The patient looked from the doorway, back up to Kate. “You’ve gone bright pink,” he said. Dr Penn glanced up momentarily and then carried on with his work.
“Well it gets pretty hot in here, dressed in this lot in the middle of summer,” Kate said and the patient smiled and they continued with their work.
On Thursday, Kate was on a day off and was with her mum at her granddad’s house cleaning the rooms as they emptied. It wasn’t easy walking around the house that had once been so important to her. It was a sad place now, soulless and hollow. All the things that held any memories had found new homes and the rest had been donated or sold.
Kate and her mum sat on the empty living room floor and ate their lunch, talking about the good times they’d had there. The new family would be moving in on Monday, so this was their last chance to see the old place before it was no longer anything to do with them.
Auntie Ann turned up a little after one and joined in with the last few bits of cleaning and then they said their goodbyes to the old place and drove away without turning back.
They decided to go to Farley’s for a posh tea and cake to cheer themselves up. Kate chose a slice of carrot cake, her mum had a Chelsea bun and Auntie Ann had a big slice of chocolate fudge brownie.
“How’s it going with Mr Elliott, Kate?” her auntie asked her.
“Yes, sorry, love. I’ve been so busy with all your granddad’s stuff I forgot to ask,” her mum added.
Kate didn’t know quite what to tell them, so she decided to try to play it down.
“Not much to tell,” she said. “I’ve bumped into him a couple of times.”
“And was he just as obnoxious?” her mum asked.
“No.” Kate’s voice came out almost surprised, not the way she had planned it at all. “It seems he’s managing to control himself.”
“Good,” her auntie said. “I told you he wasn’t that bad really. Maybe he was just having a bad day?”
“Maybe? I can’t seem to work him out.”
“His poor old mother’s been having a tough time, I’m afraid. We’re trying everything we can, but…” She shrugged. “She’s a lovely woman too. His father left them when he was just a lad, apparently. They’re all each other has got now.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Kate asked, concern growing.
“Bowel cancer. Nasty one. And he’s so patient with us, never gets grumpy, like some of the other relatives can do. Might not want everyone to know about it, though,” she said and Kate nodded to show she understood.
For the rest of their time together Kate racked her brains trying to reconcile the differing accounts of Mr Elliott, but when she arrived home, she found Sophie sitting on the couch looking shaken and all thoughts of Elliott soon disappeared.
“What’s happened?” she asked, pausing just inside the door. “You look awful. Are you all right?”
“My car,” Sophie said. “It’s been stolen.”
Kate walked over and peered through the living room window to the spot where Sophie’s car was usually parked. “When did it happen?”
“A couple of hours ago. I didn’t hear a thing.”
Kate sat down and put an arm around her. “Are you okay?”
“Just in shock, I think.”
Kate gave her a hug. “You’re shaking,” she said and she got up. “I’ll make you a cup of tea.
A few minutes later she reappeared carrying a hot cup of tea and a packet of chocolate biscuits. “Go on, get that down you. Have you rung the police yet?”
Sophie sipped her tea. “Yeah. Straight away. They’ve already been and gone.”
“You’ve given them the details?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I guess there’s not a lot more you can do. Have you rung your insurance company?”
“No. I thought I’d walk into town and tell them in a bit. When I’m more in control of my bodily functions.” The mug shuddered to a stop as she placed it back down in the tray on the table.
“I’ll come with you,” Kate said.
“No. I’ll be okay. I’d rather have a bit of time on my own to get my head together,” she said. “Is that all right?”
“Of course,” Kate said. “Whatever you want.”
While Sophie was out, Kate spent an hour or two tidying the house, doing the laundry and pondering on the conversations of the day. Her heart reached out to Mr Elliott and she thought about her granddad. His death had been horrendous at the time, but in retrospect, it was only a matter of a few days for him, not weeks and months of suffering. And Mr Elliott had no family around to support him? The poor guy.
Sophie got home far later than expected. In fact, Kate was starting to worry, thinking she should never have let her go off on her own as shaken up as she was. But when she finally returned, Sophie was grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re looking better,” Kate said. “Everything sorted out?”
Sophie beamed.
“What is it? You look like you’ve just won the lottery, not lost your beloved car.”
Sophie said nothing.
“Sit down there and tell me what’s happened.”
Sophie sat down and started from the beginning. “I wandered about for a while, just trying to get my head around it all and then, when I was on a bit more of an even keel, I walked into the insurance place and this guy stood up from behind a desk and asked me to sit down and Kate, he was gorgeous. I mean, my mind was a little fuzzy before I saw him, but after… He had to virtually walk me through the whole thing; I was so out of it. And then he had a word with his colleague and took me out for a drink to settle my nerves. And he’s just - arghhh! He’s funny and sexy and easy going and we just sort of… clicked.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Sophie Turner, only you could manage to make such a crap day turn out so well.” She shook her head, amazed. “So I take it you’re over the disappointment of losing your car then?”
Sophie beamed.
“Good, because I’m starving.”
“Oh. Rich is picking me up in an hour to take me out to dinner. Sorry.”
“Wow. He doesn’t hang around, does he? Rich, eh? Okay, just me for tea then, is it?”
“Would you like me to show you where the kitchen is?” Sophie teased.
“You’re all right,” Kate said. “I clean the thing often enough. I think I can find it.”
The following afternoon Kate started a long haul of shifts. She had swapped a couple to help a friend get to a wedding, so it was a bigger set than it should have been and she was very aware of the amount of work she had to get through before her next day off.
For days the department ran like clockwork. Patients came and went, each leaving their mark on her life to a greater or lesser extent, but the following week a call came in for the A&E department to expect casualties from a big car wreck just outside of town. Kate was on duty in Resus One. It was almost nine o’clock at night and her shift was nearly over, but the night staff were not yet in.
Gloria put out the call for the trauma team to come to A&E and informed the rest of the staff to prepare and so Kate rang coronary care to see if they could take her patient as quickly as possible and the two of them began to ready the bays.