Page 25 of Broken Heart Syndrome
‘Right, of course,’ he muttered, lowering me gently onto the trolley like I was made of bone china. ‘She fainted. Hit her head hard. She’s got a three-centimetre laceration at the back which needs stitching.’
‘I can speak for myself,’ I muttered, glaring up at him.
‘Firstly, you were unconscious, so you don’t know how loud that crack was when your head hit the bloody floor,’ he said fiercely. ‘And secondly, you can’t see the back of your own head, so it stands to reason that you can’t describe the injury.’ It was then I noticed that his body was rigid and his jaw was clenched. He looked visibly shaken; maybe he was scared I would sue him or something?
‘I’m okay, Tom,’ I said softly to try and defuse the tension.
‘No you’re not, but you bloody well will be,’ he replied grimly, turning to Lizzy, who was watching our exchange in fascination. ‘Do you think we could get on with this?’ he clipped.
Lizzy, totally not intimidated by Tom’s terse manner, smiled a bizarrely huge smile; as if me receiving a head injury was the best news she’d had in weeks.
‘I’ll just set up the trolley,’ she said brightly. As I watched her unloading a dressing pack and sutures, I sucked in a shaky breath and turned to Tom.
‘Can you bleep Lou for me?’ I asked in a small voice. I needed to hold someone’s hand. ‘Or Dylan if she doesn’t answer.’
‘Of course,’ he replied, and swept out of the cubicle.
‘Wowzers,’ Lizzy said after he cleared the curtain. ‘He might not rev my motor but if anyone could straighten me out I reckon it would be that man.’
‘Yeah.’ I sighed wistfully and her gaze snapped to my face. She started unwinding the bandage to inspect the back of my head, her features awash with curiosity.
‘Soooo,’ she drew out the word, ‘want to explain to me why you two are doing the wholeOfficer and a Gentlemanthing through the hospital?’
‘I fell in the cath lab,’ I explained. ‘I think he’s worried I might sue or something.’ She looked at me with a frustrated expression.
‘You’re a moron,’ she declared, going back to the job of inspecting my cut.
‘Thanks very much,’ I replied hotly.
‘Well you are. He’s not worried you’re going to sue him, you idiot,’ she said impatiently.
‘A moron and an idiot. You’re just full of compliments today, aren’t you?’ I huffed. Lizzy ignored me.
‘A man who’s worried that a woman might sue after a head injury, puts her in a wheelchair and gets the porters to take her to A&E. A man who cares about a woman who’s had a head injury, and is worried abouther,picks her up and carries her,Officer and a Gentleman-style, to A&E.’
‘Lizzy –’ I tried to interrupt, but she wasn’t done.
‘Then, when he arrives, he hesitates to set her down because he likes the feel of his arms around her.Thenhe looks at me like he’s going to rip my head off if I don’t hurry up and fix her. That man cares about said woman, is worried about her, and wants her to be okay, so that ultimately he can get in her knickers.’
‘He does not,’ I said furiously. She searched my face for a moment and sighed.
‘God. Frankie. You really believe that, don’t you? I just don’t understand why you’re so clueless. I’ve talked to Lou about it and I –’
‘Lizzy,’ I cut her off, ‘now that we’ve established that I’m a clueless, idiotic moron, can we just get on with this?’ Tom chose that moment to sweep back into the cubicle.
‘Lou and Dylan are both on a ward round at the rehab hospital, Frankie,’ he said, coming to my side.
Crap. The rehab hospital was miles away. I’d forgotten that they had to go there once a week.
‘What did you need them for?’ he asked.
‘Nothing,’ I said in a falsely bright tone. ‘I’ll be fine. You can go.’
There was no way that I was going to admit to my fear of needles, and that I needed one of them to hold my hand. He was looking at me closely. I could tell that he didn’t buy my façade of bravado.
‘Okay, Frankie,’ Lizzy said from behind me. ‘I’m just going to clean it a little before I put the local in. I can really give it a thorough wash out once we get you numbed up, okay?’
‘Yeah, okay,’ I said, unable to hide the tremble in my voice. I pressed my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut as she started cleaning. Suddenly I felt a warm hand over mine on the bed. My eyes flew open and I stared at Tom, who had a determined expression on his face.
