘Glad to hear the message is getting through.’

He moved, and gritted his teeth as pain clearly shot through him. ‘Thanks for looking after me. You’re here with Tom, aren’t you?’

‘I…um…’ Flora couldn’t help blushing. ‘Yes.’

Ian smiled. ‘He’s a top bloke, our Tom.’

‘Absolutely,’ she agreed. ‘Ian, I don’t have an ice pack with me, but I do have an elastic bandage. I can at least strap up your ankle and get you to elevate it until you can get a lift home.

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