Emergency at the Royal. Joanna Neil

business, and it’s been quite stressful for him lately. My dad’s been able to do less and less, and Luke’s finding it hard to manage on his own.’

      ‘Can’t he bring in more people to help out?’

      ‘I suppose he could, but that would mean training them up, and anyway I’m not sure that the business is doing well enough for them to take on more staff. Drew’s done his best these last few years to make a success of things, but working in management was never part of his plan when he left university.’

      ‘It’s difficult, I know, but sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to.’ He didn’t look particularly concerned. ‘I’m sorry to hear that your dad is still having problems with his health. Is there anything that can be done to improve things for him?’

      ‘Possibly. I’ve persuaded him that he needs to go and see the specialist again.’ She glanced at Drew’s plate, and saw that he had finished his food. ‘Can I get anything more for you? I think there’s some more crusty bread if you want it.’

      ‘No, thanks. That was good, but I must be on my way now.’ He pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘Thanks again for the food,’ he said. ‘It filled me up and made me feel much more human.’ He gave her a fleeting smile. ‘Perhaps we’ll meet up again some time.’

      ‘Maybe.’ She didn’t believe that was true, but it was easier to say it and to see him out. She went with him to the door and watched him climb into his sleek silver saloon car. Part of her wanted to beg him to stay, but her innate sense of self-preservation held her back. He drove away without looking behind him and she felt as though the lifeblood was draining out of her. She was empty inside.

      A few days later, in A and E, she took advantage of a few minutes’ break to wind down. She had been on the go all morning, and when there was a slight lull, she stopped by the desk and chatted to Craig, a senior house officer who had been spending the last six months learning about emergency medicine.

      ‘How’s things?’ he asked. ‘I didn’t see you at the party last weekend. I was hoping you might be able to pop in for an hour or so.’

      ‘Something came up,’ she said. ‘I heard that you had a good time. Something about dancing the conga through the park?’

      He laughed. ‘We all had a bit too much to drink.’ He leaned a little closer and slid an arm around her waist. ‘It would have been so much better if you had been there.’

      She smiled at him. ‘You’re an inveterate flirt,’ she said.

      ‘You can’t blame a man for trying. One of these days you might agree to come out with me.’

      ‘In your dreams.’ Craig would have been a catch for any young woman, with his dark good looks and happy-go-lucky attitude, but Katie was steering clear of any kind of commitment. He was far too casual in his relationships for her to take him seriously and, anyway, she was looking for something more in a man, something that remained elusive. There had only been one love of her life, and that had turned to ashes. She wasn’t about to let herself get burned again.

      An ambulance siren sounded in the distance, and she readied herself to receive her next patient. Craig went off humming to himself, full of beans, and she heard him call the name of a man who was in the waiting room. She had no idea how he could be so lively at this time of the day. Katie glanced at his patient. He looked as though he was hurting, but she couldn’t see any particular injury.

      Her own patient was suffering from a particularly nasty fracture, and she called on Hannah to assist her. Hannah was an A and E nurse, with many years of experience of working in Emergency, and Katie liked working with her.

      ‘Have you seen the new consultant?’ Hannah asked.

      Katie lifted a brow. ‘No—I didn’t know he was about. I’ve been so busy today I’ve been chasing my own shadow. What’s he like?’ She made sure that her patient had a painkilling injection and called for a surgical consultation.

      ‘He’s incredible.’ Hannah lifted her eyes heavenwards. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to get any work done around here—he’s so good-looking you wouldn’t believe it. I almost fainted at his feet when I saw him. He must have thought I was mad.’

      Katie laughed. ‘I expect he was too busy finding his way around the place to notice.’

      ‘He noticed you.’

      ‘Did he?’ Katie was surprised. ‘When? How come I didn’t see him?’

      ‘You were talking to Craig and having a laugh. Neither of you was taking much notice of anything going on around you.’

      ‘Oh, well...I expect he’ll catch up with me later.’ Katie turned her attention to her patient.

      She was writing up her notes at the desk a little later when she saw Craig’s patient walking towards the exit. He didn’t look at all well, and he was squinting a little as though the light hurt him.

      He appeared to stagger, and Katie was immediately concerned. She hurried over to him and helped him recover his balance. ‘You don’t look too good,’ she said. ‘Do you need to sit down for a while?’

      ‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ he muttered, and clutched his stomach. ‘The pain in my head is driving me mad.’

      Katie alerted Hannah, who hurried up with a bowl and a cloth. ‘Have you seen the doctor?’ Katie asked.

      The man tried to nod and winced as though the effort was too much for him. ‘He gave me a prescription.’

      Katie glanced at the paper he held, and saw that it was a prescription for migraine medication. ‘I think perhaps you had better lie down for a while,’ she said. ‘You don’t look well enough to go anywhere just yet. I’ll see if I can get hold of Dr Marshall and let him know what’s happening.’ She was surprised that Craig had sent him on his way in this condition, but perhaps the man’s symptoms had worsened since then. She glanced at Hannah. ‘Would you stay with Mr Framley? Cubicle two is empty. Perhaps he should go in there and lie down.’

      Hannah nodded, and Katie turned to hurry away and immediately found herself in collision with someone.

      ‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ she began, struggling to right herself, her fingers meshing with a shirtfront and registering the hard wall of a man’s chest. His heartbeat was strong and steady. She took a faltering step backwards and started to lift her gaze. ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going.’

      ‘I guessed as much.’ The deep voice had a familiar ring to it, and when she stared into the face of the man she gave a startled little jump.

      ‘Drew? What are you doing here?’

      ‘I work here. As of today, I’m your new consultant.’ He looked at her assessingly. ‘You seem to be in a bit of a hurry. Is that because of Dr Marshall’s patient?’

      She swallowed hard, trying to brace herself against the shock of seeing him here. ‘I just thought I would alert him to the fact that the man wasn’t very steady on his feet. There’s no problem. We can deal with it. I imagine you must have plenty to be getting on with.’

      Her mind was racing. She was worried that something wasn’t quite right with the patient, but she didn’t want to get Craig into any trouble. She was also finding it hard to take in what Drew had said. He was working here? How could that be?

      She pulled in a deep breath and stared at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to be working here?’

      ‘Has it come as such a shock to you?’ he said. His mouth was taut, and he must have seen how much it bothered her that he was here. ‘I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure how things were going to work out,’ he said, ‘but as it happens they wanted me to start straight away. Mr Johnson, the consultant who was here before me, has had to take some compassionate leave. Family problems, they said, but they don’t think he’ll be coming back.’

      Katie