‘It’s always hard to take it all in,’ Rafferty said soberly. ‘That’s why some people find it difficult to cope with this type of work. We lose a lot of new recruits because they can’t handle the sheer scale of a disaster like this.’
‘Oh, I can handle it all right,’ Sandy hastily assured him. ‘It just took a day or so to get my head round it all. Even in the busiest accident-and-emergency department, you don’t get such a concentration of severely injured as we’ve dealt with here.’
Rafferty nodded as he moved around the trolley. A fractured ankle was duly noted this time. ‘It’s the same for all of us, if it’s any consolation.’
‘Really?’ Sandy exclaimed. ‘You mean that you still find it a bit overwhelming at times?’
‘Yes. You certainly shouldn’t let yourself become blasé about the job because that’s when you could find yourself in real trouble.’
‘That’s what Miss Palmer said at my interview. She told me that the minute you feel as though it’s just routine is the time you should stop.’ The younger man frowned. ‘I wasn’t sure what she meant but I think I understand now. You can’t afford to grow complacent because you might forget about the dangers.’
‘That’s right,’ Rafferty said shortly because this second reminder of Natalie, coming on top of the other, had pushed a few internal buttons. He breathed deeply to quell feelings that had been lying dormant for some time. It really wasn’t the right moment to start thinking about how much he missed her.
‘Right, we’ll take her straight to Theatre and do the X-rays there,’ he said briskly. ‘There’s bound to be extensive soft-tissue damage and I don’t want to waste any time. Can you tell Ben that I’ll need him to do the anaesthetic, and let Patsy know that I’d like her to assist me.’
‘Patsy was in Theatre all last night,’ Sandy told him. ‘She’s trying to catch up on her sleep so do you want me to wake her up?’
Rafferty frowned. ‘Better not. What about Lauren?’
‘She’s in Theatre Two with Liam. I’m not sure how long they’ll be yet.’
‘Then it looks like it’s you and me. I know you don’t have a lot of experience in Theatre so do you think you can cope?’
‘Of course,’ Sandy assured him, but Rafferty could tell that he wasn’t nearly as confident as he was pretending to be.
‘OK. Scrub up once you’ve told Ben that I need him.’
He didn’t say anything else because it would serve no purpose to undermine Sandy’s confidence. However, it was worrying to have to rely on staff who lacked the necessary skills. He quickly unzipped the flap and let himself into the scrub area. Each of the theatre tents was really three tents set one inside the other. The first section was where the patients were examined, the second was the scrub area and the third and final section was the actual operating theatre.
Conditions in there were kept sterile thanks to an expensive air-filtration system bought for them by their main sponsor, Palmer Pharmaceuticals. Palmer’s had also paid for the state-of-the-art operating tables and the high-tech lighting equipment that ran off generators. If it weren’t for the company’s generosity, Rafferty knew that Worlds Together wouldn’t be able to carry out its work so effectively. Palmer’s provided most of the money they needed, and that was what lay at the heart of his own problems.
Natalie Palmer, the woman he loved more than life itself, was heiress to the Palmer fortune. Was it any wonder their relationship had faltered?
Three hours later, Rafferty left Theatre. Tossing his gown into a sack, he went straight outside. It was just gone six and the camp was quiet for once. The rest of the team were having dinner and he knew he should join them but he wasn’t hungry. Although he’d done all he could, he hadn’t been able to save the girl and her loss weighed heavily on him.
‘I’m really sorry. I did my best but I just wasn’t up to the job.’
He looked round when Sandy followed him outside. The young nurse’s lack of experience had been very apparent and several times Rafferty had had to tell him what to do. It hadn’t been an ideal situation, by any means, but it hadn’t been Sandy’s fault the girl had died and Rafferty took immediate steps to tell him that.
He sighed as he watched the younger man heading towards the mess tent a short time later. His pep talk might have had the desired effect but it wasn’t right that people should start blaming themselves because they lacked the necessary skills. Ever since Natalie had left the team, they’d had problems finding a suitable replacement and it was galling to know that she was wasting her talents, sitting behind a desk in London. She was a nurse, not a businesswoman, for heaven’s sake!
Rafferty’s expression was grim as he swung round and strode across the compound. It was high time that someone told her that.
‘I’M VERY sorry, Miss Palmer, but he’s still refusing to leave. He’s been here for over an hour now and I really don’t know what else I can do.’
Natalie Palmer sighed when she heard the panic in her secretary’s voice. Janet was noted for her calm efficiency but even she was starting to crack under the pressure. ‘Did you explain that I was too busy to see anyone this morning without an appointment?’
‘Yes! But he said that he was prepared to wait all day if necessary.’ Janet lowered her voice so that Natalie had to strain her ears to hear what she was saying. ‘Would you like me to call Security and let them deal with him?’
It was tempting.
Very tempting, indeed!
Natalie hesitated as she weighed up the merits of having Dr Michael James Rafferty ejected from the headquarters of Palmer Pharmaceuticals. After all, why should she worry about the embarrassment it might cause him? Rafferty obviously didn’t care that he was making a spectacle of himself, otherwise he would have left as soon as she’d made it clear that she didn’t intend to see him. No, the truth was that Rafferty was too stubborn to accept that he wasn’t going to get his own way.
Her mouth thinned, because in her opinion Rafferty’s stubbornness was the cause of all their problems. After all, it wasn’t her fault that her family was so rich. If it didn’t worry her then she didn’t see why it should worry him. But he wouldn’t accept that her wealth didn’t matter so long as they loved one another. If he’d been the sort of person to suffer from low self-esteem, she could have understood, but Rafferty certainly wasn’t lacking in confidence. Why should he, when he’d reached the very top of his profession and earned the respect of his peers along the way?
‘Miss Palmer? Are you still there?’
‘Yes. I’m sorry, Janet. I was just trying to decide what to do for the best.’
Natalie hurriedly returned her thoughts to her current predicament. If it needed drastic measures to resolve this problem, she wouldn’t back down. Rafferty couldn’t just turn up at her office and demand to see her—it gave out the completely wrong signals.
Since her father’s heart attack three months ago, she had worked hard to keep Palmer Pharmaceuticals on track. Richard Palmer had warned her there were certain factions within the company who wanted to change how the firm operated. Palmer’s had always donated a large percentage of its profits to charitable ventures and in recent years it had been the main sponsor of Worlds Together. It was a costly undertaking and Natalie knew that several members of the board would prefer to see the money spent elsewhere.
That was the last thing she intended to happen. As a highly skilled nurse-practitioner, she’d been involved with Worlds Together since its inception and knew how valuable its work was. She really wasn’t prepared to jeopardise its