Noah frowned, sending Tyler a questioning, disbelieving look, as though he couldn’t fathom why his colleague would want to upturn the apple cart this way.
‘It’s just something your previous consultant mentioned.’ Tyler used a soothing voice, as though he wanted to put her at ease. ‘I didn’t fully understand the implications and I thought you might be able to clear it up for us.’
‘M-my consultant?’ She gazed at him in consternation, her green eyes troubled.
‘Yes. It just happened that I rang the hospital in Truro this morning,’ he explained, ‘to enquire about a patient of mine who was recently admitted, and I was put on to Michael Drew. He was your consultant, wasn’t he?’
Michael. The breath left her body in a soft gasp and her stomach began to churn. She might have known this would come up to bite her. She’d made a mistake, getting involved with Michael. In the end he’d been more than just her consultant, and that’s when things had started to go downhill, hadn’t they?
It had been fine at first. They’d dated for a time, and she’d enjoyed his company, but eventually, when she’d realised he was becoming too controlling, she’d called a halt to things between them. Michael hadn’t taken it well, and eventually the situation between them had deteriorated to a point where life at work had become intolerable. That was partly why she’d made up her mind it was time to look around for another job.
And now this... It looked as though Michael had thrown a spanner into the works at the worst possible time. She hadn’t been able to avoid giving his name for a reference, and he’d assured her that she had nothing to worry about. But now—what could he have said to Tyler? Clearly their break-up still rankled with him, and although she’d hoped he would be adult about things, she really wouldn’t put it past him to try to make life difficult for her.
Tyler watched the variety of expressions flit across her face. He said quietly, ‘When I realised who he was, that you and he had worked together, we got to chatting, and that’s when he mentioned your patient. He only brought it up as a humorous anecdote.’
Her mouth made a wry twist at that and he paused momentarily. ‘He said you’d lost her and there was a big hue and cry until she was found again. But by then she needed treatment for another condition.’
He rested his hands on top of the file, lacing his fingers together. ‘It might have seemed slightly amusing afterwards, when the worry was over, but I’m sure you can see why this has to be cleared up, can’t you? We need to be reassured that our patients are going to be in the best possible hands.’
‘Yes, of course, I understand perfectly.’ Saskia moistened her lips, unhappily aware that Noah and Dr Gregson had both straightened and were paying her close attention. ‘The truth is I didn’t find anything at all humorous about the situation at any time, when it was going on or afterwards. And I didn’t lose her—not exactly.’
‘So, what happened?’
‘She was a woman in her sixties suffering from what appeared to be dementia. A passer-by had brought her into the hospital because she’d had a fall and hurt her arm.’
She was silent for a moment, remembering the hectic activity in the emergency unit that day. ‘We were very busy in A and E that morning, and we were short-staffed. Some of the nurses were off sick with a bug that was going around. I didn’t have anyone to assist me, but I was keen to do further tests on my patient—alongside my concerns over her arm I wasn’t absolutely convinced she had dementia. Anyway, I asked her to stay in the treatment cubicle while I went to find a porter to take the blood samples over to Pathology. But when I came back to see her a couple of minutes later, she’d gone walkabout.’
‘That was tough luck,’ Noah sympathised.
She nodded. ‘It was worrying. We couldn’t find her anywhere nearby. Then it occurred to me that she might have wandered outside into the hospital grounds so I followed the stairs to the exit. I found her sitting on the bottom step, nursing a swollen ankle. Apparently she’d missed her footing.’
Tyler’s mouth made a wry shape. ‘It just wasn’t her day, was it?’
‘No, unfortunately, it wasn’t.’
‘So, what was the final diagnosis?’ he asked. His expression was thoughtful, his blue gaze skimming her features as though he was trying to weigh her up.
‘She had a thyroid problem—her body was producing too little of the hormone, causing symptoms that mimicked dementia. And to add to her troubles she had a cracked bone in her forearm from the earlier fall, along with a sprained ankle from taking the stairs.’
Dr Gregson gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Well, I think you’ve cleared that up for us nicely, Dr Reynolds. Thank you for that.’ He looked at her over his glasses. ‘And it’s good to know that you weren’t prepared to accept things at face value.’
She inclined her head briefly and tried to breathe slowly and steadily. That had been a deeply uncomfortable few moments. Tyler was clearly a stickler for getting things right, but she might have hoped he’d be less thorough in following up every detail arising from her application. Did he have to dot every i and cross every t? Michael could very easily have ruined things for her.
‘You’ll certainly need to be on the ball in this job,’ Dr Gregson remarked. ‘It isn’t quite the same as being on the mainland where you have all manner of resources to hand. Those patients who are too ill to be managed in our small hospital have to be flown over to Cornwall for treatment.’
‘I’m sure I’ll be able to handle whatever’s asked of me, Dr Gregson. I’ve had to cope with a huge change of circumstances recently but I think I’m dealing with it.’
Noah was clearly interested in this. ‘Do you want to tell us more about that?’
She closed her eyes fleetingly, wishing she could take back the words and steeling herself against the pain. ‘My brother and his wife were involved in a nasty road accident.’ She took a deep breath. ‘They’re both in hospital in Truro at the moment—and it’s beginning to look as though they’ll be there for some time.’
Tyler frowned, leaning forward in his seat. ‘You didn’t mention this to me before, at the house.’
‘No—perhaps I should have, but it was painful for me to talk about it. I was still getting over the shock. I still am.’ She hesitated, then went on, ‘They were preparing to move over here for Sam’s job—he works for the wildlife trust and they wanted him as part of their team in the Isles of Scilly. Sam was bringing his family over that day so that they could see the house—they were going to rent before they decided where to make a permanent home. They wanted to spend some time looking around the island, but before they could get here they were in collision with a lorry that took a bend too wide. Luckily, the children escaped relatively unhurt, though they were traumatised, of course.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Tyler was genuinely concerned. ‘That must have been devastating for you. And I suppose you’ve taken over caring for the children in the meantime?’
‘That’s right. That’s why I came over here, and it’s the reason I’m looking for work.’
‘Is there no one else who can care for them?’ Noah was full of compassion and understanding, although at the same time it seemed he sensed there was an opportunity to be explored here. ‘Is there no one to support you—you’ve no ties?’
Tyler sent him a sharp look and Noah checked himself, drawing back.
Saskia shook her head. ‘Not right now...at least, not close by.’ She guessed Noah was never one to let the grass grow under his feet. With his looks and easygoing manner he’d probably left behind a string of female conquests who’d fallen for his charms.
‘I admire your