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Authors: Joanna Neil
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on him. ‘Hello again, Nick,’ she said. ‘How are you feeling?’
He held out a hand palm down and moved it from side to side. ‘So-so,’ he said.
‘Hmmm. I’d like to check your blood pressure again if that’s okay with you,’ she murmured.
He nodded.
The pressure was falling, she discovered, and his pulse was faster than the last reading.
She asked him about his daily routine. ‘You’re not working at the moment, are you?’
He shook his head. ‘I was laid off after the car accident.’
‘And has anything happened to you in the last week or so?’
‘Nothing, really. The most exciting thing that happened to me was I went to a mate’s house with some friends the day before yesterday, and we watched the football match on TV. Our team won, so we were well made up.’
‘Sounds good.’ Ruby gave a brief smile.
‘Yeah. I stood up to cheer and lock arms with my mate and fell over the table. Caught myself right here.’ He ran a hand over the upper part of his abdomen and grinned. ‘Too much lager. Made me grunt a bit at the time, but it’s more or less okay now. It’s a bit sore.’
Ruby was beginning to be slightly concerned. ‘I think we’ll do an abdominal CT scan to see if anything untoward is going on,’ she told him. ‘I’ll arrange for the nurse to take you down to radiology as soon as she’s free.’
She left the room and made the arrangements with Michelle, leaving Nick in the care of the nurse while shewrote up his radiology form. A few minutes later, as she was checking details of her other patients, Sam came to find her.
‘I’ve just seen Michelle preparing to take your patient down to radiology,’ he said. ‘She tells me that you’ve ordered an abdominal CT scan.’
‘That’s right. Why, is there a problem?’
He frowned. ‘You do know that he’s a regular here, don’t you? I’ve taken a look at his notes, and it’s clear that Dr Stanford believed he was simply a drug seeker. He may well have suffered an accident at some time, but there’s no evidence of permanent injury on all the scans and X-rays that have been done.’
‘Maybe so, but I prefer to do the tests anyway. Something about him doesn’t seem quite right. It doesn’t add up.’
He made a short laugh. ‘Yes, well, I can understand that. You do realise that he was the one who almost knocked you over the other day outside the hospital…don’t you remember? He didn’t even stop to apologise.’
Recognition dawned all at once, and her mouth dropped open a fraction. ‘Ah, I knew there was something about him that bothered me. Yes, I remember now.’
‘Good. Then perhaps you’ll think twice about wasting resources on someone who’s probably just here to get his hands on stronger painkillers. He’s done it before, several times. It’s more than likely he’s taking you for a ride, Ruby. He probably thinks you’re a soft touch.’
‘Well, it’s possible, I suppose.’ She looked him in the eye, her grey gaze smoky with annoyance. ‘Still, I decided to take his claims at face value and examined him accordingly, and my feeling is that there may be something wrong with him.’ She drew herself up to her full height. ‘Last time I looked, my qualifications said I was a specialist registrar—so I think that gives me enough leeway to act on my gut instinct, don’t you?’ It was a low trick, but he had pulled rank with her earlier, and she didn’t see why she should allow him to browbeat her on this.
He didn’t react in quite the way she’d expected. There was no rising hauteur or demand for her to retract. Instead, he held up his hands in a gesture of conciliation. ‘Okay. Whoa there. Steady.’ He let his arms fall to his sides. ‘I suppose I deserved that response, but the truth is, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’m just saying you should bear in mind that he’s probably just after a prescription for stronger narcotics. He’s had a few X-rays and CT scans, and nothing
He held out a hand palm down and moved it from side to side. ‘So-so,’ he said.
‘Hmmm. I’d like to check your blood pressure again if that’s okay with you,’ she murmured.
He nodded.
The pressure was falling, she discovered, and his pulse was faster than the last reading.
She asked him about his daily routine. ‘You’re not working at the moment, are you?’
He shook his head. ‘I was laid off after the car accident.’
‘And has anything happened to you in the last week or so?’
‘Nothing, really. The most exciting thing that happened to me was I went to a mate’s house with some friends the day before yesterday, and we watched the football match on TV. Our team won, so we were well made up.’
‘Sounds good.’ Ruby gave a brief smile.
‘Yeah. I stood up to cheer and lock arms with my mate and fell over the table. Caught myself right here.’ He ran a hand over the upper part of his abdomen and grinned. ‘Too much lager. Made me grunt a bit at the time, but it’s more or less okay now. It’s a bit sore.’
Ruby was beginning to be slightly concerned. ‘I think we’ll do an abdominal CT scan to see if anything untoward is going on,’ she told him. ‘I’ll arrange for the nurse to take you down to radiology as soon as she’s free.’
She left the room and made the arrangements with Michelle, leaving Nick in the care of the nurse while shewrote up his radiology form. A few minutes later, as she was checking details of her other patients, Sam came to find her.
‘I’ve just seen Michelle preparing to take your patient down to radiology,’ he said. ‘She tells me that you’ve ordered an abdominal CT scan.’
‘That’s right. Why, is there a problem?’
He frowned. ‘You do know that he’s a regular here, don’t you? I’ve taken a look at his notes, and it’s clear that Dr Stanford believed he was simply a drug seeker. He may well have suffered an accident at some time, but there’s no evidence of permanent injury on all the scans and X-rays that have been done.’
‘Maybe so, but I prefer to do the tests anyway. Something about him doesn’t seem quite right. It doesn’t add up.’
He made a short laugh. ‘Yes, well, I can understand that. You do realise that he was the one who almost knocked you over the other day outside the hospital…don’t you remember? He didn’t even stop to apologise.’
Recognition dawned all at once, and her mouth dropped open a fraction. ‘Ah, I knew there was something about him that bothered me. Yes, I remember now.’
‘Good. Then perhaps you’ll think twice about wasting resources on someone who’s probably just here to get his hands on stronger painkillers. He’s done it before, several times. It’s more than likely he’s taking you for a ride, Ruby. He probably thinks you’re a soft touch.’
‘Well, it’s possible, I suppose.’ She looked him in the eye, her grey gaze smoky with annoyance. ‘Still, I decided to take his claims at face value and examined him accordingly, and my feeling is that there may be something wrong with him.’ She drew herself up to her full height. ‘Last time I looked, my qualifications said I was a specialist registrar—so I think that gives me enough leeway to act on my gut instinct, don’t you?’ It was a low trick, but he had pulled rank with her earlier, and she didn’t see why she should allow him to browbeat her on this.
He didn’t react in quite the way she’d expected. There was no rising hauteur or demand for her to retract. Instead, he held up his hands in a gesture of conciliation. ‘Okay. Whoa there. Steady.’ He let his arms fall to his sides. ‘I suppose I deserved that response, but the truth is, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’m just saying you should bear in mind that he’s probably just after a prescription for stronger narcotics. He’s had a few X-rays and CT scans, and nothing
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