Mending The Single Dad's Heart

‘Then Errol it is.’

The Professor smiled a half smile before his expression became serious with the sudden sound of an impending ambulance. The main doors of the hospital opened just as the vehicle pulled into the bay and the sound carried into the foyer. He motioned for Jessica to follow him down the corridor. His steps were fast and purposeful as he turned his head slightly to speak over his shoulder to her.

‘I think now is as good a time as any to visit the ER. You’ll see our staff doing what they do best. And, once the commotion subsides, I’ll introduce you to our Head of ER, Harrison Wainwright. You’ll be working closely with him, no doubt, as many of our paediatric patients are admitted from there. He’s been at the hospital for so long he’s almost an institution, although he’s still the good side of forty, unlike most of us in senior roles. He’s a tough taskmaster but it works for most; besides, we can’t seem to get rid of him anyway.’

Jessica’s eyes widened and her mouth drew tight as she quickly caught up with the older man. She hoped it would work for her too. Working alongside a man with an attitude was not on her wish list, particularly one they couldn’t get rid of, perhaps due to his connections or watertight contract. She suddenly felt her stomach churn again. Paediatrics was a long way from ER and hopefully their paths would not cross too often during the six weeks.

Without taking a breath, the Professor continued as his eyes wrinkled in laughter, ‘You must forgive my sense of humour or, as my wife says, my bad taste in jokes. We are eternally grateful that he’s never indicated he wants to leave us. He actually grew up around this part of the world and we’re glad he returned. The hospital couldn’t function without him. He’s brilliant and I can’t praise him enough and the medical students and patients love him. The nurses do too, but for very different reasons, I’m sure.’

Jessica wasn’t quite sure how to take the Professor’s conflicting character reference for her colleague as she followed him into the Emergency Department. While he’d quelled her concerns on one hand, she certainly didn’t want to go near the reason the nurses loved the man.

A stretcher suddenly rushed past them, making Jessica draw in her breath as if that would give them more room. It was a silly reaction and made no sense to her, particularly as a doctor accustomed to the Emergency Department of a great number of hospitals, but not much had made sense in the last few days. The first patient, a young woman, had been immobilised with a cervical collar, so a neck injury had clearly been suspected by the paramedics, and her right leg was in a splint; by her appearance, Jessica assumed she was a teenager. She stepped back again quickly as a second barouche approached them.

‘Motor vehicle accident,’ the paramedic began as they wheeled the patients into bays opposite each other as directed by the nursing staff. ‘Two passengers. Female suspected spinal cord injury, broken ankle and minor lacerations. Male with lacerations to hand and forehead. No other visible or apparent injury.’

The second accompanying young male patient had a bandage to his head but he was alert and firing questions at everyone. His hand was also bandaged but other than that he appeared unscathed by whatever incident had occurred. A female paramedic attempted to calm and comfort him but it appeared to be to no avail. Quickly the medical team approached and an immediate handover ensued. The second patient was assigned two nurses and a young doctor, whom she suspected was an intern, while the first with the serious injuries had the attention of many more of the ER staff. The alert patient was distressed but appeared under control.

Suddenly another stretcher entered the ER with two paramedics in tow. ‘Hit and run on Mundy Street. Suspected fractured femur. Female, seventy-three years of age.’

‘Dr Steele, once you assess your patient, if there’s no immediate risk, please leave him with the nurses and attend to our elderly patient,’ a deep voice called out from beside the young female patient in the adjacent bay. Jessica could see the back of a tall man in a white consultant’s coat. He stood over six foot, close to six foot two, she guessed. The deepest brown, almost black hair and a commanding presence by the way everyone looked to him for instruction. She suspected he was the Head of ER about whom Errol had been speaking only moments earlier.

Jessica watched the young doctor speak briefly with the two nurses and then, as instructed, head over to the paramedics and the new arrival.

It certainly was a busy Emergency Department, just as Errol had told her only minutes before, but it was running smoothly and that was no easy task as there were already patients in another two bays being attended by staff. Jessica couldn’t help but agree the department was a well-oiled machine. No one hesitated or appeared to be second-guessing. The Head of ER was, in Jessica’s mind, to be admired. It took a high level of calm, an ability to triage patients and manage staff with a good understanding of their strengths and their skills to maintain a calm environment for the patients.

Jessica watched on in silence as the empty bay was filled with another patient, transferred from the stretcher onto the hospital gurney. That level of synergy and professionalism was exactly what she hoped to maintain in Paediatrics during her time at the hospital.

But within moments that very calm began to dissipate.

The young man left in the nurses’ care suddenly tugged his arm away from the petite nurse and attempted to climb down from the bed. His feet were almost on the ground.

‘It’s all my fault...it’s all my fault,’ he repeated loudly, the words spurred by unbridled emotion. ‘I need to see her. I need to say sorry and see she’s okay.’

Jessica was aware the young nurse was struggling to contain the situation and the ER did not need an overly emotional patient breaking free and interfering with another patient’s treatment in order to purge his guilt.

Jessica spun around to the dispenser behind her and donned a pair of disposable gloves and a disposable gown from the top of a nearby pile. ‘Excuse me, Professor. I’d like to start my shift now, if that’s all right with you.’

Errol looked a little confused but nodded as Jessica headed over to the bay where the ruckus was taking place.

‘I’m Dr Ayers and I’d like to help you,’ she announced as she firmly placed her hand on his legs and then lifted them back onto the gurney.

The nurses both looked at Jessica in surprise and she picked up on their confusion.

‘I thought you could use some assistance. I’m locum Paediatric Consultant. I commenced at the hospital this morning and must apologise that I’ve not been issued with my ID yet,’ she told them as she motioned towards Errol, aware her current clothing, still visible under the thin blue gown, made her look anything but a medical professional. ‘Professor Langridge can vouch for me.’

The older nurse glanced over at Errol, who was nodding his consent, while the younger one took Jessica at face value and together they attempted to control the situation.

‘Can you please give me your name?’ Jessica asked the young patient while she assessed the proximity of the medical equipment within the bay. A stethoscope lay on the portable trolley nearby so she scooped it up and popped it around her neck. The young man began to calm slightly as if he knew fighting was futile as the nurse attached the monitors to him to record his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation.

‘I want to help you while the medical team in the bay opposite help the young woman who came in with you. Her injuries clearly appear more serious but we will be undertaking a medical examination of you to ensure that yours are in fact only superficial. In motor vehicle accidents you can sustain internal injuries that are not instantly apparent. Before I begin, can I have please have your full name and age?’

‘Cody Smith, and that’s my girlfriend over there,’ he said as he raised his hand and pointed to the other bay.

‘Can you please give me her name and age?’ the young nurse asked. ‘So I can pass that information onto the ER team looking after her.’

‘Let me tell them,’ he said, trying to pull away from the nurses again. ‘I just want to say I’m sorry to her.’

‘That won’t be happening. Please remain still; I need to check your eyes.’ Jessica’s words were firm and to the point as she held his chin and shone the light into the young man’s left eye and then the right one.

‘My eyes are fine. They’re not bleedin’ or nothing.’

‘Cody, as I said before, some injuries are not obvious so there won’t necessarily be bleeding, but a mild head injury can still be sustained from a car accident. You may have suffered whiplash and it can result in impaired vision or other problems and symptoms are varied. Do you have trouble focusing your eyes when switching your gaze between near and far objects?’

‘Nah, I’m good,’ he replied. ‘I can read the exit sign and her name thing.’ He pointed to the nurse’s identification tag.

‘Do you feel nauseous, as if you are going to vomit when you look around?’

‘Nah, I’m all good, I told you already. It’s me girlfriend I’m worried about.’

‘No, Cody. That is not an option,’ she continued. ‘Even if you are fine, you need to understand that if you were to rush over there to help her, you would in fact be doing just the opposite. You could get in the way of the medical team and put your girlfriend at risk.’

‘I don’t wanna do nothing but help her.’

‘Then, as the nurse said, you can help her by giving us her name and age.’

‘Ginny Randolf. She’s seventeen.’

‘Thank you,’ Jessica said as she continued the examination and noted his response to the light stimulation was within normal limits.

‘I’ll pass on her details and come right back,’ the younger nurse said as she headed over to the other patient.

‘And how old are you?’ Jessica enquired while checking the young man’s pupils for dilation.

‘I’m sixteen.’

‘Okay, Cody, we are going to have to take some blood samples and check your alcohol level. Have you been drinking?’

‘No. I’m on my probationary licence. That’s not why we crashed. Is that what you think happened? Do you think I was drink-driving?’ His voice was shrill and once again Jessica needed to placate him.

‘I’m not assuming anything.’ Her voice was low and calm as she met his eyes. ‘This is routine and not because I suspect anything, Cody. It’s just that with any motor vehicle accident a blood test for alcohol and other drugs is mandatory.’

‘I can’t drink on a probationary licence. I’m an apprentice chippy. I’m not looking to lose my job with a baby on the way. Ginny’s nine weeks pregnant.’

Jessica and the nurse immediately looked at each other and, without a word exchanged, the second nurse disappeared to pass on the crucial information. Pregnancy would certainly complicate the situation if there were suspected internal injuries and the chance of miscarriage was a concern.

‘We found out a few weeks ago.’

He rested back down on his elbows, not taking his eyes off the opposite bay but seemingly finally accepting the need to comply—and the fact a towering male nurse had just approached to assist would not allow him to do otherwise.

‘We were arguing about when she would tell her parents. They don’t like me. I wanted her to hold off a bit longer so they didn’t try to force her to get rid of the baby. She told me she was gonna tell them tonight and I got scared and distracted and I didn’t see the merging lane. We went off the road and hit the fence.’

A nurse suddenly pulled a curtain around the young man’s girlfriend.

‘What’s happening? Why are they doing that? Is she okay?’ Cody’s questions came flying at Jessica and the nurse as he sat bolt upright again.

‘Your girlfriend is in good hands,’ Jessica told him. ‘And, thanks to you, the team know there’s another tiny life growing inside of her so they will be doing everything possible to treat them both.’

‘Please can you go and check? I need to know what’s happening. I’m freaking out here. She’s gotta be okay.’

Jessica reluctantly agreed. She wasn’t even officially on staff yet so not keen to overstep protocols further than she already had but she knew Cody’s anxious state was escalating by the minute with the curtain obscuring his view and it wouldn’t end well if he raced over there. The young man was physically fine and the other nurses had returned to monitor his observations so she headed over to enquire about the status of his partner—the mother of his unborn child.

With each step she took, she prayed fate would not change the course of their young lives.

She quietly and tentatively parted the curtain and peered inside the bay to see the back of the doctor undertaking an ultrasound examination of the young woman. He had been informed of her pregnancy and was obviously prioritising the baby. It all seemed calm so she didn’t feel the need to interrupt.

‘The baby is fine; there’s a strong heartbeat and no obvious signs of distress, Ginny,’ she heard him say. ‘I’m sorry you can’t see the screen that I am looking at right now. I can share those images later with you. But for the time being we need to keep you flat until we can properly assess the damage to your neck and back. I believe it is muscular as you do not have any of the symptoms I would expect to see with a spinal injury. I need to send you for an MRI—it’s not an X-ray so it’s perfectly safe for your baby and it will allow us to assess any neck, spinal or ankle injuries. You and your baby are both paramount to anything we do.’

Jessica agreed with his treatment plan and she thought he had a lovely bedside manner and comforting voice. Deep, masculine but still warm. It sounded familiar but she knew that couldn’t be the case. She didn’t know anyone in town.

She raised her hand to close the curtain and caught sight of his profile and all but gasped. Her heart took a leap as she recognised him. She did know him. But the last time she’d seen him he wasn’t wearing a white consultant’s coat. Instead he was wearing the wet imprint of her carry-on luggage on his shoe.

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