Page 83 of The Night Shift
‘I don’t really know whether to let you in, throw you out, or appoint you as a knight of the realm,’ she said.
‘It is quite the conundrum,’ he said with a tiny smile. ‘But if there’s anyone I know who likes to get stuck into a knotty, complicated problem, it’s y?—’
‘Shhh,’ she said, turning slightly in towards the warmth of the house. Strobed lighting was flickering through the doorway of the sitting room and a loudly chanted countdown had just begun. Gus looked at his watch.
‘It’s nearly midnight,’ he said as a snowflake landed on his nose. ‘Is this just a bit too corny for you?’
She considered him for a long moment, this warm, kind, handsome, charming man and wondered whether she could take a chance on him. Was she brave enough to bend her rule this once? Did she maybe owe it to herself to try and step outside the boundaries of her own rigid relationship guidelines? After all, change was a scientific phenomenon, matter existed in a state of perpetual motion, and hypotheses were there to be tested, tried and rethought when new evidence came to light. Many of her own theories had been tested this week: the one about there being little benefit to engaging with patients had been disproved by Mr Zeller; the one about how sharing her fears and anxieties would cause problems had been disproved by Anjali and her own mother this afternoon; and the one about her being so difficult to work with that there was no point in making an effort with colleagues, because they’d never understand her, had been disproved by Cindy. Sometimes, in the interests of scientific endeavour and discovery, a risk was worth taking. Sometimes the rulebook needed to be ripped up and a much more experimental approach taken. She thought she was probably up to the task.
She took a step forward into the snow and on tiptoe leaned in to kiss Gus, the warmth of his lips against hers making her mouth tingle and her head spin. From the house behind them there was an enormous roar ofHappy New Yearand deep in the city the cathedral bells began to peal.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘It is a bit corny.’ She kissed him again. ‘But problems are there to be solved, and even the most hardened scientist deserves her own fairy-tale ending.’
Epilogue
Two years later…
It was nearing midnight when the crash bleep went off and by the time it finished squawking static at her, Violet was already jogging to the ward. She knew that her foundation doctor Abdul had only been in post for two months and hadn’t attended an arrest before. She wanted to get there before he did so that he might feel a little less shell-shocked by the whole experience.
The first question she asked when she arrived on the scene was the same one she asked at every resuscitation attempt. ‘Who here knows this patient best and is this the right thing to be doing?’ Often the most well-informed person was also the most junior member of staff and Violet found that by listening to them she learned a lot more about the patient than she would from the medical notes. Tonight’s patient was a seventy-eight-year-old with good cardiac function and no other medical issues. The resuscitation was successful and although Violet didn’t lead it (she left that to the anaesthetist who was significantly senior to her) she did ensure that the team had a full debrief afterwards to make sure that everyone was happy with how it had gone.
Walking back to the admissions unit afterwards she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out, careful not to dislodge the folded letter from Mr Zeller she always kept there. Her heart lifted as she saw the face on the screen and she was beaming when she connected the call.
‘What are you doing up?’ she said.
‘Thinking of you,’ said Gus. ‘How can I possibly be expected to sleep when I know you’re running around the hospital being busy and important and gorgeous?’
‘I’ll be home in a few hours,’ she said. ‘And then this week’s done and we can head off to the Cotswolds for the nuptial extravaganza. Is Dev okay?’
‘Stressed,’ admitted Gus. ‘I took him out to the pub and he’s calmed down a bit but… you know what he’s like.’
‘Is he worried that the wedding’s going to be overtaken with all of the media attention since Marvin started onDrag Race? I thought Ru-Paul couldn’t make it?’
‘Well…’ Gus’s voice was doubtful. ‘There has been talk of a surprise appearance. Michelle Visage is definitely coming.’
‘Oh, yes, I knew that. Marvin’s got her sat next to his boss Mr Fenwick at the wedding breakfast. He’s a massive fan apparently.’ She paused. ‘Speaking of surprise appearances, Amelia’s not going to be there is she? I know she got Marvin theDrag Racegig through her connections at the BBC but…’
‘No,’ said Gus. You’re fine. It’s amicable but notthatamicable. I don’t want to be sat at a wedding with her.’
‘Not when you could have been sat atyour ownwedding having just married her.’
‘Jesus, there’s a thought. Funny how things turn out, isn’t it.’
‘Well– destiny is a fickle mistress,’ said Violet.
‘Who’s this Destiny character? I haven’t said I’ll marry them as well, have I?’
She laughed. ‘Shut up, you idiot.’
‘Anyway, I didn’t think you believed in destiny and fate and all that mumbo jumbo? Not my logically-minded little brain surgeon.’
‘It’s not brain surgery, Gus, as well you know. It’s a neuroscience research project.’
‘Which you just happen to have been selected to lead,’ he said, his voice full of pride. ‘Don’t pretend you’re not completely made up about it– you know you’re rubbish at lying.’
‘Maybe they just felt sorry for me, what with the grandmother-with-dementia backstory.’
‘Nonsense. You got there entirely on your own merits, Violet. Your gran gives you a bit of skin in the game, yes, but that just makes you passionate about dementia treatment. No research lab is going to fund anybody but the brightest, most fiercely intelligent candidate, and that was you. And you know it,’ he added.
