Page 12 of The Night Shift
‘Trouble is, medicine is full of nuance,’ said Gus. ‘Not that I’m trying to be all enigmatic about it, but there are loads of occasions when the answer isn’t particularly clear cut.’ He stretched his arms above his head in an extravagant yawn and the sleeves of his scrubs tightened against his biceps. Violet could see the underside of his arms, just where the skin would be soft to touch. She dragged her eyes away.
‘So I’m discovering,’ she said. ‘That’s why I’m starting to wonder whether I’m really that well suited to it.’ She folded the drug chart over decisively. ‘I’m not writing anything up just yet,’ she said. ‘I’ll go and tell her that I need to ask Anjali first, that’ll buy me some time.’
‘Good idea,’ said Gus. Thankfully his arms were back down by his sides where they belonged. ‘And I’ll have a think too. There must be a way to solve this that works for everyone.’
Violet raised her eyebrows at this level of unlikely optimism. She appreciated being able to at least talk through the conundrum with Gus but thought it extremely unlikely that he’d be able to come up with a solution that didn’t involve upsetting at least one of the people involved. Still, he did seem to approach things in a different way to her. As she delivered her stalling tactic to the staff nurse and watched her mouth draw into a thin line, aware she was being fobbed off, Violet wondered if perhaps the Dr Jovic school of diplomacy was what was called for here. She imagined that he’d never seen the thin lips of resentment on a colleague’s face before, he’d probably never inadvertently upset anyone in his life. Which only made her even more determined not to reveal her own situation regarding the outstanding complaints against her. He wouldn’t understand and he’d definitely think less of her.
Gus
Later, Gus bleeped Violet, having got her number from switchboard.
‘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 Idomean 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?’
