“Morning everyone,” said the smiling consultant whose eyes moved quickly round the room taking everything in. Logan let the asynchronous chorus of good mornings die down before he said, “Good morning sir. All ready for you.”
Tyndall rubbed his hands together and said, as he always did, “Right, let’s get started.”
Sarah smiled at Sister Roche, the unit sister, as Tyndall led the way followed by Logan at his elbow. The rest of them followed in single file in what Sarah always saw as a feudal procession. The Lord of the Manor being shown around his policies by his retainers. They stopped at each bay in turn and Logan read from the case notes, which he hastily referred to for values and figures. Tyndall would nod and ask questions either of Logan or the nursing staff. Questions regarding nursing care were relayed through Sister Roche who would answer herself or refer the question as she saw fit.
When the group arrived at Alpha 4, the bay where McKirrop lay, Logan became flustered. He thumbed his way through the papers in his hand without finding what he was looking for. “This is...” he began.
Sarah knew that Logan had no idea who the patient was. There had been no time to brief him beforehand. But, as Logan had chosen to ignore her throughout the ward round, she decided to let him sweat as long as possible. She noticed Sister Roche look down at her feet to conceal a small smile and looked away in case it became infectious.
“I’m sorry sir... I don’t seem to have any information about...” Logan stammered. He looked at Sarah and said, “Do you have any details on this patient Dr Lasseter?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” smiled Sarah innocently. “Mr McKirrop was admitted in the early hours of this morning after being involved in a drunken fracas.”
She unclipped the new admission sheet that Logan had failed to notice on the end of the bed and handed it to him.
“No, you tell us, Doctor,” interrupted Tyndall.
“Very good, sir,” said Sarah, taking the sheet back from Logan who looked daggers at her. “Mr McKirrop was close to death when he was found on the canal bank last night. The A&E team managed to stabilise him and referred him to us because of his head injury. He has a depressed fracture of the skull with a concavity of over ten centimetres at the mid point. I admitted him to HTU at a quarter to four this morning and assigned him to level one life-support systems.”
Tyndall took a pace forward and looked down at McKirrop. “Level one life-support,” he repeated thoughtfully. “No need for the patient to do anything at all for himself, eh? Do you think the day will come when we can do away with bodies altogether, Doctor?”
“We’re a long way from that sir,” replied Sarah. “The machines are really very basic.”
“But they’re getting better,” said Tyndall — a little frostily thought Sarah. She bit her lip as she suddenly remembered Tyndall’s love of technology.
Tyndall frowned. He said, “The patient seems familiar, Doctor or am I mistaken?” He looked closer the unconscious form of John McKirrop.
“No, you’re not, sir,” replied Sarah. “Mr McKirrop was our patient briefly last week because of concussion he received when he was beaten up. He was the man who disturbed the grave robbers in Newington Cemetery.”
“Ah yes, the man who lived in the cemetery,” said Tyndall.
“The tramp,” added Logan.
“Not having the best of luck is our Mr McKirrop, is he?” said Tyndall.
“Goes with the lifestyle,” said Logan sourly.
Tyndall looked at him and said, “There but for the grace of God, Doctor Logan.”
Logan smiled wanly. Tyndall turned to Sarah again and asked, “What are the plans for Mr McKirrop today?”
Sarah looked quickly to Logan, expecting him to interrupt, but he didn’t, so she said, “I think the full range of cerebral function tests, sir. It seems probable that he suffered extensive brain damage from the impact fracture.”
“Do we have X-rays?”
“Yes sir. A&E had then done last night. They’re in the side room.”
“Let’s have a look, shall we?”
The party adjourned to a small room with a series of light boxes mounted along one wall. Sarah pinned up McKirrop’s skull X-ray and stood back. Tyndall adjusted his spectacles on his nose and tutted under his breath.
“Quite a wallop. A wonder he survived at all.” He turned to Sarah. “Can I have a look at his admission stats?”
Sarah handed him the sheet and Tyndall ran his eye down the figures. He said “I’d go ahead with the tests but I don’t think we should formulate any long range plans for Mr McKirrop.”
“No sir,” answered Sarah.
Tyndall attention returned to the sheet and read out loud, “John McKirrop, Age, early fifties, no fixed abode, no relations, next of kin... Father Ryan Lafferty?” He looked over his glasses at Sarah.
“I understand Father Lafferty arrived in the ambulance with Mr McKirrop, sir. He wanted to be kept informed about his condition, so A&E entered his name as next of kin. McKirrop has no one else.”
“What’s Father Lafferty’s interest in the patient?” asked Tyndall.
“I believe he wants to talk to Mr McKirrop about what happened in the cemetery with the Main boy.”
“Really?” asked Tyndall distantly.
“The police are also waiting to interview Mr McKirrop. I understand the other party involved in the fracas died,” said Sarah.
Tyndall gave a gesture of distaste and Logan did likewise. Tyndall’s took the form of a little shake of the head, while Logan’s lip curled in disdain.
“Well I suspect they’ll all be disappointed, but you never know,” said Tyndall. “Some of us have been in this business too long to be surprised by anything the human body can do. I’d like to be kept informed of Mr McKirrop’s condition, please.”
Sarah and Logan replied, “Yes sir,” in unison.
When Tyndall left the unit the entire team seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. This brought smiles from everyone except Logan. His eyes flashed with anger, and Sarah did not need to guess at whom it was directed.
“A word if you please, Doctor,” he snapped as he walked out of the room. Sarah shrugged and accepted her cue to follow. She saw Sister Roche raise her eyes heavenwards and acknowledged the friendly gesture with a slight smile. Logan opened the door to the X-ray room and ushered Sarah inside before closing it again. “What the hell do you mean by making a fool of me?” he demanded.
“I don’t know what you mean, Dr Logan,” replied Sarah coolly.
“You set me up over McKirrop. You know you did!”
“I assure you, Doctor. There was simply no time to brief you beforehand.”
“It was deliberate!” stormed Logan. “You wanted me to look stupid in front of Dr Tyndall.”
“That’s ridiculous! There simply wasn’t time to tell you about Mr McKirrop’s admission.”
“You did it to make an impression on Tyndall! Do you think I’m stupid or something?”
“What I think of you is neither here nor there and better left unsaid,” replied Sarah.
It was the first time she had done anything other than appease Logan and it felt good. She noticed a hint of surprise appear on Logan’s face followed by uncertainty which made her feel even better.
“You’ll be saying next that I flattened your car battery so that you’d be late!”
“I think you have said enough, Dr Lasseter,” said Logan.
Sarah took a deep breath and said curtly, “If you’ll excuse me, Doctor, I have work to do.”
She turned on her heel and left Logan standing there.
Inside, Sarah’s stomach was churning and she could feel the pulse beating in her neck but she steeled herself to keep her head up and walk off with authority in her step. She went back to the duty-room and stood for a moment, looking out the window, trying to regain her composure. Her hands were trembling.