‘I’ve told you already, I don’t.’
‘Six broken ribs of varying ages.’ Steele smiled at the old girl. ‘Come on, Macey. So am I to worry that you’re falling down for no reason?’
‘I slipped on some ice,’ Macey said, ‘and I’ve got a cat that gets under my feet.’
‘Fair enough.’ Steele nodded. ‘So you don’t want me to write you down for a couple of shots of sherry at night?’ he checked. ‘You can have either your own stuff, or the hospital’s cheap disgusting stuff. We just need the bottle if you want to drink your own.’
Macey took in a deep breath before saying anything. ‘It’s in my bag.’
‘Good, we’ll make sure it’s handed over to nursing staff out of sight of your niece.’
Candy stood there feeling a bit stunned but she hadn’t seen anything yet. Steele had brought back in the two ice-cream containers that Macey had brought in with her and he started to go through them.
‘Macey, you haven’t been taking these regularly.’ He held up a pill bottle. ‘Yet you’re not.’
‘There’s so many. I can’t keep up.’
Steele picked up another bottle that had just a couple of tablets in it. ‘And these were only dispensed two days ago,’ Steele said, ‘and there are only two left.’
‘I didn’t take them,’ Macey said in a scoffing voice.
‘I know that you didn’t or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. So where are they now?’
‘I don’t know. My niece puts them into a pill box …’
‘Macey?’
‘I tipped them down the toilet. I don’t trust the drug companies.’
‘Are you depressed, Macey?’
‘Oh, you’re going to put me on antidepressants now. You’re in cahoots with the drug companies.’
‘Are you confused and mixing up your medication or are you ignoring your health?’ Steele asked, and Candy stood there, watching him stare right into Macey’s eyes. ‘Are you depressed, Macey?’
There was a long stretch of silence before Macey answered.
‘I’m not confused,’ she said. ‘Well, sometimes I am with dates and things.’
‘But you’re not confused where your medication’s concerned?’ Steele checked.
‘No,’ Macey said, and Candy frowned at the serious note to Steele’s voice.
‘Okay.’
‘Could you just leave me, please?’ Macey asked.
‘Not happening,’ Steele said, and he took down the edge of the trolley she was lying on. His legs were long enough that he sat there easily. She would need a ladder to do that, Candy thought, and then she stopped thinking idle thoughts as she started to realise the seriousness of this conversation.
‘Why did you tip the tablets in the toilet?’ Steele challenged gently, and Candy felt the back of her nose stinging as he pushed on. ‘Were you scared that you might take them all?’
Macey’s face started to crumple and Steele took her hand. ‘Look at me, Macey. Are you having suicidal thoughts?’ Steele asked bluntly, and after a moment she nodded and then started to cry.
‘Well done for throwing them away,’ Steele said. ‘Well done for coming into hospital and speaking with me.’ Candy watched as he wrapped his arms around the proud lady as she started to really sob. ‘It’s okay.’ His voice was very deep but so gentle. ‘We’re going to look after you …’
CANDY SLEPT FOR a few hours on Friday afternoon before her first night shift on the geriatric ward and then she got ready and took the Underground into work.
She was actually rather nervous about her night shift. She was so used to working in Emergency that she wasn’t too sure how she would go on the ward. She also had a short four-hour shift there on Sunday morning.
It will be worth it, Candy told herself as she stepped into the geriatric unit.
Hawaii, here I come!
The handover lasted much longer than it did in Emergency and the day staff went into far more detail about the patients than she had grown used to. Candy sat as the staff discussed in depth the patients’ moods and their ADLs: activities of daily living. Steele was sitting at a desk in the room with his back to everyone but didn’t leave as the handover started; he just carried on with whatever he was doing on the computer and offered comment or clarification at times.
Candy knew that she was far, far too aware of him.
The staff clearly liked him. If there was a question they would toss it over to him and he would answer as he typed away.
Elaine, a student nurse, was giving her handover to the night staff, watched over by her mentor, Gloria. Elaine was very bossy and seemed to think she was the only one in the room who knew what she was doing. She had given a sigh of exasperation when Candy had introduced herself and said that she was from the hospital bank. ‘Another one!’ Elaine had said.
As Elaine gave her handover there were a few times when Candy caught Abigail’s eye—Abigail was the senior nurse she would be working with tonight, and they both smothered a smile.
Mr Heath, who had been so unwell the other day in Emergency, was doing a lot better and Candy was allocated to look after him for the night.
She was also given Toby Worthington, a terminal patient who was on a lot of morphine for pain control and, Elaine said, liked to have his radio on till eleven at night and then turned on again at six.
‘Then we have Macey Anderson.’ Elaine moved on to the next patient.
‘I know Macey,’ Candy said. ‘I was in Emergency when she was admitted.’
‘Could you have her tonight as well, then?’ Abigail checked and Candy nodded. They went through her history, which was pretty much what Candy already knew. How Macey had been since admission had changed rapidly, though. ‘Since she’s come to the ward she’s been very withdrawn,’ Elaine said. ‘She doesn’t want to eat, or wash. She’s on an IV regime but if she continues to refuse meals and drinks she’ll need an NG tube. Steele has taken her off a lot of her medications and has also started her on a low dose of antidepressants …’ Elaine went through her medications. ‘Make sure she takes them and she’s not hiding them,’ Elaine warned, and Candy nodded. But that wasn’t enough for Elaine. ‘You have to ask her to lift her tongue.’
‘I shall,’ Candy said, trying to keep the edge from her voice. Elaine was a funny little thing, with a very long, wide mouth that opened often.
She reminded Candy of a puppet.
‘Why does she have to lift her tongue, Elaine?’ Steele asked from the computer, and Candy felt her lips stretch into a smile because clearly he had Elaine worked out too.
‘To make sure that she’s not hiding any under there,’ Elaine said, and looked at Candy to make sure that she understood the instruction.
‘Thanks,’ Candy said. ‘I’ll make sure that she takes them.’
As Elaine left the room Abigail winked. ‘Matron Elaine!’
‘Her heart’s in the right place, though,’ Gloria, the sister in charge of the day shift, said. ‘But, oh my, she’s hard work. Elaine insists on calling everything by its