Rescuing Dr. McAllister by Sarah Morgan

Author:Sarah Morgan [Morgan, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781460377659
Google: Jj8nBgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 24940213
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

THE freezing weather continued and A and E was the busiest it had been for months.

‘Someone should market this as a diet,’ Nicky complained one morning as she rubbed her stomach. ‘I’ve lost half a stone in the last two weeks because I never have time for coffee, lunch or tea. I’m calling it the National Health Service diet. We replace meals with work. It’s foolproof.’

Ellie glanced up and nodded as she sorted through a pile of X-rays. ‘I know what you mean.’

Everyone was the same. There were too many patients and not enough staff, and they frequently worked through without breaks. Tempers were frayed and everyone was tired.

‘Maybe we could persuade the police to issue a statement, asking everyone to stay indoors,’ Will suggested as they hurried to greet yet another ambulance. ‘If they’re indoors, they don’t slip on the ice.’

‘No, they fall downstairs or scald themselves,’ Ellie reminded him cheerfully. ‘Accidents in the home—remember? It’s a lethal place to be.’

She was reminded of her words later when Ambulance Control rang to say that they were bringing in a child with severe scalds.

Ellie replaced the phone and hurried to find Ben. She found him in one of the cubicles, checking an X-ray for one of the casualty officers. ‘I need you in Resus.’

He gave a brief nod to show that he’d heard, finished talking to the more junior doctor and followed her through to Resus.

Was it her imagination or did he hesitate slightly in the doorway?

‘What’s the story?’ He paced across the room and paused by the intubation tray, picking up a laryngoscope and checking the bulb.

‘We don’t know much. Just that it’s a small child with burns.’ She watched him closely, sensing that something was wrong.

He was staring at the laryngoscope in his hand as if it might jump up and bite him. Even as she watched, beads of sweat appeared on his brow and there was a change in his breathing.

So it hadn’t been her imagination.

It was just like that first night, but why now when he’d been fine all week?

She chewed her lip and then her eyes widened as realisation dawned.

It was something to do with Resus.

‘Oh!’

He looked up sharply, his fingers clenched on the laryngoscope. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ she lied, knowing that this was certainly not the time to bring it up. What she needed to do was distract him from whatever feelings tormented him when he entered Resus. She thought quickly. ‘I haven’t seen many burns cases—when do you usually refer them to the burns unit?’

He was silent for a moment, his jaw rigid with tension, and then his grip on the laryngoscope relaxed and he placed it back on the tray.

‘Anything over ten per cent of the body area,’ he said finally, and she nodded, pleased that his voice sounded more or less normal.

‘And one arm is about nine per cent?’

‘That’s right, but obviously with a child you need to use their palm as an indication of surface area. And in children the head is relatively larger and the legs are relatively smaller.

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