The Doctor's Engagement

Holly swallowed hard again. She hated hearing him tell her how much he loved another woman. Hated it. But she was his best friend and he’d listened to her problems so often that she ought to be happy to listen to his.

She took a deep breath and managed a smile. ‘Mark Logan, I’ve never yet met a woman who didn’t fall for your fatal charm. You just need to work harder on her.’ She felt a rush of concern and looked at him anxiously. ‘But, Mark, if she finds out about me, she’ll get the wrong idea.’

Wouldn’t it ruin everything for him? Surely he didn’t have a chance with this woman if she found out he had a fiancée.

‘That’s not a problem,’ Mark murmured, avoiding direct eye contact and concentrating instead on an asthma poster displayed on her wall.

‘Of course it’s a problem,’ Holly said, frantic to make him see that he could blow everything if he wasn’t careful. ‘She won’t know this is a fictitious engagement, that we’re just pretending, and I don’t want you hurt.’

‘Holly, please!’ He interrupted her sharply, rubbing his forehead as if it was aching. ‘Just leave it, will you? I don’t want to talk about it.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said softly, crossing the room and slipping her arms round his waist. ‘I just can’t believe there’s a woman in the world who wouldn’t snap you up, given the chance. Has she guessed how you feel?’

‘No.’ He stiffened slightly and put her gently away from him. ‘She hasn’t. She’s a bit na;auive like that. And now let’s drop the subject. I’ve got to finish my surgery.’

Before he could move, the door opened and Caroline entered, her tone brisk.

‘Could you come quickly Dr Logan? There’s an emergency.’ She glanced quickly from one to the other, her expression anxious. ‘It’s Jack Finn. He’s complaining of severe chest pain. He was waiting in Reception but I moved him into Ian’s room to wait because I was worried about him.’

Jack Finn?

Mark sprinted out of the room and Holly followed him, glancing at Caroline as they hurried down the corridor.

‘Have you called an ambulance?’

‘Yes.’ Caroline nodded briefly. ‘But they reckon it will be at least half an hour because there’s been a major accident on the bypass.’

‘Typical.’ Mark glanced at Holly. ‘Grab the ECG machine and bring it through.’

By the time she entered the room with the machine, Mark was talking quietly to Mr Finn and taking a brief history.

‘His pain sounds ischaemic,’ Mark said quickly as she set up the machine. ‘Let’s give him 300 mg of aspirin, a GTN spray sublingually and then start an IV.’

Once Mr Finn had been given the aspirin and the spray, Holly handed Mark a venflon which he inserted with ease.

‘OK, how are we doing here?’ Mark

was as cool and unflustered as ever. ‘How’s the pain now, Jack?’

The man groaned slightly, his skin slightly sweaty and cool. ‘Pretty bad,’ he confessed, and Mark’s eyes flickered to Holly.

‘He needs some oxygen and then let’s give him some opiates and an anti-emetic.’

Holly drew up the injections and gave Mark the ampoules to check.

‘Fine. Good.’ He took the syringe from her with a nod of thanks and she pulled the ECG machine closer.

‘Shall I start?’

‘Yes, please.’ Mark gave the injections and dropped the empty syringes onto the trolley. ‘We need a 12-lead ECG. If it’s an infarct we need to give him thrombolysis.’

Holly ran the ECG and Mark watched it over her shoulder.

‘ST elevation—look.’ He pointed with his pen and she nodded agreement as she looked at the trace.

‘What are the rules for thrombolysis?’ She asked him quietly. ‘Isn’t it usually given when they get to hospital?’

Mark shrugged, his mouth grim. ‘Sometimes. But not if you have a strong suspicion that it’s an acute myocardial infarction, and certainly not if the transfer time is going to be half an hour. “Pain to needle time”, as they call it, is crucial. Check his blood pressure for me will you Holly?’