LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER TWO

      THE SIGNS HAD been there but she’d been too busy to pick them up—looking after Jill, worrying about her mum. Esther cursed herself all the way down the stairs towards A&E. She hated the fact that it took that pompous prince, duke or whatever he claimed to be to point them out before the penny had finally dropped for her.

      Abi had told her to go on down for the check while she took care of Billy but Esther already knew exactly what was wrong with her. She’d ducked into the treatment room and took her own temperature. Yip. She was burning up. She grabbed some paracetamol from her handbag. She had to start somewhere.

      Rob, one of the advanced nurse practitioners, was at the nurses’ station in the middle of the A&E department. He took one look. ‘You okay?’

      She shook her head. ‘I think I’ve got an upper UTI. Can I borrow you for five minutes?’

      He nodded. ‘Sure.’ Then he smiled and handed her a specimen bottle. ‘Let’s get you sorted.’

      It took a little more than five minutes because Rob liked to be thorough. Once he heard her past history of having kidney problems as a child, leaving her prone to upper urinary tract infections, he gave a little nod, dipsticked her urine, rechecked her temp and listened to her symptoms of fatigue and an aching lower back.

      ‘You couldn’t come down earlier?’

      She sighed. ‘I’d felt a bit tired but my back only started aching this morning and the new neonatal cardiac surgeon arrived today so I’ve been flat out dealing with him too.’

      He gave her a nod and scribbled some notes. ‘What normally works best?’

      She told him the name of the antibiotic that normally resolved her infections and he scribbled a prescription, then went to one of the cupboards and pulled out a bottle, signing a form to record it. ‘Okay, so I won’t make you trek to the pharmacy. But I’m still sending your sample away to make sure you’re on the right antibiotic. Results should be on the system tomorrow. I’m working then—will I give you a call?’

      Esther gave a grateful nod. The computer system in the Queen Victoria meant that no staff could access their own records or results—no matter how tempting it was. ‘Perfect. Thanks, Rob.’

      ‘Any time. Not many perks to being in the NHS. We’ve got to look after our own. Are you going to take some time off?’

      ‘Me?’ She smiled and shook her head. ‘As soon as I start taking these, they usually work fast. This time tomorrow I’ll start to feel better. I’ll just take some paracetamol until then.’

      He gave a nod. ‘Fine, but let me know if there’s anything else you need.’

      ‘An assassination attempt on a visiting surgeon, maybe?’

      Rob looked up in surprise. ‘He’s annoyed Crabbie Rabbie? Wow, he’s brave.’

      She waved her hand. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve told him how much I love him already. Hopefully he’ll do his surgery, fix my baby and leave.’

      She gave Rob a nod and disappeared out the cubicle and back along the corridor. In a way she was happy. This had obviously been working on her for the last few days. At least now she knew why she was so unnaturally tired. It was sort of a relief to know that after a few days of antibiotics she’d be back to herself again.

      As she pushed open the door, the manager of the A&E department was heading towards her. Shirley had her hands full, so Esther held the door for her.

      She gave her a grin. ‘Lifesaver, thanks.’

      ‘No probs.’

      Something flitted across Shirley’s face. ‘Hey, don’t suppose you could cover a shift on Thursday?’

      Esther glanced at the pill bottle she’d just pushed into the pocket of her uniform. Thursday. Three days away. It was her next scheduled day off and she was bound to be feeling better by then. ‘Sure.’ She nodded.

      ‘Great,’ Shirley shouted over her shoulder as she continued to speed down the corridor.