Chapter 11
11
One moment Danni was standing talking to Zahir about a patient, and the next moment the floor seemed to be rising up to meet her. Putting out a hand in an attempt to steady herself, she took a clinical trolley with her when she went down, causing a horrendous crash in the process that seemed to alert the whole department to what had happened.
‘Oh my God, Danni!’ Esther was at her side within seconds, appearing out of nowhere like Super Girl on a mission to save the day. ‘Are you okay? What happened?’
‘I don’t know, I just went really lightheaded, and it felt like my legs were going to give out from underneath me.’ Danni looked at the chaos around her. ‘And apparently they did.’
‘Don’t you dare even try to get up yet.’ Esther put a hand on Danni’s shoulder to make sure she couldn’t disobey her command.
‘I’m fine. I think I just need a snack or something. My blood sugar has been low at some of my checks.’
‘Maybe, but it could be your blood pressure, or low iron, or… like you say, just that you haven’t eaten recently enough. But, whatever it is, I want to get you checked over properly, so you’re not moving until I’ve got a wheelchair, and then we’re going up to the maternity unit so that they can assess you.’
‘You can be a proper sergeant major sometimes, do you know that?’ Danni couldn’t even pretend to be upset with her friend. Knowing that someone cared as much as Esther did was a gift that she would never take for granted.
‘I’m only looking out for you, because you don’t look out for yourself the way you should. Now promise not to move, while I get you a wheelchair.’
‘I’ll keep a close eye on her.’ Aidan dropped a wink as he looked at Danni, but she knew he’d keep his word. The friends she’d made in her job were like family to her. Working in emergency medicine had a way of bonding people together for life, and she couldn’t have chosen a better group of people to be bonded to.
‘I’ll be two minutes.’ Esther dashed off and Aidan was as good as his word about not letting her stand up. Although he did allow her to sit up, so he could take her blood pressure, asking in his lilting Irish accent whether she and Charlie had found it difficult to pick out a name for the baby, almost certainly in an attempt to distract her from worrying.
‘I want to wait until he arrives. I feel like we’ll just know when we see him.’ She smiled at the look on his face. ‘Clearly you think that’s a mad idea?’
‘We’re probably the mad ones, spending most of our spare time talking about a baby we don’t even know we’re going to get yet.’ Aidan pulled a face. ‘I’m Mr Upbeat most of the time, and getting a positive pregnancy test was obviously huge, but there’s still such a long way to go. Every time the phone rings, or I get a message and see it’s from Ellen, I have to hold my breath until I’m certain it’s not bad news. I wish I was one of those people who could just assume the best until proven otherwise, but every so often I get this creeping fear.’
‘Me too.’ It was a relief to Danni to be able to admit it to someone and to know they understood. She and Aidan had shared some of their fears before, and she didn’t have to pretend around him that she always felt positive. ‘I don’t know why I can’t be more like Charlie; he looks on the bright side of everything. But we know where it comes from, don’t we? And sadly, we also know that not all childhoods are happy ones.’
‘You’re not wrong, but we can learn from the mistakes our parents made and be all the better at it for our own kids.’ Aidan pulled another face. ‘Do I sound convincing, because I’m trying to convince myself!’
‘You’ll be a great dad, I know you will and I’m not so worried about that bit. I just wish I could see that the baby’s all right. I keep saying to Charlie that there should be a zip or something I can open, so I can have a little peek inside and make sure he’s okay.’ Danni laughed again. ‘But Charlie reckons I’d look all the time and it would be like when someone opens the oven door too often to check on a cake. The baby wouldn’t get cooked properly.’
‘We’re both in for our share of soggy bottoms either way, and I can’t wait.’ Aidan squeezed her shoulder. ‘The good news is your blood pressure looks fine.’
‘Does that mean I can get up?’
‘No!’ Esther arrived back just in time to lay down the law, and she and Aidan helped Danni into the wheelchair as Esther delivered her next order. ‘I’ve got my lunch break now, so I’m taking you up to maternity and I’ll treat us both to a portion of chips from the hospital restaurant. It might not be the healthiest option in the world, but it’ll give you a quick energy boost if the midwives say you’re okay to drive yourself home, and it’ll help me get to the end of the shift.’
There was no point Danni saying that she had no intention of going home, unless the midwives insisted. If she was given the all-clear, she’d be heading back to A burns, broken toes, lacerations, that kind of thing. I can even do some of that sitting down if I need to.’
‘Nothing I say is going to change your mind, is it?’ Esther sighed as Danni shook her head. ‘Just know I’m going to be watching you like a hawk and, if anything like this happens again, I’m getting you straight home, even if I have to carry you over my shoulder.’
‘I’d like to see you try.’ Danni had a good eight or nine inches on her friend, but she still wouldn’t have bet against Esther if it came down to it, and she was clearly backing herself too.
‘You know I could if I had to.’
‘You probably could, but you won’t need to. Once I’ve had those chips, I’ll be ready to tackle anything that comes through the doors.’
‘As long as it’s a minor injury.’ Esther gave her another pointed look.
‘Yes, Mum.’ Danni laughed again and a warm feeling settled in her chest. She might not have a real mum who loved her the way mums were supposed to, but she had a best friend who cared about her in a way many people never experienced, and that was a blessing which needed to be counted.
Being on lighter duties meant that Danni saw a quicker succession of patients than she might normally have done. There were some who definitely should have gone to their GP instead of turning up in A the emotion that was rising up in her throat felt as though it might overwhelm her. Her mother had chosen a new life with her partner, Paul, instead of spending time with her children. But maybe there’d been a reason for her doing so, even if it was only in Nicola’s head. For the first time Danni questioned whether her mother had thought the same thing; that her children were now better off without her. Whatever the history with Clifford and his kids, she’d have to have a heart made of stone not to feel sad for someone who believed no one left in the world cared about him. She might not be able to change how he felt, but she wanted Clifford to know there were people who would care enough to check on him.
‘I’m going to have a look in your mouth now, because I suspect from the swelling on your face that there’s an infection. If there is I’ll prescribe you some different painkillers and a course of antibiotics, which should help alleviate some of the symptoms and allow you to get some rest. I’ll also refer you to one of the dental surgeons to discuss options for extraction or further treatment.’ Danni took a breath. ‘I think it would be a good idea to run some blood tests, just to make sure there’s nothing else going on that might have contributed to your fall. I know you said you tripped, but it’s better to err on the side of caution. I’d also like to make a welfare referral for you, so you can get some support with things like finding a new dentist, and looking at whether there might be any hazards in your house that could cause another accident. They can discuss whether you might like to be part of a befriending service too, where volunteers come in for a chat on a regular basis, so you have someone keeping a bit of an eye on you, and caring that you’re doing okay. How would you feel about that?’
For a moment Clifford didn’t say anything, and if she’d had to guess how he was going to respond, she wasn’t sure she could have done. She’d experienced every kind of reaction to that kind of offer in the past, from outright refusal to even discuss it, to being told where she could stick her referral and to stop being an interfering busybody, by a ninety-three-year-old lady who said she had no intention of letting other interfering busybodies over her threshold, since she was perfectly capable of looking after herself. But Clifford’s eyes had gone glassy again.
‘I’d like that.’ It was a simple statement, but there was a chance it could change Clifford’s life. Physical pain was almost always easier to treat than the emotional kind, but when Danni went home from work at the end of every shift, she wanted to know she’d done all she could to alleviate both.