had been down for some considerable time. The cardiologists were going through his ECG tracings and deciding whether to take him straight up to ICU or directly to the catheter lab to see exactly what had occurred. The hope was that they could dissolve the blockage and open up the blocked vessels in Paul’s heart and minimise damage to the heart muscle.
‘I’ll go up with him,’ Kay said, as she gathered up the necessary equipment for the urgent transfer. ‘Daniel, can you go and speak with Nora and explain that Mr Dawson is busy with Paul but he’ll be in to get the consent...’ Her voice trailed off. ‘You know the drill.’
‘I do.’
‘I forget how experienced you are.’
‘That’s fine,’ Daniel responded with ease, but then he asserted himself—not just with Kay but also with the cardiologist who would like Paul up in the lab, preferably ten minutes ago. ‘First of all, though, we need to bring in his wife.’
‘Time is of the essence,’ Mr Dawson said.
‘I’m sure she’ll understand that.’
Nora must have been getting ready for the party and chatting to Paul as she did so, with no idea as to what was about to come. One of her eyes was made up with glittery eye shadow and the other was not.
Seeing someone so visibly shaken who was always so together and strong, but doing her best to hold it together, had Holly on the edge of tears.
‘He’s going to go up very soon,’ Holly told Nora quietly, once Mr Dawson had obtained her consent and explained that they’d be moving him to the catheter lab. Holly watched as Nora took one of Paul’s hands and held it in both of hers as if trying to warm it.
‘He was telling me he’d just hidden my Christmas present.’ Nora looked at Paul as she spoke. ‘Please, don’t leave me,’ she asked him, and then, looking at Holly, said, ‘I knew the day I met him that he was the one. He took a couple of weeks to get used to the idea...’
Holly didn’t know what to say.
What was there to say to add to a love that had lasted for more than thirty years?
And so instead of saying the right thing, Holly found herself wearing her nervous smile.
Thankfully, Nora knew her well enough not to take offence.
‘I just need a minute alone with him,’ Nora said.
Holly nodded as Anna popped her head around the curtain. ‘Nora, your daughter wants to come in.’
‘No.’ Nora was firm. ‘She’s too upset and she’d just distress him.’
Kay nodded her head and called for Holly to come the other side of the curtain, leaving Nora with Paul and the anaesthetist. Holly had turned up the volume on the monitors so that the staff could move in quickly if there was any change.
And they listened as Nora told her husband she loved him and to stay strong and that she’d be waiting for him once the procedure was done, and she did it all in a voice that did not waver, just in case Paul could hear.
Holly knew that voice only too well.
She could remember her mother going in for surgery and, because Holly was the only remotely medical person in the family, all questions had been aimed at her. All decisions had been run by Holly too and it had felt overwhelming. Her father had asked her to come with them up to Theatre. When he had started to break down it had been Holly who had stepped in. Holly had concentrated on keeping her smile in place while trying to ignore the fact that her mother was so very weak and frail from the chemotherapy and doing her best not to reveal that she wasn’t terrified for her.
‘What do you think?’ Kay asked Daniel, and Holly looked at his grim face.
‘They’re giving him every chance.’ His response was noncommittal but for Holly it said enough—he didn’t think things looked good.
* * *
The quiet start had turned into a very busy shift and it didn’t relent.
Holly felt all shaken but there was no time to sit down and reflect on what had happened. There was no pause button in Emergency, especially when you needed one.
Just as Paul left, another critically ill patient came in.
Kay handed Paul over to the care of the catheter lab staff but, given she was officially off duty, remained with Nora in the waiting room there. Holly was so busy that she had forgotten completely she was going out tonight and frowned when she saw that it was eight and that the night staff were starting to arrive.
‘What are you doing here?’ Holly asked.
‘So you can leave early for the Christmas party.’ Gloria grinned and then saw Holly’s serious face. ‘What is it?’
And there was no point in not telling the arriving staff—one look at the admissions board and they would see the truth for themselves.
‘Nora’s husband was brought in...’
As she brought the night staff up to speed Holly admitted that she had changed her mind about going to the party tonight, but Kay had other ideas. She had popped down to Emergency for that very reason, in fact, and called Holly round to her office.
‘I need you to give the landlord the cash we’ve been collecting,’ Kay said. They’d all been putting into the collection for a few weeks. ‘Holly, I know the last thing you feel like is partying but word is already getting out about Paul. Nora’s daughter has put it up on social media and honestly...’ Kay let out a long sigh. ‘Nora wants the party to go ahead. She thinks if it’s called off now it means that we’ve given up on Paul.’
Holly nodded. ‘How is he doing?’
‘He’s over on Intensive Care. He’s in an induced coma and really we shan’t know for a few days. Oh, I don’t know, Holly, I don’t have a very good feeling about it. He was down for a long time.’
‘Less than an hour,’ Holly pointed out.
‘I know but...’
Kay looked as if she was about to cry and Holly had no idea what to say so she offered the only thing she knew might help. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’
Kay laughed the simplicity of Holly’s solution and then she let out a little sob. ‘I do,’ she admitted. ‘A quick one and then I’ll head back up there. Have one with me?’
Holly brought in a tray as Kay got the envelope from the safe.
‘I’d better not lose it,’ Holly said, peering inside.
‘You’d better not!’ Kay barked, and then closed her eyes and leant back in her chair. ‘It’s nice to relax for five minutes.’
‘Did you call Eamon and let him know?’ Holly asked, referring to Kay’s husband.
‘I did. He’s going to come and get me when I’m ready but I think I should stay awhile. Poor Nora. Honestly, that family of hers...’ Kay rolled her eyes. ‘Do you know? Her daughter asked what was going to happen for dinner! Does she not know how a bloody vending machine works? Fancy bothering her mother with that?’
‘And fancy bothering you with this,’ Daniel said, as he knocked on the half-open door.
‘What do you want?’ Kay asked. But as Daniel came in, though he gave Kay a smile, he then looked at Holly as he spoke.
‘All the night staff are here but Laura is having no luck getting a taxi. The wait is an hour at best. I said that I could drop you all off at the end of my shift, which is right about now.’
‘Then you’d better get ready,’ Kay said, moving to stand. ‘And I’d better get back up to Nora.’
‘Finish your tea,’ Holly suggested, and thought of the times she had sat with her own family, waiting for news, and how utterly exhausting it