The Nurse's Christmas Wish (The Cornish Consultants)

She’d arrived just for Christmas and suddenly all she wanted to do was stay for ever.

Her hands stilled on the bandage and for a moment her need for him was so severe that she could hardly breathe. Was this what he’d felt for Melissa? If so, no wonder he couldn’t move on. No wonder he couldn’t fully give himself to anyone else. She couldn’t imagine ever having this depth of feeling again.

He was right when he said that she wanted happy ever after. It was all she’d ever wanted—with the right man. But sadly Mac didn’t think he was the right man.

‘Nurse?’ The mother was watching her closely. ‘Are you all right?’

Louisa made a supreme effort and managed a smile. ‘I’m fine, thanks. Just a little tired. We’ve been terribly busy. A white Christmas is pretty but it creates havoc in A and E. Come back in three days to have the dressing changed. And have a lovely Christmas.’

‘Can we go home now?’ The little girl looked at her, her eyes shining with excitement. ‘Santa is coming tonight. I have to be asleep or he doesn’t come.’

Louisa felt her heart twist. ‘That’s right. So you do.’ She brushed the child’s hair out of her eyes. ‘Did you write him a letter?’

The little girl nodded her head solemnly. ‘I asked for a doll. The one that wets her nappy and drinks from a bottle.’

Louisa nodded. ‘Sounds great.’

She watched them go with a wistful expression on her face, wondering whether she’d ever know what it was like to be part of a family.

It had been her dream for as long as she could remember.

And it looked as though that was where it was going to stay. In her dreams.

Mother and child left just as Mac put his head round the door. ‘There you are. I’ve been looking for you.’

Her heart leapt and danced in her chest and suddenly she felt light-headed. ‘Did you need me for something?’

He gave a brief nod. ‘A woman just wrapped her car round a tree. She’ll be here in five minutes. I need the trauma team in Resus.’ He looked drawn and tired. ‘Louisa, will you bleep the surgeons and make arrangements for a CT scan just in case...?’

Work.

With him it was always work.

And he didn’t need her for anything except his trauma team.

She gave a nod and turned her back for a moment to hide the pain in her eyes. ‘I’ll be there in just a moment.’ She tipped the debris from the dressing into the bin, keeping her back to him until she heard the door swing shut behind him. Then she turned her head and glanced towards the place he’d been standing, her eyes glistening with tears.

‘You don’t need me for anything, Mac Sullivan,’ she said softly. ‘Nothing at all.’

* * *

The woman was in bad shape.

‘She’s local and her husband is on the way in.’ The paramedics transferred her across to the trolley and everyone swung into action.

From the start, Mac was white-faced and tense. ‘Hannah, start the clock. Get a central line in but hold fluids until we know where she’s bleeding from. She has distended neck veins.’

Josh administered oxygen. ‘You think she has a cardiac tamponade?’

‘I don’t know.’ Mac’s face was grim. ‘And until I know I’m not going to give indiscriminate fluid replacement. The aim is to restore circulatory status to the point of critical organ perfusion. If we raise arterial and intracardiac pressures we could cause fatal haemorrhage. Let’s do a chest X-ray and a FAST examination.’

Hannah finished cutting off the patient’s clothes. ‘But this was blunt injury. Isn’t cardiac tamponade usually a result of penetrating injury? Stabbings and so forth?’

‘Usually but not always.’

Louisa let her gaze slip to Mac. He didn’t take his eyes off his patient. He was constantly monitoring, examining, looking for minute changes that might give clues as to the patient’s condition.

He was a very talented doctor.