If the auditor had been drafted in to make economies he was bound to look at the non-nursing staff first, and though she and Megan might think Jess’s counselling role essential she had a horrible suspicion this money man would not.
‘What does Gio think?’ Brianna asked, thinking of Jess’s handsome Italian husband, a neurosurgeon who had arrived at St Piran’s the previous autumn and swept her friend off her feet.
‘He thinks like you, that the auditor will recognise how valuable my work is and recommend shelving the new specialist paediatric burns unit instead, but frankly…’ Jess shrugged. ‘I can’t see that happening. There is a need for that unit, plus the building is almost complete, and Admin have already asked that foreign prince to perform the grand opening in a couple of months.’
Brianna didn’t think Gio’s suggestion likely, either, and neither did Megan, judging by her expression.
‘At least both your departments will be safe,’ Jess continued bracingly. ‘No one in their right mind would shut down a neonatal intensive care unit or a paediatric ward.’
Brianna could think of one man who would. One man to whom statistics and efficiency had always been more important than people, and she shivered involuntarily.
‘You OK?’ Megan asked with a slight frown, and Brianna forced a smile.
‘I just don’t like all this talk of department closures. This hospital has been my…’ She came to a halt. She had been about to say ‘refuge’, but though she, Jess and Megan had become friends during the two years she’d been at St Piran’s there were areas of her life that were strictly off limits, and her past was one of them. ‘I’ve been so very happy here,’ she said instead.
‘Me, too,’ Jess replied, and Megan nodded in agreement.
‘Look, do we know anything about this man? ‘ Brianna asked. ‘Where he’s from, what other hospitals he’s been to?’
‘All we know is he’s from London,’ Jess replied, and the shiver Brianna had felt earlier became more pronounced.
‘London?’ she echoed. ‘Jess—’
The insistent bleep of a pager brought her to a halt. All three women instantly reached for theirs, but it was Megan who got to her feet with a groan.
‘Nothing wrong in Paeds, I hope?’ Brianna said, and Megan shook her head.
‘It’s Admin. They’ve got themselves in a real flap about this visitation. Yesterday they wanted everything in duplicate. Now they’ve decided they want everything in triplicate.’
With a rueful smile the paediatric specialist registrar headed off towards the canteen exit but, as Brianna and Jess watched her, the door suddenly opened and Josh O’Hara, the consultant from A and E, appeared. He clearly said something to Megan, actually put out his hand to stay her, but she pushed past him without a word, and Brianna and Jess exchanged glances.
‘The atmosphere’s not getting any better between those two, is it?’ Brianna said, and Jess sighed.
‘I guess it can’t. Not when Josh is married to Rebecca, and Megan’s most certainly not a home-wrecker.’
‘Has…?’ Brianna cleared her throat awkwardly. ‘Has she said anything to you about him?’
‘I only know there’s a past history there, not what it is, and I wouldn’t dream of asking,’ Jess replied. ‘My guess is they were an item years ago, before Josh got married, but as to what happened or why they split up…’ The hospital counsellor lifted her shoulders helplessly. ‘I just wish he hadn’t taken the consultant’s job in A and E. OK, so he didn’t know Megan would be working at St Piran’s, but can you imagine how awful it must be, having someone you once loved reappear in your life like this?’
Brianna could. She didn’t want to imagine it, but she could, all too vividly.
Secrets, she thought as she watched Josh walk slowly across the canteen then stare unenthusiastically at the lunch menu. She, Jess and Megan, all of them had secrets. Maybe that’s what had drawn them together, made them friends. That, and the fact they never pried into one another’s private lives so she’d had no idea until a few months ago that Jess had HIV, or that Megan was nursing a badly broken heart, while neither of them knew she…
Don’t go there, Brianna, she told herself. Don’t go there, not ever.
‘The annoying thing is, I like him,’ Jess continued as Josh picked up a doughnut and coffee, then morosely went to sit at an empty table near the back of the canteen. ‘Whatever happened between him and Megan in the past, I still think he’s one of the good guys.’
‘And does your husband know you consider Josh “one of the good guys”?’ Brianna asked, her brown eyes dancing, and the counsellor laughed.
‘Gio knows I only have eyes for him,’ she replied. ‘I just wish…this situation between Megan and Josh…I just wish there was something I could do to help.’
Brianna wished she could, too, as she and Jess left the canteen and went their separate ways. She’d liked Josh O’Hara from the very first minute she’d met him. For sure he’d teased her when he’d discovered she was from Ireland as he was, had said that with her long, auburn hair she reminded him of the 1940s Hollywood actress, Maureen O’Hara, but she knew he hadn’t been hitting on her. He was just a natural-born charmer, adept at making people feel at ease. Unless, of course, that person was Megan Phillips, she thought with a deep sigh.
And she could have done with Josh at her side, dispensing a whole bucketload of his charm, she decided as she swiped her ID card to gain entry to NICU, only to walk straight into Rita, NICU’s ward clerk, and her least favourite member of staff in the hospital.
‘I’m not late back from lunch, Rita,’ Brianna said, consulting her watch pointedly, ‘the unit doesn’t appear to be on fire, I’m sure you would have paged me if any of the babies was giving cause for concern, so can I assume you want to report one of the nursing staff for some petty infringement?’
‘He’s here,’ the NICU ward clerk hissed. ‘The auditor. He arrived half an hour ago, and I’ve got him in my office, looking at some files, but I don’t know how long I can keep him there.’
‘Have you considered chains, manacles, possibly a straitjacket?’
‘This is not a laughing matter, Sister Flannigan,’ Rita retorted. ‘Mr Brooke is still in Theatre—’
‘Which is probably just as well,’ Brianna interrupted. ‘Letting Babbling loose amongst walking, healthy people…’ She shook her head. ‘Not a good idea.’
‘Neither is referring to our head of department by that stupid nickname,’ Rita protested, apparently conveniently forgetting that she called their consultant Mr Brooke ‘Babbling’ just as often as the rest of the staff in NICU did.
‘Rita—’
‘First impressions count, Sister, and we’ve already got off to a bad one with Mr Brooke not being here to meet the VIP.’
‘Yes, it really was very inconsiderate of little Amy Renwick to get so sick, wasn’t it?’ Brianna said dryly, but her sarcasm was lost on the ward clerk.
‘It certainly couldn’t have happened at a worse time,’ Rita agreed. ‘I only have two years left to work before I retire and the last thing I want is the unit closing down before I’m ready to go.’
Yeah, and you’re all heart, Rita, Brianna thought, but she didn’t say that.
‘I very much doubt anyone would ever contemplate shutting down a neonatal intensive care unit,’ she said, deliberately echoing Jess’s optimistic words, but Rita wasn’t placated.
‘We’re grossly understaffed,’ the ward clerk