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That wasn’t quite true, though. She would be thinking about work—Candy was seriously thinking of leaving Emergency.
CHAPTER TWO
JUST AS SHE RETURNED from lunch she was informed that Steele’s patient was here but refusing to come inside the department and had requested, loudly, that the ambulance take her home.
‘I’ll come out and have a word with her,’ Candy said as Steele was taking a phone call. She headed out to the ambulance and was met by a teary woman who introduced herself as Catherine, Macey Anderson’s niece.
‘I knew that she was going to do this,’ Catherine said. ‘It’s taken two days to persuade her to come in. She used to be a matron on one of the wards here, and still thinks she is one.’ Catherine gave a tired smile. ‘She was in a few months ago and she was just about running the place by the time she was discharged.’
‘I want to go home,’ Macey shouted as Candy came into the back of the ambulance.
Macey was a very tall, very handsome woman, with wiry grey, curly hair, a flushed face and very angry dark green eyes. She had all her stuff with her, a huge suitcase, a walking frame and several other bags.
‘Mrs Anderson—’ Candy started, but already she was wrong.
‘It’s Miss Anderson!’
‘I’m sorry, Miss Anderson. I’m Candy Anastasi, one of the nurses in Emergency, and I’m going to be looking after you today.’
‘But, as I’ve told everyone, many times, I don’t want to be looked after,’ Macey retorted. ‘I want to be taken home.’
It was all pretty hopeless. The more they tried to persuade her to come into the department the more upset Macey became. The last thing Candy wanted to do was wheel her through when she was distressed and crying and so, instead, she tried another tack, wondering if, given that Macey had once been a matron, she might not want to get another nurse in trouble.
‘Dr Steele is already here to see you,’ Candy said. ‘He’s been waiting for you to arrive. Am I to go in and tell him that I can’t get you to come into the hospital?’
Macey looked at her for a long moment and then she looked beyond Candy’s shoulder and Candy knew, she simply knew, that it was Steele who had just stepped into the ambulance.
‘Is there a problem, Nurse? Only I’ve been waiting for quite some time.’ His low voice sounded just a touch ominous and Candy met Macey’s eyes for a brief moment.
‘No,’ Macey answered for Candy. ‘They were just about to bring me in.’
‘Good,’ Steele said. ‘Then I’ll come and see you shortly, Miss Anderson.’
As he headed back into the department the paramedics lowered the stretcher to the ground and Candy found out perhaps why it was that Steele was so sharply dressed. ‘At least he’s not twelve and wearing jeans,’ Macey muttered.
Candy smiled—yes, Steele’s appearance and authoritarian tone had appeased Macey.
They took Macey into cubicle seven, aligned the stretcher with the trolley, and Candy positioned the sliding board that would help to move the patient over easily. ‘We’ll get you onto the trolley, Miss Anderson.’
‘I can manage,’ the elderly lady snapped, ‘and it’s Macey.’
‘That actually means she likes you,’ her niece said, and gestured with her head for Candy to follow her outside.
‘I’ve got this,’ Matthew, a very patient paramedic, said, and Candy went outside to speak with Catherine.
‘It’s taken two days for her GP to persuade her to come in,’ Catherine said. ‘Honestly, I’m just so relieved she’s finally here. She’s got a temperature and she’s hardly eating or drinking anything. She doesn’t take her tablets or if she does she gets them all wrong...’
‘We’ll go through all of that.’ Candy did her best to reassure Macey’s niece.
‘She’s so cantankerous and rude,’ Catherine said, ‘that she puts everyone offside, but she’s such a lovely lady too. She’s always been on her own, she’s never had a boyfriend, let alone married, she’s so completely set in her ways and loathes getting undressed in front of anyone. You’re going to have a battle there...’
