Скачать книгу

that the force of the impact has snapped off her left condyle—the part of the bone that forms the hinge of the jaw.’

      ‘She hit her chin just at the wrong point, then.’

      Patrick nodded. ‘Every time she moves her jaw, bone fragments are scraping across the tissue surrounding her ear.’

      Jandy grimaced. ‘Poor woman—that’s seriously painful. What about pain relief?’

      ‘After her X-ray give her ten milligrams of morphine and get her booked into Surgical—I’ll speak to the surgical registrar. We need someone from Maternity to look her over as well. We don’t want her having this baby yet.’

      Jandy split open a pair of lanolin gloves and with exquisite gentleness swabbed the wound on Brenda’s chin. ‘Her mother’s really anxious about her,’ she said. ‘I think it would help if you explained Brenda’s injuries rather than me—you’re the expert.’

      He laughed. ‘I’ll do my best.’

      Patrick sat down next to Mrs Thorpe on one of the chairs in the corridor, leaning towards her as he described what he thought had happened, giving a short but lucid explanation. Gradually the tension left the woman’s face until she was actually giving a watery smile by the time he was called away to the phone.

      ‘Oh, he’s a lovely man that Dr Sinclair,’ said Mrs Thorpe when Jandy returned from trying to get a slot for Brenda’s X-ray. ‘I feel she’s in really good hands. Could I go and see Brenda now?’

      Jandy smiled. ‘I’m sure it would do her good if you just sat by her and held her hand until they take her for X-rays. The calmer she’s kept, the better.’

      ‘I understand,’ said Mrs Thorpe. The tea and the chat to Patrick about her daughter had composed her and she was ready to cope again. She followed Jandy to the small theatre where her daughter was and sat by her bed, flicking a wondering eye at all the monitoring equipment around the bed.

      ‘Eh, it’s like a space capsule in here,’ she said. ‘I’ve never seen so many tubes and dials!’

      She picked up her daughter’s hand and squeezed it. ‘You’ll be alright, love,’ she said softly. ‘I’ve had a chat to that Dr Sinclair—he’s doing his best for you, I know.’

      Patrick popped his head round the curtain. ‘Has the X-ray been booked yet?’ he asked.

      ‘There’s a bit of a delay—one of the machines is being serviced and there’s a queue for the other,’ Jandy informed him.

      He frowned. ‘For God’s sake—surely it’s usual to service the machines at a quieter time? How long are they going to be?’

      ‘About twenty minutes, I think.’

      ‘That’s ridiculous! This needs to be done immediately—surely there should be a procedure for urgent cases?’

      Jandy sympathised with him. It was incredibly frustrating to have treatment blocked for the patient, but she also noticed the implied criticism of the hospital. Poor old Delford General wasn’t awash with funds for any more X-ray machines.

      ‘I’m sorry, there’s not much I can do about it. There’s only one machine at the moment for a lot of patients.’

      ‘I’m not accusing you of causing the hold-up,’ he said tersely. Then his tone softened. ‘I’m sorry—I’m not knocking Delford, believe me.’

      He looked at her steadily then left the room, and she blushed at his accurate reading of her thoughts. Actually, she agreed with him that somewhere along the line there had been inefficiency. Perhaps she was being a little too prickly where Patrick was concerned!

      Karen bustled up to Jandy, her pale blue tunic top straining slightly over her full figure, her face pink from exertion. Jandy often wondered why Karen was so plump as she seemed to run everywhere, and had an inexhaustible supply of energy.

      ‘Ah, there you are,’ she puffed. ‘I think we’re under control now. Dr Vernon’s booked the head injury into the neurological ward for obs, and Brenda Evans will be prepped for Theatre later.’ She shot a look at her watch. ‘Time for the handover soon and then home, sweet home, thank goodness!’ Her voice dropped. ‘By the way, I’m rather impressed by Patrick Sinclair—aren’t you? As I said before, he seems extremely capable!’

      ‘Yes,’ allowed Jandy cautiously.

      He seemed extremely everything—wonderful with his patients and a good clinician. But she still had reservations about this self-assured man and his drop-dead handsome looks—she would see how he performed over the next few weeks! Men like him tended to be arrogant, everything dropping into their laps very easily, and she could see how he might break some poor girl’s heart if he was free. What a good job it was that he was a family man and a no-go area—she’d learned from her own experience that loving a married man was not an option.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RbuRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMiBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTM6MTE6MjUgMTY6MTA6MjMAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAFeKADAAQAAAAB AAAJGQAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAABW4AAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/2P/gABBKRklG AAECAABIAEgAAP/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwM/8AAEQgAoABgAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQABv/EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYH CAkKCwEAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQh EjEFQVFhEyJxgTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXi ZfKzhMPTdePzRieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIE BAMEBQYHBwYFNQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKy gwcmNcLSRJNUoxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dX Z3eHl6e3x//aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A9RTWWV1MdZY4MrYC573EBoA5c5x+inVXqmK/N6blYdZa1+TU +prnfRBeNm50fuyo4gEgE0LSdjS37X6R/wBzsb/t1n/klaY9ljG2VuD2PAc1zTIIOrXNcF5fjdPw c+y/ExBbXk1V2WUPuLHMt9L+crsqZVW7FfZ9Kr9Nds/wq9E6GQ7ofTiODi0Ef9tsVjmMEcYBBJN6 gsePIZHUBupJJKsyqSSSSUpJJJJSlzv17/5Db/4Yq/78uiXO/Xv/AJDb/wCGKv8Avym5b+eh/eCz L8kvJ//Q6z675+dhY+G7Dvfjustc15ZGoDC6DuDlz2B1b6w2i3Md1G1mJg7LMix4DwZcBVjNpaK/ WtyHfo9nqVfy7q/Yux+sHQW9bqorde7H9B5eC1odMt2R7lnO+rGP0/6v9SxL81xx7YyDca9anVBr 9+yvc61n6GvcxWcOXEMUYkAzuj6eI1KXl+6xThMzJ14a7+Dj9RDMjAyOtdDrFdeXub1dgk5FO6HX Vt9xZXh3O/S5Lqa/Uf8Az3q/Z/5mtiZH1md01uRiZloxq3ejXU0iQ2ts7mfo9vpt2+kz3+q/Z+5W gdPtyOk5bcvH6jiMIEWFj33CxnPpvxq6m2v/AJG/0fT/ANKuyp6Vj24bMnBtGDh5FYvrpcxv6F9r dzbanssZ6W3cyz0t1lPrV/olNkmMYAIEok+mUhxf4BY4gy1Fg9QDX1Q/UnOzc3p+TZmXvyHsyNrX PiQ306nbdA385y6JY/1f6ZidEofiMy/tTsi02NkAO0ayt0Nr3bmt27nvWkTkA2Pe9lVbCYkT7QPp vfvaqGbhlkkY6RPy6cP4NiFiIB36pklQrz7rKaPTZN+YS6lpBAZTy2+9s7v5r3en/hL7PQ/R/wA7 WbLyX49bGMizJtO2oO0BIEuss2x+iqb7rEzgN0u4hu2UlGtwIDd4e8AbiI1kfS2/m7kDJvsNzMTH MXPG974kV1zG+D+fZGypAAk0q2yud+vf/Ibf/DFX/flu4+QL/Vhu30rHVeM7Y93/AElhfXv/AJDb /wCGKv8Avyl5cEZ4A/vBZkN45eT/AP/R9RVPrOPdk9Izcahu+66ixlbJAlzmlrW7nQ1XElHE0QR0 NpIsEd3zY/VH6yQf1L/wWr/0qu5xKWYfTMF+cfTODjMbYww4NeGVsJ9u7dazb6dXp/6T2fzitjLx TMXVmCGmHjQuJrY3n6T7G7P66qMv

Скачать книгу