Wait For Me

Good To Have You Back, Boss

With Grace settling into the old school routine, Connie was taking the first step to settling back into the ED. By the time she arrived that morning, everything was already busy with barely a face standing still. Heading inside, she was almost bowled over by the doors that opened with a patient being wheeled through.

Looking up she saw Elle, Alicia and Robyn waiting to take over. "Connie. Good to see you back, we have this but you've got the next?" She nodded lifting her hands up quickly dismissing the other doctor who smiled before giving her full attention to Jez. Walking forwards once again, she waltzed towards her unoccupied office as she heard the doors open again. Throwing her bag and coat down without a care, she reached for the stethoscope from her desk wrapping it around her neck leaving as quickly as she had entered.

"What do we have?" "Ah Mrs Beauchamp, it's good to see you back." She offered an inviting smile to Iain as he handed over the sheets of paper before reeling off the patients stats. On their wander through the corridor she had picked up Ethan along the way before Jacob caught up to them at the doors of resus.

Connie noticed him and nodded as he looked to the bed, an unspoken question and answer between them. Coming inside with them, Jacob pulled on some gloves passing a pair to Connie before she slipped the stethoscope from her neck listening intently to the patients chest. "Okay can we organise a chest X-Ray and ring CT, tell them we've a blunt chest trauma." Ethan nodded stepping away from the bed towards the phone while Connie examined the small piece of metal piping still protruding from the boys chest.

"Want me to get Dylan in here?" "No it's crazy enough out there without another doctor being pulled in here. I can handle this." Jacob nodded as he shared a brief glance with Connie before she continued with her assessments of the patient. "Connie stats are dropping, BP's falling rapidly." She looked down as the patient writhed about slightly. "Woah, woah, woah! Stay still, any movement of this pipe and you could cause something to rupture." Her tone was harsh and direct but it did no good. With one swift movement he had grabbed hold of the pipe pulling it from its position.

Jacob rushed forwards instantly pushing his hands down above Connie's as she tried to add pressure to the freshly exposed wound. "Okay call theatre and tell them we need someone down here now!" Ethan had already briefly witnessed the scene unfolding and was calling but wasn't receiving much luck. "Everyone's tied up-" "Well tell them to untie themselves!" Taking a breath she composed herself before glancing back over her shoulder. "How long?" "45 minutes, that's a minimum." "He's not going to last that long..."

Connie panicked before looking to Jacob as his voice came out quieter than before. "You've got this. You wouldn't be clinical lead if you didn't." Connie released another breath before the beeping of the machines caused her to make her decision quicker. Nodding she looked about before bellowing her commands. "I need to pack the wound before transferring him if he's to stand any chance at all. Jacob keep your hands here, press as hard as you can." He nodded as she moved her hands from beneath his beginning to grab various instruments.

The doors to resus burst open as another casualty was wheeled in. "Can we get a little help over here please!" Connie looked to Ethan who stood bewildered as to what was best. "Go Dr Hardy, we've got this here." Confirming a glance to Jacob he wandered towards one of the other bays.

She worked quietly, saying nothing unless she needed Jacob to move slightly. "His BP's still falling, Connie he's losing a lot of blood." "I know! I know. Okay I'm going to have to open the wound, pack it and try tie off the artery he's nicked." Jacob nodded knowing this was going to be harder than just doing as she said. "Want me to get someone else?" "I trust you."

Jacob swallowed deeply, having the pressure of Connie being his boss was enough but to let his girlfriend down in a situation like this would be awful. A quick brush of her hand over his snapped him back and provided a small amount of relief. "Keep your hands still, last thing I need is to injure you too." He smirked as she flicked her eyes to him before looking back down.

Leaning forwards, Connie pressed the scalpel to his skin cutting the wound enough to see inside. "Press there..." She moved his hands keeping the pressure on before she threw down the scalpel grabbing some swabs. Pushing them deep inside the wound, they immediately soaked up the blood causing her to reach for some more. "He's bleeding quicker than we can replace it... I need some suction. I can't see a thing."

Jacob looked about seeing just about everyone busy before Charlie entered the room. "Charlie." His head shot up with a frown seeing Connie leaning over the patient. He was unaware that she was back today, but it seemed she was already well and truly stuck in. "What do you need-" "Con, she can't see anything." He nodded stepping to where Jacob was, replacing his hands while Jacob rushed to the other side of the bed picking up the suction kit.

"Over here..." He nodded reaching an arm around Connie to where she pointed. Jacob watched as she picked something else up, pressing more swabs to the wound. "There. Keep the pressure on... Move the suction here and keep it there." Jacob did what she asked, exactly as she asked while watching her tie off the artery. Pulling out the bloodied swabs, she placed some fresh ones inside before looking to Charlie. "Okay, remove the pressure."

He tentatively lifted his hands, a few moments passing as the monitors continued to crash. After what felt like an eternity everything started falling into sinus again. "BP's rising, he's stabilising. Nice work. Looks like you've still got it." Charlie grinned as Connie looked up slightly with a proud smile.

Just as he stepped away the doors were opened as someone walked towards the bed ready to move the patient upstairs. Connie finally released a deep breath as resus fell slightly quieter. Removing the gloves from her hands, she pulled the bloodied gown from her body throwing them into the bin. Glancing sideways she saw Jacob doing the same. "Nice work Staff Nurse Masters, carry on like that and I must just have to pretend I like you at work too."

He scoffed with a smile as she looked to him more relaxed than she had been half an hour ago. "Oh I think that might be asking a bit too much-" "Hmm, yeah I think you're right." Jacob followed behind her slowly as they wandered into the calmer corridor. Looking around, it was a good feeling to be back in control of something again. After getting her personal life into an orderly fashion, it was nice to have some power to go along with it.

Slightly stuck in her daydream, she looked up as Jacob stepped past her but turned to face her. "Good to have you back, boss..." He walked backwards with a knowing grin on his face while Connie pushed a hand back through the fallen strands of hair. "It's good to be back, Staff Nurse Masters." Watching her still, he winked at her before finally turning away and wandering into cubicles.

Taking another glance around the department, she placed her hands to the reception desk. This was her kingdom, her palace and she ruled it. Being back reminded her of the part of her she didn't get to be at home. Pursing her lips slightly, she hid the small grin as she backed away wandering to her office. Oh it was good to be back.