Rapid Response

by Jennifer Taylor

  ‘Not quite. There were down parts to the day, bits that I’d have to award a low score to.’

  Ben sighed because he knew without needing to ask which bits she meant. ‘I feel really bad about what happened today, Holly. All I can say is that I had no idea you were working here when I took this job.’

  ‘I’m sure you didn’t, but would it really have made any difference to your decision, Ben?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ He turned towards her, wishing he knew where the question was leading.

  ‘Would you really have turned it down if you’d known in advance that I was working here? And if so, why?’ She turned as well so that they were facing each other and he could see the intensity in her eyes even though he couldn’t understand the reason for it.

  ‘I’d have thought twice about accepting it,’ he said slowly, watching her face to see how she would react.

  ‘But would you have turned it down in the end?’ she insisted.

  ‘I don’t know.’ He sighed when he saw the scepticism on her face. ‘It’s the truth, Holly. I have no idea what I would have done if I’d known we were going to have to work together. How about you? Would you have still taken the job if you’d realised there was a chance of seeing me again?’

  Ben held his breath. He knew it was silly to attach too much importance to her answer but he couldn’t help it. What it all boiled down to was whether or not Holly disliked him so much that she would have preferred to miss a wonderful career opportunity rather than have to work with him again.

  ‘I don’t know either, Ben, and I suppose it’s pointless talking about it. What’s done is done and we have to live with the decisions we’ve made—past and present.’

  It was less than he’d wanted but more than he’d feared. Ben knew that he had to be content and not press her for anything more. ‘Sounds as though we’re in the same boat.’

  ‘Seems like it. Anyway, I’d better get back. Nicky will wonder what’s happened to me if she gets home and finds me missing.’

  ‘I’ll walk you back,’ he offered at once, but she shook her head.

  ‘There’s no need. I only live across the road and nothing is going to happen to me,’ she said lightly. However, it was obvious that she didn’t want him looking after her. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow at work, I expect.’

  ‘Yep. Expect so.’

  He summoned a smile as she hurried away but it hurt to know how Holly felt about him. She may have allowed him to accompany her along the riverbank but that was as far as she was prepared to go. She didn’t need him in her life and the thought filled him with the kind of despair he’d experienced two years ago when his life had fallen apart. If he could be granted just one wish then he knew it would be to recapture the magic he and Holly had shared, but it wasn’t possible to go back to those days because too much had changed. To put it in the simplest of terms: he was no longer the man he used to be.

  Life could be so bloody unfair at times!

  ‘This is Adrienne Marshall. She’s been suffering from severe abdominal pains during the night. She’s also vomited several times since she was admitted.’

  ‘Thanks, Kwame.’

  Holly smiled at the handsome young black charge nurse as she went into the cubicle. It was just gone six and she’d been on duty for the whole of five minutes when Kwame had asked her to see the patient. The night staff were about to go off duty and there was the usual bustle in the department as the day staff arrived for the change-over. Ben was in a neighbouring cubicle with a three year-old who’d swallowed a bottle of vitamin tablets and the sound of the child’s screams added to the general level of chaos.

  ‘Sorry about the row,’ she apologised, smiling at the young woman on the bed. ‘The little fellow next door is none too happy by the sound of it. I’m Holly Daniels and I’m a doctor. Is the pain very severe?’

  ‘Yes, it’s dreadful and I feel so sick.’ The young woman ran a trembling hand over her damp forehead. ‘I’ve no idea what’s wrong with me because I was fine last night.’

  ‘Do you think it could be something you ate?’ Holly suggested.

  ‘I don’t think so. I had cheese on toast for supper last night and I doubt that’s what has caused it.’

  ‘How about lunch?’ Holly persisted, checking her chart. Adrienne’s temperature had been rather high on admission so she made a note to check it again after she’d examined her.

  ‘A carton of soup and a roll from the coffee-shop next door to where I work. I always go there for lunch because it’s so handy,’ Adrienne explained, looking distinctly green at the mention of food.

  ‘Doesn’t sound as though there’s anything there to have caused food poisoning but we won’t rule it out just yet. Let me take a look at you and see what I can find.’ Holly drew back the sheet and carefully felt the young woman’s abdomen, pausing when Adrienne groaned. ‘Is it very tender there?’

  ‘Yes. And my tummy feels sort of swollen, too.’

  ‘When was your last period? Can you remember?’

  ‘Last week.’

  ‘And you’ve had no bleeding since then?’ Holly continued, mentally running through possibilities such as an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies—where a foetus developed in a Fallopian tube rather than inside the womb—could cause intense abdominal pain like the patient was suffering but was usually accompanied by heavy vaginal bleeding. Adrienne shook her head. ‘No. And I had my appendix out when I was a child, too.’

  ‘Which was going to be my next question, only you beat me to it!’

  Holly smiled as she turned to Kwame and asked him to check Adrienne’s temperature again. She glanced at her notes and frowned as she considered what she’d learned so far. ‘So, no bleeding and no appendix to worry about either. Any signs of diarrhoea?’

  ‘No, thank heavens!’ Adrienne replied with a grimace.

  ‘Mmm, I sympathise.’ Holly laughed. ‘You’ve enough to contend with at the moment without adding to your woes, haven’t you?’

  She paused while Kwame told her the patient’s temperature then continued. ‘Your temperature is certainly higher than it should be and that suggests you may have some kind of an infection. Have you experienced any problems urinating, maybe a burning pain or stinging sensation when you pass water?’

  ‘No, nothing like that. I’ve had cystitis in the past, if that’s what you mean, and this is completely different. I feel so sore…’

  The young woman suddenly broke off and Holly grabbed a dish as she vomited. She handed Adrienne a tissue afterwards and smiled reassuringly. ‘Just try to relax. I’d like to give you an internal examination to see what’s going on. You’ll feel more comfortable if you lie on your back with your legs bent.’

  She made Adrienne comfortable then pulled on some gloves and examined her. It was immediately apparent that her vagina was too tender to carry out more than a cursory check so Holly kept it brief, taking a vaginal swab while she was at it.

  ‘I’m going to arrange for some blood tests to be done, Adrienne,’ she explained while Kwame covered the woman with a sheet. ‘They’ll help to pinpoint the source of the problem. I know you said that you had a period last week but I just want to be sure that you haven’t suffered a miscarriage recently or maybe had a termination.’

  ‘Of course not!’ Adrienne denied, obviously horrified by the suggestion.

  ‘I have to ask these questions if I’m to find out what’s wrong with you,’ Holly explained gently.

  ‘I know and I’m sorry because I didn’t mean to bite your head off like that. I just feel so awful.’

  ‘I understand. Don’t worry about it.’ Holly patted her hand then drew Kwame aside and told him what she needed done. ‘I want a blood test plus a culture from the vaginal swab. We’ll put her on a saline drip and give her broad-spectrum antibiotics for now. Once we know for certain what’s wrong with her, we can tailor the drugs to the infection.’

  ‘What do you think might be wrong with her?’ Kwame asked quietly.
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  ‘I’m wondering if it’s salpingitis. The symptoms certainly point towards it. Severe abdominal pain and vaginal tenderness are classic signs of inflammation of the Fallopian tubes. We’ll need to keep her here while we find out what’s going on so can you check if there’s a bed available in the assessment ward? She’ll also need pain relief while we wait for the lab to get back to us.’

  She wrote down the dosages of the drugs on the chart then went to speak to Adrienne again. ‘We’re going to move you to the assessment ward while we wait for the lab results. Kwame will give you something for the pain so I want you to try and rest. Once the lab gets back to us, we’ll have a better idea what we’re dealing with. In the meantime, is there anyone you’d like me to contact?’

  ‘My boyfriend, Paul Wood. He was away on business last night.’ Adrienne gave her the name and the phone number of the hotel where her boyfriend was staying. ‘He’ll be worried sick when he hears what’s happened to me.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be careful how I break the news to him,’ Holly assured her as she jotted the details on her pad. She left the cubicle and went to the office to make the call. The hotel’s switchboard put her straight through to the man’s room but nobody answered. Holly checked her watch as she hung up. It was barely six-thirty but maybe he’d gone to breakfast early. She made a note to try again later then looked round when Mandy Johnson, the triage nurse, tapped on the door and asked her to see another patient.

  That seemed to set the pattern for the morning because it was non-stop from then on although there were no calls for the rapid response team. Ben was also kept busy so she saw him only briefly in passing, not that she was sorry. She had regretted their walk along the riverbank as soon as she’d got home, and had made up her mind there wouldn’t be a repeat performance. Although nothing had happened, it had left her feeling so on edge that she’d had problems sleeping.

  Of course, her restlessness could have been attributed to excitement at the first day in a new job, but Holly was too honest to pretend that was the real reason. It had been seeing Ben again that had done the damage, working with him during the day then walking with him beside the river last night. At the time she hadn’t given any thought to what she’d been doing but later she’d realised it had been a mistake to spend time with him away from work. She and Ben were no longer involved and she mustn’t forget that.

  Lunchtime arrived at last and Holly was starving as she made her way to the canteen. Mandy had commandeered a table for the A and E staff so she carried her tray over there and plonked herself down on a chair.

  ‘I am bushed! I thought it was tiring yesterday, rushing about all over the place, but it’s been just as bad this morning. What’s going on? Are we giving away freebies to everyone who visits A and E?’

  ‘Some of the people I’ve seen today should sign up for loyalty cards. They spend almost as much time there as I do,’ Mandy remarked with a grin. ‘I don’t know where I’m going wrong. I’ve tried treating them mean but they keep coming back for more!’

  ‘That’s because they need a very firm hand,’ Kwame put in, smiling at the pretty young nurse.

  ‘Shame it doesn’t work with colleagues,’ Mandy retorted, blushing.

  Holly smiled to herself as she peeled the wrapping off a soggy egg and tomato sandwich. It looked like there might be a romance brewing there. She bit into the chewy white bread, thinking about the dynamics of the team. Sean was happily married and so were Max, Helen and Judith—the latter the two senior staff nurses. As for the rest of the team, they were either dating or in long-term relationships. That left just Nicky, Josh, Ben and herself as the odd ones out in the romance stakes. The very nature of their job meant that most people ended up dating someone they worked with, so would Ben and Nicky end up going out together perhaps?

  Holly felt her stomach churn and put her sandwich back on the plate. It was silly to get upset at the thought of Ben dating her flatmate but she couldn’t seem to help it. She glanced round when the canteen door opened and bit her lip when she saw Ben coming in. Was she really over him, or had she been deluding herself?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  BEN could feel the chill in the atmosphere as soon as he sat down. It just so happened that the only free seat was next to Holly and he could feel the frosty vibes flowing his way. He glanced at her and sighed when she deliberately looked the other way. He’d hoped the situation might have improved after last night but obviously not. He’d just have to play Mr Nice Guy a bit longer, he decided as he unravelled his sandwich from its plastic cocoon, and hope she’d realise eventually that she had nothing to fear from him.

  ‘What’s it like?’ he asked, smiling winsomely when Holly reluctantly glanced at him.

  ‘What’s what like?’ she countered in a voice that sounded as though she’d been sucking lemons all morning.

  ‘The sandwich.’ He grimaced as he picked up the two floppy pieces of bread. ‘Although I hardly need to ask when it looks as though it died a painful death a couple of days ago.’

  ‘The food here isn’t too bad normally,’ Mandy put in helpfully. ‘It’s not exactly cordon bleu but it’s palatable—well, most of the time anyway.’

  ‘Sounds like a definite improvement on some of the places I’ve worked.’ Ben took a bite out of the sandwich. ‘I don’t know what they do to the food in some hospitals but everything tastes like boiled bandages. Remember that lasagne they used to serve at the Free, Holly? It was disgusting.’

  He chewed the mouthful of bread then reached for his can of cola and suddenly realised that everyone was staring at him. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, mystified by the expressions on all their faces, all except Holly’s, that was, because he could read her expression without any difficulty.

  Why on earth was she glowering at him like that? Ben wondered, hastily backtracking over the conversation, and bit back a groan of dismay when he realised what he’d said.

  ‘I didn’t know that you and Holly used to work together!’ Mandy exclaimed, obviously voicing everyone’s thoughts.

  ‘Didn’t you?’

  Ben managed a sickly smile but he could have kicked himself for the slip. He had no idea what Holly’s reasons had been for staying quiet about their past relationship but he knew why he hadn’t wanted it to become public knowledge. Snippets of information had a nasty habit of joining up and he didn’t want people finding out what had happened to him. He certainly didn’t relish the thought of the people he worked with feeling sorry for him!

  ‘I don’t suppose it ever cropped up before,’ he said with a determined attempt at nonchalance. ‘It certainly isn’t a secret. We worked together in London for quite some time, didn’t we, Holly?’

  ‘Two years. Ben was a registrar when I was a very young and very naïve houseman.’

  ‘Not that naïve,’ he countered, his smile firmly anchored into place. If she was trying to imply that he’d taken advantage of her then she wasn’t getting away with it. Maybe he had made the running by asking her out but Holly had been just as keen as him to further their relationship.

  The thought of exactly how keen they’d both been made his blood heat but he ignored the rapid rise in his temperature as he turned to her. He was willing to accept the blame for hurting her, but he wasn’t willing to accept that he’d used his age and his position to seduce her.

  ‘You had most of the male members of the department in a spin, as I recall. They were practically falling over themselves to ask you out on a date.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound as though much has changed,’ Lara Walters, one of the junior nurses, put in with a grin. ‘Our Holly still knocks ’em dead. The rest of us don’t get a look in when she’s around!’

  Everyone laughed but Ben was relieved when the conversation moved on to a different topic. He glanced at Holly but she was munching away at her sandwich and ignoring him. It was difficult to tell what was going through her head but he knew that he wouldn’t rest until he’d made sure that she wouldn’t tell
anyone about their affair. When she pushed back her chair, he got up as well.

  ‘I’ll come down with you, Holly. There’s a couple of things I need to ask you about,’ he announced, deeming it wiser not to try to hide the fact that he wanted to speak to her. The more open they were, the less people would speculate. Maybe it was selfish but he desperately wanted to avoid arousing any interest in his private life. Sean knew what had happened but no one else did and that was the way Ben intended it to continue. Discussing how close he’d come to dying wasn’t exactly his favourite topic of conversation.

  ‘I’m going to the loo so I’m afraid it will have to wait until later,’ she replied, picking up her tray and heading across the canteen at a rate of knots.

  Ben quickly loaded his own tray but by the time he’d stacked it in the rack by the door, Holly had disappeared. He hurried into the corridor and caught up with her. ‘Look, this will only take a minute but first I want to say that I’m sorry about what just happened. I didn’t mean to let that slip out.’

  ‘Forget it.’

  She carried on walking, leaving him with little choice other than to follow her. Ben’s mouth thinned because he wasn’t in the habit of trotting after a woman like a wretched lapdog. She pushed open the door to the ladies’ lavatories and disappeared inside but he was damned if he was going to let her escape that easily.

  Ben followed her inside, smiling an apology to a couple of nurses who were on their way out. ‘Sorry about this, ladies. I just need a word with someone.’

  He heard the women laugh as the door swung to and gritted his teeth. Bearing in mind that he’d been anxious to avoid any gossip, he wasn’t exactly making a success of this. It would be all over the hospital by the end of the day that he’d followed Holly into the women’s loos! The thought was like the proverbial red rag to the bull so he was in no mood to compromise when he rounded the corner and was confronted by a furious Holly.

  ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing, Ben? It’s bad enough that you told everyone that we knew one another, but to come trailing in here after me…’