"Stop...no...stop...please...help...no" he held her and whispered "it's ok...Molly, it's ok, it's Charles, I'm here" she woke with a start, she felt hot and clammy and her breathing was very rapid, it took her a few minutes for her heart rate to slow, Charles stroking her head as the room came into focus and she realised it had been a dream, a very bad dream.
As she sipped her tea he was sat beside her in bed stroking her thigh "how you feeling now?" She laughed nervously "ok...it just felt real...I couldn't breath, but yes...I'm ok now" she still look exhausted like a nights sleep had had no impact on her whatsoever, having said that he hadn't had the best night himself, aware of her tossing and turning beside him for most of the night.
They got up and she started laying out the table for breakfast and then went back upstairs to call the boys, have a shower and get dressed. As she made her way back downstairs, pinning up her hair, wandering into the usual morning banter between Charles and the boys and the dogs snaking either side of her legs, both vying for attention as usual, she felt more ready to face the day.
Kissing each one on the top of the head, Sam being the least keen on this of late, she grabbed her keys and ID badge from the console table in the hall shouted "see ya later peeps, have a good day" and went out to the car. It was a lovely sunny morning as she drove along the narrow, tree lined lanes that were her usual route to work, this and the playlist of tunes Charles had put together on the iPod for her a bit back had lightened her mood considerably by the time she pulled into the hospital car park.
The shift had started pretty much like any other, handover, paperwork to sign and then about two hours in there was a red call went out over the tannoy, she rushed to the trauma team briefing point where the senior nurse began giving details of the trauma call, there had been an explosion at a local factory with several minor casualties but two serious who were due in four minutes by air ambulance. Molly and two of the team immediately made their way to the helipad to meet them, the air team unloaded the two casualties and Molly ran bedside the paramedic getting details as they shipped them into the trauma unit.
They immediately began working on the two men, Molly swiftly but clearly issuing instructions to the team as she alternated between the two adjacent cubicles. A burns consultant had been paged she had intubated one patient but was struggling with the other as his airway was swelling rapidly, this was something she had done thousands of times it was just more tricky because of the patients injuries but she needed to move fast to avoid a tracheotomy. It was her third attempt, she could feel someone stood close, too close for her to move around the patient, she then felt a hand on her arm and turned suddenly to see it belonged to Nurse Jones, looking up she met his eyes and then glanced across to see one of the other members of the team looking confused as to why he had moved into such close proximity to the Doctor. She pulled her arm away "Nurse Jones can you step out please, Nurse Taylor hold his chin back, let's give this one last shot"
Molly and her team had successfully stabilised and treated both patients and completed the handover to the surgical team, she ripped off her plastic apron and gloves "Nurse Jones, a word in my office now" the rest of the team exchanged glances a couple of them had seen the incident earlier and were already speculating as to what it was all about.
She stood behind her desk as he followed her into her office and closed the door. She immediately launched "what the hell do you think you were doing back there? I needed space to treat the patient, why were you..." She hesitated "why did you have your hand on my arm for gods sake" He didn't look the least bit flustered by her obvious anger at his actions, this was a senior doctor calling out a senior nurse Molly thought, if this was me I wouldn't be looking as calm and smug as he did right now. He immediately flipped his expression to one of concern "I'm sorry Doctor James, I was trying to help, you seemed to be panicking" Molly was furious now " I was not panicking and frankly Nurse Jones may I remind you who is the senior member of staff here, you do not under any circumstances second guess a senior in any situation...understood?" He looked straight at her, he hadn't even flinched as she blasted him "yes understood" Molly was shaking inside but didn't want to give away any sign of weakness. "Get back to the unit please" with that he turned and left the room, Molly swore she saw a faint smile appear on his face as he did. She had an overwhelming feeling of uneasiness and discomfort in his presence, he had been on the team for six weeks and she had noticed nothing unusual until now, until she had returned to work this week, maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and she was overreacting?...she was tired...but something in her gut told her that something wasn't right with him...With all this.
The remainder of the shift went without incident, as she got ready to leave she couldn't find her mobile, she wandered out onto the unit and looked around the various places she thought she might have left it, asked a couple of the team, no joy. She did one last check around her office and eventually had to give up, she called Charles from the desk phone it went to answerphone "Hi listen I can't find my mobile again, I'm leaving now and should be home by 7, love you"
She was just locking her office, she turned around and he was there.."Nurse Taylor said you had lost your phone, is this it?" Molly looked down at the phone in his hand "yes... thanks...where did you find it?" He looked over to the Nurses station "it was over by the trauma call tannoy" He handed the phone to her "thanks...goodnight" she walked away from him, he called out "goodnight Dr James" after her.
As she got into the lift she thought ...that was one of the first places she had checked.