HER very own parking space!
Pulling on the handbrake of her smart, practical and
incredibly clean sedan, Madison Walsh took a moment out of
her busy schedule to indulge herself, staring with quiet
satisfaction at the writing on the wall.
RESERVED / ED NUM
OK, it didn't say reserved for Madison Walsh, Nursing Unit
Manager, Accident and Emergency Department, it didn't even
matter that a parking space was possibly the last thing a
perpetually early-for-everything woman like Madison
needed โ but it was hers!
Another step in the right direction, another life goal
achieved.
Locking her car, Madison waved as Gerard Dalton slid his
dark blue car into his own reserved parking spot and
waited politely as the elderly gentleman climbed out.
"One day I'll beat you to work!" Gerard grinned. "You're
not due to start for another two hours, Madison."
"Neither are you,'Madison pointed out, walking with Gerard
through the dark car park, bypassing the darkened accident
and emergency entrance and heading instead to the main
reception area of the hospital.
"I guess we both just want to have that one final check
before it's all systems go. Mind you," he added rather
more lightly, "not before a good strong cup of coffee.
Let's hope the kitchen staff remembers that we're here and
delivers us some milk..." His voice trailed off as Madison
held up a carrier bag.
"I stopped at the garage, just in case there wasn't
any." 'Of course you did," Gerard said with a wry note to
his voice. "Who's looking after that gorgeous daughter of
yours while her mother's out all hours?"
"Emily's fine." Madison laughed. "She's having a sleepover
at my friend Helen's, so that I could be here early today."
"And she's enjoying going to school?" 'She loves
it,'Madison responded warmly, as they arrived outside the
deserted reception area. She nodded her thanks as the
security guard gave a thumbs-up and the doors slid open.
"Morning, Vic!" 'Morning, Professor, morning, Sister,'Vic
responded cheerfully. "All ready for the big day?"
"I hope so," Madison said, rolling her eyes. "If we're
not, we're about to find out the hard way."
"How could we not be ready?" Gerard said assuredly as they
walked along the highly polished corridor and into the
vacant emergency unit. "We've been planning this day for
months now." 'I know," Madison sighed, flicking on lights
as she went, noticing how hard the domestic staff had been
working in the last couple of days, every last trace of
builders' dust gone. The plastic wraps had been removed
from the chairs in the waiting room, even the vending
machines had been stocked up, but nothing could take away
the scent of new paint and carpeting, and the pristine
look of a hospital that had yet to see a patient. "At
least that's what I keep telling myself, but I've been
awake every night for the past week, thinking of a million
and one things that might go wrong."
"You worry too much," Gerard admonished, steering her away
from the empty nurses' station and into the
staffroom. "You're the most meticulous, organised person I
know, Madison. That's one of the reasons I insisted on
having you as the NUM when they offered me the director's
role for the new accident and emergency department.
Designing a hospital from scratch is a hard enough task,
but without a well-run, functioning emergency
department..." He paused for a moment, kettle poised in
mid-fill, and Madison noted he'd pulled out three mugs,
which summed Gerard Dalton up in a heartbeat.
He'd be making a brew for Vic as well โ porter or
professor, it didn't matter. If you were on Gerard's team,
you belonged.
"You know this is one of the proudest days of my life."
"There'd be a lot of proud moments in a life like yours,
Gerard," Madison said warmly, and if it sounded gushing
she didn't care. Gerard Dalton was quite simply the finest
doctor and the most honourable man she had ever met. A
devoted husband and father, he had somehow managed to
squeeze in a career that would have anyone reeling. As
well as being an esteemed emergency doctor, he was also a
tireless AID worker for developing countries. The long
list of letters after his name had been extremely well
earned and, always thrilled to work alongside him, Madison
had been honoured when he'd hand-picked her to join him in
the daunting task of getting the accident and emergency
department of the brand new Heatherton Hospital up and
hopefully running successfully.
"There have been a lot of proud moments," Gerard
agreed. "But this is something really special. I don't
know how many times I've said in my career that if only
things were different, if only we had the right equipment,
if only someone had thought to put that here or this
there..." He gave an apologetic smile. "I'm waffling."
"No, you're not," Madison said. "I've been thinking
exactly the same thing โ all this wonderful new equipment,
consultations with the designers, hand-picking the staff,
it's going to be wonderful."
"If you like that sort of thing." Gerard smiled and
Madison did, too. "You either love hospitals or you hate
them, I guess. What time do you think the staff will start
getting here?"
"Well, no one's actually due to start until seven, but
everyone was so enthusiastic when they came for
orientation, I'm sure they'll start trickling in after
six." 'And the department officially opens at nine?"
Gerard checked his paperwork and Madison smothered a
smile โ they'd been over and over the details a thousand
times, but despite Gerard's amazing ability to retain
anything remotely medical, when it came to trivial matters
such as clocks, budgets or even where he'd put down his
glasses, he was the original absent-minded professor.
"We open at nine for patients making their own way in, but
we're closed to ambulances until eleven a.m., which will
give us a couple of hours to iron out any minor hiccups
that might arise."
"Good idea," Gerard agreed. "It was your idea, Gerard,"
Madison said, not bothering to hide her smile this time.
"So it was," Gerard said. "Right, it looks like all we
need now is a patient."
"And a consultant," Madison added, instantly regretting
the slight edge to her voice. Because she'd worked
alongside Gerard for so many years now, naturally he
picked up on it.
"You're going to like him, Madison. Guy Boyd is the finest
doctor I've had the privilege to work with.'Which, coming
from Gerard, was high praise indeed, but still Madison
remained hesitant.
"I just wish I'd met him. From what you've described, he's
not exactly..." Her voice trailed off, not wanting to be
rude, not wanting to judge before she'd even laid eyes on
the man, but Gerard spoke for her.
"Guy's a bit of a free spirit," Gerard said, and no doubt
he meant well, but the description of the new consultant
brought absolutely no comfort to Madison, the words 'free
spirit' searing through her like dental pain as she
gritted her teeth. "He just doesn't like to be tied down
in one place for too long."
"He doesn't like responsibility, you mean?'Madison
responded. "Look, I'll reserve judgement till I've met
him, Gerard, but we've known each other long enough to be
honest, and the truth of the matter is I'm not
particularly keen on "free spirits" wandering around my
department. I want fully grounded, on-the-ball, committed
workers."
"I know," Gerard answered, smiling placidly at Madison's
frown. "And I know we've both been in on every interview,
that we've both agreed on every member of the team, but in
Guy's case he simply couldn't get here because he was
overseas. When I emailed him about the new department I
couldn't believe my luck โ our luck โ when he said that he
was keen to be a part of it."
"But he's only prepared to commit to a six-month
contract," Madison pointed out. "We're aiming for
continuity, Gerard, staff who will follow the vision..."
"We are." Gerard nodded. "And if it was anyone else I'd
have said no but, believe me, six months with Guy Boyd on
board is too good to pass up. You're just going to have to
trust me, Madison."
"Which I do," Madison said, forcing a smile, determined to
let nothing mar this day. "I'm probably over-reacting. I'm
sure that he'll turn out to be great."
"Once you get used to him," Gerard added, and Madison
wished he hadn't! "Guy's not exactly into hospital
politics. He's not exactly politically correct โ very much
his own man," Gerard explained, but seeing Madison's tight
expression hastily turned his back and spooned sugar into
a mug. "I'd best take this out to Vic. I noticed the sign
diverting patients has been taken down. We ought to put it
back up until the department officially opens."
"Gerard, when you say he's not into hospital politics..."
Madison didn't even finish her sentence, her audience lost
as Gerard headed off for an extended chat with Vic.
Madison headed through the department towards the
entrance, picking up the sign the cleaners must have taken
down when they'd polished the doors. She pressed it back
against the glass, and jumped as a looming shadow appeared
out of the darkness.
"We're closed," Madison mouthed, pointing to the sign, but
perhaps in the subdued light she couldn't be seen. It was
either a patient who needed help or a member of staff, so
Madison tapped the window and gestured to Reception. "Go
that way,'she said, exaggerating the words to make herself
understood, peering into the bleak ambulance bay.
He didn't look like a patient. Certainly, from his relaxed
stance he wasn't in any pain, although admittedly all she
could really see was a white T-shirt. But there wasn't any
urgency in his actions.
"Problem?" Gerard asked, coming behind her and flicking on
the light, which reduced Madison's visibility to
zero. "Either an eager patient or a keen member of
staff." 'We can deal with both." Gerard gave a half laugh
and, cupping his hands, pressed them against the window.
"Why, it's Guy!'The delight in his voice forced Madison's
attention and she watched as Gerard fiddled with the
door. "Can't we open it?"
"Not without Security," Madison answered, resisting the
urge to cup her own hands against the glass and have a
good look at the new, politically incorrect consultant,
but curiosity got the better of her and, cupping her own
hand against the glass, she peered out into the pre-dawn
darkness. Her eyes squinted to focus then she stepped back
as a smiling, utterly laid-back face greeted hers.
Inexplicably she felt as if he was way, way too close to
her, his presence definitely felt even though he was
safely on the other side of a thick glass door. In that
split second a shooting flame of something she couldn't
quite define rippled through her โ and had Madison pulling
away rapidly, catching her breath as if she'd been stung.
"Are you OK?" 'Fine," Madison answered briskly. "He'll
have to walk round to Reception. We should go and meet
him..." She headed off, expecting Gerard to follow her.
After all, despite her own misgivings about his
employment, it was the new consultant that was arriving
and he deserved to be greeted. But as she walked back
through the sterile waiting room it took a moment to
realise she was walking alone.
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