Masquerade (7 page)

Alex stood as she approached the table and held out her chair for her. She smiled at his gallantry, murmuring her thanks.

“I took the liberty of ordering us some Turkish bread and dips to start off with.” He handed her the menu. “The waiter will be here shortly to take our orders.”

She took the menu from him and opened it up to peruse the contents. Even though she lived a few floors above the restaurant, she hadn’t visited it too often, so she took her time to read through the contents.

“Dips sound perfect. I think I might have the fish of the day with a fresh garden salad,” she said as she closed the menu with a snap. She didn’t think her stomach could take anything heavier.

“Would you like to share a bottle of wine?”

“Yes, wine would be lovely. Thank you.”

“White or red?”

“White.”

Sophie had to stop the laughter bubbling up inside of her. Their conversation was so polite it was bordering on the ridiculous.

She and Alex had spent a wonderful night together in each other’s arms. Today they’d worked as a team to save a patient’s life. He’d kissed her before coming to the restaurant and yet the mundane task of making small talk seemed all but unachievable.

Enough was enough. She leaned forward. “Alex?”

Her smile widened as she saw him take a moment before lifting his eyes from the wine list.

“Yes?”

“Do you think we can stop acting like polite strangers? I think we’re a bit past that. Considering all we’ve shared.”

Alex shook his head and started to laugh. It was deep and carefree and it had her joining in.

“You’re right, we’re acting like strangers. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not like this is a first date or anything.”

“Well, if you want to be technical about these things, it kind of is. The night we met, we were surrounded by people. Now it’s just the two of us sharing a dinner.”

Before Alex could reply, a commotion erupted in the kitchen. The sound of yelling and pots and pans clanging and crashing to the ground, followed by a bellow of pain and a cry for help had both her and Alex jumping from their seats.

It was instinct that had them both reacting — something told Sophie it wasn’t just a minor kitchen spill. Something major had happened.

“I’ll grab my bag from the car, you assess the situation,” Alex said. His tone was authoritarian, but not rude like some doctors she had worked with.

“No problem, it’s likely they’ll have a first aid kit in the kitchen, but I have a comprehensive one in my apartment. I can get Cliff to fetch it, if we need it.”

He nodded in acknowledgement and strode out the restaurant, while she made her way into the kitchen.

Sophie opened the door and what greeted her could only be described as chaotic. There were pans upturned, their contents splattered across the floor. A faint trace of smoke wafted toward her. The kitchen staff seemed to be standing in shock, unsure of what they should do. The maître d tried to stop her from entering.

“There’s no need to concern yourself, madam. It’s just a slight accident. We have everything under control.” His imperious tone grated on her nerves. She could see two seriously injured men and he was telling her it was a slight accident and they had it all under control. She didn’t think so.

Sophie flicked a quick look at his name badge. “Simon, I’m a nurse, so let me be the judge of whether it’s a slight accident or not. A doctor is on the way also. So please move.”

He hesitated briefly and she shoved passed him. People needed help and he was being a dithering idiot. She surveyed the scene again and tried to ascertain what had occurred. She rushed over to the man lying unconscious on the floor, blood oozing out from beneath his head. The arm of his white chef’s uniform showed signs of a burn, his fingers and lower arm red raw. A pot lay beside him, spilling its contents of boiling oil on the ground.

She needed to move the pot before more of him got scalded by the hot liquid. She pulled the tea towel that was under his arm, noticing it too had burn marks. Using the non-damaged portion, Sophie grabbed the handle. With careful movements, she righted the pot.

She threw the towel on to the floor to soak up the excess liquid. Now that she was sure her patient wouldn’t suffer any more burns, she checked his pulse. The beat beneath her fingers was erratic and thready.

Where was Alex?

“I’m a doctor, can’t you see my bag, you idiot?”

Sophie looked up and relief flooded her veins as she saw Alex pushing his way past the maître d like she’d had to. The man really was an imbecile.

“Alex, I need you here now.”

“What have we got?”

“Well, I’ve only managed to see to this man, there’s another injured person by the sink.”

“Okay, I’ll go see to him.”

“No,” she cried out and laid her hand on his arm. Even in an emergency situation, one touch was all it took for heat to suffuse its way through her body. “I need you here. He appears to be suffering third-degree burns from boiling oil. He might also have a head trauma from the fall. His pulse is thready and weak. He needs to be covered before his body starts to lose more heat and he goes into shock.”

She stood and lost her footing on the residual oil. Alex grabbed her by the waist. “Steady, I don’t need you injuring yourself as well.”

She shook herself free, not wanting Alex to know how much his touch affected her.

“I’m fine, but thanks. I’ll go see to the other victim and establish the extent of his injury.” She glanced over to the pale face of the other chef. It wasn’t burn marks that stained his uniform but blood and lots of it. She looked around the room and asked. “Is there a first aid kit here?”

“We’ve got this one,” another staff member replied, holding a very basic kit for her to see.

Sophie realized that kit wasn’t going to have the necessary pressure packs to stop the bleeding. “Looks like we’re going to need my kit, too,” she muttered to herself.

“I can arrange for someone to get it for you.”

Sophie turned and looked over her left shoulder where the owner of the voice stood. It seemed the maître d had realized it wasn’t a slight accident.

“Thanks, Simon. They can go next door and see Cliff the doorman. Tell him that Sophie Franklyn from apartment six-twelve B needs her first aid kit. He’ll know where it is.”

She trusted Simon to follow her instructions. She had briefed Cliff on the location of her kit just in case something like this in the building ever occurred.

With careful steps, she made her way to the sink and her other patient. She squatted down and saw fear in the man’s eyes. “Hi, I’m Sophie and I’m a nurse. What’s your name and can you tell me what happened?”

Compassion filled her as she watched him struggle to try to form the words. She touched his shoulders. “It’s okay, take your time.”

“Josh. It’s all a blur. I cut my arm. Then I heard a whoosh sound. Next I knew, Tim started to scream and fall to the floor with the pot following him down.” He looked up at with a blank stare — shock was setting in, too. “We were joking around and then … I don’t know what happened.”

“Josh, shh, it’s going to be okay. Let’s take a look at that cut, shall we?” She gently reached out and took hold of his injured arm. Sophie bit her lip as she lifted the cloth he’d placed over the gash.

The wound was deep, she could see clear through to the bone. Fortunately, he hadn’t cut a major artery. Still, his blood loss would be significant if other help didn’t arrive soon.

“Has someone called an ambulance yet?” she asked, looking around at the rest of the kitchen staff.

“Yes, I did.” Simon had arrived back with her bag. She smiled gratefully at him.

“Thanks. Did the operator say how long the ambulance would be?”

Sophie had to stand quickly and take the bag off him as he swayed at the sight of the blood seeping from Josh’s arm.

She gave him a shake and he looked up with dazed eyes. “Simon,” she said, her voice soft and soothing. “You’ve been a big help, now can you wait out front for the ambulance?”

He nodded and she let him go. She knelt back down, opened her bag, and took out a pressure bandage. She quickly wrapped it around Josh’s arm. She could hear Alex talking to his patient, his tone getting louder and louder and louder. He needed her help.

“That should stem the flow of blood until the paramedics arrive and can deal with you. Now I need to go help Alex with Tim. Will you be okay?”

She waited for a few seconds before Josh nodded his head. “Yeah, thanks, Sophie. Help Tim please, he’s a good … friend.”

Sophie realized then there was more between the two than just a work relationship.

“Sophie, I need you now.” Alex’s voice thundered over to her. She gave Josh a quick smile, collected her bag, and rushed over to Alex’s side.

Sophie assessed the situation and knew exactly what needed to be done. She quickly pulled out a pack of saline to set up a drip. Fortunately, his left arm was uninjured and she was able to establish a vein to administer the IV.

“I’m in. How’s his hand looking?”

When silence greeted her, she looked up. Her heart plummeted at what she saw in Alex’s eyes. The prognosis didn’t look good.

She thought about the look of pain in Josh’s eyes — not from his injury but from concern for Tim.

“We have to do all we can to save that hand,” she whispered. By the way Alex nodded his head, it was clear he’d heard the determination in her voice.

Tim moaned and he started to thrash his head from side to side. Sophie quickly grabbed the neck collar from her bag to stabilize his head. She still didn’t know what injury he had suffered to his head from the fall.

His moans were getting louder as the pain from his burns became stronger.

“Tim. Tim, can you hear me?” Sophie spoke firmly and loudly. His eyes flicked open, then fluttered shut with a grimace. “Tim, I’m Sophie and I’m a nurse. You’ve had an accident, but Dr. Scavoni and I are doing everything we can to help you. We need you to stay still. Can you do that for me, Tim?”

“Yes.” The word came out on a long, guttural cry.

“Good, Tim, that’s great.” Sophie flicked her gaze up to Alex, about to ask if she should administer some pain relief when Alex spoke.

“Sophie, until we know the extent of his head injury, give him five milligrams of morphine, please.”

“Did you hear that, Tim? I’m going to give you something for the pain. You’ve burned your hand and hit your head.” She quickly measured out the dose and showed it to Alex. On his nod, she inserted it into the IV she’d established earlier.

The wail of the siren was a welcome sound. Within moments, two teams of paramedics came rushing in.

Sophie stood up. “Hi guys, we’ve got one male with a deep laceration to the left arm. Second male has severe burns to right hand, fingers, and forearm. Possible head trauma as well. He’ll be stable enough to transport to hospital in a few minutes.”

The paramedics set up backboards to enable the transfer of each patient to a gurney for conveying to hospital.

She knew Alex would want her to travel with him in the ambulance taking Tim. The paramedics knew better than to question Alex. He was the head of the emergency department they would be transporting the patients to. At least the paramedics knew they wouldn’t get turned away.

Within minutes, they were boarding the ambulance and heading to the hospital. Sophie checked Tim’s pressure, pleased to see it was stable and his pulse had settled down. She could hear Alex on the phone to the director of the burns unit. The sooner they got Tim into specialist care, the better their chances of saving the hand and keeping most of the movement.

She withstood the good-natured joking from the staff when she and Alex turned up at the hospital, passing off the reason they were together as a coincidence. Neither wanted their staff to know they’d been about to embark on a dinner date. Fortunately, another emergency came in and all thoughts of the director of emergency and NUM turning up in an ambulance together were quickly forgotten.

After Tim and Josh were handed over to the staff on duty, Sophie headed for the sanctuary of her office. She sank down in her chair, closed her eyes, and leaned back, letting the quiet of the room wash over her.

What a night.

Opening her eyes, she glanced at her watch — it was just after ten
P.M.
Time to go home. She reached for the phone and started to ring for a cab when Alex strode into the office. He looked deliciously rumpled and she wanted to enfold him in her arms.

“Hey, how’s Tim doing?”

Alex wiped a hand tiredly over his eyes and again Sophie fought against the urge to comfort him.

“He’s settled into the burns unit. The extent of the injury will be known once the swelling has settled down. But it’s going to be a long road to recovery for him. Fortunately, he only suffered a slight concussion from his knock to the head.” He stopped next to her and leaned his hip against her desk. “What about his mate, how’s his arm?”

“Josh? He’s doing okay, he was lucky. The knife sliced through muscle. Although it was deep, it didn’t hit any major blood vessels.” She hung up the phone she hadn’t dialed. “It seems he cut his arm and Tim heard his cry of pain. When Tim turned, he somehow knocked the pot full of oil and it caught alight. In his attempt to douse the flames, he got burned and tipped the oil over his hand. It was one of those freaky accidents.”

“It was lucky we were there then.”

“Yep, it was. Although having said that, the restaurant and Cliff, the doorman, all have my details in case of an emergency.”

“So you would’ve been called anyway?” asked Alex.

“Maybe, maybe not. The maître dꞌ initially insisted it was a ‘slight accident.’ He may not have contacted me, or if he did it may’ve been quite a while after the event.”

“Does it happen often?” Alex questioned.

“Does what happen often?”

“Being called to help when there’s been an accident.” Alex lowered himself onto the corner of her desk.

“Nope, never happened before, but I was glad we were in the restaurant. It could’ve been much worse if we hadn’t been close by.”