The Taming of Dr. Alex Draycott (13 page)

‘Is it safe for me to come in or are you likely to throw things at me?’ he asked, making a show of protecting himself with his hands.

‘I don’t find any of this the least bit funny,’ she said in a dry tone.

‘No, actually, neither do I.’ He glanced at the computer monitor. ‘I should say, though, it might not be wise to send off emails while you’re upset.’

‘Are you saying you don’t trust my judgement?’

‘I didn’t say that.’ He came and perched on the edge of her desk and she shot him a cool glance. ‘I’m just warning you, that’s all,’ he murmured, ‘in case you might do something you come to regret.’

‘I don’t regret any of my actions. Perhaps Dr Langton will think things through, though, after my visit to his office.’

Callum winced. ‘You’ve been to see Dr Langton?’

‘I have.’

‘Was that wise?’

‘I’ve no idea. It felt pretty good to me at the time.’ She sent him a thoughtful glance. ‘Have you come here to discuss my actions, or are you looking for a rundown on the latest management diktats and offerings?’

He frowned. ‘And what would they be?’

She braced her shoulders. ‘Here, I have a list. Perhaps you’d like to give me your opinion.’ She pushed a piece of paper across the table to him. ‘From now on, the pharmacist is going to pass to me any requests for prescription drugs that don’t fit the criteria of generic or are expensive where cheaper versions are available. No more trying to sneak around the protocol and think it won’t be noticed.’

He had the grace to look uncomfortable at that and she gave him a wry smile before going on. ‘Another change that’s about to happen—the cleaning contract was put out to tender, and a new team will be starting next week. I’m hoping everyone will do their best to make them welcome. And the cafeteria and restaurant likewise—they are being operated under new budgetary restrictions. But I’m sure people will find the meals just as nutritious and satisfying as before.’

She hesitated briefly, letting her words sink in. ‘So, what do you think?’

He studied the paper in silence for a moment or two, and then said flatly, ‘And those are just the tip of the iceberg. There are several more items written down here.’

‘True.’

He raised dark brows. ‘I hardly know what to say. I think you’re formidable…like a steamroller.’

‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ She made a fleeting smile. ‘I think I’m quite pleased about that.’

His mouth twisted. ‘It wasn’t intended as a compliment.’

She shrugged and made a face. ‘Perhaps it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Was there anything else I can help you with?’

He put up his hands as though to ward her off. ‘I don’t think so. I can see that you’re not in an altogether receptive mood, and I guess this is quite enough for me to be going on with.’

He left the room and Alex slumped back in her chair. She stared at the door long after he had gone. She felt as though all the air had left her body, and now she was thoroughly deflated.

She was utterly alone. The one man who had promised to support her, to be there for her, had gone and left her to her own devices. It all came down to a question of loyalty, didn’t it? And it was beginning to look as though that was something that was distinctly lacking in their relationship.

A
LEX
stayed in her office for another half an hour, ostensibly dealing with managerial tasks, until the sounds of activity beyond her door intruded on her and drew her back into the mainstream of activity. She started working her way through the list of paediatric admissions, and when she was satisfied that their treatment was under way and all the necessary tests had been done, she went over to the reception desk.

‘This has just arrived with the latest batch of lab reports,’ Callum said, passing her a sheet of paper. He looked at her cautiously, as though trying to assess her mood. ‘It’s the test results for young Rachel.’

‘It’s about time,’ Alex acknowledged. ‘When I checked on her in the assessment ward first thing, she was still very poorly. The antibiotics don’t seem to have done much to help, but at least her temperature’s down and she’s had no more seizures.’

He nodded. ‘According to this report she has viral meningitis and encephalitis, but at least now we can start her on antiviral medication. I’m proposing to use acyclovir.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Does that meet with your approval, or will the pharmacist be blacklisting me?’

She scowled. ‘Let’s not resort to childishness, shall we?’

His mouth twitched. ‘Sorry, obviously you need a little longer to get yourself back in the right frame of mind. Maybe coffee would help?’

‘Or perhaps getting on with the task in hand would do the trick.’ Her grey eyes flashed with renewed vigour. She wasn’t going to let him ply her with coffee and coax her into submission. ‘Isn’t there a patient waiting in treatment room three? A small child, so I guess that’s probably one of mine.’

He nodded. ‘I looked in on him earlier, and sent him for an X-ray. He should be back from there by now.’

She shot him a quick glance. ‘Do you want to keep this case?’

He shook his head. ‘I have to see a cardiac patient. Anyway, I’d better not get any more involved with young Kyle. His parents were bickering about the ruination of their holiday… I could feel myself getting hot under the collar at their attitude, so perhaps it would be better if you take over. I wouldn’t trust myself not to say something untoward.’

Alex was astonished. ‘Hot under the collar—you? That doesn’t sound like the man I know. You’re always calm and relaxed, no matter what happens.’

‘Not this time. In fact, I may already have gone too far.’

She gave a wry smile. ‘It looks as though we’re both having one of those days.’

He nodded, and threw her a quick glance. ‘It must be something in the air.’ He picked up a chart. ‘But, seriously, you have a different way of looking at things, and maybe you’ll manage the situation better. Perhaps I could look in on you later, and see how things are going?’

‘Okay.’ She was glad to be able to get back to work. It was what she knew best, and while she was with her patients at least she didn’t have time to think about annoying administrators or wonder about how Callum managed to get under her skin and cause her emotions to ebb and flow like mercury.

Her patient was a young boy, six years old, tousle haired, with tearful blue eyes. A nurse had placed a supportive sling around his arm, but he looked thoroughly miserable.

‘I don’t know what we’re doing here,’ his father told her. ‘There’s nothing wrong with him. He just had a bit of a fall, that’s all. He should have been looking where he was going, and then he wouldn’t have tripped over. Anyway, he’s done it before, and he’s been fine afterwards. His mother’s mollycoddling him, insisting on bringing him here.’

‘A bit of a fall that has left him unable to use his arm,’ Alex remarked in a blunt tone. ‘I believe that’s something that needs investigating.’ She glanced at the boy and saw that a single tear was sliding down his cheek. ‘And I have to ask you to think carefully about what you’re saying, Mr Dunbar,’ she added quietly. ‘Your son is obviously very upset. I’d prefer we keep things calm and try to soothe him as best we can while we find out what is wrong.’

‘More mollycoddling.’ He strode across the room and stood by the window as though to distance himself from proceedings.

Alex went over to the boy. ‘Hello, Kyle,’ she greeted him. ‘I’m Dr Draycott, and I’m going to have a look at you and see what we can do to make you feel better.’ She gave him a reassuring smile. ‘Has the nurse given you something for the pain?’

He nodded. ‘She gave me some tablets.’

‘And are they helping?’

‘Yes, a bit.’

‘Hmm.’ She gently examined his arm, frowning when she discovered she couldn’t feel the distal pulse. It was possible that a major artery was being constricted. ‘There’s quite a bit of swelling there,’ she said, ‘so I think we’ll give you some medicine to help bring that down. Just excuse me for a moment, while I go and find a nurse to organise it.’ Once the inflammation had settled down, it was quite possible that the pulse would be restored. If not, she would have to apply forearm traction as an emergency measure.

Katie was with another patient, but she agreed to bring the medication as soon as she had finished. ‘I’ll be with you in a few minutes,’ she said. ‘We’re rushed off our feet here.’

‘I know. I appreciate what you’re up against.’

Going back to Kyle, she found his father pacing the room impatiently. ‘We’ve been here for hours,’ he complained.

Alex checked the waiting-time log. ‘An hour and a half, to be exact,’ she murmured. ‘And in that time Kyle has been assessed by the triage nurse, looked at by a doctor, received painkillers and has been to Radiology for an X-ray.’

His mouth flattened. ‘We were supposed to be setting out to meet up with relatives,’ he said, ‘my brother and his wife and their children. We were already late to begin with. They’re coming all the way from London. Can’t you just give him some more painkillers that we can take along with us? He’s got his arm in a sling. Why do we have to hang around? What’s the problem?’

Alex brought the image of the X-ray film up on the computer monitor. ‘There’s the problem,’ she said, pointing to an area of bone around the elbow. ‘It isn’t very clear on this film, but I believe it’s what we call a supracondylar fracture. These things can be quite complicated, and need careful attention.’

She examined the boy once more, worried that there might have been damage to nerves in the arm, or vascular injuries. She looked up as Katie came into the room, and smiled in acknowledgement before turning back to her patient. ‘I’m going to ask another doctor to come and take a look at you, Kyle,’ she said gently. ‘He’s a doctor who knows all about bones and joints and how to put them right.’

Kyle’s father made an explosive sound of exasperation. ‘Another doctor? What’s going on here? You’re a qualified doctor, aren’t you? Or aren’t you capable of deciding what to do about it yourself? It’s not that difficult, is it? He’s always falling over or getting into scrapes. It’s never anything serious. It’s just how he is. He’s clumsy.’

Kyle’s bottom lip began to tremble, and tears washed his eyes once more. Alex stood up. Enough was enough. ‘I can see this is a trying time for you, Mr Dunbar,’ she said, ‘so I’m going to ask you to leave. Kyle is obviously upset and I’m afraid your attitude is not helping. Perhaps you would care to go and get a cup of coffee in the waiting room just across the corridor?’

‘No, I wouldn’t.’ He glowered at her.

‘No? Then I’m afraid you leave me no option but to call Security and have you removed,’ she said, stepping closer to him and speaking quietly so that Kyle would not hear. ‘Your son is in a great deal of discomfort, he has a broken elbow, which may require surgery, and I need to be able to concentrate on my work. I’m sure, when you’ve had time to think things over, you’ll come to realise that your child’s health and well-being is far more important than you being late for a meeting.’ She studied him for a moment or two. ‘So, have you made your decision? Which is it to be? Do I call Security?’

He face was a rigid mask as he turned away from her and walked briskly out of the door. He didn’t even look back to see if his wife was following.

‘I must apologise for my husband,’ Mrs Dunbar said, hurriedly. She was a thin, fair-haired woman, with blue eyes and features that closely resembled those of her son. ‘He’s been under a lot of pressure lately, but I’m sure he’ll calm down before too long. A whole lot of things have gone wrong today, and he’s a little uptight about this meeting with his brother and his family. They haven’t seen each other for some time.’ She gave Alex a quick look. ‘I hope it’s all right if I stay?’

‘Of course. I’m sure Kyle will be glad of it.’

Alex went over to the phone at the side of the room to call for an orthopaedic surgeon to come and look at Kyle’s arm. Katie was smiling, and as she came alongside her to prepare the boy’s medication, she said softly, ‘That was very well done, Alex. You and Callum must be two of a kind. The only difference is that Callum wasn’t going to call Security, he was going to do the job himself until the man backed down.’ She shook her head. ‘It makes you wonder why some people bother to have children.’

‘That’s true.’ So Callum had squared up to him? She couldn’t imagine him doing anything so aggressive. It was so unlike him.

Alex went back to her young patient. ‘It looks as though you’ve broken a bone in your elbow, Kyle,’ she told him, ‘and things are a bit out of place there, so a doctor needs to put them right for you. I think what will probably happen is that Mr Adams will come along and fix things for you. He’ll give you something to make you go to sleep, so that you won’t feel anything while he does it.’ She looked at him. ‘Is there anything you’d like to ask me?’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Okay.’ She turned to his mother. ‘What about you, Mrs Dunbar? Do you have any questions?’

‘Only one, really…do you have any idea how long will it be before his arm is better?’

‘I couldn’t say for certain…it really depends what Mr Adams, the surgeon, makes of it…but it’s a longish job. It could be up to twelve weeks before function is restored, and overall it might take six months before things are completely back to normal.’

‘Oh, dear.’ Mrs Dunbar put an arm gently around her son. ‘Not to worry, Kyle. Everyone’s going to take good care of you here.’

‘But Dad doesn’t believe me.’ Kyle hiccupped and chewed at his lower lip, still distressed. ‘He thinks I’m making it up.’

‘And your dad’s going to be very sorry when he realises that you’ve really hurt your arm.’

Callum came to see how things were going some time later when Mr Adams was making his assessment.

‘Luckily, he’s had nothing to eat or drink for a few hours,’ the surgeon said, taking Alex and Callum to one side after he had spoken to Kyle’s mother, ‘so I’ll see him up in Theatre in about half an hour. And we’ll admit him for observation. I don’t foresee any problems, but you never know with these things.’

‘Thanks,’ Alex said. ‘I’ll make the preparations.’

She left the room with Callum some time later, leaving the boy in Katie’s capable hands.

Callum checked his watch. ‘It’s getting late. Shall we go and get some lunch? There’s nothing urgent going on here, and you look as though you could do with getting away from the hospital for a while.’ He glanced at her. ‘You’re a bit pale, and I guess being here isn’t helping very much. I know a pub not too far from here where they do a great lasagne—their honey-glazed ham is delicious, too. What do you say?’

She thought it over, but prevaricated. ‘It sounds good, but I’m waiting for news about my brother. He took a turn for the worse this morning, and I want to be on hand in case they get back to me.’

He sucked in a sharp breath, his blue gaze running over her features. ‘Alex, I’m sorry. You didn’t say a word… I wish you’d told me, instead of trying to cope on your own. What is it…his lungs? You said the doctors thought he was fighting an infection, didn’t you?’

She nodded. ‘But I think this is something more. The nurse said they were worried about him. She’s going to let me know if there’s any news.’

His mouth firmed. ‘This is all the more reason for you to get away for a while. I think you’ve had about as much as you can handle for one morning. The pub is only a ten-minute drive away. We’ll come back the instant we hear anything.’

‘And what about A and E? Oughtn’t we to stay around?’

‘You’re entitled to a proper break. There’s another consultant on duty, plus the registrar, and in any case, we can be reached by phone. Katie will let us know if she hears of anything major coming in. Besides, you’re not even supposed to be on clinical duty this afternoon, are you? This is one of your management days, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, it’s true.’ She sighed. ‘You know, I think you’re right, I could really do with getting away for a while, but I can’t help thinking it would be unwise to leave the hospital grounds right now. At the same time, I feel as though I’m on a roller-coaster ride, going up and down and round and round, and now, all of a sudden, I just want to get off.’

‘Then that’s exactly what you’ll do.’ He took hold of her arm and led the way along the corridor to the main doors, stopping off on the way at the main desk to tell the clerk where they were going. Alex felt a strange sense of relief that he was taking charge.

They walked out to the car park. ‘You’re positive it isn’t far away?’ she said, a frown creasing her brow.

‘I am.’ He held open the car door for her, and she slid into the passenger seat, leaning back against the soft leather upholstery, relaxing in the sheer opulence of this luxurious vehicle. It even smelled new, and she closed her eyes and breathed in the subtle fragrance of expensive leather and wax polish.

They drove for a while through the Quantocks, past heather-clad moorland and rolling hills, where sparkling streams meandered by scattered villages and small hamlets. Soon they reached a charming country inn, and Callum drew the car to a halt on the forecourt.

‘It’s lovely,’ Alex said, stepping out of the car and gazing around in wonder. ‘Just look at that open countryside. It’s so peaceful.’

‘I thought you’d like it. Come inside, and we’ll see if we can find a table by the window. The service is pretty good here. You don’t usually have to wait too long for your meal.’