Australian Affairs: Tempted: Tempted by Dr. Morales

‘Where are you going to next, Juan?’ Sheldon asked.

‘New Zealand! The south island first.’

‘How long will you stay?’

‘I’m not sure—I’ll see how it goes, but I’ve heard that the skiing is spectacular, so I might stay there for the winter.’

‘Then home to Argentina?’ Sheldon asked as Juan wrote down his name to do the skydiving jump.

‘I’m not sure…’ Juan said. ‘I was thinking of Asia.’

How could he have no idea where he was going? Cate wondered. He was hardly a teenager. He must be in his mid-thirties and just drifting through life, if you could call jumping off bridges and rafting down ravines and biking through the hills drifting. Cate just could not wrap her head around Juan’s way of living.

‘Come on, guys.’ Cate glanced at the clock and stood. ‘We’d better get round there.’

‘You’re not the boss yet,’ Kelly teased.

No, she wasn’t the boss yet, Cate thought. She said goodbye to Charlotte and Adam and turned on some cartoons instead of the news, telling them that someone would be around to check on them soon—but she wondered how she could tell Harry that he couldn’t bring in the twins or, rather, if he did that the nurses wouldn’t be watching out for them.

As they walked through the obs ward on their way, Cate was just about to ask the nurse who was working there to keep an eye out for Harry’s children. But, seeing that the supervisor was there checking the bed status, Cate decided otherwise.

‘Last day in the madhouse!’ She smiled at Christine, who had just arrived at work.

Her smile wasn’t returned.

‘Thank God!’ Christine rolled her eyes. ‘If you can watch the floor, Cate, I’m going to go make sure all the ordering is up to date. Given all the fire warnings in place, I think it might be a good idea to order some extra burn packs and IV solutions…’

‘I already have,’ Cate said, and saw Christine’s jaw tense.

‘Of course you would have,’ Christine said, and flounced off.

Cate knew she had annoyed Christine but, then, everything seemed to annoy Christine lately. Cate didn’t particularly want to go to the leaving do tonight, especially now she knew that Juan would be there, but it would look rude and petty not to go. Handover was about to start and as she went to make her way over to the huddle Cate searched in her pocket for her pen, but of course, yet again, Juan had failed to give it back.

‘Here…’ He walked past and grinned as he saw Cate going through her pockets and he gave her back her pen, or what was left of it.

‘You’ve chewed it!’ Cate moaned.

‘So did you,’ Juan said, and opened his mouth and curled his tongue just a fraction. ‘I had to taste you.’

He could be so filthy.

‘Juan!’ Harry came over to where they were standing, Cate’s cheeks still on fire. ‘I didn’t know that you were on this morning.’

‘Neither did I till late last night.’

‘Well, it’s really good to see you. Renée called me in a couple of hours ago—I’ve got a five-year-old named Jason that I’m really concerned about and am thinking of transferring. It would be great if you could come in and take a look.’

‘Sure!’ Juan said, and walked with Harry over to Resus as Cate went over to the group.

‘Wow! I think Harry just gave Juan a compliment. He said that he was pleased that he was here. That’s a bit of a turnaround.’

‘I’m actually very glad to see Juan here this morning,’ Renée, the night nurse, said. ‘The child Harry is concerned about has got Goldenhar syndrome. Have you heard of it?’

Cate shook her head. There were many, many different syndromes, some relatively common, some rare, as was the case with this admission.

‘It mainly presents as facial abnormalities. In Jason’s case he’s got a very underdeveloped left ear and he was born with a cleft palate and other problems. I’ve looked it up on the computer if you want to read about it. The main problem today is that he has presented with severe asthma, for which he’s had several ICU admissions. Usually he’s seen at the children’s hospital and, understandably, the parents tend to stay close but, given the heat, they thought a couple of days near the beach might be nice.’

‘It should have been nice,’ Cate said. ‘Poor things.’

‘Yes, Jason has a very tricky airway and is really difficult to intubate—he’s had to have a tracheostomy in the past. I think that was why Harry was so pleased to see Juan. The on-call anaesthetist has already been down to check on him a couple of times.’

‘How come Harry is here?’ Cate checked. ‘I thought that Dr Vermont was on call last night.’

‘He was,’ Renée said. ‘He was here till one o’clock but then he was unwell and had to go home. Jason came in just before five. I tried to get the paediatricians down but they’re busy with a sick baby and so really I had no choice but to call Harry in.’ Renée grimaced. ‘I didn’t realise that he’d have to wake up the twins.’

‘Well, it sounds like Jason needed someone senior on hand,’ Cate said. ‘So, what else could you do?’

‘Do you want to go in and take over?’ Renée suggested. ‘From Monday you’ll be spending a lot of time in the office.’

‘No, I shan’t be.’ Cate didn’t elaborate, it wouldn’t be fair on Christine, but Cate had no desire to disappear for hours into the office, as Christine all too often did. Still, Cate knew that she wouldn’t be able to get as involved with individual patients—like it or not, the more senior she had become, the more hands off her role had been, so it was nice to take the opportunity to look after Jason.

Cate took the handover from Mary, the night nurse, as Juan examined the young patient.

‘The parents are incredibly tense.’ Mary pulled Cate aside. ‘I don’t blame them a bit, it must be awful to be away from all the specialists they need, but I think they’re really making Jason more upset. Harry was talking about transferring him to the children’s hospital and getting them to send out their emergency transfer team, but Lisa, the mum, got really distressed. Apparently Jason is petrified of flying, especially given that he’s had more than his fair share of emergency transfers.’

They went through the drugs Jason had been given so far, before a grateful Mary headed for home.

Juan had been speaking with the parents, and had only just started to examine Jason. The little boy was exhausted but, despite that, his eyes were still anxious.

‘So, you’re a regular on the ICU at the children’s hospital, are you?’ Juan asked, after listening to his chest, and Jason nodded. ‘I was working there last week and I’ll probably be there again soon. Do you know Paddy?’

‘We know Paddy,’ Jason’s mum said.

‘Ken…do you know Ken?’ the little boy said. He could still talk but only just.

‘Do you mean Kent?’ Juan checked. ‘The ICU nurse?’ Jason nodded. ‘He’s good fun. I might just have to give Paddy a call and let him know that you’re here.’

Cate knew Juan was just putting the boy at ease, letting Jason know that he knew the staff there, while letting the parents know he worked there too.

He must be as popular there as he is here, Cate thought, strangely jealous of the other worlds of Juan.

‘I just want a look in your mouth, Jason. Can you open it, please?’ Juan removed the mask that was delivering medication and shone a light in. He looked carefully and then replaced the nebuliser, which was nearly finished.

‘Okay, Jason,’ Juan said. ‘Just rest now and let the medicine start to work.’ Juan looked over at Harry. ‘Continuous nebulisers now…’ Juan said, which moved Jason from severe to critical; but Juan seemed calm and Cate was a little surprised how Harry was stepping back and letting Juan take over the case. She knew Juan was good and a trained anaesthetist, but as it turned out Cate didn’t know just how good he really was.

‘He does need to be transferred, Lisa.’ Juan spoke now to the mother. ‘But I’m happy to keep a close eye on him here at this stage. I think we can wait for the rush hour to pass and then we will go by road ambulance…’

‘What if something happens in the meantime?’ Lisa was clearly petrified of being stuck in the outer suburbs without all the specialist doctors. But it was then that Cate realised exactly why Harry had been so pleased to see Juan this morning, and why he was so readily stepping back. ‘What if something happens in the ambulance?’ Lisa said, her eyes filling with nervous tears.

‘I have worked with a lot of children who have similar problems to Jason,’ Juan said, and went on to explain that he had spent a year as an anaesthetist in America, working at a major craniofacial hospital, and was very used to performing the most difficult of intubations on children.

‘You’ve seen children with Jason’s problems before?’ Lisa asked.

‘I have.’ Juan smiled at Jason but Lisa still wasn’t quite convinced.

‘Jason had to be put on a ventilator the last time he had an asthma attack,’ she said. ‘They couldn’t wean him off and in the end they couldn’t keep the tube in his throat for any longer and so he had to have a tracheostomy…’

‘Let’s just focus on today,’ Juan said, and started checking all the equipment. Harry had already brought over the difficult intubation box and Juan commenced pulling up drugs and taping the vials to the syringes, as relaxed as if he were making a coffee rather than preparing for a difficult intubation, and chatting away to Jason as he did so.

In a child with severe asthma everything was assessed clinically, there were no blood gases taken as it would simply upset Jason further. The fact that he was petrified of flying was an important issue because it was important not to distress Jason, but if he became much worse, there would be no choice.

‘What’s the protocol for IV aminophylline here?’ Juan asked, after having another listen to Jason’s chest.

‘We don’t give it here,’ Cate said, because it was a drug that required constant monitoring. ‘It’s only given on ICU.’

‘This has just become ICU,’ Juan said. ‘I’m not leaving him.’

Cate looked over at Harry.

‘Fine.’ Harry nodded and rolled his eyes. ‘In Juan we trust.’ Which actually made Lisa laugh.

‘How long are you on till?’ Lisa asked Juan.

‘All day,’ Juan said. ‘Don’t worry, when Jason is transferred I will go with him.’ He didn’t need to ask Harry’s permission. Yes, it left them a doctor down, which would have to be sorted, but that was simply how it must be and no one argued. You could feel some of the tension leave not just Jason’s parents but Jason himself. Clearly black boots and long black hair and an unshaven doctor didn’t worry Jason a bit.

‘Well,’ Harry said, ‘I’ll leave you in Juan’s capable hands and I’ll come back in soon and see how Jason is doing.’ He looked at Cate. ‘I’m just going to get the twins some breakfast and then take them over to childcare.’

‘I’ve already given them breakfast,’ Cate said, and Harry gave a grateful nod. ‘They’re just watching cartoons in the staffroom.’

‘Thanks so much for coming in, Doctor.’ Jason’s father stood and shook Harry’s hand. ‘It meant a lot.’

‘Not a problem,’ Harry said.

It was, though, a huge problem, and Juan commented on it after they had set up the aminophylline infusion and were waiting for the paramedics to transfer Jason. Juan had double-checked that he had everything and Cate had done the same until, happy they were well equipped, they moved to have a quick coffee at the nurses’ station, watching Jason from a slight distance. They had no idea when they might get another chance to take a quick break because they would both go on the transfer with Jason and then rush back to work at Bayside—unless there were any emergencies on the journey.

‘Harry got here at five a.m. to see Jason,’ Juan commented.

‘I know.’

‘Did he bring the twins in with him then?’

Cate gave a small worried nod.

‘And does he do that sort of thing a lot?’

‘Harry’s wife died last year,’ Cate said, by way of explanation.

‘I know that,’ Juan said. ‘I asked if he did this sort of thing a lot.’

‘He hasn’t for a while.’ Cate sighed because it was clearly starting all over again and on Monday she’d be the one dealing with it.

‘He needs to get a nanny or someone he can count on.’

‘He had a nanny,’ Cate said. ‘She just left.’ She glanced at Juan, but he didn’t return her look as he was watching Jason. But she did see him smile when she revealed a little more. ‘They tend to fall in love with him.’ She watched as Juan’s smile spread further as he responded.

‘Then he needs to stop sleeping with them.’

‘Stop it!’ Cate blushed, but trust Juan to get to the heart of it. Harry was a widower and a very good-looking, well-heeled one at that. There were plenty of women only too happy to bring over a casserole as Harry had once said with a wink and a tired roll of his eyes—he’d thought they were just being nice at first. No doubt he was having the same trouble with his babysitters. The thing was, it wasn’t the Harry she knew. ‘He adored Jill.’

‘Of course he did,’ Juan said. ‘Sex and love are two very different things. I hear he was wild in his student days.’

‘Please!’ Cate said. She didn’t even want to think about Harry and his sex life, but then she confided in Juan a little of what was troubling her. ‘I’ve been told that once I’m Nurse Unit Manger I’m to address him bringing the twins in. Christine just ignores it, and Lillian says it’s been going on for too long.’

‘It needs to be addressed,’ Juan said, and he glanced over just long enough to see the flare of worry in her eyes. That much he could do for her. ‘I will speak with him about it.’

‘And say what?’

‘Bro talk,’ Juan teased. ‘You are not allowed to know.’

‘But you barely know him.’

‘Even better,’ Juan said. ‘Aside from everything, it’s not fair on the little ones to be dragged in here all time.’

Had she thought about it, she would have expected him to take Harry’s side, to say that it was no problem. Juan really was the most curious mix—the last thing she had expected was for him to actually be prepared to address the issue with the boss.

She’d love to be a fly on that wall!

CHAPTER SIX

JUAN DRAINED HIS mug and as they headed back, the paramedics arrived.

‘So we’re not competent enough for you, Juan?’ Louise, half of the team that would be transferring Jason, teased as she walked into Resus with the stretcher.

‘Jason has a very special airway, don’t you, Jason?’ Juan said.

Jason had, in fact, picked up considerably but he was on strong drugs that meant he needed very careful monitoring. All joking aside, it was good to have Matthew and Louise as the paramedics—they were an excellent team and Juan went through all the history and the equipment with them and told Louise the medications Jason was on.

‘I want to get there quickly,’ Juan said, ‘with as little upset to him as possible.’

‘Do you want one of his parents to come?’ Louise checked, but Juan shook his head.

‘I’ve already told them no. We’re going to play chase.’

‘Sorry?’ Louise frowned but Juan just smiled.

There really wasn’t room for either of Jason’s parents to come in the ambulance, especially as there was the potential for an emergency on the way. Even with the anti-emetic he had been given, Juan was worried that Jason might vomit and that could prove urgent in itself with his poor breathing and difficult airway.

Fortunately, though, Jason was so taken with Juan and so delighted to have escaped the helicopter that he didn’t protest in the least and neither did his parents. They headed off as soon as the paramedics arrived in the hope of beating the ambulance to the hospital. There was a good chance they might, as Juan took his time making sure everything was ready for the transfer, and ensured that Jason was as stable as he could be.

‘Come on, then,’ Juan said a good twenty minutes after Louise and Matthew had arrived. ‘We’ve given your parents a good start, shall we see if we can catch them up? We might have to put the sirens on if we’re going to have a chance.’

He winked to Louise, who smiled because she understood the game.

It was so much better with him than without, Cate thought as they sped with sirens and lights blazing to the city, trying to beat Jason’s parents! The stars really had aligned for Jason today and they pulled up at the children’s hospital without incident. Just knowing that Juan could deal with whatever presented had made a difficult transfer so much more straightforward. Juan was more than highly skilled—clearly his career had, at one time, been his major focus and yet here he was drifting around the world.

Cate wanted to know why.

She wanted to know more.

But soon he’d be gone.

‘We got here first!’ Juan said as the ambulance doors opened and there was no sign of his parents. An exhausted Jason even managed a quick high five.

Jason was a direct admission to ICU and a very pretty nurse looked up and turned purple before smiling when she saw Juan walking in. From the general reaction to his entrance, Cate knew he was just as popular here as he was at Bayside.

‘Juan!’ A huge bear of a man came over and shook Juan’s hand. ‘I thought you were in New Zealand by now.’

‘Soon! How are you, Paddy?’ Juan said, and proceeded to hand over the young patient as, just a little behind them, Jason’s parents arrived.

‘You beat us!’ Lisa kissed her son. She was looking a lot more relaxed in more familiar surroundings with staff that she was more used to. ‘How was the journey?’

‘It went really well.’ Cate smiled. ‘Juan will come and speak with you soon, he’s just handing everything over.’

‘He’s good, isn’t he?’ Lisa said to Cate, glancing over to where Juan was chatting with Paddy.

‘Very good,’ Cate said, as Juan made his way over to them.

‘Okay, the journey was without incident,’ Juan said to Lisa. ‘I’ve spoken with Paddy about all that has been done for Jason and you are safely in the right place.’

‘Thank you so much.’

‘No problem,’ Juan said. ‘I am just glad he is here without any more drama for you.’

‘Well, we won’t be going far again,’ Lisa said, but Juan shook his head.

‘Did you have a good week?’

Lisa nodded.

‘Would he have got the asthma anyway?’

Lisa was nearly in tears as she nodded again.

‘So he is here, where he would have been anyway, but also he has had a week at the beach, and that is a good thing.’

He gave Lisa a cuddle, just a brief one, told her what an amazing mother she was, and Cate felt a sting of tears at the back of her eyes as Juan peeled another strip off her heart and nailed it to the Juan wall in her mind.

Don’t go!

She stood there and looked at him, hating that very soon there would be no more Juan. She didn’t even try to fathom her strong feelings towards a man she didn’t really know, because everyone was crazy about him, everyone wanted more Juan in their life.

He shook Jason’s father’s hand and, oh, what the hell, Juan gave him a hug too and then went to say farewell to Jason. Cate was more confused than she had ever been, because she didn’t want, ten days from now, to have Juan gone from her life and to have done not a single thing about it.

Then he spoiled it by going missing as they were about to head back to Bayside.

‘I’ll go and find him,’ Cate offered.

She soon did!

Talking to Nurse Purple Face and making her laugh.

‘You’re quiet,’ Juan said as they rode back in the back of the ambulance with Louise.

‘I’m just tired,’ Cate lied, not sure if she was jealous or just cross with herself. Or was it regret that she simply couldn’t push aside her usual rules, wave her knickers over her head and give in to him?

‘Well, that was worth the trip for me,’ Juan said, ‘I have my shifts for next week all sorted I am working Friday through to Saturday on ICU there.’

Cate glanced up.

He only did one or two shifts a week, she knew that, preferably one long one, and he’d just been given that.

Today really could be the last time she saw him.

Apart from tonight.

CHAPTER SEVEN

CATE WAS SO distracted she didn’t even hear Matthew talking on the radio until he called out to Cate and Juan. ‘We’ve got an eighty-six-year-old in an independent living facility, she’s waiting to be admitted for a chest infection but she’s developed chest pain. Are you guys okay with us accepting?’

‘Sure,’ Juan said. ‘So long as you go fast.’

On went the lights and sirens and Cate felt a flurry in her stomach as the ambulance sped off.

‘You love this part, don’t you?’ Louise smiled.

‘I do.’

‘Are you still thinking about joining us?’

Cate shook her head. ‘It’s not for me. Sometimes I do still think about it, though.’

‘You’ve thought of being a paramedic?’ Juan’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘Cate came on a ride along with us,’ Louise told him. ‘About six months ago, wasn’t it, Cate? I said to try a Saturday night in the city before she made up her mind.’

Cate could feel Juan’s eyes on her.

‘You didn’t like it?’ he asked.

‘I loved it,’ Cate said. ‘It was an amazing experience but…’ She gave a small shake of her head. ‘It made me appreciate even more all the back-up that we have in Emergency, and I decided that it just wasn’t for me.’

They were pulling into the independent living facility—the gate had been opened for them and a staff member directed them to the small unit where the patient was. Matthew and Louise took all the necessary equipment and then the four of them walked into a small house that was crammed full of furniture—huge old bookshelves and old-fashioned sofas—that looked a little out of place in the more modern surroundings.

‘Her name’s Elsie Delaney,’ the on-call nurse explained. ‘We had the doctor in to see Elsie last night for her cough and she was started on antibiotics for a chest infection. When I went to check on her this morning, she didn’t look well and finally admitted she had chest pain. She’s very independent and didn’t want me to call you, of course.’

‘Hi, Elsie!’ Matthew walked in first and greeted the patient.

‘What are all of you doing here?’ came an irritated voice as the room started to fill up.

‘You’re getting the works today, Elsie,’ Louise said. ‘We had a doctor and nurse already with us, so that’s why there are so many of us.’

The bedroom was as full of furniture as the rest of the house and, with Juan walking in front of Cate and his shoulders taking up most of the doorframe, it took a moment before Cate glimpsed Elsie.

She was tiny, sitting up in bed, her straggly white hair held back with a large, jewelled hair clip. She had a pink shawl around her shoulders and was wearing an elaborate necklace, and on her gnarled fingers were several rings.

She looked absolutely gorgeous, but she was wary and disgruntled and complained as Louise and Matthew did obs and attached her to a monitor while Juan slipped in an IV.

‘I’m feeling much better,’ she kept protesting.

Really, they weren’t needed at all. Cate and Juan were completely supernumerary as Louise and Matthew had it all under control. They soon had a heart tracing and were giving Elsie some medication for pain and, despite having said she had little pain, as it took effect she lay back on the pillow. Elsie finally agreed that, yes, they could take her to hospital.

‘Are there any family for us to inform?’

‘She has a daughter, Maria, who lives nearby,’ the nurse said, and spoke then to Elsie, ‘I’ll ring Maria and let her know what’s happening.’

‘She’ll be very disappointed that I’m only sick and not dead,’ Elsie said. ‘It’s the truth!’ Elsie turned to Cate and winked, and Cate found herself smothering a smile. ‘Does Maria even have to know that I’m going to hospital?’ Elsie asked.