Read Online Needed: Full-Time Father (Medical Romance) by Carol Marinelli - Free Book Online

scared.’Judith’s admission stilled his busy hand for a second, the years of bravado of playing Russian roulette with her life finally catching up with her.
    ‘I know you are, Judith. But we’re going to sort this out as best we can.’
    ‘You believe me?’ Judith begged, her greying face flailing on the pillow, a dry tongue licking even drier lips. ‘I really didn’t do it this time. I was working so hard on getting better.’
    He nodded, his gloved hand cupping her cheek. ‘You really don’t want to be here, do you?’
    ‘No!’
    ‘Hey.’ A smile dusted his lips. ‘Today you might just find out how good we really are.’
    ‘The nursing supervisor’s on the phone for you, Madison.’ Alanna dashed in and, seeing what Guy was doing, started to open a flask of IV solution to run through the central line. ‘She wants to speak with you.’
    ‘Tell her I’m busy,’ Madison answered. ‘I’ll call her back when I can.’
    ‘I’ve got this,’Alanna answered, and though she was trying to be helpful, and Madison knew that the situation was now completely under control, she wanted to stay. Wanted to be looking after her patient, not on the phone with the nursing supervisor, trying to juggle the bed status of the hospital and get patients up to the wards.
    ‘Alanna?’ Guy said, clearly clueless about the internal struggle taking place in Madison right now. ‘Could you take off Judith’s oxygen for a couple of moments? I want to get some blood gases from her on air.’
    ‘I’ll do it…’ Madison started, reaching for the oxygen mask, but her hands met Alanna’s at the same time. Jerking her eyes upwards, she saw Guy watching her.A tiny frown crinkled the edges of his eyes, an instinctive understanding connecting them just for a moment.
    She wanted to be nursing—not organising.
    Trying to concentrate on paperwork was hell on earth. Despite her closed door, the department buzzed on outside Madison’s office. The loudspeaker paging doctors, the swish of rubber heels running, babies crying, unattended IV machines bleeping. In an effort to help, Madison dragged her paperwork out to the nurses’ station where she could at least take a few essential phone calls and direct the traffic somewhat, but before she knew it, she was giving out medication and handing out bedpans, ringing X-Ray to find out about delays and generally getting into the thick of things.
    ‘You’ve got to deliver a welcome at orientation day.’ Annie, the ward clerk, breezed in, peeling sheets of paper off a pile and trying to hand them to Madison.
    ‘Orientation day?’ Madison frowned, barely looking up as she took a student nurse through the rudimentaries of running through the IV that the doctor in cubicle four was shouting for.
    ‘For the nursing bank,’ Annie patiently explained. ‘Shirley wants a senior staff member from each department to talk to the new bank staff to explain what each unit requires—what we want from the personnel in Emergency to make the department run more smoothly.’
    ‘I’d settle for just an appearance right now,’ Guy fumed, missing half of the conversation but making his feelings very much known as he punched in the switch-boardnumber. ‘I’m doing this well out of Judith’s earshot—she’s scared enough already, and if you don’t like bad language, ladies, I suggest you leave now. I will not be hung up on or fobbed off again by some adolescent intern, telling me to check my patient’s records.’
    ‘You’re going to be late,’ Annie warned Madison, completely ignoring Guy, used to doctors blowing off a bit of steam. ‘You’re expected in five minutes.’
    ‘Is it the orientation day?’ Alanna asked as she breezed into the nurses’ station, handing Guy a printout of Judith’s latest observations as he again attempted to contact the surgeons.
    ‘It is,’ Madison said grimly. ‘To tell the truth, what with Gerard and trying to get the department up and running, I totally forgot