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CHAPTER TWO

‘HI MUM!’ Alex gave Fleur a worried smile as he ran towards her. ‘How did it go?’

‘It was fine.’

‘Honestly?’

Fleur nodded assuredly. Some things a seven-year-old didn’t need to hear. ‘Where’s Ben?’

‘He’s in time-out—he had to stay behind for talking too much. He shouldn’t be long.’

As if on cue, Ben appeared, smiling happily, not remotely fazed by his short time in the sin bin. Fleur tried to ignore the unsettling contrast between the two boys. Alex would have been completely devastated—everything these days seemed to unnerve him. Not, of course, that she wanted him to be naughty at school, but he did need to relax a bit more. Kathy was probably right. The extra time with Ben would help, and maybe some of Ben’s happy-go-lucky nature would rub off on Alex. Once again it was rammed home to Fleur that she needed this job for so much more than the money.

By the time Kathy arrived the kids had devoured a bowl of potato chips and a drink and were finishing up their homework.

‘You’re kidding.’ Kathy laughed as she saw the boys with their heads down at the dining room table. ‘I usually have to resort to blackmail. I hear you did a great job this morning.’

‘From who?’ Fleur asked doubtfully.

‘Oh, just the general buzz around the place. How good it is to have you back, that sort of thing.’

‘Fancy a cuppa?’

Kathy shook her head. ‘Better not. Ben…’ she called, picking up his school bag before giving Fleur a wicked grin. ‘What did you think of the Italian stallion? And don’t try and tell me you didn’t notice him—I simply won’t believe you. Apparently he lost his temper with Danny this afternoon,’ she went on. ‘Unfortunately I was stuck in Theatre or I’d have had a glass up to Danny’s wall, but Beryl got the gist. He was roaring his head off about lack of comunicazione and team spirit and disastros waiting to happen. Something must have got under that gorgeous olive skin of his. He’s been all moody and brooding this afternoon. Though it just made him all the sexier if you ask me. Ben!’

Waving cheerfully, Kathy dragged a reluctant Ben down the garden path. Fleur waved back, a sinking feeling of dread in her stomach. So she hadn’t been imagining his mood after all. Mario Ruffini really was cross with her.

Dinner was simple, a shared omelette and salad on the veranda, with Alex carefully picking out anything green, but as she cleared the plates and made her way across the decking Alex’s voice stopped Fleur in her tracks. ‘Was it scary, Mum, going back?’

Battling the urge to force a smile and say ‘of course not’, Fleur turned slowly.

‘A bit,’ she admitted. ‘How do you feel about it?’

Alex fiddled with the newspaper lying on the table in front of him. ‘It’ll be good going to Ben’s and having him come here.’ He paused. ‘But…’

He didn’t have to say it, the poor little guy. After all, the last time his mum had gone to work their lives had been thrown into turmoil. Fleur sat beside Alex and pulled him towards her, kissing the top of his blond curls as she waited for him to vocalise his fears. But even a mum, however devoted, doesn’t always know what’s going on in that little brain.

‘I’m scared it’s too much for you, Mum—being back there, I mean. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I don’t care if we don’t go to see Movie World and everything.’

So he wasn’t scared for himself, just for his mum. Holding him against her, Fleur thought her heart would burst with pride and love. Overnight her little boy had become a man. ‘But a holiday in Queensland with a trip to Movie World would be nice, huh?’

Alex shrugged. ‘I guess.’

‘And a new game for your computer? Look, Alex, we’re hardly going to starve if I don’t go back to work—your dad made sure we were well looked after. We’ve got a beautiful home and a nice lifestyle, and money put aside for you to go to a nice high school, but all the little extras add up. I’m so proud of you for saying that it doesn’t matter, but it does matter, darling, to me. And leaving aside the money, I’m a nurse, Alex. I used to love my work and I really missed it. This is going to make a big difference for both of us.’

Alex looked up. ‘But—’

‘I’m fine,’ Fleur said firmly. And this time there was no question of forcing a smile, it came naturally. ‘I’ve got friends there, good ones. If I get upset they’ll help me through, that’s what friends do. And at the end of the day I come home to you, so what have I got to worry about?’

Not just a man, every bit a male, Fleur thought ruefully as Alex picked up the paper and turned straight to the sports page.

‘Just think, Mum, now you’re working we’ll be able to go to the footy lots!’

Now, there was a good reason to stay home!

Alex was bathed and in his pyjamas by seven, asking to watch a soap that was due to start.

‘Everyone watches it, Mum. They all talk about it at school every morning and I’m the only one who doesn’t get to see it. There’s a hostage on tonight, the police are going to raid the school!’

Which was precisely why she didn’t want him to watch it, but for once Fleur relented. ‘Well, if you get nightmares tonight, don’t come creeping into my bed.’

He didn’t come creeping in, not that Fleur would have noticed anyway. As soon as her head hit the pillow it seemed the alarm clock rang, heralding yet another day.

Assigned to the cubicles in Section B, Fleur found herself awaiting Mario Ruffini’s arrival with some trepidation. Determined to make at least a good second impression, she ensured that the minor injuries that frequented Section B were, as far as possible, ready to be seen by a doctor, removing home-made dressings, cleaning wounds and doing the occasional set of obs.

‘Good morning, Sister.’

‘Good morning, Mr Ruffini. The intern is in cubicle 3, seeing a sprained ankle, I’ve got a couple of minor hand injuries in cubicles one and two and a case of gastro down the end in cubicle seven.’

He nodded politely but didn’t comment as he had a quick flick through the histories. Finally, he spoke. ‘Nothing that can’t wait for five minutes. I’m going to grab a coffee. How do you take yours?’

‘Er, no, I’m fine, thanks.’ Since when did the senior medical staff make the nurses coffee?

‘Fine.’

Things obviously weren’t fine. He’d been polite, he’d even offered to make her a drink, but Fleur just knew he was less than impressed with her.

He returned with a steaming mug, which he placed on a worktop before proceeding to see the patients.

Mario Ruffini was a good doctor, Fleur reluctantly decided. She’d wanted to be able to fault him, to find some flaw that his adoring fans had missed. But he was skilled in his assessments, polite and friendly to the patients and also incredibly fast. His only fault, if you could call it that, was the fact he obviously didn’t like Fleur.

‘I’m pretty sure the child in seven is early appendicitis. I’ve asked Wendy Edwards, the surgical registrar, to come down for a consult.’

‘OK. I was actually just coming to find you. Felicity just buzzed from Resus—there’s a patient in VT.’

VT was the abbreviation for ventricular tachycardia, a rapid but regular heartbeat that quickly exhausted a person and could soon lead to cardiac arrest.

Without comment, Mario picked up his stethoscope and made his way down the corridor.

The second he was gone the tension dissolved but, instead of feeling relaxed, Fleur felt curiously let down, deflated. Why she wanted Mario Ruffini’s approval she wasn’t sure, but bandaging a few sprained wrists and giving out a couple of tetanus shots were hardly the stuff to make him realise what a great nurse she was, Fleur mused, angrily restocking the stainless-steel trolleys.

‘Didn’t Danny sweep for land-mines this morning?’ Wendy Edwards broke into her thoughts.

‘Oh, hi, Wendy.’

‘Fleur, it is you! It’s so good to see you back. How are things?’

‘Great,’ Fleur lied easily. ‘What’s this about landmines?’

‘One’s just gone off in Resus.’ She grinned at Fleur’s bemused expression. ‘Our resident volcano, Mario Ruffini, just exploded. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen him in action yet.’

Fleur gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘Actually, I have, about an hour into my first shift back. He hasn’t gone off again, has he?’

‘Big time.’ Wendy pulled a face. ‘I was tempted to stick my head in but I’m sure Felicity doesn’t need an audience. Where’s this kid he wants me to see?’

‘Cubicle seven.’ Fleur chewed anxiously on her lip. ‘Do you know what it’s about?’

‘No,’ Wendy said cheerfully. ‘But you can fill me in when you find out.’

A quick look down the corridor confirmed that as usual Danny was nowhere to be seen, and the rest of the staff were either tied up or deliberately looking busy. Informing Lucy that she wouldn’t be long, Fleur made her way to Resus.

As she opened the door a rocket didn’t actually whiz past her ear, but there were definitely fireworks in the air.

‘Great,’ Mario shouted as she slipped in. ‘Now they send in the nurse that ‘‘doesn’t do Resus’’.’

‘As opposed to what?’ Fleur looked over to where Felicity stood, red-eyed, by the defibrillator. The drug trolley was in chaos, boxes and vials of drugs scattered over the top.

‘As opposed to the nurse who doesn’t know how basic equipment works, or where the drugs are kept.’

Fleur looked at the monitor. The patient was still in rapid VT.

‘I want to cardiovert him, Felicity was trying to defibrillate him.’

‘How many joules do you want?’

‘Two hundred,’ he snarled as Fleur flicked the switch necessary for cardioversion as opposed to defibrillation. Picking up the paddles, she applied them to the gel pads already in place on the patient’s chest.

‘Clear,’ she called.

Mario briefly dropped the ambu-bag he was using to oxygenate the patient. As the patient’s rhythm settled the doors flew open as the cardiac arrest team breathlessly arrived.

‘Did you stop at the canteen on the way?’ Mario shouted as they gathered around the patient’s trolley. ‘I assume you learnt in medical school that brain death occurs after three minutes.’

Charming, Fleur thought, her mouth set in a thin line as she assisted Felicity. At least his arrogance wasn’t only for her benefit.

Danny, of course, turned up when all the drama was over. ‘Fleur, you’re in here!’

‘Again!’ Fleur said pointedly. ‘Could I have a word, Danny?’

Danny’s office was a mess—papers everywhere, overflowing trays of work. Taking a seat, she got straight to the point.

‘Felicity didn’t know how to set the machine for cardioversion.’

Danny let out a long sigh. ‘Well, she should, she’s been to enough lectures. I’ll have a word.’

‘I think a bit more that a word from you is needed, Danny. What is she doing in there when she doesn’t know the equipment? And from what I can make out, she wasn’t particularly crash hot on locating where the drugs and everything were kept. Mario Ruffini was furious and, as much as I don’t approve of his methods, he had every right to be angry. She shouldn’t be in there without supervision until she’s more capable.’

‘So what do you suggest?’ He tossed the roster sheet across the table. ‘Have a look at the choices, Fleur, and tell me who you’d put in there.’

Fleur ran her eyes down the names on the list. He had a fair point—there certainly wasn’t a wealth of knowledge behind the names there.

‘I’ve got a permanent advertisement for staff in the newspapers, I’ve got our department on every nursing agency’s list and yet I still can’t get any more experienced staff. I’m not trying to lay a guilt trip on you, Fleur. I took you on, knowing you weren’t ready to go in there yet, and I’m prepared to wait. I don’t want you to lose your confidence too early and leave, then we really will have achieved nothing. And as for Mario letting off steam, it’s no big deal—he does it every day.’

‘That doesn’t make it all right!’

But Danny just laughed. ‘He takes a bit of getting used to, I admit that, but he does grow on you in the end.’

‘So do warts,’ Fleur quipped. ‘He shouldn’t be allowed to jackboot his way around the department.’ She paused for a moment before continuing. She’d known Danny a long time and they were friends, but it was still a rather hesitant Fleur that steered the conversation. ‘How come you’re not out there a bit more, Danny?’

‘Someone’s got to run the place.’ He gestured to the desk around him. ‘The fairies don’t come in at night.’

‘That never stopped you before. You were always out there helping out.’

‘I’ll have a word with Felicity,’ he said, effectively ending the discussion. ‘And I’ll tell Mario to go a bit easy on her. Anyway, he’s off for the rest of the week at some medical conference so you don’t have to worry about him for a while.’

Fleur stood up. ‘Speak to Felicity, but as for Mario I’d like to deal with him myself.’

Danny looked up to where she stood by the door. ‘It might come better from you, given that you were there. Are you sure you don’t mind?’

‘I don’t mind at all,’ Fleur said darkly. ‘In fact, it will be my pleasure.’

Infuriatingly, now she was actually ready for a confrontation Mario was nowhere in sight. After checking the cubicles and Resus, Fleur thought she’d try her luck in the obs ward. He wasn’t there, of course, but the rather raucous laughter coming from the staffroom soon ended her search.

How did he do it? The doctors he’d been shouting at only fifteen minutes ago were now sharing a coffee and a joke with him, even Felicity had forgiven him and was joining in the laughter.

‘Mr Ruffini?’ Every eye turned to her as she stood primly in the doorway. ‘I’d like a word, please.’

‘Sure,’ he said amicably, though not moving an inch. ‘How can I help you?’

‘Perhaps this might be better done in private.’ Her voice left no room for doubt that she wasn’t happy. Not remotely fazed, Mario gave a nonchalant shrug as he replaced his mug on the table.

‘Excuse me, guys, I think I am being summoned.’ He followed Fleur out of the room. ‘Would my office be private enough for you, Sister?’

She gave a small nod of approval and followed him the short distance.

The sight of his office took the wind out of her sails. Danny’s was a mess but this was an absolute bombsite! Open-mouthed, she stared at the mountains of paper, the opened books, numerous coffee-cups.

‘You wanted to speak with me?’

Dragging her eyes from his desk, Fleur remembered why she was here.

‘I do. You may also have noticed that I asked to speak with you in private.’

‘Yes.’ He gave her a quizzical look, before his face broke into a grin. ‘Do you want me to check for bugs?’

‘Don’t be so flippant!’ Fleur checked herself instantly. This was a consultant she was talking to after all, not Alex—though his office did somehow resemble her son’s bedroom when left unchecked!

‘The reason I asked to speak to you in private is because I believe that when someone has a grievance, while I agree it should be aired, there is a correct way of going about it.’

‘I am sorry, Sister, I really don’t understand what you are talking about.’ He gestured to his chair. ‘May I sit for this?’

His question was unnecessary and curiously insolent, and Fleur stood rigid as he calmly made his way around the desk.

‘You screaming at the staff in Resus is not only rude, it is ineffective. In the time you spent shouting at Felicity you could have shown her how to work the machine. I don’t know how they do it in Italy, but it certainly doesn’t wash here.’

‘Doesn’t wash?’ He screwed up his forehead.

‘You know exactly what I mean.’

‘No, Sister, I don’t. In fact, since you bring it up, I will tell you how things are done in Italy. The staff there are qualified and competent. I do not have to ask three times for a drug, I do not have to stop bagging an unconscious patient and deprive them of oxygen so that I can show the nurse how the machine works. Now do you understand why I shout? And contrary to what you say, I happen to find my methods extremely effective. I got the drug, didn’t I? I got a nurse who could operate the equipment!’

‘There are better ways of going about things,’ Fleur said, though with rather less conviction.

‘On that we can agree.’ He gave her a smile but it did little to reassure her—Mario had definitely not finished proving his point! ‘For example, a better way might be to have the associate charge nurse, which I’ve been told you are, in Resus instead of down in Section B, doing the stuff that is taught to Girl Guides. Who knows? If the nurse unit manager put in an occasional appearance now and then, we might even have a semblance of a well-run emergency department.’

‘You don’t know all the circumstances,’ Fleur replied hotly.

‘So enlighten me.’

She was good and mad now and in no position to pour out her heart to this insufferable man. Turning smartly on her heel, she wrenched the door open.

‘Running off again, Sister? You really don’t like to be where the action is, do you?’

Fleur turned, her eyes blazing. ‘After hearing so many reports about how wonderful you were, Mr Ruffini, I thought we might be able to discuss this. I was obviously wrong. But as you yourself pointed out, I am an associate charge nurse, so next time you have a problem with one of my staff, please, have the common courtesy to allow me to deal with it before you lose your temper.’

‘I don’t doubt that there will be a next time, but I will certainly bear it in mind. Oh, and, Sister?’

Her hand tightened on the doorhandle but she forced herself to answer evenly. ‘Yes, Mr Ruffini.’

‘Would you mind fetching my coffee? I think I left it in the staffroom.’

She didn’t slam the door, that would have been childless and pointless. She didn’t even come up with a smart reply. But the salt cellar was so achingly close to his mug on the coffee-table and she was so blinded with unvented fury that Fleur did what was probably the one reckless thing she had ever done in her life.

And that was that.

War had been declared.