He nodded almost imperceptibly. ‘I do.’
‘Is there anything that you’d like to ask me about it?’
‘Nothing. Thank you. I’m very tired.’ He tried to lift his hand and made a frail attempt to pat hers as it rested gently on the bedclothes beside him. His breath came in quick gasps. ‘I know you’ll do your best for me. You mustn’t worry if it all goes wrong.’
Amber felt the quick sting of tears behind her eyelids. Somehow, this man had managed to reach her inner core, the place where she tried to keep her feelings hidden. In the short time she had known him, she had found an affinity with him, and she realised that she cared deeply about what happened to him.
‘Nothing will go wrong,’ she said softly. ‘I’m going to take good care of you, I promise, and you have to know that Professor Halloran is the very best.’
He didn’t speak any more after that, but lapsed into what seemed like an exhausted sleep. The heart monitor began to bleep, the trace showing a chaotic descent into a dangerous rhythm, and Amber called for help. ‘I need a crash team here—now. Call for Professor Halloran.’ Her patient was going into shock, and cardiac arrest was imminent. ‘He’s in V-fib.’ Ventricular fibrillation meant the heart was unable to pump blood around Martyn’s body and without swift intervention he would die.
James and Sarah rushed to the bedside. Sarah started chest compressions, while James set the defibrillator to analyse the patient’s rhythm and prepared to deliver a shock to Martyn’s heart. Amber was aware of Caitlin standing in the room, watching everything that was going on, tears rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t let that distract her. She worked quickly to secure Martyn’s airway with an endotracheal tube and ensure that he was receiving adequate oxygen through a mechanical ventilator.
‘Stand clear, everyone,’ James said. As soon as the shock had been delivered, Sarah continued compressions. Amber checked for a pulse and looked to see if the rhythm of the heart had changed.
‘He’s still in V-fib,’ she said. ‘Let’s go again with a second shock.’ By now, Caitlin was making small sobbing sounds, and Amber was aware of another strange background noise, an odd swishing sound that she couldn’t quite make out.
James set the machine to deliver the second jolt of electricity, but Amber could see it hadn’t had the desired effect. ‘Keep up the compressions,’ she said. ‘I’m going to give him a shot of adrenaline.’
They continued to work on their patient, but after a while, when Martyn’s response was still insufficient, Amber added amiodarone to his intravenous line. She wasn’t going to give up on this man, no matter how resistant his condition seemed to her efforts.
‘You can do this, Martyn,’ she said, under her breath. ‘Come on, now, work with me. You’re going to the catheter suite and you’re going to come through this. Don’t let me down.’
James glanced towards Caitlin, clearly disturbed by the girl’s distress, but he could see that Sarah was tiring and moved to take over the chest compressions. Sarah watched the monitors and recorded the readings on a chart, while Amber worriedly assessed the nature of the heart rhythm and debated whether to add atropine to the medications she had already given him.
Professor Halloran came into the room, taking everything in with one sweeping glance. ‘How’s he doing?’ he asked. ‘Do you have a normal rhythm now?’
Amber checked the monitor and turned towards him. ‘We do,’ she said, relief sounding in her voice, and Professor Halloran nodded in satisfaction.
‘Well done, everyone.’ He turned his attention to the flat screen of the computer monitor that had been set up on a table across the room. He held up his hands in a thumbs-up sign. ‘He’s back with us,’ he addressed the screen, and now, at last, Amber realised where the swishing sound had been coming from.
The screen was filled with the image of a man standing on what appeared to be a wooden veranda, surrounded on all sides by a balustrade. He was looking towards them, long limbed, lean and fit, with broad shoulders that tapered to a slim, flat-stomached midriff. He was wearing casual clothes made of fine-textured cotton that would be cool and comfortable in the heat of the Hawaiian summer. In the background she made out a palm tree and the clear blue of ocean waves lapping on a golden, sandy beach.
‘I see that,’ the man said. ‘I saw it all, as clearly as if I had been there.’ He moved closer to the webcam, and Amber realised that the computer must be situated on a ledge in front of him. The screen showed him now in clear view, blotting out most of the background, and she was aware of the strong, angular lines of his face, of thick, black hair cut in a way that perfectly framed his features. Most of all, she was stunned by his clear, blue eyes, the exact colour of the sea, that appeared to be looking right at her.
‘We’ll take your uncle up to the catheter suite right away,’ Professor Halloran said. ‘It’s important that we get to work as soon as possible.’ He glanced at Amber. ‘I’ll leave you to bring him up in the lift, Amber, while I go and prepare.’
Amber nodded, dragging her gaze away from the image on the screen. She was glad to have something to distract her. There was something about the way Ethan Brookes looked at her that was infinitely disturbing. It was as though he could see into her very soul, and that was an unnerving thought.
Even more unsettling, though, as her gaze swivelled to the doorway, was the sight of James, deep in conversation with Caitlin.
‘I don’t know what to do,’ Caitlin was saying. ‘He’s all I have in the world.’
‘You’re not alone,’ James murmured. ‘I’ll look after you. I’m off duty for a while now, and we can talk. Maybe we could even get together later this evening when my shift finishes. I know you’ll probably want to talk some more. These things can hit you very hard. It’s a worrying time.’
The girl lifted tear-drenched eyes towards the young doctor, and James reacted in the way that men have reacted throughout time. He melted in the face of her vulnerability, draped an arm around her and gently led her away. It was an innocent, caring gesture, but somehow, seeing his tenderness and concern for this young woman, it rocked Amber to the core. James hadn’t taken his eyes off Caitlin’s face. He looked at her with compassion and something else, something akin to adoration. He appeared to be totally, utterly smitten.
‘Dr Shaw? Are you with us?’ Ethan Brookes’s voice cracked across the void, and Amber blinked, coming back to reality and trying unsuccessfully to blank out the image that was imprinted on her mind.
‘I should thank you for your prompt action,’ he said, and she lifted her gaze towards the screen once more.
Those steely blue eyes raked over her, as though he was making a thorough assessment of her. ‘You’ve bought my uncle a little more time, and I’m grateful to you for that.’
She gave a brief, noncommittal nod in his direction. ‘That’s what I’m here for,’ she murmured.
‘Yes, but it’s obvious that you’re also young and relatively inexperienced. You did well to cope as you did…but I’m wondering if I should arrange for a private specialist to come and take charge of my uncle’s case. I don’t want anything left to chance.’
She braced her shoulders. She was a senior house officer, more than capable of doing what was required. ‘Of course, that’s your prerogative,’ she murmured. ‘It wouldn’t be wise to delay proceedings, though. He needs to go to surgery now, and we have his full permission to go ahead…so if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and take him there.’
‘I understand that. I won’t get in your way…now…and thanks again for what you did.’
Ethan Brookes