Unwrapping the Neurosurgeon's Heart

‘Get it to me,’ confirmed Sol, already jogging to his next call.

Little wonder the demand on the neuro team would be ridiculously high tonight.

* * *

For several hours Anouk worked steadily, hurrying between patients. She struggled to find beds for the unending stream of casualties injured in the blast. Still, she hadn’t realised how much time had passed until she dashed from her current patient in order to call Neuro again, only for Sol to appear as she lifted the receiver.

‘I’ve just been looking for you.’

‘Thank goodness.’ Dropping down the receiver, Anouk pulled a grimace as she turned to him. ‘I thought no one was going to be able to get here.’

‘About Jared? The cyclist with the T12 and L1 fractures?’

‘Sorry?’

‘I’m satisfied that the fractures are stable and that no intervention by us is necessary. I’m also confident that there is no neuro deficit so you can admit him to trauma team care, but he doesn’t need to be transferred to Neuro.’

‘Right.’ Anouk hailed one of the nurses to relay the message and ensure the transfer happened quickly to free up a precious resus bed, simultaneously grabbing Sol’s lapels as he made to move away.

‘Anouk?’ he growled as he swung back to her, his dark gaze taking in her hands still gripping his clothing.

She didn’t even have time to feel abashed.

‘I need you to look at this patient. It’s urgent.’

‘I came down to give you the results. I have another patient to see. You’re probably on Ali’s list—she’ll be on her way as soon as she’s finished with her patient upstairs.’

‘There isn’t time to wait for Ali.’ Anouk shook her head, ushering him to the screen and calling up a new set of images.

Vaguely, it occurred to her that he could have objected. He could have focussed on his next assigned patient, but he was trusting her that this was critical.

‘Her name is Jocelyn,’ Anouk explained, still bringing up the images. ‘She was right outside the building when the explosion occurred and the blast wave knocked her across the road and into a wall. She had a loss of consciousness for approximately ten minutes. On arrival of paramedics she had a GCS of three, which transitioned to a GCS of eleven. Very aggressive and we have confirmed with her husband that it’s out of character. The patient was put into a medically induced coma and taken to CT.’

She flashed the images up on the screen.

‘A large extradural haematoma.’ Sol pursed his lips. ‘Very large, in fact.’

‘Yes,’ Anouk agreed. ‘Midline shift.’

‘And it has shifted more?’ he confirmed.

‘Yes.’

They both knew that immediate surgery was imperative. Best case would be that the neurosurgeons could drain the blood and that the brain could move back into place and heal over. Most likely it would never be the same, but the faster they moved, the more chance there was.

Worst case, Jocelyn would die.

‘I’ll take her,’ Sol confirmed after verifying the images for himself. ‘I’ll push my patient to Ali—he isn’t as critical.’

‘Thanks.’

With a nod, Sol straightened and moved away quickly, and Anouk couldn’t help feeling warm.

She could pretend it was because she knew that her patient was in the very best hands. But she knew that wasn’t all it was.

The night flew by, exhausting and chaotic, but with enough saves to bolster Anouk and her team as twelve hours went by, then eighteen, then twenty-four and the casualties had finally thinned out, the wail of ambulances subsiding.

And Anouk could finally go home. She tried not to think of where she might have been now if the gas explosion had never happened. Would she still be at Sol’s, or would he have found a way to subtly eject her from his apartment rather than have her stay the night? Somehow, she couldn’t imagine it. Playboy or not, it just didn’t seem... Sol-like.