Gus
‘It’s me,’ he said when she picked up. ‘I’m on ward four. There’s a Mrs E Shaw waiting here for you.’
‘What? I haven’t got any patients called Shaw?’
‘Hmmm, Anjali might have forgotten to mention her. She’s here but it’s not urgent.’
Violet sighed. ‘I might as well come now, I’ve got Mr Danielli’s bloods to do on four anyway.
’ She sounded pissed off and he wondered whether his little gamble would pay off.
She might be annoyed about being interrupted– Violet struck him as someone who liked a plan and did not take kindly to it being altered.
He felt more confident when she arrived on the ward a few moments later though. She was smiling as he beckoned her into the office.
‘Is Mrs Shaw waiting in here?’ Her voice dropped suddenly to a hushed whisper, brows knit together in confusion as she peered in through the door. ‘Is she a relative or something?’
Gus pushed the box of Elizabeth Shaw mint chocolates across the desk towards her. ‘Mrs E Shaw,’ he said. ‘Help yourself.’
‘Ahaaa!’ she said, pulling up a chair and crossing E Shaw off her patient list. ‘I see what you’ve done there.’ She gave him a wry look. ‘Thought it was a bit unlikely, a relative wanting to have an in-depth discussion about a patient at five past midnight on Boxing Day morning.’
‘You don’t mind?’ he said, suddenly worried that this was another of his whimsical ideas that appeared fun but was actually unspeakably irritating.
‘No,’ Violet said. ‘I like a mint crisp.’ She began to unwrap one of the chocolates. ‘Not as much as an orange cream or a piece of Toblerone but certainly better than a Malteser or a mini Snickers.’
‘I thought you might have strong feelings about confectionery items.’ He smiled. ‘So this was a bit of a risk.’
‘Brave man,’ she said, popping the chocolate in her mouth. ‘Especially given that you made me think I had an extra patient. I was just on the verge of calling Anjali to complain.’
‘Ah, well Anj would probably have known who Mrs Shaw was and would therefore have ruined the surprise so I’m glad you didn’t,’ he said happily. ‘Now, I’ve had an idea, about your confused lady.’
‘Oh, yes?’ Violet leaned back in the office chair and nibbled on another chocolate. ‘I’m all ears,’ she said. ‘Although I do mean that figuratively.’
‘Well, after you’d gone I had a chat with Dolores.’
‘Who?’
‘One of the healthcare assistants,’ he said.
‘Works on ward ten. Well, she works all over the place really, wherever she can get a shift.’ He knew Dolores well– they always had a little chat when he saw her.
‘Anyway, she told me that your Mrs Jenson particularly gets on with Pete, the HCA currently working on ward eleven.’
‘O-kay.’ Violet still looked completely bemused.
‘And so she offered to swap wards with Pete so he could come and keep an eye on Mrs Jenson,’ he said, tapping his palms down on the table, pleased with himself.
‘And is that allowed? Can they just swap like that?’
‘Well, I had to smooth it over with Cindy first,’ Gus said.
‘Cindy? Is that Mrs Jenson?’
‘No, Cindy’s the staff nurse stepping up as Night Sister on ten.’
‘Oh, right.’ Violet’s face fell for a moment. ‘You’re on first name terms with her too, are you?’
‘I usually remember names pretty well,’ he said. ‘Other than last night when I forgot yours. It’s helpful. People are much more likely to engage if they feel like you know who they are.’
She nodded and printed Cindy’s name down on her piece of paper. ‘Fair point,’ she said. ‘I probably should make the effort. Seeing as pretending to care about people makes them behave exactly the way you want them to.’
‘That’s not the reason I learn people’s names,’ he said quickly, faltering when he saw the smile on her face. She was making fun of him. ‘It’s just a handy side-effect, that’s all,’ he said, relaxing.
Violet took another chocolate. ‘So, Cindy’s the one who wanted me to write up the sedation?’
He nodded. ‘Anyway, I told her I could see she was understaffed and that she was doing a great job under challenging circumstances, etcetera…’
‘You turned on the charm?’ Her eyebrows were raised; she was mocking him again.
‘I may have done. I can’t help it. I am an extremely charming man by all accounts.’ He was pleased to see her laugh at this. ‘Anyway, I told her about Pete and Dolores and…’
‘And she thought your idea was fabulous?’
‘Well, not directly. I made her think it was her idea. But once I’d done that, then yeah, she had a chat with Naga who’s the sister on eleven and they agreed that a swap made sense.
Pete’s on ten chatting away to your Mrs Jenson who's now back in her bed. She thinks it’s the bus-stop.
And she thinks Pete’s the driver. But she’s much happier by all accounts. ’
‘So, you told Cindy that there was no need for any sedation?’ said Violet. She seemed keen to clarify whether her medical dilemma was now resolved.
‘I didn’t have to,’ said Gus, smiling. ‘No battle required. Cindy’s happy as long as Mrs Jenson’s not wandering about, so you’re in the clear.’
Violet regarded him with a curious expression on her face.
‘Thank you,’ she said, with real feeling.
‘You’ve got me out of a tricky situation there.
I didn’t know what to do. To be honest I was stalling for time– and that’s not something I do usually.
Anjali told me just to write up a low dose of something as a one-off, but I think that’s because she was worried I might offend the nurses otherwise.
She’s warned me before about not getting on the wrong side of the ward staff…
’ Violet trailed off and Gus wondered whether she’d been about to say something else.
‘Well, she’s not wrong on that front,’ he said when it became clear she wasn’t going to elaborate.
‘Goodwill goes a long way and if the nurses see you as rude and obstructive then they can make your life bloody difficult. But on the other hand, it’s your name on that prescription sheet and it’s you that has to take responsibility for your decision.
It’s not as straightforward as it might seem. ’
He was trying to put her at ease, wanting her to feel relaxed around him.
Despite the fact that Violet was evidently very capable of speaking her mind, he got the impression that she didn’t discuss her feelings or worries with anyone other than those who were very close to her.
He felt oddly invested in getting her to open up, maybe it was just the challenge of being the one to break through that stiff reserve.
Either way, he was disproportionately pleased by the gratitude now evident in her expression.
He wondered whether she knew how beautiful she looked when she smiled like that. Probably not.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but you’ve managed the entire situation without upsetting anybody. That’s quite impressive. I’d have likely pissed everyone off– even people who weren’t directly involved.’
‘I am something of an expert at avoiding conflict,’ said Gus ruefully. ‘But it’s not always a good thing.’
Violet went quiet and he wondered whether he’d made a mistake dropping that little hint about his failings into the conversation. He wasn’t sure how he’d follow up on it if she asked him what he’d meant. Luckily her mind seemed to be busy whirring over other topics.
‘I’ve just thought,’ she said eventually.
‘Something else that might help Mrs Jenson other than relying on Pete being available every night shift. There’s this thing I’d heard about.
John’s Campaign. It’s for people with dementia who are admitted to hospital and I think there’s been a ruling or something where they can now have a nominated friend or relative with them, outside of normal visiting hours, to help make them feel less disorientated.
Someone at my gran’s care home was talking about it. ’
‘Does she have dementia, your grandmother?’ He saw her face close off and kicked himself for blurting that out in such a direct way, but he was interested, and besides, Violet didn’t appear to mind direct questions.
‘Yes.’ The guarded tone had returned, as if she felt she’d revealed too much of herself.
‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to ask you how you feel about it.’ His voice was gentle. ‘I just, it’s just a shitty disease that’s all. It must be tough to see a loved one go through…’
‘Yes, well anyway, thanks for the chocolates.’ She stood abruptly, almost knocking the box off the table and fumbling to correct it as the contents spilled out. ‘I’ve got to go and do these bloods.’
‘Oh– okay.’ He felt bizarrely deflated. ‘Of course. I’ll probably see you later in the mess?’
She paused by the door, took a breath in.
He could see the outline of her shoulder blades against the cotton of her top, the soft nape of her neck, exposed by her cropped haircut.
‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Hope so. And Gus…’ She turned towards him, that smile back on her face, lighting it up.
‘Thanks for what you did. With Mrs Jenson. The fact that it’s all resolved without my having turned it into some sort of nuclear incident, it’s a real weight off my mind. Thank you.’
‘No problem, happy to help.’ He smiled back at her and shook his head slightly as she left the office. She was definitely an odd one, that girl. Fascinating, yes. Far more attractive than she realised, yes. But odd as a box of frogs. And that wasn’t even the correct phrase. God, he must be tired.