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was spiralling and she needed some help.

      Next up was an elderly lady who’d fallen and broken her hip, lying on the ground for a few hours before she was found. Hypothermia was setting in, and Esther had to try and get her warmed up in the first instance before she could even be assessed for potential surgery.

      As the evening progressed Esther started to develop an unconscious itch. She couldn’t understand it. It started on her back, then moved to her abdomen. She was monitoring her lady’s temperature for the fifth time when Harry caught her standing on one of the corners of the department using the wall edge to scratch her back.

      He stopped walking and looked at her. ‘Esther, have you looked in the mirror lately?’

      ‘Do I look as if I’ve had time to look in a mirror lately?’ It was snappier than she meant it to be.

      He put his hands firmly on her shoulders and walked her across the corridor to the accessible toilet that had a large mirror on the wall. He flicked on the light and she gasped.

      Red blotches stared at her, climbing all the way up her neck. ‘Oh my…’ Propriety was out the window. She pulled up her scrub top and looked at her abdomen. Yip. Covered, along with a whole host of scratch marks. She lifted her scrub top at the back. ‘Can you check my back?’

      She wasn’t the least embarrassed to ask. He was a doctor, and he was right there.

      He bent down and took a look, just in time for one of the other A&E members of staff to walk by and raise their eyebrows. Thankfully Harry didn’t notice as he stood up and shook his head. ‘You’re covered.’ His finger touched the top of her arm where her scrub top ended. ‘Look, they’re starting to appear on your arms too.’

      She looked down; sure enough, a red, angry-looking blotch was only half hidden by the sleeve of her scrub top.

      ‘No wonder I’ve been so itchy.’ She sighed. She’d been so busy she hadn’t had time to stop and think about it.

      ‘New body lotion? New washing powder?’ he asked.

      She shook her head. ‘No, nothing.’ Then something lined up in her brain. ‘Oh, darn it.’ She reached into her scrub top and pulled out her pill bottle. ‘These antibiotics. I’ve never had these before. It must be them.’

      Before she had a chance to say anything else Harry reached over and wrapped his hand around her wrist. She didn’t get a chance to object as he led her down the corridor to the treatment room. He stuck his head back out. ‘Rob!’ His shout was loud and commanding, and a few seconds later Rob the ANP appeared.

      ‘Do you have the key for the medicine trolley?’ Harry asked as Esther let out a few coughs.

      Rob frowned, glancing from Harry to Esther, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. He pulled the keys from his pocket. ‘Yes.’

      Harry held out his hand. ‘I think she’s having an allergic reaction to those new antibiotics. I’m going to give her some antihistamines.’

      Rob moved over, touching her face and turning it from side to side to check either side of her neck. ‘Any wheezing? Difficulty breathing?’

      She shook her head but let out another cough.

      ‘How bad is the rash?’ he asked. She sighed and partly lifted her scrub top again, letting Rob bend down to have a quick check.

      ‘Darn it,’ he said. ‘I’m going to record this in your notes and get you something else.’

      Harry named another antibiotic. ‘Try that one,’ he said to Rob as he opened a bottle of tablets and tipped two into Esther’s hand.

      Esther turned on the tap and swallowed the antihistamines with a little water in a medicine cup. This rash was getting itchier by the second.

      Okay, she’d been itchy earlier. But she knew this was psychological. Now she’d seen it and realised it was there, she just wanted to claw at herself. Lovely.

      Harry had a worried look on his face, and she wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful, or a bit annoyed. She put her hand on the worktop in the treatment room for a second as a wave of tiredness hit her.

      She calculated in her head how many days she’d been fighting this infection now. The tiredness had still been there but she’d tried her best to ignore it, believing as soon as the antibiotics kicked in, it would just lift. That’s what had always happened in the past.

      ‘I have to go back and check obs on my woman,’ she said to Harry. ‘Thanks for the help. I guess I’ll see you later.’

      ‘You can’t go out there looking like that. And wait until Rob comes back with some new antibiotics. I think you should sit down for a while.’

      Her face went automatically into a frown and he held up both hands. ‘Not trying to tell you what to do.’ His mouth started to form other words and she thought for a second he was going to use her nickname, but he smiled, must have thought better of it and stopped. ‘But have you had a break today?’

      She shook her head. ‘Then what about a coffee? Even in the staff room for five minutes? Let Rob write up his paperwork and come back with something.’

      The thought of sitting down for five minutes was tempting. ‘But what about my patient?’

      ‘Cubicle five?’

      She nodded.

      ‘Let me tell the charge nurse you need a five-minute break and ask if someone else can check on your lady.’ Harry pulled a face. ‘I hate to break it to you, Esther, but you are actually having an allergic reaction to antibiotics. It’s quite severe. Let’s just be sure it doesn’t progress. Let’s be safe.’

      It was the way he said those words. She was so much of the ‘drag yourself into work no matter what’ mentality—one that a lot of nurses had—that she never really stopped and took time for herself. The truth was, with the extra hours she’d been doing, she hadn’t had any time. Would five minutes really matter? She should have been sent for a break a few hours ago.

      ‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly.

      Harry nodded and walked down the corridor in long strides. Esther made her way to the staff room and flicked the switch on the kettle.

      There was a huge box of cupcakes and doughnuts in the middle of the table from a bakery that was quite exclusive. Anything left in the staff room was pretty much a free-for-all and she was surprised there were any left.

      As she took down a couple of cups Harry came back through the door. ‘All sorted. I told Rob where we are and he’s just finished the paperwork.’

      Where we are. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that phrase.

      She turned back. ‘Does that mean you’re planning on hanging around?’

      He nodded. ‘I’m monitoring your reaction.’

      As soon as he said those words she scratched again.

      ‘Whilst eating cakes,’ he added.

      She spooned coffee into two cups and filled them with boiling water. It would be rude not to, but she didn’t plan on being too hospitable. ‘Milk’s in the fridge if you want it,’ she said as she handed over the cup.

      He stood quickly to get some. ‘Don’t you want some?’ he asked as he added milk to his cup.

      She smiled. ‘No, not here. I never trust milk dates when I’m in the hospital. I always drink my coffee black in here.’

      He stared suspiciously into his cup as he sat back down. ‘Yeah, thanks for that.’ He pushed the box towards her. ‘Eat something.’

      ‘I wonder where these came from?’ she asked as a strawberry cupcake seemed to shout her name.

      ‘Me,’ he said.

      ‘You brought cakes to A&E?

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