Bernie knocked on the door to Hanssen's office, she felt like she had been up here more in the last few months than her whole time at Holby, but then she rationalised that Serena used to handle the trips to the ivory tower to see what Henrik wanted. Serena had somewhat protected Bernie, to allow her to get on with what she was good at and not worry too much about the paperwork and bureaucracy.
"Come." Came Hanssen's boom. Bernie was not sure why she had been summoned; she knew he has been keeping an extra eye on things recently.
She entered as he motioned to a chair, "Coffee?"
Bernie shook her head, "I'm fine."
Hanssen sat and adjusted the three pencils on the desk, "How is Ms Karnik settling in?"
Bernie nodded, in fact she had not worked overly closely with Nina, mainly because they worked opposite shifts to ensure there was even consultant cover; but the fact that she felt able to leave the AAU in her hands was a sign that Nina was a good thing. She had hit the ground running. Bernie appreciated that she didn't need to hold her hand. "She is an asset. We operate slightly differently but so do Ric and I; so did Serena and I."
Hanssen noticed Bernie's sadness at mentioning Serena. He felt sure that his next few sentences would cheer her up somewhat. "Good to know that you and Ms Karnik can cooperate and run AAU effectively. It makes my next proposition much easier."
He had caught Bernie's attention as she pulled a face. A confused but interested face. "Go on." She said reluctantly; she was not sure what he was going to say. She had a little fear in her stomach; Bernie knew she was no Serena. Bernie did the paperwork and business side of being a lead; but the patients were her priority. Was he going to shift their roles?
Hanssen leant back in the chair, "You, Ms Wolfe are a real asset to us; a jewel in our crown, as it were."
Bernie blushed a little at this compliment, she was good at was she did; bloody good. But she was no poster girl of the hospital.
"Sharing our knowledge; by that I mean your knowledge and skills; puts Holby on the map. As you are aware with good publicity and credentials comes investment."
Again Bernie was aware of this side of things but it was something she let Serena handle.
Hanssen continued, "It seems that your reputation has got around. I have had a request for you to attend a hospital who are looking at implementing ideas from our own trauma unit. They are prepared to fly you out all expenses paid to cast an eye over their efforts."
"I'm not good in seminars that is Serena's department. I am more practical, as you know." Bernie said in all honesty.
"No seminars, no board rooms. They want you to see the set up there, offer some insight and show them a few techniques."
"You said fly?" Bernie said with a heavy heart. Where was he sending her and how long for.
"Worry not Ms Wolfe, this is merely a week-long trip. Europe. Your counterpart, it seems, is a big fan of yours and has specifically requested you."
Bernie furrowed her brow as Henrik put her out of her misery and handed over print out of flight details.
Bernie tried to spot where she would be flying to, as she spotted it she smiled, as did Hanssen.
"This big fan of mineā¦" Bernie started, "Is it Serena?"
Hanssen nodded and appeared to smirk a little. "You go on Thursday, I hope that suits."
Bernie nodded.
"In which case let me not keep you. I imagine you will want to find out what Serena has done while has been away."
"Yes, I think she may have kept some elements of her work from me." Bernie said with a smile as she stood.
She virtually floated out of Hanssen's office, hope was returning. She was a little closer to all hope surrounding Serena being totally restored.
