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'Well, I'll arrange for you to have a series of X-rays, take some bloods and do a trace of your heart, and then I'm going to refer you to the orthopaedic team because they're the experts. Would you like something for the pain, Mrs Weston?'
'Yes, please. If it's not too much trouble.'
'It's no trouble,' Keely assured her quickly, popping her head around the door of the cubicle to look for Nicky. 'I just need to find Sister and then we'll give you something.'
She found Nicky, arranged for her to give Mrs Weston something for the pain and then completed the X-ray request form.
No sooner had the old lady been transferred to the ward than another victim Of the icy roads was rushed in by ambulance.
This time Zach took charge and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the young motorcyclist was badly injured. His leathers were badly torn and he was obviously in severe pain.
'OK, let's get his leathers off and see what we've got.' Zach was his usual cool, professional self and Keely found it hard to believe that this was the same man who could kiss a woman senseless. It was as if there were two completely different sides to him. The trouble was, she loved them both. 'Let's give him oxygen and get a line in, please—we need U and Es, FBC and blood sugar, and cross-match four units of blood.'
With the severity of injury it was highly probable that the man was going to need a blood transfusion.
Keely inserted a large-bore intravenous cannula and attached it to an infusion of saline.
Zach glanced up from his examination. 'I'm going to do a femoral nerve block to relieve the pain.' .
Anticipating his request, the A and E sister passed him a 21-gauge needle with syringe and Keely watched while Zach palpated the femoral artery and then inserted the femoral nerve block.
'Right, let's sort put this traction—it'll help his pain and his blood loss and make it easier to move him to X-Ray.'
The A and E team splinted the man's leg, checked the pulses in his foot and then transferred him to the orthopaedic team.
'I'm jolly glad I'm not in the orthopaedic team today,' Keely muttered as she helped clear up the mess in Resus. 'They haven't had a moment to breathe since we started work.'
'You should see the fracture clinic,' Nicky agreed, attaching a giving set to a bag of saline in preparation for the next emergency to be brought through the doors. 'I've lost count of the number of Colles' fractures they've seen today. Why do people always put their hands out when they slip?'
'Well, it's either that or they bang their heads,' Zach pointed out dryly, tossing his gloves in the bin. 'They've got to fall on something. At least the wrist is neat and relatively quick to deal with.'
There followed a light-hearted conversation about which bits of the body each of them would like to break most or least and then they were all called away again to deal with a head injury.
By the time Keely arrived home she was totally exhausted and she flopped onto Phoebe's bedroom floor to read her a story.
'Keekee poorly.' Phoebe stroked her head gently and Keely grinned up at her.
'I'm not poorly, minx. I'm just totally exhausted. Partly because thinking about your gorgeous daddy keeps me awake at night and partly because of my job, which wears me out during the day.'
She gave a groan, kicked off her shoes and stretched out on the cushions. 'Right. Which book are we having?'
Phoebe plodded over to her bookcase, stared at the contents and then tugged out a book, sending a shower of other books tumbling over the cheerful blue carpet.
Keely gave a groan but was too exhausted to get up and put all the books back. There was always tomorrow. Instead, she held out her hand and took the book from the mischievous toddler, snuggling the little girl into her lap.
'Mmm, you smell good,' she murmured, burying her face in the blonde hair and breathing in deeply. 'You smell of baths and babies and nice things like that.'
Phoebe frowned and pushed the book into her chest. 'Read,' she said firmly, and Keely saluted quickly.
'Yes, boss.'
She opened the book and started to read, totally absorbed in the wonderful pictures and the clever rhymes.
By the time she'd finished t
he book Phoebe was yawning, and Keely lifted her up and put her in the cot.
'There we are. Night-night.'
