LITMIR.BIZ

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this for a long time but he had learned way back how to multi-task when the proverbial was hitting the fan and Charles knew he could function effectively on different levels at the same time.

      Like knowing which patients could be sidelined for observation well away from centre-stage and directing staff members to transfer them as he passed their ed cubicles at the same time as fending off a request from a television crew who happened to be in the area and wanted to cover the fallout from what was apparently a record-breaking storm.

      ‘Keep them out of here,’ he growled. ‘We’re going to have more than enough to deal with.’

      It never took long for the media to get their teeth into something, did it? Memories of how much damage had been done to his own family all those years ago had left Charles with a mistrust bordering on paranoia. It was a time of his life he had no desire to revisit so it was perhaps unfortunate that the arrival of Grace Forbes in his department had the ability to stir those memories.

      And others...

      A glance over his shoulder showed him that Grace was following his slightly circuitous route to Trauma One as he made sure he knew what was happening everywhere at the moment. The expression on her face was serious and the focus in those dark grey eyes reminded him of how capable he knew she was. And how intelligent. He’d had to fight hard back at medical school to keep his marks on the same level as Grace and, while they’d never moved in the same social circles, he’d had enormous respect for her. A respect that had tipped into something very different when he’d discovered that she had a vulnerable side, mind you, but he wasn’t going to allow the memory of that night to surface.

      No way. Even if this situation wasn’t making it completely unacceptable to allow such a personal distraction, he wouldn’t go there. It was in the same, forbidden territory that housed flirting and he had never been tempted to respond to opportunities that were only becoming more blatant as time crept on.

      No. He couldn’t go there. It would still feel like he was being unfaithful...

      Nobody could ever accuse Charles Davenport of being less than totally loyal. To his family and to his work.

      And that was exactly where his entire focus had to be right now. It didn’t matter a damn that this was a less than ideal welcome to a new staff member. Grace would have to jump into the deep end and do her bit to get Manhattan Mercy’s ER through this unexpected crisis.

      Just as he was doing.

      * * *

      Other staff members were already in the area assigned to deal with major trauma, preparing it for the accident victims they had been warned were on their way. A nurse handed Grace a gown to cover her scrubs and then a face mask that had the plastic eye shield attached.

      ‘Gloves are on the wall there. Choose your size.’

      Someone helpfully shone a torch beam over the bench at the side of the area so that Grace could see the ‘M’ for medium on the front of the box she needed. She also caught a glimpse of an airway cart ready for business, an IV cart, a cardiac monitor, ventilator and portable ultrasound machine.

      Okay. She could work with this. Even in semi-darkness she had what she needed to assess an airway, breathing and circulation and to do her best to handle whatever emergencies needed to be treated to stabilise a critically injured patient. And she wasn’t alone. As the shadowy figures of paramedics surrounding a gurney came rapidly towards them, Charles was already standing at the head of the bed, ready to take on the most important role of managing an airway.

      ‘Male approximately forty years old,’ one of the paramedics told them. He was wearing wet weather gear but his hair was soaked and he had to wipe away the water that was still trickling into his eyes. ‘Hit by a truck and thrown about thirty feet to land on the hood of an approaching car. GCS of twelve, blood pressure ninety on palp, tachycardic at one-thirty. Major trauma to left arm and leg.’

      The man was semi-conscious and clearly in pain. Despite wearing a neck collar and being strapped to a back board, he was trying to move and groaning loudly.

      ‘On my count,’ Charles directed. ‘One, two...three...’

      The patient was smoothly transferred to the bed.

      ‘I need light here, please,’ Charles said. He leaned close to their patient’s head as someone shone a beam of light in his direction. ‘Can you hear me?’ He seemed to understand the muffled change to the groan coming from beneath an oxygen mask. ‘You’re in hospital, buddy. We’re going to take care of you.’

      A nurse was cutting away clothing. Another was wrapping a blood pressure cuff around an arm and a young, resident doctor was swapping the leads from an ambulance monitor to their own. Grace was watching, assessing the injuries that were becoming apparent. A mangled right arm and a huge wound on the left thigh where a snapped femur had probably gone through the skin and then been pulled back again. The heavy blood loss was an immediate priority. She grabbed a wad of dressing material and put it on the wound to apply direct pressure.

      ‘We need to get back out there,’ the lead paramedic told them. ‘It’s gone crazy. Raining cats and dogs and visibility is almost zero.’

      ‘How widespread is the power cut?’

      ‘At least sixteen blocks from what we’ve heard. Lightning strike on a power station, apparently. Nobody knows how long it’s gonna be before it’s back on.’

      Charles nodded. ‘Thanks, guys.’ But his attention was on assessing his patient’s breathing. He had crouched to put his line of sight just over head level and Grace knew he was watching the rise and fall of the man’s chest to see whether it was symmetrical. If it wasn’t, it could indicate a collapsed lung or another problem affecting his breathing.

      She was also in a direct line for the steady glance and she saw the shift, when Charles was satisfied with chest movement and had taken on board what she was doing to control haemorrhage and his gaze flicked up to meet her own. For a split second, he held the eye contact and there was something in his gaze that made her feel...what? That he had confidence in her abilities? That she was already a part of the team?

      That he was pleased to see her again?

      Behind that emotional frisson, there was something else, too. An awareness of how different Charles looked. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Thirteen years was a very long time and, even then, they had been young people who were products of their very different backgrounds. But everyone had known that Charles Davenport had the perfect life mapped out for him so why did Grace get the fleeting impression that he looked older than she would have expected? That he had lines in his face that suggested a profound weariness. Sadness, even...

      ‘Blood pressure eighty on forty.’ The resident looked up at the overhead monitor. ‘And heart rate is one-thirty. Oxygen saturation ninety-four percent.’

      ‘Is that bleeding under control, Grace?’

      ‘Almost. I’d like to get a traction splint on asap for definitive control. It’s a mid-shaft femoral fracture.’

      Another nod from Charles. ‘As soon as you’ve done that, we need a second line in and more fluids running. And I want an abdominal ultrasound as soon as I’ve intubated. Can someone ring through to Theatre and see what the situation is up there?’

      The buzz of activity around the patient picked up pace and the noise level rose so much that Grace barely noticed the arrival of more paramedics and another patient being delivered to the adjoining trauma room, separated only by curtains. Working conditions were difficult, especially when some of the staff members were directed to the new arrival, but they were by no means impossible. Even with the murky half-light when a torch wasn’t being directed at the arm she was working on, Grace managed to get a wide-bore IV line inserted and secured, attaching more fluids to try and stabilise this patient’s blood pressure.

      With the airway and breathing secured by intubation and ventilation, Charles was able to step back and oversee everything else being done here. He could also watch what was happening on the

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