by Ramsay, Anna
'Back at last, Gertie. We thought you'd got lost.' Tom winked and raised an amused eyebrow as he saw his nurse's shoulders give a huffy little wiggle in response. 'Diana—this is Staff Nurse Wisdom. Gertie, I call her. But Kate is her real name. Gertie, meet Diana Diamond.'
Diana had been eyeing her with a peculiar intensity from the moment she walked through the door. Kate was very aware of that. But now the other woman whipped her legs off the bed and got up. She came over to Kate, right hand outstretched and her grip was firm and friendly as they shook hands.
'I hear you've been marvellous, Kate,' she said warmly.
'That's quite an exaggeration, Dr Diamond.'
'Doctors make terrible patients.' The voice was the same as on television, but Diana in the flesh was … different. And on her, Olwen's favourite perfume was heady and disturbing.
Kate smiled and replied that they said the same about nurses. Tom watched closely as the two women conversed. They made such a contrasting pair. Even her ill-fitting uniform couldn't disguise Kate's pale slender elegance and natural manner. She didn't appear to be overawed at walking into his room and finding herself face to face with the Diana Diamond. She didn't gush or stammer, or in any way seem anything but the same old Gertie.
Pretty cool of her, applauded Tom, considering she's been locked in my bathroom chewing her fingernails to the quick.
Diana was adept at setting others at their ease. She chatted easily to Nurse Wisdom, who was clearly as competent and thorough as Frank and the others had insisted. Nothing to look at, but a good professional nurse with an interesting streak of firmness that was surely in Tom's best interests.
Diana was asking questions about the night of the accident and praising the part Kate had played. Oh yes, she'd heard about it from Professor Davy.
From his vantage point at the apex of a triangle Tom could watch and listen, contrast and compare. Two women who were closely involved with him: the one emotionally, the other professionally.
He concentrated on Diana – who hadn't always been this highly sophisticated woman, creation of her media success. Come a long, long way, hadn't she, he mused, from the nineteen year-old he fell in love with at med school, puppy- fat and all, with her hooting, infectious laugh and effervescent personality.
When Di at first declared she was going in for surgery there'd been the usual jokes about standing her on an orange box so she could see over the edge of the operating table. But she attacked work like a Trojan and she'd been just as driven by ambition; if a woman could make it in surgery it would be Diana Diamond. What no one could have forecast was that inside the extrovert medical student lurked a TV sensation: the most famous woman doctor in the British Isles.
Kate was bowled over by the reality of the woman. She hadn't expected to like her very much, had expected her to be too grand to talk to ordinary RGNs. Diana's amazing! She told herself. Razor-sharp and formidable. About as different from the likes of me as you could hope to find. Perfect for Mr Galvan.
Meeting Diana has been an eye-opener for me. Maybe I'm going about my life the wrong way, being too puritanical about enjoying myself. Maybe I should let a bit of lightheartedness back in, a bit of glamour and fun. Was my life before Dad died so wrong? Wasn't I just young?
With a lump in her throat Kate left Tom's room and walked along corridor B, alert for the next buzzer to be pressed.
It would be a relief to spend some time with the other patients. Oh but she'd be glad when this assignment finished—it was dangerously claustrophobic to be so wrapped up in the welfare of one extremely attractive man. You'd have to be a professed nun, she mused wryly, not to get led into foolish fantasies. Fantasies finally revealed for what they were, with the reality of Diana Diamond.
A light was on in the linen cupboard and a trolley stood just inside the doorway. Kate poked her head in to find Tanya Bird struggling to reach down pillowcases from the top rack. Kate lifted a pile down for her. 'I've come to make myself useful. My patient's got a VIP visitor.'
Tanya looked relieved. 'I've had two patients in for day surgery. They're going home any minute so we can get the rooms ready for tomorrow's admissions.' She dumped a pile of sheets on the trolley and confided with a delighted grin, 'To tell the truth, I'm a bit behind because I've been getting Diana Diamond's autograph. I knew she'd rock up at Maynard sooner or later. I got that book of hers and hid it in here under the towels.'
Kate smiled to herself.
'She is like so stunning! Wonder if she does botox?' Tanya switched off the light and shut the door, and the two nurses set off down the corridor, Kate wheeling the linen skip and following the linen trolley to the first vacated room.
'Offer to show her round Maynard. Go on, Kate. She might like to do a documentary about us. I've never been on telly, have you?' Taking the no for granted, she rattled away about this and that and was like a breath of fresh air after Kate's bathroom drama.
Together they changed beds and swabbed down lockers—it still had to be done even though they had scarcely been touched.
'Mr Hadfield next—haemorrhoidectomy. Oral lubricant prescribed and daily saline baths. We'll just check he's comfortable.' They knocked and a man's cheerful voice bade them enter.
'Hello, lovely nurses,' said the patient, peering at them over a pink Financial Times. 'Do you know, this op's not half as bad as they made out at the golf club. My surgeon says I'll be completely over it within a fortnight.'
Tanya had whipped the metal cap off a bottle of Guinness and was expertly pouring the drink into a tall glass. 'That's right, Mr Hadfield. And in the meantime we want you to drink plenty of these to build you up!'
'Build me up?' exclaimed the big man. 'Strewth! My wife will have something to say about that.'
Kate explained as they tidied the bed that apart from being good for him the Guinness would have a mild laxative effect which would help the sore surgical area. 'Now, are you quite comfortable? Anything else you need? Afternoon tea will be arriving shortly.'
The elderly lady with the cataracts, scheduled for surgery in the morning, was peacefully sleeping, so the nurses didn't disturb her.
Further down the corridor a buzzer sounded and Tanya hurried off to answer it, leaving Kate to change the dressing on Andrew Tate, a university student, still drowsy from the anaesthetic of his sinus operation. He was coughing gobs of blood and mucus into a disposable vomit bowl, and Kate wiped his mouth with a tissue and settled a clean pad under his nostrils, looping the strings over his ears and fastening them beneath his chin. No Hot Drinks, warned the sign above his bed.
'Any pain in your stomach?'
Andrew retched again. He shook his head.
'You don't have to put up with this, Andrew,' said Kate sympathetically. 'I can give you an injection.'
'It's okay,' he spluttered. 'My nose doesn't hurt—just the back of my head.'
'I'm afraid that's the anaesthetic.' Kate checked the drugs chart. 'I see you've been given paracetamol. It will soon take effect.' At this moment the door opened and a tentative middle-aged couple hovered on the threshold.
'Mr and Mrs Tate?' Kate smiled and beckoned them in. 'Andrew's had his surgery. He's feeling a bit rough just now but that will pass. All is well.'
As she hastened down the corridor she realised her own forehead was throbbing, but put it down to the tension of the day. It was time to see to her own patient, VIP visitor or no.
With her fingers resting coolly on Mr Galvan's pulse and a very practised eye following the second hand of her watch, it was difficult to exclude the conversation the two were carrying on as if Kate were just part of the furniture.
'What will you do about supper tonight? Cook yourself something at the flat?'
'I'm dining,' said Diana, 'with the Prof and his wife up in the Cathedral Close. Now that's the sort of house I like. Classic Georgian architecture, full of light and perfectly symmetrical.'
'Thought you two didn't hit it off.'
'We've got something in com
mon now. You, my darling.'
Kate put the top back on her pen and slipped it back into her pocket.
'So you're not staying.'
'Sweetie, you know I would, but I've got to see my producer before the weekend.'
'This woman is obsessed with Work.' Tom was appealing to Kate now. She really wished he wouldn't. Whatever quarrel was brewing between these two, she refused to be drawn into it.
Anyway it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Dr Diamond was leaning back against the windowsill, her hair a burnished halo, swinging a pink suede toe and with a catlike smile on her glossy plum-red mouth. She had a low boredom threshold and restlessness was already gnawing at the edges of her patience. She'd been idle for too long. And though Tom was clearly in one piece and on the mend, he was not half the usual fun caged in a hospital room and with his left arm still in plaster.
His nurse had little to say for herself. Yet Diana sensed a bond of real liking between the two of them. Nothing to worry about, though. Not the sort of woman to divert Tom Galvan. Severe-looking girl; no attempt to make herself attractive.
Just as well, mused Diana, watching the nurse's every move from beneath lowered lids. She knew she'd been lucky so far. Neither of them pretended to be saints, but she was pretty certain Tom was generally far too busy to get involved in anything serious. But he was beginning to turn demanding. Talking of the two of them settling down at Foxe Manor.
Diana didn't want to give in yet: not at the height of her career. No, this girl was safe enough. No competition here.
Kate picked up her tray and was pleasantly surprised to find Diana waiting to open the door for her. She was even more surprised when the doctor suddenly materialised in the treatment room, the smell of her glorious perfume swamping the odour of antiseptic.
Kate breathed it in and said with a sigh, 'I do love your scent – it's Joy, isn't it.'
Joy. Said to be the most expensive parfum in the world.
And with that one innocent remark, Dr Diamond got the first inkling that where Kate Wisdom was concerned, she just might have made an important error of judgement.
Chapter Eight
'Yes,' agreed Diana, raising a feathery eyebrow in surprise. And how come a little country nurse knows about a rare scent like Joy? queried her speculative stare.
Kate recognised 'Joy' all right – her stepmother's signature perfume, bought for Olwen by the indulgent Archie Wisdom who was deeply proud of his singer wife.
Was it still the most expensive scent in the world? Kate had been too long away from the action to have a clue.
Diana was thinking fast, something her fine brain was ultra good at. Ok Tom's pet nurse, you're more street-wise than you look. And you're not overawed by me, are you. My media fame usually gets people all excited and nervous… Not you, though, Nurse Kate, you're getting on with your work as cool as the proverbial cucumber.
Diana continued to stare, arms folded, narrowed eyes fixed on the other woman. My career is at its peak. This is no time to tie myself down. But I do want to hang on to Tom. Together we're an attractive and newsworthy couple. Give me two or three more years and I'll give you a nice Hello! magazine six-page celebrity-stuffed wedding spread which will pay to bring Foxe Manor into the twenty-first century.
Tom's getting restless though. That brush with death has changed him. He wants to turn Foxe Manor back into a family home, fill it with kids and dogs and all that jazz… My man could be fair game for a woman who plays her cards right. Maybe Frank's plan isn't so good after all. Maybe I should be watching my back …
Being scrutinised by a critical woman didn't faze Kate, long accustomed to having all eyes on her as she stalked the catwalk. But she was puzzled. The doctor must have followed her in here for a reason. Could it be she was unhappy about Tom's progress? Well it wouldn't hurt to remind Dr Diamond that he'd been through hell and was on the way back!
Kate launched into a matter-of-fact description of all the injuries to Tom's body, those that had healed, those that were still healing. 'When things looked black Mr Galvan became severely depressed and frustrated. I'm sure you've heard how he got that out of his system by giving the nursing staff hell. Still blows his top occasionally!' Kate smiled at the thoughtful doctor. 'But he's much calmer now and that's because he's making such good progress. I'm sure you've spoken to the team looking after him and they've confirmed it.'
She was conscious of Diana's foot tapping irritably. The doctor probably thought Kate was speaking out of turn.
In fact, Diana was wrestling with the problem of whether to go ahead and say what she had come to say.
Kate continued her impassioned defence of her patient. 'Though Tom can't operate, he's running the entire neurosurgery department from Room 27. I don't like it, but I can't stop him. In they troop, bringing him all their germs. It does make me cross!'
She hadn't noticed she'd said 'Tom' with such familiarity. Diana heard it all right.
Kate's eyes returned stare for stare.
So don't be impatient with him for turning out to be as human and vulnerable as the next man. Love him in sickness, Dr Diamond, as well as in health. And don't come here on a flying visit to unsettle my patient and make him uncertain of your future together.
More than ever Tom needs your love, read the clear message in her intent brown eyes.
Diana was intrigued. Intrigued, and more disturbed than ever. This nurse was totally involved with her patient's recovery. Maybe, she asked herself, you're looking for trouble where there's none at all. Wisdom's St Crispin's-trained, isn't she, and according to everyone first-rate at her job.
The Nursing Process taught today's graduate nurses to use their intelligence. To consider the psychological effects of illness, and how circumstances might affect a patient's behaviour. Tom's case, thought Diana shrewdly, must be unusually complicated and interesting. But that didn't mean Wisdom was ready to jump into bed with the guy, for pete's sake. You only had to look at her - she was no femme fatale! With this girl playing watchdog, Diana wouldn't need to worry about Tom during this vital stage of convalescence.
Yes, this was the obvious - the only - way forward. Get it over with now and she could leave in the morning with a clear conscience.
'Look here, nurse, would you be prepared to go home with your patient when he is discharged?'
Oh-oh! said Kate to herself. Here it comes. Thanks for nothing, Professor Davy, I read what you wrote in Tom's notes and I said to myself at the time, no way José!
'I believe you finish on Maynard when your patient leaves. And that you're not due for a staff contract until the first of July.'
This was news. Kate raised an eyebrow to indicate her surprise that Dr Diamond should be so much better informed about her future than she was herself.
'Of course,' suggested the other mockingly, 'you may feel you need a holiday after such a difficult patient.'
'I've got two weeks owing to me,' agreed Kate slowly, 'but I hadn't really made any plans.' She stood with her hands clasped over her plastic apron, her lowered eyelashes concealing her expression while Diana continued her impatient foot-tapping.
'We can give you twenty-four hours to come to a decision. Professor Davy is quite definite that Tom must not go back to Foxe Manor unless he's accompanied by a private nurse.'
Kate frowned. Dr Diamond was really piling on the pressure.
'It's a beautiful spot,' put in Diana craftily, 'quite off the beaten track and very tranquil. Just the sort of place to convalesce—so long as Tom doesn't overdo things. Which he will, of course, you can bet on it. Fall off a horse or something and break the other arm. He thrives on risk. I guess that's what makes him such a brilliant neuro-surgeon.'
Kate sighed at the mental vision of herself hanging on to Tom's bridle and shrieking 'Over my dead body, Mr Galvan!' More hassle. 'I'll need a ball and chain,' she murmured pessimistically.
Diana dived in triumphantly. 'You'll take the job, then. Great. That's se
ttled.'
* * *
It was just about warm enough to eat al fresco that evening. On the little terrace was a round garden table with two chairs. 'It's your favourite,' said Kate happily, giving James a large portion of spinach and mushroom lasagne. 'Help yourself to salad – it's my first home-grown lettuce, really sweet and tender.'
James was staring at his plate as if his appetite had disappeared. Kate looked anxiously at his drawn face. 'Do you think I shouldn't go to Foxe Manor with Mr Galvan? It's only a half-hour drive down the motorway, you know. I'm bound to get some time off.'
'Heavens, no. It shows how highly they think of you. Besides, you've been looking peaky. Some fresh country air will do you good. I was just thinking … oh, that one way or another it's been a difficult day.'
Kate laid a gentle hand on his wrist. 'Do you want to tell me about it?' she asked. This was what couples did: they shared their worries and comforted each other. If James moved in, it would be like this all the time. She wanted him to realise this.
'Oh it's the futility of it. In the post-mortem room I removed healthy kidneys that could have saved two lives. But - ' he gestured helplessly with outspread hands, 'the family refused permission for them to be used.' Furrows scarred his brow and his eyes were red and tired. 'When I think of those poor things up on the renal ward.'
They both stared at their plates as if the food had turned to sawdust.
'I sometimes wonder,' he continued slowly, 'if I'm doing anything useful at all.'
'James, you can't seriously mean that!' Kate clutched at his arm. 'Pathology tests are totally necessary for the work the clinicians are doing. Doctors like you are indispensable.'
He put his hand over hers and managed a smile. 'How long do you think you'll be tied up with Galvan?'
'Just till the plaster comes off. I won't be needed after that.'
'Listen Kate, you've had no break and you were on duty all over Christmas and New Year. You must take a proper holiday before you sign any permanent contracts. You'll get burnout if you don't take a breather.'