They were talking about chocolate, Holly told herself.
At least where chocolate was concerned she had self-control.
Where Daniel was concerned it was melting just as fast. It was a good job that he was leaving, Holly decided.
She had a king-size crush on him and she wasn’t used to them, well, not for a very long time. At twenty-eight, Holly had rather thought that the days of wild dreams and fixating on someone’s every word were long since gone.
They weren’t.
Kay was just about to go when Laura, the nurse in charge this evening, came in swiftly.
‘Holly—Resus,’ she said. ‘We’ve got a cardiac arrest coming in. Fifty-five-year-old male collapsed at home.’
Holly nodded and, supper forgotten, she jumped down from the bench and Daniel got down from his stool to go and prepare for the incoming patient.
‘I’ll just stay and see if I’m needed...’ Kay offered. And Holly was expecting Laura to, as she usually did, point out that they’d be fine and could more than cope but instead Laura gave Kay a worried look.
‘Can I have a quick word, Kay?’ she asked.
As Laura pulled Kay aside Holly put out an arrest call to alert the medical team to come to Emergency and then started to set up for the incoming patient. Until the team arrived Daniel would be in charge but from working with him she knew that he could more than cope with anything that presented.
‘What’s going on?’ Daniel asked, as he taped some syringes to the vial of medication he’d just pulled up in anticipation of the patient’s arrival. He nodded in the direction of Laura and Kay, who were still huddled together and talking.
‘I’m not sure.’ Holly frowned. ‘But something is.’
The alert meant that they had everything ready for the patient, going on the information they had, but just as a blue light flashed in the high windows above, Kay came over and offered more.
‘Holly,’ Kay said, and her voice was serious as she pulled on a plastic apron to indicate she would be participating in the resuscitation. ‘The patient is Nora’s husband.’
Holly swallowed. Nora Hewitt was second in charge to Kay and everyone adored her. More importantly, Paul, Nora’s husband, was the good man behind a great woman. He was often at the department, picking up Nora or bringing in the lunch she had forgotten and had left sitting in the fridge at home. He always had a friendly word for everyone and should have been at the emergency department Christmas party tonight with his wife.
Instead, he was being raced into Resus on the very edge of death.
There were the sounds of sobs and tears coming from outside, though Holly could tell that it wasn’t Nora.
‘The daughter is very upset,’ the paramedic informed them.
‘Anna—’ Kay called for assistance ‘—can you stay with the family?’
‘Where’s the team?’ Holly asked in an urgent tone, desperate for them to appear so that Paul could be given the very best chance.
‘We’ll be fine,’ Daniel said in his composed deep voice and Holly glanced over at him.
He was at the head of the resuscitation bed that the paramedics were moving Paul onto and Daniel was his usual mixture of aloof and calm.
It was everything that was needed now.
‘ON MY COUNT,’ Daniel said, and Paul was transferred from the ambulance stretcher onto the solid resuscitation bed.
Everyone was a touch flustered. All the staff knew Nora, including the paramedics, and so this was incredibly personal.
But not to Daniel.
He checked the placement of the breathing tube and looked at the monitor once Paul had been transferred to the emergency department equipment. He asked Kay to recommence massage and called for the necessary drugs and did all this as he listened to the handover.
Apparently things had been rather chaotic back at the house. Paul’s daughter and her boyfriend had become agitated and distressed and had got somewhat in the way.
‘He was in the bathroom when he collapsed.’
‘Was someone with him?’
‘It was hard to get a clear history.’
Daniel nodded as Holly handed him the drug he had asked for but, aware that everyone was tense and there was the potential for mistakes to be made, he checked and double-checked everything.
Paul was still in an arrhythmia and not responding to drugs, and though he had been shocked several times both at home and en route they had been unable to revert him to a normal rhythm. Daniel delivered more of the same and then called for the defibrillator to be charged and asked for fresh pads to be placed on Paul’s chest.
Holly could see that her hands were shaking as she did as asked.
‘Is anybody getting a fuller history from the family?’ Daniel checked.
‘I’ve sent Anna in to speak with Nora,’ Kay said. ‘I don’t think he has any previous history, though.’
‘I want to hear what Nora says.’ Daniel was firm. This was no time for hearsay and Kay nodded as for now they worked on.
The emergency team started to arrive and gradually took over. Daniel had it all under control so that they were able to get a full handover as he worked on. Kay was massaging Paul’s chest and her face was red and sweating.
‘Can you take over, Holly?’ she asked.
Holly did so. She was slight and really had to put in an effort to deliver effective massage. She glanced up at the clock and then back to Paul. There had been absolutely no response since he had collapsed back at home.
‘Step back,’ Mr Dawson, the cardiologist, ordered, and Holly climbed from the bed and once she was safely standing back another shock was delivered.
‘So he collapsed at five?’ Mr Dawson checked the timeline of events.
It was now five forty-five...
Holly could smell burning from the repeated shocks to his body and she looked over at Kay, who looked up at the clock.
‘Was he found collapsed?’ Mr Dawson checked.
‘We’re just waiting to have that verified,’ Daniel said. The paramedics had been very thorough in their treatment and had done well but there were still some gaps in the history.
Anna came in then. ‘There’s no previous history and he’s on no medication. Paul was standing in the bathroom, chatting to Nora, when he developed chest pain. Nora sat him on the floor and called for an ambulance. She gave him some aspirin and stayed with him, and a couple of moments later he arrested and she commenced resuscitation straight away.’
It had been a witnessed arrest, which was incredibly relevant, especially given Nora’s skills. It was now evident that he’d had effective cardiac massage delivered from the very start.
Not that it seemed to be counting for much.
‘Resume massage,’ Mr Dawson ordered, and Holly was about to climb back on the bed when Daniel halted her.
‘Hold on a moment.’ He had his fingers in Paul’s groin to feel for a femoral pulse. ‘He’s got a pulse.’
And then, better than any music, better than any other sound in the world really, the monitor started to deliver bleeps.
Two at first, followed by