LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      CATE WAS SO distracted she didn’t even hear Matthew talking on the radio until he called out to Cate and Juan. ‘We’ve got an eighty-six-year-old in an independent living facility, she’s waiting to be admitted for a chest infection but she’s developed chest pain. Are you guys okay with us accepting?’

      ‘Sure,’ Juan said. ‘So long as you go fast.’

      On went the lights and sirens and Cate felt a flurry in her stomach as the ambulance sped off.

      ‘You love this part, don’t you?’ Louise smiled.

      ‘I do.’

      ‘Are you still thinking about joining us?’

      Cate shook her head. ‘It’s not for me. Sometimes I do still think about it, though.’

      ‘You’ve thought of being a paramedic?’ Juan’s eyes widened in surprise.

      ‘Cate came on a ride along with us,’ Louise told him. ‘About six months ago, wasn’t it, Cate? I said to try a Saturday night in the city before she made up her mind.’

      Cate could feel Juan’s eyes on her.

      ‘You didn’t like it?’ he asked.

      ‘I loved it,’ Cate said. ‘It was an amazing experience but…’ She gave a small shake of her head. ‘It made me appreciate even more all the back-up that we have in Emergency, and I decided that it just wasn’t for me.’

      They were pulling into the independent living facility—the gate had been opened for them and a staff member directed them to the small unit where the patient was. Matthew and Louise took all the necessary equipment and then the four of them walked into a small house that was crammed full of furniture—huge old bookshelves and old-fashioned sofas—that looked a little out of place in the more modern surroundings.

      ‘Her name’s Elsie Delaney,’ the on-call nurse explained. ‘We had the doctor in to see Elsie last night for her cough and she was started on antibiotics for a chest infection. When I went to check on her this morning, she didn’t look well and finally admitted she had chest pain. She’s very independent and didn’t want me to call you, of course.’

      ‘Hi, Elsie!’ Matthew walked in first and greeted the patient.

      ‘What are all of you doing here?’ came an irritated voice as the room started to fill up.

      ‘You’re getting the works today, Elsie,’ Louise said. ‘We had a doctor and nurse already with us, so that’s why there are so many of us.’

      The bedroom was as full of furniture as the rest of the house and, with Juan walking in front of Cate and his shoulders taking up most of the doorframe, it took a moment before Cate glimpsed Elsie.

      She was tiny, sitting up in bed, her straggly white hair held back with a large, jewelled hair clip. She had a pink shawl around her shoulders and was wearing an elaborate necklace, and on her gnarled fingers were several rings.

      She looked absolutely gorgeous, but she was wary and disgruntled and complained as Louise and Matthew did obs and attached her to a monitor while Juan slipped in an IV.

      ‘I’m feeling much better,’ she kept protesting.

      Really, they weren’t needed at all. Cate and Juan were completely supernumerary as Louise and Matthew had it all under control. They soon had a heart tracing and were giving Elsie some medication for pain and, despite having said she had little pain, as it took effect she lay back on the pillow. Elsie finally agreed that, yes, they could take her to hospital.

      ‘Are there any family for us to inform?’

      ‘She has a daughter, Maria, who lives nearby,’ the nurse said, and spoke then to Elsie, ‘I’ll ring Maria and let her know what’s happening.’

      ‘She’ll be very disappointed that I’m only sick and not dead,’ Elsie said. ‘It’s the truth!’ Elsie turned to Cate and winked, and Cate found herself smothering a smile. ‘Does Maria even have to know that I’m going to hospital?’ Elsie asked.

      ‘Of course she does, Elsie!’ the nurse answered. ‘And you’re wrong, Maria will be ever so worried.’

      Elsie gave a huff to indicate that she doubted it. ‘I’m not going out on a stretcher,’ Elsie said.

      ‘Fine.’ Louise smiled. ‘I’ll go and get the chair.’

      ‘Do you want to leave your jewellery here?’ Cate suggested, knowing that one of the first things that would happen when they got to Emergency was that they would take it all off and lock it up in the safe. But Elsie wasn’t going anywhere without her finery.

      ‘And I want my photo album too…’ She pointed to a shelf and Juan went over to fetch it.

      ‘You might only be there a few hours,’ the nurse pointed out.

      ‘Then I’ll have something to look at while I’m waiting,’ Elsie retorted.

      ‘Where’s this, Elsie?’ Juan asked, pointing to a picture in a frame where a younger Elsie was smiling into the camera against a stunning backdrop of houses and a glimpse of the ocean behind her.

      ‘Menton,’ Elsie said. The medication wasn’t stopping her from talking! ‘They call it the pearl of France. Have you been?’

      ‘To France, yes,’ Juan said. ‘To Menton, no, but I want to now!’ They chatted about it even as she was loaded into the ambulance and transferred from the chair to the stretcher. She

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