Hawaiian Sunset, Dream Proposal

Amber did as he asked, leaving a nurse to call in the technician to set up the video link. Martyn was barely conscious, but she spoke to him gently, explaining what they were going to do.

‘Professor Halloran is the best cardiac surgeon we have,’ she told him. ‘He’ll use X-ray images to look at your blood vessels through our cardiac monitor, and that should help him to find exactly where the blockage is. He’ll most likely insert a very thin catheter into a blood vessel of the top of your leg, and then he’ll use specialised instruments to remove the clot that’s causing the problem.’ She looked into his grey eyes. ‘Do you understand what I’m saying?’

He nodded almost imperceptibly. ‘I do.’

‘Is there anything that you’d like to ask me about it?’

‘Nothing. Thank you. I’m very tired.’ He tried to lift his hand and made a frail attempt to pat hers as it rested gently on the bedclothes beside him. His breath came in quick gasps. ‘I know you’ll do your best for me. You mustn’t worry if it all goes wrong.’

Amber felt the quick sting of tears behind her eyelids. Somehow, this man had managed to reach her inner core, the place where she tried to keep her feelings hidden. In the short time she had known him, she had found an affinity with him, and she realised that she cared deeply about what happened to him.

‘Nothing will go wrong,’ she said softly. ‘I’m going to take good care of you, I promise, and you have to know that Professor Halloran is the very best.’

He didn’t speak any more after that, but lapsed into what seemed like an exhausted sleep. The heart monitor began to bleep, the trace showing a chaotic descent into a dangerous rhythm, and Amber called for help. ‘I need a crash team here—now. Call for Professor Halloran.’ Her patient was going into shock, and cardiac arrest was imminent. ‘He’s in V-fib.’ Ventricular fibrillation meant the heart was unable to pump blood around Martyn’s body and without swift intervention he would die.

James and Sarah rushed to the bedside. Sarah started chest compressions, while James set the defibrillator to analyse the patient’s rhythm and prepared to deliver a shock to Martyn’s heart. Amber was aware of Caitlin standing in the room, watching everything that was going on, tears rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t let that distract her. She worked quickly to secure Martyn’s airway with an endotracheal tube and ensure that he was receiving adequate oxygen through a mechanical ventilator.

‘Stand clear, everyone,’ James said. As soon as the shock had been delivered, Sarah continued compressions. Amber checked for a pulse and looked to see if the rhythm of the heart had changed.

‘He’s still in V-fib,’ she said. ‘Let’s go again with a second shock.’ By now, Caitlin was making small sobbing sounds, and Amber was aware of another strange background noise, an odd swishing sound that she couldn’t quite make out.

James set the machine to deliver the second jolt of electricity, but Amber could see it hadn’t had the desired effect. ‘Keep up the compressions,’ she said. ‘I’m going to give him a shot of adrenaline.’

They continued to work on their patient, but after a while, when Martyn’s response was still insufficient, Amber added amiodarone to his intravenous line. She wasn’t going to give up on this man, no matter how resistant his condition seemed to her efforts.

‘You can do this, Martyn,’ she said, under her breath. ‘Come on, now, work with me. You’re going to the catheter suite and you’re going to come through this. Don’t let me down.’

James glanced towards Caitlin, clearly disturbed by the girl’s distress, but he could see that Sarah was tiring and moved to take over the chest compressions. Sarah watched the monitors and recorded the readings on a chart, while Amber worriedly assessed the nature of the heart rhythm and debated whether to add atropine to the medications she had already given him.

Professor Halloran came into the room, taking everything in with one sweeping glance. ‘How’s he doing?’ he asked. ‘Do you have a normal rhythm now?’

Amber checked the monitor and turned towards him. ‘We do,’ she said, relief sounding in her voice, and Professor Halloran nodded in satisfaction.

‘Well done, everyone.’ He turned his attention to the flat screen of the computer monitor that had been set up on a table across the room. He held up his hands in a thumbs-up sign. ‘He’s back with us,’ he addressed the screen, and now, at last, Amber realised where the swishing sound had been coming from.

The screen was filled with the image of a man standing on what appeared to be a wooden veranda, surrounded on all sides by a balustrade. He was looking towards them, long limbed, lean and fit, with broad shoulders that tapered to a slim, flat-stomached midriff. He was wearing casual clothes made of fine-textured cotton that would be cool and comfortable in the heat of the Hawaiian summer. In the background she made out a palm tree and the clear blue of ocean waves lapping on a golden, sandy beach.

‘I see that,’ the man said. ‘I saw it all, as clearly as if I had been there.’ He moved closer to the webcam, and Amber realised that the computer must be situated on a ledge in front of him. The screen showed him now in clear view, blotting out most of the background, and she was aware of the strong, angular lines of his face, of thick, black hair cut in a way that perfectly framed his features. Most of all, she was stunned by his clear, blue eyes, the exact colour of the sea, that appeared to be looking right at her.

‘We’ll take your uncle up to the catheter suite right away,’ Professor Halloran said. ‘It’s important that we get to work as soon as possible.’ He glanced at Amber. ‘I’ll leave you to bring him up in the lift, Amber, while I go and prepare.’

Amber nodded, dragging her gaze away from the image on the screen. She was glad to have something to distract her. There was something about the way Ethan Brookes looked at her that was infinitely disturbing. It was as though he could see into her very soul, and that was an unnerving thought.

Even more unsettling, though, as her gaze swivelled to the doorway, was the sight of James, deep in conversation with Caitlin.

‘I don’t know what to do,’ Caitlin was saying. ‘He’s all I have in the world.’

‘You’re not alone,’ James murmured. ‘I’ll look after you. I’m off duty for a while now, and we can talk. Maybe we could even get together later this evening when my shift finishes. I know you’ll probably want to talk some more. These things can hit you very hard. It’s a worrying time.’

The girl lifted tear-drenched eyes towards the young doctor, and James reacted in the way that men have reacted throughout time. He melted in the face of her vulnerability, draped an arm around her and gently led her away. It was an innocent, caring gesture, but somehow, seeing his tenderness and concern for this young woman, it rocked Amber to the core. James hadn’t taken his eyes off Caitlin’s face. He looked at her with compassion and something else, something akin to adoration. He appeared to be totally, utterly smitten.

‘Dr Shaw? Are you with us?’ Ethan Brookes’s voice cracked across the void, and Amber blinked, coming back to reality and trying unsuccessfully to blank out the image that was imprinted on her mind.

‘I should thank you for your prompt action,’ he said, and she lifted her gaze towards the screen once more.

Those steely blue eyes raked over her, as though he was making a thorough assessment of her. ‘You’ve bought my uncle a little more time, and I’m grateful to you for that.’

She gave a brief, noncommittal nod in his direction. ‘That’s what I’m here for,’ she murmured.

‘Yes, but it’s obvious that you’re also young and relatively inexperienced. You did well to cope as you did…but I’m wondering if I should arrange for a private specialist to come and take charge of my uncle’s case. I don’t want anything left to chance.’

She braced her shoulders. She was a senior house officer, more than capable of doing what was required. ‘Of course, that’s your prerogative,’ she murmured. ‘It wouldn’t be wise to delay proceedings, though. He needs to go to surgery now, and we have his full permission to go ahead…so if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and take him there.’

‘I understand that. I won’t get in your way…now…and thanks again for what you did.’

Ethan Brookes was thanking her, but his words had an empty ring about them. The image of his cousin and her boyfriend came into her mind once more, and right now she couldn’t help momentarily wishing that the Brookes family had never come into her life.

CHAPTER TWO

‘WE’VE done all that we can for him for the moment,’ Professor Halloran told Amber as they left the catheterisation suite some time later. ‘We may have cleared up the immediate problem, but Mr Wyndham Brookes is still a very sick man.’

Amber nodded. ‘At least you managed to remove the blood clot that was causing the trouble. It’s unfortunate that he has a lot of other things to contend with alongside that.’ Martyn was lucky to be alive, but from the results of tests and the indications they had discovered during the operation, his quality of life was going to be severely restricted.

‘I expect his nephew will want to know exactly what we’ve found,’ Professor Halloran added, ‘although the medical notes he sent us were a good pointer to the cause of the problem.’ He frowned. ‘Ethan Brookes is certainly keen on being kept fully involved, even though he’s living thousands of miles away. Maybe you could explain to him that his uncle will need to take great care with his health over the next few months.’

‘Are you not going to talk to him yourself?’ Amber looked at her boss in surprise.

‘Yes, I will…later. Right now, I have to go back to my pacemaker patient. His needs are greater right now.’ He gave her a beaming smile. ‘Besides, I’ve every confidence in you. Talk to Miss Wyndham Brookes, as well. I’ll speak to both of them this afternoon, when I’m free.’

Amber was glad he had such faith in her to do the right thing, though she suspected it was a ploy…he was a much better surgeon than he was at talking to patients. As to speaking to Martyn’s nephew herself, she was conscious that Ethan wasn’t entirely pleased that she was the one taking day-to-day responsibility for his uncle. He wanted the best…but Professor Halloran was not readily available to be there for him one hundred per cent of the time.

She went back down to A and E and went in search of Martyn’s daughter. She could understand how distressing this situation was for the girl, but the image of James consoling her and leading her away with his arm draped protectively around her had been running through her mind over and over again as if in a film loop these last few hours.

Perhaps she was taking things too personally, though. Wasn’t it entirely natural for any normal, thinking person to want to comfort someone in their hour of need? James was a good, kind man. She ought to be pleased that he was so considerate towards others.

While she had been in the catheter suite, James had apparently been working his way steadily through the mounting list of patients who had arrived at A and E. He met her as she walked over to the central desk in the unit a few minutes later.

‘I picked up this letter for you from your mail box,’ he said, handing her an envelope. ‘It looks official, so it could be news of the job you applied for.’

‘Oh, thanks.’ Amber frowned, looking at the logo on the envelope. He was right…the letter probably contained the information she was waiting for. She glanced up at him. ‘Did you hear anything about the job you were after?’

His mouth made a downward turn. ‘Yes. It turns out I didn’t get the job. The letter was waiting for me when I went back to the mailroom. They appointed another candidate, but wished me luck for next time.’

Amber felt an immediate rush of sympathy for him. ‘Oh, James,’ she said, reaching out to give him a hug, ‘I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted that post. You must be feeling really down about it.’

He nodded briefly, trailing an arm around her in return. ‘I was almost expecting to be turned down, but it came as a shock, all the same.’

‘It must have done. What will you do now?’

He gave a negligent shrug. ‘I’ll have to think about some of the other research projects available. They weren’t nearly as appealing as this one, but at least I stand some chance of getting one of them.’

‘Sorry to interrupt, Amber,’ Sarah said as she approached the desk, ‘but Mr Wyndham Brookes has just been brought back down to his room. His daughter is feeling anxious because he doesn’t look too good…and I think she’s been looking at the medical notes that were sent over from Hawaii—that was never going to make her feel better. Her cousin advised her against it, and so did Professor Halloran, but she was determined to go ahead anyway. Do you want to come and have a word with her?’

‘Yes, of course. I’ll come along right away.’

Amber sent a worried look in James’s direction, but he was already lifting up a patient’s chart from the tray on the desk, and she started to turn, getting ready to walk away with Sarah.

James frowned. ‘I feel sorry for the girl. It’s bad enough that her father has been taken seriously ill, but she’s a long way from home and virtually on her own.’

‘I expect she appreciated you trying to help her,’ Amber murmured. She slipped the envelope into her pocket. If it was bad news about the job she’d applied for, she’d rather deal with it when she was on her own back in her rented apartment. ‘You were very kind to her. I imagine she’ll look to you for help from now on. I heard you telling her that you would be free to talk to her after your shift finishes.’

‘That’s right. Do you mind very much?’ James asked softly. ‘I know we said that you and I would have dinner together later on today, but she’s not coping very well, and I don’t like to leave her without support. Maybe we could all get together to eat. She might appreciate having a woman around.’

‘I’m not so sure about that.’ Amber’s expression was subdued. ‘I don’t think I’m her favourite person at the moment. She was quite distraught, and I had the distinct impression she thought I wasn’t doing enough to help her father. It happens, doesn’t it, when people are ill and the situation isn’t improving?’ She had the feeling that Caitlin had passed that view on to her cousin, but to his credit he hadn’t made any comment on that—to Amber, at least.

She sent James a thoughtful glance. ‘But you go ahead and meet up with her if that’s what you want to do. I have a thousand things to catch up with back at the apartment.’

It might have been her imagination, but she thought she detected a look of relief passing over James’s face. Was he finding it too much of a strain lately, being the second half of a couple? Over the last few weeks she had noticed subtle changes in his manner towards her, though she had tried to tell herself it wasn’t happening. Now it cut her to the quick to have to take on board the changes in him. She didn’t want to believe that their relationship was falling apart, but all the signs were beginning to point in that direction.

‘I might do that, if you really don’t mind? I said I would help her as much as I could.’ He made a fleeting smile. ‘It’s strange, but it appears we have a lot in common. It turns out Caitlin’s studying pharmaceutical sciences and wants to go into clinical research, much the same as me. It’s an odd world, isn’t it?’

Amber nodded. So they were on first-name terms already, were they? Her gaze was bemused as she watched him walk away. She set off with Sarah towards the patient’s private room.

‘I don’t think I would have had the confidence to give him the go-ahead to meet up with another woman,’ Sarah commented in a low voice as they walked along the corridor. ‘Seems like a risky proposition to me.’

Amber gave a shuddery sigh. ‘I’ve a feeling you could be right, but without trust, what is there? If I tried to stop him, it would make me appear selfish and uncaring, and for his part he’d probably end up feeling thwarted and resentful.’

‘You’re too good for this world,’ Sarah commented dryly. ‘In fact, you have a lot in common with Martyn Wyndham Brookes, now I come to think of it. I feel really sorry for him. He seems like such a lovely man. Even though he was very ill when he first came to us, he managed to thank us for what we were doing for him. He was appreciative to all the nurses. He’s one in a million…I suppose it must have been great for his daughter to have him come over to the U.K. to work for a few months while she’s studying here.’

‘I should imagine so. I take it for granted that my parents are fairly close at hand, though we don’t see each other as often as I would like. It must be a bit lonely for Martyn’s daughter, being so far from home.’ Amber was making an effort to put all thoughts of James and her patient’s daughter out of her mind. It was all supposition up to now, and she could be wrenching her heart unnecessarily.

‘A great experience, though, coming to study at one of the best universities around. And she has a dishy cousin keeping in touch with her.’ Sarah grinned. ‘Now, that does make me envious…except I wouldn’t want to be related to him. He’s much more like eligible-bachelor material.’

Amber gave a rueful grin. ‘Are you sure he’s eligible?’

‘Oh, yes. Professor Halloran told me so. The family’s rich, and he’s always in the papers because some flighty madam wants to get her hooks into him.’

Amber gave a dismissive laugh. ‘I don’t believe that for a minute. I have a feeling that he’s way too grounded to allow anyone to take advantage unless he wants it. Just talking to him puts my defences on alert.’

‘That’s because you’re ultra-cautious—and you’re much more of a touchy-feely kind of person. Talking to him via a screen and a microphone isn’t the same as meeting up with someone face to face. Technology just doesn’t do it for you, does it?’

‘You should have been a psychologist,’ Amber remarked with a faint smile. ‘Is he online right now, do you know?’

‘Yes, he is,’ Sarah murmured. Her mouth relaxed into a soft smile. ‘He spoke to me to ask how things were going in the catheterisation suite. I’d have given anything to stay and chat with him,’ she added in an undertone, ‘but his cousin beat me to it, coming into the room and wanting to tell him what she’d heard.’ She rolled her eyes heavenward. ‘He has everything, doesn’t he? Good looks, energy and a fabulous office practically on the beach.’

‘Perhaps he works from home,’ Amber suggested. ‘If his family owns an international fruit-shipping company, it could be that they live on site. Imagine being at work and watching the waves roll onto the beach while you cool down with a glass of something iced and delicious, made by your own company.’

Sarah chuckled. ‘I doubt I’d get very much work done in those circumstances,’ she murmured.

When Amber walked into Martyn’s room a moment later, she saw straight away that he was in a state of exhaustion. Of course, he was still drowsy from the anaesthetic, but the readings from the various monitors showed her that he was very weak and that his heart was struggling. She checked his medication, adjusting the infusion meter, before turning to his daughter, who was sitting, waiting anxiously by his bedside.

The computer monitor with the video link was set up so that Ethan Brookes would be able to see both his uncle and his cousin. Amber did her best to ignore the webcam while she spoke to Caitlin. She was aware of Ethan’s image in the background, though, his features alert, his gaze watchful, and though she nodded towards him briefly out of politeness, she preferred to set about dealing with the flesh-and-blood person who was in the room with her.

‘Professor Halloran asked me to let you know that he removed the blockage in your father’s artery,’ she told Caitlin. ‘His circulation improved right away, and he should soon start to feel much better. Even so, it looks as though there has been extensive damage to his heart, and I’m sorry to say that I don’t believe he will ever regain perfect health. It’s important that you know that.’

Caitlin’s gaze was cool and remote. ‘Wouldn’t he have stood a better chance if he had been operated on earlier?’

It was a faint barb, but Amber deflected it easily enough, knowing that the young woman was deeply upset and trying to come to terms with her father’s illness.

‘No, I’m afraid he wouldn’t,’ she said gently. ‘Your father was already struggling with a heart that had been weakened by an infection of some kind. It must have occurred a while ago, and unfortunately it means his heart muscle is unable to pump at normal strength. The body tries to compensate for this, and as a result fluid builds up in the lungs, liver and legs.’

‘What treatment are you planning on giving him?’ Ethan Brookes’s deep voice cut into their conversation. ‘There are things that you can do to help him have a better quality of life, aren’t there?’

‘Yes, we can certainly do that.’ Amber turned to look at the computer screen. Ethan Brookes’s blue eyes seemed to pierce her like lasers, as though he would accept no prevarication. ‘We’ll give him medication that will enhance the capacity of the heart muscle. Professor Halloran has prescribed a cardiac stimulant. What we want to do is make the heart’s pumping more effective, and at the same time reduce congestion.’

She turned back to Caitlin. ‘I know this is going to be hard for you to accept,’ she said softly, ‘but your father is never going to be the man he once was. He’s very frail and once he’s up and about again he’ll find that he’s short of breath if he tries to do too much. He’ll have to take things slowly and that means he will need a long convalescence.’

Caitlin looked bewildered. ‘He’s never going to tolerate that. He’s always been so vigorous. The business has been everything to him, and I can’t see him sitting back and taking a passive role.’

‘I don’t believe he’ll have any choice,’ Amber said in a quiet voice. ‘He can look forward to a reasonable quality of life if he takes things easy. Perhaps you can help by encouraging him to do that?’

Caitlin looked at the computer screen, sending her cousin a look of complete bewilderment. ‘The business is everything to him,’ she said. ‘How is he going to be able to hand over the reins?’

Ethan’s reply was brisk. ‘I’m his partner,’ he remarked in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘I’ll have to step in and make decisions for him.’

‘But you’ve never been involved one hundred per cent in the business,’ Caitlin protested. ‘How is that going to work? You know what he’s like. He’ll never sit back and allow others to take over.’

‘You’ll have to leave it to me to sort things out,’ Ethan said. ‘I’m more worried about how you’re going to manage. You still have a few weeks to go at university before you have to come home, don’t you? Do you want me to come over and help you out?’

Caitlin shook her head. ‘No, I couldn’t ask that of you. I know how busy you are, and you’ll have even more on your plate now that this has happened. You can’t afford to take time off from your work. I’ll manage. Don’t worry about me. I have friends who will help me to get through this, and it’s comforting to have this link set up so that I’m able to talk to you this way. It helps to put my mind at rest knowing that you’re at the other end of a phone.’

Amber looked at her with renewed respect. Maybe she was growing up fast because of what had happened to her father. She wondered what it was that kept Ethan Brookes so busy, if he wasn’t taking an active role in his uncle’s business. What kind of work was he involved in?

‘Will you keep me informed of what’s going on over there, Dr Shaw?’ His voice cut into her thoughts, and she blinked, looking up at the screen.

‘Of course. I shall take a personal interest in your uncle’s welfare. It may be that once he’s up and about, we can refer him to our rehabilitation unit. They’re very good at helping people to get back on their feet and helping them to learn how to cope with their limitations.’ She studied him briefly. ‘I understand how difficult this must be for everyone to take on board, but if you have any worries or questions, you only have to ask and I’ll do my best to explain things.’