Life Support: Escape to the Country (12 page)

The following Monday Emma woke early, ready to start her first shift in the Birrangulla Base Hospital emergency department. As she left her parents’ house, it was starting to get light. A gentle jasmine-scented breeze caressed her face. She could almost taste the small town serenity that many people dreamed of. How had she allowed herself to get so caught up in the tangled web of city life that she’d forgotten the peace that came with country living?

She walked the couple of kilometers to the hospital with a bounce in her step. Magpies warbled in the gum trees that lined the street and somewhere a dog barked twice and another dog in another yard answered. It had been years since she’d felt so content.

She was excited about her first shift, especially when the director of nursing told her she’d be buddied with Mackenzie Kennedy-Jones. The two women had yet to meet, but it would have only been a matter of time before their paths crossed. Mackenzie had married Kate’s older brother Nathan four years earlier. Nathan Kennedy was a catch. He was also one of those guys you liked the moment you met him. Quiet and unassuming, on the surface he didn’t appear overly driven, but there was a quiet confidence about him that showed he wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted. Which included Mackenzie. He’d had to chase her, and everyone had been thrilled when they’d finally tied the knot.

Mackenzie found Emma in the change rooms five minutes later and introduced herself. “Welcome to the Base,” she said with a warm smile. She tucked a strand of her brown hair behind one ear. “You’ll love working here. The staff are fantastic and we get to see a variety of patients. I hope you’re ready for today. It looks crazy out there. The hospital is full and there are no beds on the wards. We had to keep patients here in the department overnight.”

Emma frowned.

Mackenzie nodded in agreement. “I know it’s not ideal, but what else could be done? We’ll have to get everyone into the wards as soon as management clears beds and before the next onslaught arrives. I hope you don’t mind being busy.”

“Not at all,” Emma assured her.

They commenced their shift with a quick tour and then got stuck into cleaning and restocking the near-empty trolleys and cubicles. Oxygen cylinders lay empty, suction canisters full. There were half-used packets of gauze, used oxygen masks, a trace of smeared blood on the floor. It looked like a war zone after battle. By the time it hit ten o’clock, they had transferred three patients to the medical ward, two were waiting on surgical beds and they had sent another two home. Emma was taking a quick break, knowing the downside of all the empty beds was they could soon be filled with the next influx of patients.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Mackenzie stuck her head into the staffroom. “Break’s over,” she said with a grin. “Come and check out your next patient. He looks like Father Christmas. I’ll take a quick break now while you get him sorted.”

Emma emptied her half-drunk cup of tea down the sink and went back out into the department.

Ned Walker, a local farmer with a bushy white beard, red T-shirt hugging a portly belly and black rubber gumboots, had sustained a shoulder injury. He was sitting in the waiting room supporting his right arm with his left.

“G’day mate. What have you done to yourself?” Emma asked, leading him from the waiting room into an empty cubicle.

“Bloody horse got a fright and pulled back and I wasn’t prepared. The lead rope caught around my wrist.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. It hurts a bit.”

Emma glanced at him as he sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. “I’d say by the look on your face it hurts more than a bit.”

“Yeah, love, you could be right. How long will the doctor be?”

“Shouldn’t be long. We’ll get an x-ray done first while we’re waiting.”

Twenty minutes later the doctor arrived. He was younger than Emma expected. With a flourish, he passed the x-ray films to her. “Have you ever done a shoulder reduction?” he asked without introducing himself.

“No. But I’ve assisted.”

Emma held the x-rays to the light. The rounded ball of the joint had escaped from its hollowed socket, like an egg yanked out of the nest. It was an obvious dislocation.

“Let’s take him into resus and give him some nitrous then shall we?” Before she could reply, the doctor kicked off the bed brakes and dragged the bed out from the cubicle, pulling it toward the resuscitation bay. Emma had to jog to keep up with him. His leather-soled shoes tip-tapped on the worn linoleum floors. What was the rush?

“Does he mean happy gas?” the man asked, looking up at Emma.

The doctor nodded. “It will make you feel lightheaded, but it will dull your pain. I’ll pull on your arm and it will be over before you know it.” He positioned the bed in the center of the resus bay.

“What’s his name?” Ned whispered to Emma with a nod in the young man’s direction.

Emma shrugged and bent closer. “I’ve got no idea.”

Ned raised one hairy eyebrow. “Eh?”

“I only started working here today. I haven’t met him before.”

“He’s too young to be a doctor,” Ned said with a scowl.

Emma stifled a giggle. She had to admit he didn’t look like he’d started shaving yet. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.” She resisted the urge to cross her fingers.

“Right then. Let’s get started,” Dr. Gung-ho announced, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. Even the way he pulled on the rubber gloves was full of dramatic flair and fanfare.

“Ready?”

“Um, give me a minute. I need to get a baseline set of obs first.” She clipped the oxygen saturation probe to Ned’s finger.

The doctor tucked his tie into his shirt then templed his gloved fingers while he waited. She was surprised he wasn’t tapping his foot. Impatience oozed from every pore but she refused to be rushed. She dialed up seventy percent nitrous gas and thirty percent oxygen and checked the scavenger was on before helping Ned position himself as comfortably as possible on the bed. Handing him the mask, she instructed him to breathe in and out normally. Soon his eyes glazed over and his face relaxed.

The doctor grabbed Ned’s wrist and began manipulating it. After thirty seconds he frowned. “They’re not usually that difficult to get back in. What’s your name?” He didn’t look up at her.

“Emma. And you are?”

“Adam. Now, grab his wrist for me, would you, while I put pressure on his shoulder. When I tell you, slowly rotate his arm.”

An internal alarm pinged. This could go horribly wrong. Shouldn’t he get another doctor to assist him?

“How are you doing Ned?” Emma asked. He’d dropped the mask into his lap and closed his eyes. She angled the monitor screen toward her so she could see it better. Emma frowned. “Sats are down to eighty-eight.”

“He’ll be fine. If we hurry and get his shoulder in, we won’t need to worry about his sats.”

“Eighty percent now.” She gently let go of Ned’s arm, reached over, dialed the oxygen to one hundred percent and switched off the nitrous gas.

Adam frowned. “Dial up more oxygen then.”

“Done.” She gently shook Ned’s good shoulder. “Ned?” His oxygen levels were dropping further. She grabbed a non-rebreather mask from the cupboard and fitted it over Ned’s flushed face. He was still unresponsive.

Adam swore loudly. His face was ashen. “Hand me the AirViva,” he snapped. The mood in the room shifted.

Emma handed him the bag valve mask and watched as he awkwardly attempted to fit it over Ned’s mouth and nose. He had it on upside down and she reached over without a word and turned the mask the correct way up. She pulled the bed from the wall and moved behind Ned’s head. Adam was still fiddling with the mask. He’d lost his cool confident persona.

“I can’t get a seal because of his bloody beard. Have you got any clippers?”

“We don’t need clippers. Press harder.” She resisted the urge to show him a better way to hold the mask onto Ned’s face.

“What are his sats now?”

“Seventy percent.”

“I can’t get any air in. I’m going to have to intubate.” Adam’s voice had risen an octave. He continued to squeeze the orange bag, his eyes flicking from Ned to the screen and back.

Ned’s lips were blue behind the mask and Emma had had enough of waiting. She smacked the emergency button and suddenly the room was crowded with people. Mackenzie’s was the first face Emma recognized, filling her with relief. Mackenzie glanced at the patient then glared at the doctor. She cursed softly. “What are you trying to do, Adam? Kill Santa?”

Adam returned Mackenzie’s look with a deep scowl. “Emma, take over bagging him while I set up to intubate.” He dropped the mask and yanked open the top drawer of the large trolley, frantically searching the contents. Mackenzie calmly pressed a plastic guedel airway in Emma’s hand. Emma inserted it gently into Ned’s mouth before standing behind his head and thrusting his jaw forward. Instant success. His breathing improved.

Another doctor stepped in, and with one swift downward pull, she relocated Ned’s shoulder. Emma heard it move into place with a satisfying click.

“I can’t find a size eight tube,” Adam growled, still fumbling around in the drawer. He hadn’t taken any notice of what was going on around him.

“Don’t bother,” Emma said. “His airway is secure and he’s pinking back up. Sats are up to ninety now.”

Ned eventually opened his eyes and looked around at the gathered crowd. He grinned at them. “Did I pass out? That’s what happened after the last time I had happy gas.”

Adam scowled at him. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Ned winked at Emma, then spun to face Adam. With a straight face he said, “You never asked me.”

“Crisis averted. Again,” Mackenzie muttered after Adam stormed from the room and strode up the hallway without a backward glance.

Thankfully doctors like Adam were rare. And thankfully with an attitude like his, he wouldn’t last long in emergency.

*

“G’day sis.”

Emma spun to see Liam approaching from the other direction in front of a trolley.

“How’s your first day? Having fun yet?”

Emma chuckled. “It’s been a crazy shift. One of the doctors almost knocked off Father Christmas.”

Liam laughed. “Was that the bloke with his arm in the sling? I did a double take when I saw him outside.”

“Yeah. He was such a funny character.”

“Well this little poppet right here is another funny character,” Liam said with a smile. He pointed to the young girl strapped flat to the spinal board behind him, her neck encased in a plastic collar. She wriggled her feet encased in leather riding boots and gave a small wave. “She hasn’t stopped talking the whole way here.”

Emma chuckled.

“This is Ruby Henderson,” Liam said softly.

Fear dropped into Emma’s gut. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Just fell off her horse.”

“At Lexton Downs?”

“Yep. That’s where we picked her up.”

“And Tom?”

“Parking the car. He followed us in.”

Emma hadn’t seen him since she’d arrived home two weeks earlier and was suddenly filled with panic. What if he mentioned the kiss?

“What about Christine? Ruby’s mum?” Emma asked.

“Tom called her. She’s on her way in too.”

Emma leaned toward Ruby’s face and gently touched her arm. The eyes staring up at her were the same electric blue as Tom’s. “Hey sweetie, do you remember me? I’m Emma. We met the other day out at Lexton Downs. I’m a friend of your dad’s.”

Ruby nodded vigorously, as much as she was able to with the neck brace in place. She grinned and Emma spotted a missing front tooth. “I fell off Buckley.”

“Where does it hurt?” Emma’s mind raced through worst-case scenarios.

“It doesn’t hurt now but Liam made me wear this stupid bwace.” She scowled and tried to loosen the plastic collar around her chin.

“She might have been knocked out for a little bit,” Liam said. “She’s got a few gaps in the memory about what happened, but then again she’s only five. Kids that age aren’t the best historians.”

“Knocked out
a little bit
? What’s that supposed to mean? She was either knocked out or she wasn’t.”

Liam shrugged. “Hard to know. Tom didn’t see it happen.”

Emma’s mind raced. Possible spinal injuries and definitely concussion. Not a good combination. “Any other injuries?” she asked.

Without an x-ray or CT scan, it would be difficult to tell. Ruby could have internal bleeding. 

Liam saw her worried expression. “Relax Em. She got up and walked across the paddock to catch her horse before Tom could get to her.”

“Why have you collared her?”

“They haven’t changed the protocols. I guarantee as soon as one of the doctors checks her out they’ll clear her c-spine and she’ll be able to sit up. Trust me, she’s more worried her mum won’t let her ride again.”

“Emma. I had no idea you were a nurse.” Tom skidded to a stop beside her.

Emma inhaled the scent of horses and outdoors and tried to ignore how good he looked and how her body reacted instantly to his nearness.

“How was the ambulance ride possum?”

Ruby crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. “Bor-wing,” she drawled.

“Really? Why?”

“Liam wouldn’t put the siren on.”

Liam chuckled. “There was no need to put the siren on, young lady. Besides, no one would have heard it over your constant chatter.”

Ruby scowled again and Emma laughed. “Sounds like you’re a brave girl.”

“Mummy’s going to be soooo mad.”

Tom squeezed Ruby’s shoulder. “Leave your mum to me. We’ll only tell her what she needs to know.”

“I heard that.” Christine strode into the room. She kissed Tom lightly on the cheek before giving Ruby a kiss on the tip of her nose. “What happened to you, little missy?”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I fell off.”

“I gathered that. But how?”

“Buckley pigwooted.”

“Again?” Christine turned to Tom. “Are you sure this is the right pony for her? Did you ever wonder how he got his name?”

Tom took of his hat and dragged his fingers through his hair.

“It’s my fault. I tightened the girth and didn’t walk him around first. Next time I’ll lunge him before Ruby gets on.”