A Family Made At Christmas. Scarlet Wilson

give you something to help your blood pressure.’

      He nodded at Connie again. ‘Get me some dopamine.’ He turned to April. ‘Can you put some oxygen on for me, please?’

      April nodded and slipped the mask over Robert’s face, lowering her head to the bed to monitor the rise and fall of his chest and keeping her eyes on the numbers on the oximeter.

      Teamwork was crucial. Neurogenic shock was difficult. It was different from spinal shock or the most common type of shock with injuries—hypovolemic—and had to be treated differently. Often patients could have a respiratory arrest.

      Right on cue, April waved her hand. ‘Can we call an anaesthetist?’

      ‘No time,’ said Riley as he finished administering the dopamine and moved to the head of the bed. It only took a few seconds to tilt Robert’s head back, using the laryngoscope to insert an endotracheal tube.

      He glanced towards the doorway. ‘We need to transfer him to high dependency. Does anyone know if they have a bed?’

      April took his cue and ran over to the phone. Riley kept bagging the patient. At this stage, Robert needed to be ventilated. He could only pray this was a temporary setback.

      Robert’s regular doctor appeared at the door. His eyes widened. ‘What the—?’

      He stopped himself and held open the ward doors. ‘High dependency?’

      April put the phone down and nodded. ‘They’ll be waiting.’

      He moved over and grabbed a side of the bed. Between the other doctor, April and the nurse, the transfer was smooth. Riley concentrated on the airway, bagging the whole way, then setting up the ventilators and pressures when they arrived.

      ‘Need anything else?’ he asked his colleague.

      The doctor shook his head. ‘I take it he had just had a rapid deterioration?’

      Riley nodded. ‘April was working with him. She picked up on it straight away.’

      ‘Thank goodness. This could have been a disaster.’

      Riley gave a thoughtful nod and stared back towards the door. April had stopped in the corridor. He gave a brief smile. ‘Give me a page if you need any help.’

      The other doctor nodded and he headed out into the corridor.

      April was dressed in her usual attire of the physios, white tunic and navy trousers, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had her eyes closed and was resting her head and body against the wall.

      He touched her arm and her eyes jerked open. ‘April, are you okay?’

      Their eyes connected for a few moments. Hers were bluer than ever. Maybe it was the bright hospital lights. Or maybe it was the fact he was noticing so much more about her. April had always looked away quickly before, but this time she didn’t. This time it felt as if there was more to their gaze.

      But she pulled her arm away. ‘Of course, I’m fine.’ She gave her head a little shake. ‘I just got a fright when Robert deteriorated so quickly.’

      He nodded. As a doctor, he was used to dealing with emergencies, but other staff didn’t have the same exposure as he did. Quite often they did a debrief after things like this.