Tato Potato, thank you for your review. I really am happy you like the puns. I'm sure there will be more! I don't think Cal is ready for another relationship yet, but things could have changed by the end of the story! Lily is still and getting used to friendship, but a relationship could follow!
ETWentHome, thank you for your review. I love puns so it's great to be able to use so many in this story. I felt so bad for Lily when she missed out on Zoe's hen night, so I really wanted to give her more of a social life in this story. It's not natural for her yet, but she's getting there!
Tanith Panic, I'm glad you liked the fish puns. I wondered about Connie overhearing the sturgeon comment, but I thought there was enough going on in the scene already! Lofty really did say the wrong thing for once, but at least he only did it to make Lily feel better. Thank you for your review!
TimeLadyOdair, thank you for your review! I'm so happy you like the story. And thank you for encouraging me to write a sequel! I'm glad you like Ethan and Sophie's repartee. Is that better than the b-word? Lily's whole life has probably been Work, Study, Eat, Sleep, but things are going to change!
Halfway to the cubicle, Lily made her decision. She put her hand on Sophie's arm. "Just a minute, please. Sophie, I would like to get you involved with this patient."
Sophie smiled sweetly. "That's a very nice thought, Lily, but I already have a boyfriend."
Lily hesitated. She knew it was a joke and if they were conversing as friends, she would have laughed or at least smiled. But she wasn't sure if that was a good idea when they were at work. On the other hand, she didn't want to tell Sophie off.
She decided to ignore the joke entirely. "I mean I'd like you to take the lead," she said. "If you're not sure of something, I'll be there to prompt you. If you get anything wrong, I will correct you."
Sophie looked very nervous, but she nodded. "Okay, Lily. I'll do my best."
"You should call me Dr Chao in front of the patient," said Lily. She smiled. "And I'll call you Miss Matthews, of course. Are you ready, Miss Matthews?"
"Ready, Dr Chao."
They went into the cubicle.
"Hello, it's Kenneth, isn't it?" said Sophie. "I'm Miss Matthews and this is Dr Chao."
The boy, who certainly had noticeably large muscles, nodded. "My friends call me Kenny."
"We are not your friends," said Lily sharply.
"But I'm happy to call you Kenny if that's what you'd like," said Sophie. "I understand you've been having dizzy spells? I know you've probably already gone over your symptoms a million times, but would you mind doing it again for us?"
"No problem," said Kenny.
"Thank you," said Sophie, and smiled at him.
Lily felt the smile was a little too warm. It certainly made Kenny blush. She decided to warn Sophie about that later. Appearing to flirt with the patient was almost as dangerous as flirting for real.
Kenny began to list his symptoms. Sophie asked about recent head injuries and alcohol consumption; Lily about recreational drug use. As she listened, several possibilities began to form in her mind. Some were dismissed as she heard further symptoms and the answers to Sophie's questions. By the end of Kenny's recital, Lily had three likely diagnoses at the forefront of her mind, though there were several others that were possible and a few more that were by no means ruled out.
"What do you think, Miss Matthews?" asked Lily.
Sophie gave Lily a panicked look, but the answered the question calmly. "I would say the three most likely possibilities based on the symptoms described are hypotension, paroxysmal positional vertigo and adverse reactions to medication."
"Could you say that with fewer medical terms, please?" said Lily, for Kenny's benefit.
"Of course," said Sophie, and addressed her words to Kenny. "Don't worry: it's not nearly as scary as it sounds. Low blood pressure, a problem with your inner ear, and medication side effects."
Lily nodded. "Thank you, Miss Matthews. What should we look at first?"
Sophie smiled at Kenny. "First, I'd like to check your pulse and blood pressure, Kenny. Then I'll take some bloods. While we're waiting for the results, I'd like to go over your list of medications with you."
Lily looked approvingly at Sophie. "Can I help, Miss Matthews?"
"If you can get the blood pressure monitor out for me, Dr Chao, that would be really helpful," said Sophie. "Now, Kenny, I need to ask you a few questions to make sure this is a good time to take bloods. I'm afraid the first one is quite nosy. Do you need to go to the loo?"
He stared, laughed, and shook his head. "No… though I might change my mind now you've mentioned it."
Sophie laughed. "Then I'll change the subject. When did you last eat?"
As Sophie asked a few more questions and took Kenny's pulse, Lily busied herself with preparing the blood pressure monitor for Sophie. She already knew that Sophie could use the monitor, so she stood back and let the student do all the work.
"Now, being on the observant side, I have noticed you have rather large muscles," said Sophie, as she put Kenny's arm into the correct position. "So I'm not sure whether a large cuff will be needed. I'll start with the small… no, you definitely need the larger one." She wrapped the large cuff around his arm. "Now, this might feel a bit uncomfortable, but it shouldn't last too long."
Lily watched as Sophie inflated, then deflated the cuff and took an accurate reading of diastolic and systolic pressure.
"Is that normal, Miss Matthews?" she asked, just to test Sophie.
Sophie nodded. "It's within the ideal range, Dr Chao. It's actually closer to pre-high blood pressure than to low blood pressure, but not nearly close enough to be a cause for concern. Besides, being in hospital raises most people's blood pressure a little bit. It's known as 'white coat syndrome', but they should probably change it to 'blue scrub syndrome'. Or 'white shirt and black skirt syndrome' in our case."
Kenny laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen a doctor wearing a white coat in real life."
"I do actually have a white coat," said Sophie. "But I'd never wear it for work: it's too nice! Now: let's take some bloods."
"What are we testing for?" said Lily.
"Full blood count, thyroid function, electrolytes and blood sugar," said Sophie promptly.
Lily decided to add liver function to the list due to the medication Kenny was taking but chose not to say so in front of the patient. "I'll see to it, Miss Matthews," she said, mouthing Good work! at Sophie as she passed.
Cal was glad when it was time for a break. He just couldn't get the image of Ethan and Sophie out of his head. He hadn't actually made any mistakes yet, but it was more difficult to concentrate than usual. He felt tired and headachey and definitely in need of a caffeine boost. He knew that coffee wouldn't necessarily help his headache, but remaining alert was more important than any physical aches and pains.
He wandered into the staff room kitchen to see if anyone had left any food lying around. To his delight, there was a tin on the kitchen work top with some chocolate cake inside. Cal had a look in the staff room to make sure no-one had come in (as he hadn't been offered a slice, it was possible it was just for the nurses) and began to cut himself a piece of cake.
"Hi, Cal," said a voice from behind him.
Cal jumped, and cried out as the knife went into his finger. He pulled it away and watched in horror as blood gushed out. He was used to other people's blood and fingers often did bleed a lot when there wasn't much wrong, but he wouldn't say he was happy about this development.
"What is it?" Ethan hurried over and took Cal's hand in his. "Come with me. I'll get a dressing." He guided Cal into the staff room and sat him on a chair. "Keep putting pressure on it." He returned within a few seconds with a dressing. "Can you hold it over the wound for me? That's good."
Cal stared at him incredulously. "'That's good'? Ethan, just because I've cut my finger, it doesn't mean my medical degree becomes null and void."
"Sorry. It's just habit," said Ethan. "Can you raise your hand a little bit for me?"
"No, I won't," said Cal. "I'm not doing anything for you. I'm doing it for myself because I know what I'm doing."
Ethan straightened up. "Fine. I'll leave you to it. Don't forget to clean up the kitchen afterwards: there's blood on the counter and I would recommend throwing away the slice of cake you were trying to cut. But of course, you knew that already."
"Ethan, don't go!" said Cal. "No. I didn't mean that. I mean, do go. If you want to. But you don't have to."
Ethan sighed. He came back and sat beside Cal. "How's the pain?"
"Painful," said Cal, and sighed. "Ethan, why does this kind of thing always happen to me? Why does it never happen to you?"
"Perhaps it's because I was a good boy in my previous life," said Ethan. "Or in my current life, come to that."
"It's your fault, anyway," said Cal. "If you hadn't made me jump…"
Ethan looked a bit annoyed, but not for long. "I'm sorry for making you jump, Cal," he said as he secured the dressing and slid a tubular bandage onto Cal's finger. And don't worry: I've cut myself at work on several occasions. You just seem to, um, shout a bit more loudly when it happens. You know I'm a bit shy of asking for help. But it does happen to everyone."
Cal felt himself relax slightly. "Ethan. About before. With Sophie. I overreacted."
"Well… Sophie and I certainly were behaving inappropriately," said Ethan. "I suppose I got caught up in the excitement of seeing her unexpectedly. I'm sure it won't happen again."
"Yeah. I wouldn't want to see you get into any trouble, little brother," said Cal. He made a joke, even though it kind of hurt. "Though I suppose it's Sophie who needs to worry about 'getting into trouble' with you around."
Ethan went bright red, but he managed to reply. "You know me, Cal. I always take every precaution."