‘House fire. Mum’s out—she’s coming to us with smoke inhalation, they’re going in for the children. Seems that there are two.’
‘Okay.’ Sheila snapped into action, and so too did Cort, calling down the anaesthetist and paediatric team as Sheila allocated her staff. ‘Ruby, come with me and set up for number one, Hannah and Siobhan take number two …’
Mum arrived and though distraught was physically well enough to go to the trolleys, but Ruby could smell smoke as she was rushed past and she could smell it on a firefighter who was brought in too, as well as a paramedic who came and gave them more information as he received it on his radio, before it made it to the emergency phone.
‘They’re out, both in full arrest.’
Happy now? Ruby wanted to say to Sheila as her stomach churned in dread. Is this busy enough for you?
But of course Ruby didn’t say anything. Instead, she did everything she was told and everything she possibly could to save the little girl in front of them. And she would have given anything she could if only it might work.
She watched Cort work and work and work on the child and she stood there when she really wanted to run. She saw her hands shaking so much she actually stabbed herself with a needle and had to discard the drug and put a sticky plaster on as Sheila snatched up a new vial and swiftly pulled up the drug.
She could feel her body soaked with adrenaline, every instinct begging her to flee as, when hope had long since left the building, Cort made the decision to stop.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the whole team then moved and helped work on the other little doll that had been brought in behind her sister.
She was bright red from the carbon monoxide, and absolutely and completely perfect, on the outside at least. Again Ruby just stood there as Siobhan and a horde of people moved her up to ICU, with her little sister forever left behind.
‘I’ll go and speak to the parents,’ Cort said.
‘Dad’s just arrived,’ Hannah said. ‘He’s in with Mum.’
‘Okay.’ Cort’s eyes flicked to Ruby, but he wasn’t that cruel. ‘Hannah, could you come with me?’
‘Ruby,’ Sheila said. ‘Come and help me get Violet ready.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Her parents will want to see her.’
She stared at the curtain and what was behind it.
‘I can’t,’ Ruby said.
‘You need to.’ Sheila was insistent. ‘We still need to look after Violet and her family.’
‘I can’t,’ Ruby said, and it was final. She could not be in the department for even a second longer. She could smell the smoke and hear the mother’s screams, and she wasn’t leaving them short because as a student she was supernumerary anyway and, Ruby realised as she headed to her locker and took her bag, they didn’t need a nurse who couldn’t cope.
‘You can’t just walk out mid-shift,’ Sheila said as Ruby walked back with her bag.
‘I’m sorry, Sheila.’ She just had to get out of there. She wasn’t being a drama queen, she knew Sheila was far too busy to beg or to follow her, and her warning was brusque and firm when it came. ‘Ruby, do you realise what you’re doing?’ Sheila checked.
‘Absolutely,’ Ruby answered. Siobhan had just returned from ICU and actually smirked as Ruby walked past. ‘I’m getting out of the kitchen.’
‘THAT was too much, Sheila.’ Cort looked at the NUM as Ruby walked out.
‘We can’t choose our patients,’ Sheila responded. ‘I can’t hand-pick what comes through the doors so that it doesn’t upset Ruby Carmichael.’
Cort hesitated, but just for a moment. Her surname was not the point, or the fact he might have slept with a good friend’s little sister last night.
The point was, if he said anything, he’d say way too much, and right now he had a grieving family to deal with.
‘Later,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’
He did.
Perhaps Sunday afternoon wasn’t the best time to do it, especially not with the day that they’d had, but by that time he should have been home hours ago. Cort was seething—not that anyone would really notice, he wasn’t the most sunny person at the best of times, but when his office door closed on Sheila there was no doubting his dark mood.
‘The students are not your concern, Cort.’ Sheila did not want to discuss this.
‘The morale in this place is my concern, though,’ Cort said. ‘I’m a day away from speaking to Doug about it. There’s a student nurse running out in the middle of her shift, and a doctor not turning up because she doesn’t want to be here on her own because she feels the nurses have no respect for her.’
‘It’s not my fault Jamelia can’t cope.’
He looked at Sheila, whom he liked and respected and was the leader of a good team. Yet, as happened at times, the team was splintering. Emergency was the toughest of places to work and in an effort to survive the things they saw, people hardened. Black humour darkened and sometimes it needed reeling in.
‘We’re supposed to be a team.’
‘Really?’ Sheila gave him a wide-eyed look. ‘Since when, Cort? You’ve been hell since you got back from your holidays. You do nothing to be a part of this so-called team. Look at yesterday with Jamelia—you just swanned in and took over …’ Her voice trailed off, because it wasn’t the best of examples. After all, without him the patient wouldn’t have even made it to ICU, so she tried a different tack instead. ‘I don’t see you at any of the staff functions—you didn’t come on the team-building exercise. I’ve worked with you for years and I don’t know anything more about you than I did on the first day we met.’
‘I’m talking about work,’ Cort said. ‘We don’t need to be in every aspect of each other’s lives to function as a team.’
‘Then I’ll try to ensure we function better.’ Sheila spat his chosen word back at him, and Cort knew she was right, knew he was asking more than he was prepared to give.
‘Okay,’ Cort said. ‘Point taken. I am trying to make more of an effort …’ He just hated the touchy-feely stuff, and a day shooting paint balls in a teambuilding exercise simply wasn’t him. ‘And I’ll work the roster and see if I can shadow Jamelia for a couple of weeks—maybe build up her confidence. What about you?’ Cort said, demanding compromise.
‘Fine,’ Sheila snapped. ‘I’ll have a word, keep an eye open …’ She gave a weary nod. ‘I was actually going to speak to Siobhan anyway. I know how she can come across at times, but her heart is in the right place. I’ll talk to them,’ Sheila offered.
‘Good,’ Cort said, and really he should have left it there, except as he turned, he couldn’t.
‘What about the student?’
‘Ruby.’ Sheila didn’t play games. ‘I think we both know her name.’
Cort chose not to dwell on whatever point Sheila was making. Instead, he tried to act as he always did. ‘As you said, the nursing staff are your concern.’
But weren’t they supposed to be changing how they did things around here? Cort thought as he went to walk out.