Her Unexpected Family (ebook)

Argumento de Her Unexpected Family (ebook)

Nurse Tessa Calvert loves her work and as she is a trained counsellor she also loves her part-time job as an 'agony aunt' on local radio. She is horrified when she is accused of giving foolish advice to an awkward teenage girl - especially when she discovers that the girl is Lucy Armstrong - the daughter of James Armstrong , her new boss in A and E.

Tessa manages to becomes friends with Lucy and to help her, much to the delight of James. He admires Tessa for her professional skills - but also feels a growing attraction to her. She feels the same way. However, when Lucy falls seriously ill, Tessa is persuaded that the best thing to do would be to leave her job and leave James. He finds her, convinces her that she is wrong.

Just an ordinary afternoon.

Not that there were any ordinary afternoons in Halstead Hospital Accident and Emergency Department. They were all frantically busy. There had been no chance for Staff Nurse Tessa Calvert to have even a drink since the fifteen minutes she had allowed herself at lunchtime. The triage nurse had kept her busy.

She was working with her friend Jack Harris the young senior house officer. Together they had dealt with a young woman with a badly scalded arm the kettle handle had come off. Fortunately only the epithelial layers of skin were affected so she was treated with analgesics, aspiration of the blisters, and Flamazine dressing.

Then there had been the boy playing football in the street. He had tripped and fallen, using an outstretched hand to break the fall. So he had broken his wrist and it needed attention.

Eighty-six-year-old Emily Brice had collapsed in the street outside her house and been brought in by a number of concerned friends and relatives. Jack thought she had suffered a TIA a transient ischaemic attack. After taking a detailed history they had admitted Emily for further investigation. This wasn't made easy by the fact that Emily was demanding to go home, and her relations were demanding an explanation of what was wrong and an instant cure.

I think I prefer it when patients are brought in on their own, Jack mumbled.

They're all worried about her, they love her. You know that's a good thing.

I do. But I wish they wouldn't ask questions I can't answer. Why did it have to happen today? one woman asked. It's when she goes to bingo. When I said I just didn't know she obviously thought I was a pretty poor doctor.

Tessa smiled. I'm sure you'll get over it. Now look, we're not wanted for a while. Let's sneak a cup of coffee.

It was four oclock. They had their coffee and then Tessa collected Junior nurse Sally Kent. She was mentoring the young girl and took her teaching responsibilities very seriously. She and Sally would work together on techniques of pain relief for a while and then she could get away promptly at five oclock.

Things were going well then at ten to five the curtain was swished aside and Jack said, Got an emergency cardiac arrest coming in by ambulance. I could do with a hand.

Tessa frowned. Isn't Fay Roberts available?

She appears to be doing something else, said Jack, looking at her expressionlessly. So Tessa finished with Sally and hurried along with Jack to meet the ambulance. Fay Roberts is useless as well as idle, said Jack when they were alone, as you know very well. And nobody does anything about it.

Tessa did know but she wasn't going to say so. They walked to the glass-covered forecourt where the ambulance would pull in, and Jack went on, Anyhow, things might change soon. When this new consultant comes he'll put things in order. There'll be no more putting up with slackers like Fay. I gather he's been here a while, bought himself a house, had no end of meeting with the high-ups. Bit of a whiz-kid. Not like our Francis Pell.

Tessa sighed. Francis Pell, their present consultant, was about to retire. Some said that he had retired years ago. We'll just have to wait and see, she said. But secretly she agreed with Jack. The department was getting slack.

The ambulance drew up in front of them and reversed into the bay. As the doors opened Jack scrambled inside, nodding to the green coated paramedic who was leaning over the still figure. What have you got for me? he asked.

Jack listened to the paramedic's report as Tessa supervised the removal of the patient to the Resus room. Other nurses were there waiting. This was a well drilled team based operation in which everyone knew their part.

The man was moved onto his side, gentle oropharyngeal suction applied to clear out any saliva, and then an airway introduced. Now he could be given oxygen. His clothes were cut away to make venous access easier, and a nurse fixed up a giving set. Cardiac monitoring was arranged, as well as a pulse oximeter and a BM reading. His temperature was checked and an ECG performed, just to check on progress. And slowly, the man seemed to recover. I think we'll hand this one on, Jack said after ten minutes. He's more or less out of danger now. Tessa, do you want to phone the cardiac ward?

My pleasure, Tessa said. She checked to see that all the tests had been recorded properly, ready to be handed over with the patient. Anyone found out who he is yet?

Working on it, said another nurse who was looking through a wallet. I know where he lives now.

It was a joint operation they had performed before. It always gave Tessa pleasure to see how smoothly they worked together. But what was the time?

After handover it was six before she got away. Just another ordinary afternoon in Halstead Hospital A and E Department. Tessa walked across to the car park, climbed into her ancient little red car, and drove home. She had enjoyed her day and now she was going to enjoy her evening.

Home was a custom built flat by the sea. In fact, if you stood on a stool in the bathroom you could actually see the sea sometimes. After years living in nurses' homes, sharing with fellow nurses, or renting something that wasn't too bad, she had decided to go for what she really wanted. A flat of her own. After all, she was twenty-eight time to settle down. It had been a financial struggle, but at least she lived in the reasonably priced North. She had been to a conference in London a year ago and had told an acquaintance there how much her flat had cost. The girl had laughed enviously. You wouldn't get a dog kennel for that around here.

So life should have been looking good for Tessa Calvert. Why then, so often recently, had she felt vaguely dissatisfied?

First, a quickly made sandwich. Then a shower, after which she untied the neat pleat and brushed out her shoulder-length dark hair. Then, still in her dressing gown, she sat at her desk and ran through the evenings script. She had rehearsed it, timed it, and she thought it was pretty good. Her eyes flicked over the files neatly stacked on the top of her bookcase. Twenty-eight files, twenty-eight weekly programmes. She was getting to be an old hand at this.0