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The tricky business of getting Dave out from where he lay on the floor of the ambulance and onto a gurney was accomplished with the minimum of fuss. His colleagues carried him carefully to the entrance of the A and E department, Lucas walking on one side, keeping pressure on his chest, and Thea on the other.
Jake Turner was ready for them inside, ushering them to a cubicle. Thea waited patiently, concentrating on her part of the effort to keep Dave alive for long enough to get him to surgery. When her turn came to be relieved of her duties, her arms would hardly respond from the effort of keeping them in one place for so long.
‘Okay, we’re going to take him down now.’ The beep of the monitor, assessing Dave’s heart rate, was fast but reassuringly regular. Intravenous drips were already in place, and Jake had assessed all Dave’s injuries. ‘Good work, everyone.’
It had taken three quarters of an hour and seven people, all working together, to get Dave this far. They’d bought enough time to give the surgeons and the intensive care staff a chance to do their work.
‘Okay?’ Lucas had stripped his surgical gloves off and was washing the blood from his forearms, using the basin in the now-empty cubicle.
‘Yeah.’ Thea realised that she was trembling. ‘Just a bit stiff.’
‘I’m not surprised, the way you were bent over.’ He pulled a towel from the dispenser, leaving the tap running so that she could wash. ‘You know him?’
‘I’ve seen him around, that’s all.’ She heaved a sigh. ‘He’s one of us, though.’
‘Yeah. Makes it harder. Knowing that everyone’s going to have an opinion by tomorrow, whatever you do.’
She shivered. ‘Don’t.’
He was wiping his hands, looking at her thoughtfully. ‘Doing something is the reason we became doctors.’
Thea had thought that in Bangladesh. She’d done something when no one else would, and had been condemned for it.
‘Yeah.’ She shook her head. This was an entirely different situation. Lucas had been there and he’d been with her all the way. And Dave was in surgery now, with a good chance of pulling through.
‘Cup of tea?’
‘I want to wait, see if there’s any news.’
‘That’s what I thought. So we’ll have a cup of tea while we do it.’ A commotion from outside made Lucas’s head jerk round and he strode to the door of the cubicle. As he opened it, Lisa’s voice rose above the others’.
‘How many times have I got to tell you? I’m all right. I’m going…’
One of the A and E nurses was trying to pacify her. ‘You need to wait here until a doctor can see you. And everyone’s busy right now.’
‘Yeah, well, I’ve got somewhere I need to be right now. And I’m quite capable of working out if I have a concussion.’
‘No, Lisa, you’re not. I know you think you’re okay, and you probably are, but you’ve just been in a major accident. If it was anyone else, you’d be the first to tell them that they needed to see a doctor.’
The nurse wasn’t having much success. Lisa had turned abruptly away from her and was about to walk away when Lucas blocked her path.
‘Hi. I happen to be a doctor.’
* * *
Thea supposed that she really should have done the examination herself, as she was employed by the hospital and Lucas wasn’t. But Lucas had exactly what Lisa needed at the moment, an easy, joking manner and the ability to make her see sense without ramming the regulations down her throat.
‘Wait…’ He was working carefully and thoroughly, and had got to the point of checking the reaction of Lisa’s pupils to light. ‘Don’t look up until I tell you.’
‘You were about to tell me.’ Lucas and Lisa had been battling their way through the whole examination.
‘No, I wasn’t.’ He paused for about two seconds. ‘Look up, please.’
‘Everyone loves a smart-arse.’ Thea suppressed a smile as Lisa took the words right out of her own mouth.
‘Yeah, and everyone loves a patient who knows better than they do.’ Lucas chuckled.
‘I’ve had a few of those in my time.’
