anaesthetic. She comforted a crying young woman, distracted a toddler while his ear was syringed, did a pregnancy test and took numerous blood pressures and pulses.
It was routine, familiar work, and work that she enjoyed. Time always seemed to pass quickly when there was one thing after another like this, and when every patient was so different. The stoics and the complainers, the demanding and the docile, the chronically ill and the 'never needed a doctor before in my life' types. You had to be a student of human nature to get the most out of nursing.
With several people she shared a laugh, with a couple more she listened to problems which had nothing to do with the medical issue that had brought them in. And once she almost cried.
'Everything was normal. I was at work,' the thirty-eight-year-old woman said tearfully. 'I felt some cramping pains and I went to the bathroom. I thought it was a stomach upset. But then I just started to bleed.'
'Are you here on your own?' Lucy asked. The patient was shaking and very upset as she lay back on the examining bench in one of the cubicles.
'Yes. A friend from the office drove me, but she had an important meeting to get back to and I told her to go. My husband's away until tomorrow. Is it a miscarriage?'
'It may very well be,' Lucy had to say. 'The doctor should be here any minute to examine you properly. If you could take off your lower clothing and lie down. Here's a sheet to put over you.'
She left the room for a few minutes to give the patient her privacy, then entered again in the wake of second-year resident Andrew Carter. He seemed like a good and caring doctor, pleasant in manner, freckle-faced, quite good-looking, but ultimately powerless to ease this situation for his patient.
Reaching his gloved hand beneath the sheet, he did an internal examination and Jill Lewis winced and tensed and held her breath. 'Just try to relax, Mrs Lewis,' he murmured, and she nodded and began to take deep breaths instead as he felt her cervix.
It didn't take long before he announced quietly, 'Your cervix has opened to three centimetres.'
'What does that—?'
'Well, not good news, I'm afraid, and the cramping isn't a good sign. Was this your first pregnancy?'
'Yes. And I knew it was too good to be true,' she said bitterly. 'We'd almost given up hope. I'd rather not have got pregnant at all than had that false joy two weeks ago when I did the test, and then this.'
'So you hadn't seen anyone for your antenatal care yet?' Dr Carter clarified gently.
'Not yet,' Jill Lewis answered. 'I'd made an appointment with the antenatal clinic, though. I'll have to cancel it...'
'We'll send you over to Pathology, and they'll take some blood to be tested for the levels of pregnancy hormone, just to make sure.'
'OK.' She nodded, while Dr Carter quickly scrawled on the necessary form. A minute later, he'd left to see the next waiting patient.
'Do I just get dressed now?' Mrs Lewis asked tonelessly.
'You don't have to,' Lucy answered, 'if you'd like to rest a little first. Shall I bring you a cup of tea?'
'Yes, please. I'm sorry I'm upset,' she apologised, and tried to pull herself together.
Lucy wanted to tell her, 'Don't! You needn't be afraid to cry and let it out.' Instead, she just patted Mrs Lewis on the shoulder silently.
'Do you have any children?' Mrs Lewis asked suddenly, just as Lucy was about to leave.
'A daughter. She's five.'
'You don't know how lucky you are.' She began to cry again.
Yes, I do, Lucy thought as she went to get the patient's tea. She swallowed against a lump in her throat and blinked twice as her eyes brimmed. I do know exactly how lucky I am!
At eleven there was a lull, and Kerry Anderson, who headed up the nursing side of the team, told her, 'Go over to Personnel now before we get busy again and I tell you that you can't. Thanks for jumping in the way you did.'
'It hasn't been hard,' Lucy answered. 'Are you still busy down the far end?'
An ambulance siren at
It was routine, familiar work, and work that she enjoyed. Time always seemed to pass quickly when there was one thing after another like this, and when every patient was so different. The stoics and the complainers, the demanding and the docile, the chronically ill and the 'never needed a doctor before in my life' types. You had to be a student of human nature to get the most out of nursing.
With several people she shared a laugh, with a couple more she listened to problems which had nothing to do with the medical issue that had brought them in. And once she almost cried.
'Everything was normal. I was at work,' the thirty-eight-year-old woman said tearfully. 'I felt some cramping pains and I went to the bathroom. I thought it was a stomach upset. But then I just started to bleed.'
'Are you here on your own?' Lucy asked. The patient was shaking and very upset as she lay back on the examining bench in one of the cubicles.
'Yes. A friend from the office drove me, but she had an important meeting to get back to and I told her to go. My husband's away until tomorrow. Is it a miscarriage?'
'It may very well be,' Lucy had to say. 'The doctor should be here any minute to examine you properly. If you could take off your lower clothing and lie down. Here's a sheet to put over you.'
She left the room for a few minutes to give the patient her privacy, then entered again in the wake of second-year resident Andrew Carter. He seemed like a good and caring doctor, pleasant in manner, freckle-faced, quite good-looking, but ultimately powerless to ease this situation for his patient.
Reaching his gloved hand beneath the sheet, he did an internal examination and Jill Lewis winced and tensed and held her breath. 'Just try to relax, Mrs Lewis,' he murmured, and she nodded and began to take deep breaths instead as he felt her cervix.
It didn't take long before he announced quietly, 'Your cervix has opened to three centimetres.'
'What does that—?'
'Well, not good news, I'm afraid, and the cramping isn't a good sign. Was this your first pregnancy?'
'Yes. And I knew it was too good to be true,' she said bitterly. 'We'd almost given up hope. I'd rather not have got pregnant at all than had that false joy two weeks ago when I did the test, and then this.'
'So you hadn't seen anyone for your antenatal care yet?' Dr Carter clarified gently.
'Not yet,' Jill Lewis answered. 'I'd made an appointment with the antenatal clinic, though. I'll have to cancel it...'
'We'll send you over to Pathology, and they'll take some blood to be tested for the levels of pregnancy hormone, just to make sure.'
'OK.' She nodded, while Dr Carter quickly scrawled on the necessary form. A minute later, he'd left to see the next waiting patient.
'Do I just get dressed now?' Mrs Lewis asked tonelessly.
'You don't have to,' Lucy answered, 'if you'd like to rest a little first. Shall I bring you a cup of tea?'
'Yes, please. I'm sorry I'm upset,' she apologised, and tried to pull herself together.
Lucy wanted to tell her, 'Don't! You needn't be afraid to cry and let it out.' Instead, she just patted Mrs Lewis on the shoulder silently.
'Do you have any children?' Mrs Lewis asked suddenly, just as Lucy was about to leave.
'A daughter. She's five.'
'You don't know how lucky you are.' She began to cry again.
Yes, I do, Lucy thought as she went to get the patient's tea. She swallowed against a lump in her throat and blinked twice as her eyes brimmed. I do know exactly how lucky I am!
At eleven there was a lull, and Kerry Anderson, who headed up the nursing side of the team, told her, 'Go over to Personnel now before we get busy again and I tell you that you can't. Thanks for jumping in the way you did.'
'It hasn't been hard,' Lucy answered. 'Are you still busy down the far end?'
An ambulance siren at
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