CHAPTER ONE

      ‘YOU’RE needed, Hugh. A and E.’

      ‘On my way.’ Dr Hugo Patterson straightened, looping his stethoscope around his neck and smiling at the elderly woman in the bed. ‘You’ve certainly picked up a bug, I’m afraid, Nancy. You’re rattling away like an old train.’ He patted the frail hand lying on the pale green coverlet. ‘We’re going to keep you on oxygen and start some antibiotics.’ He looked up at the nurse standing nearby. ‘Is the call urgent, Megan, or do I have time to pop in an IV line?’

      ‘Sounded urgent.’ Megan bit her lip. ‘There was some shouting going on in the background and Lizzie sounded stressed.’

      The look they exchanged acknowledged the unlikelihood of anything minor making Lakeview Hospital’s nurse manager sound stressed. Hugo nodded as he reached for the chart to scribble instructions for the antibiotics he hoped would deal with his ninety-six-year-old patient’s pneumonia.

      ‘I’ll be back to see you just as soon as I can, Nancy. You behave yourself in the meantime.’

      ‘Thanks…love.’ The effort of speaking at all was obvious but the smile she gave Hugo was as lovely as always. ‘Go…they need you.’

      ‘Are you happy to get the line in and start the medication, Megan?’

      ‘I’ll have a go.’ Megan had to lengthen her stride to keep up with the doctor. ‘Her veins are horribly fragile, though.’

      ‘I’ll get back as quickly as I can. Have you heard how Nicola is getting on?’

      ‘Last I heard she was six centimetres dilated and getting tired. I think Joan’s a bit concerned about her.’

      Hugo was moving faster now. ‘I’ll drop into Maternity on my way back here.’

      It wasn’t far to the somewhat ambitiously named A and E department of the small rural hospital. Hugo strode along the corridor without more than a passing glance through the long windows opening onto a wide verandah. Some of Nancy’s fellow long-stay geriatric patients were ensconced in comfortable armchairs, enjoying the last fleeting warmth of the late winter’s afternoon sunshine. This winter would undoubtedly be Nancy’s last but Hugo was determined to pull her through this new bout of pneumonia so that she could enjoy for just a little longer the spectacular snow-covered peaks of the mountainous region she loved so much.

      The double doors at the end of the wide corridor flapped in response to Hugo’s firm push. The trauma room he was now in was curiously empty. This was their assessment and resuscitation area for serious injuries or illness, so where was the urgent case he had been summoned for? Hugo kept moving, through to the four-bed treatment room which led to the small reception and waiting area. He could hear Lizzie now, speaking with all the sternness and authority she had gained over her many years’ nursing experience.

      ‘You’ll have to shift it. You’re parked in the ambulance bay and there’s an ambulance due to arrive any minute.’

      ‘I’m not shifting. This is supposed to be a hospital, isn’t it? Where’s a bloody doctor when you need one?’

      ‘Right here.’ Hugo slowed his pace as he entered the reception area. His gaze took in Lizzie’s arms, folded over her ample bosom, a man in belligerent stance with beefy hands gripping his hips, the open-mouthed fascination with which Anne, the receptionist, was watching the scene and finally the small tour bus parked in front of the ambulance loading platform.

      ‘I’m Dr Patterson,’ he added calmly. ‘What seems to be the problem?’

      The