Page 10

CHAPTER 10

FROST

F rost stared up at the fluorescent lights as they wheeled him through the corridors of the emergency department. Every judder and jolt of the trolley he was strapped on to sent waves of agony through his leg. The only thing keeping him grounded was the hand he clutched onto. A hand attached to Hel, who was murmuring reassurance to him as they went.

“Hel, what are you doing here?” A woman’s voice exclaimed.

“Hi, Sue. This is Jake Forster. He’s got an open tib-fib fracture of his left leg.”

“It hurts like a fucking bastard,” Frost interjected hazily.

Hel hadn’t let him have any more of the green whistle, but the paramedics gave him something into the drip, which maybe helped with the pain, although not much.

He rolled his head to find a woman in green scrubs grinning back at him. “I’m sure it does, mate. My name’s Dr Sue Headly. I’m the consultant on tonight. I’m guessing you could do with some more painkillers.”

“I want all of them, please.” Frost nodded lazily. His head didn’t quite feel like it was attached to his body.

He felt Hel try to pull away from him, and he clutched onto her hand tighter.

“Frost, we need to move you onto the other bed. You’ve got to let go of my hand.” Hel leaned over him, making him meet her eyes.

“Okay.” He reluctantly let go of her hand.

“Great,” Sue said. “Let’s move him across, then I’ll take a full handover.”

“Woooo,” Frost muttered sarcastically. ‘Getting him across’ was bound to lead to more pain.

“Right. We’re going to roll him on three. One, two, three.”

Frost squeezed his eyes shut as many hands touched him before a hard board slid under him.

“Are you alright?” Frost heard Hel’s voice from close to his ear as he tried to breathe through the pain which rolling him inflicted.

“Nope,” he ground out through his teeth. He felt sweat rolling down his forehead, and debated for a moment vomiting.

“We’re moving him on three. One, two, three.” Sue, who was now Frost’s least favourite person in the hospital, declared before he was swiftly slid across onto another bed.

White hot sparks of pain pierced through him, and throwing up became a distinct possibility again.

“Are you going to puke?” Hel’s voice was close to his ear.

He kept his eyes squeezed shut. “Yup.”

“Can you get him eight milligrams of ondansetron?” Hel requested to someone, and then something rustled by his face. “I’ve got a sick bag right next to you if you need to throw up. Better out than in.”

Frost swallowed over and over, trying to keep control of the rising bile as he didn’t want to vomit on Hel.

Everything felt distant as he lay in the bed, and they spoke around him. The one thing he did know was he had hold of Hel’s hand again.

“Everyone. This is Jake Forster. He’s thirty-six. He’s got a compound fracture of his left tib and fib, which occurred while playing ice hockey. I’ve reduced it the best I could.”

“I did not enjoy that,” Frost muttered.

Hel ignored him and kept on talking, although she gave his hand a little squeeze. “Analgesia wise, he’s had penthrox and one hundred of fentanyl. He had a head strike on the ice, with no loss of consciousness and was wearing a helmet which has no damage. He’s denying any neck pain or pain elsewhere. He has no significant past medical history and no allergies.” Her voice carried easily around the silent room.

“Thanks Hel. We’ll sort out your boyfriend,” Sue spoke from somewhere off to his left.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Hel replied immediately and yanked her hand out of his grip.

Frost felt cold and was about to complain about her pulling away from him, but a bucket of ice was thrown over him when Hel said, “His girlfriend is his next of kin. Her name’s Star. I’ll try and contact her.”

He opened his eyes and saw her walking away from him.

“Oh, sorry. I assumed when you were holding hands.” Sue stepped away from his bed to talk to Hel.

“Nope. He’s just one of the players on my team,” Hel said firmly.

Frost desperately tried to make eye contact with Hel, but she was looking anywhere except at him, a flush staining her cheeks.

“Right. Well, can you go and make sure the desk has all his details, and we’ll take it from here,” Sue requested.

“Sure, no problems.” Hel nodded, but avoided his gaze.

Frost willed Hel to look at him as she walked out of the room, but she didn’t look back. He rolled his head and stared up at the ceiling, then squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of pain washed over him.

“Right, young man.” Frost opened his eyes again when Sue spoke from right next to the bed. “I’m going to get some decent drugs into you, then we’ll take a look at this leg.”

Frost said dully, “No problems.”

“Great.” Sue beamed at him as if she was about to do something pleasant, not examine the bones sticking out through his skin.

Whatever drugs they gave him had the desired effect of blunting some of his pain. He couldn’t say he enjoyed it while they removed his clothes and got him into a hospital gown, then poked and prodded him, looking for other injuries, but the pain had definitely receded to a more manageable level.

Hel arrived back right before they were going to wheel him to X-ray, so she walked with him.

“I rang Coach Morgan, and he gave me Star’s number. I gave her a ring, but she didn’t answer. I left a message for her.”

“That’s a relief. All she would do is squawk and carry on,” Frost said glumly.

He wished he had already dumped Star. She reacted so badly in a crisis, flapping and wailing. She was nothing like the woman who walked beside him, who was so calm.

“Some people struggle to see a loved one hurt,” Hel said.

He rolled his head to look at her, and her gaze was fixed straight ahead. “And some people just want all the attention to be on them, even when it’s not about them,” he muttered dryly.

This had Hel’s head swinging around and her eyebrows lifting. “You didn’t want me to call her?”

“Not really,” he mumbled. Before he sighed and said, “It’s a good thing you did. She’s my girlfriend, she needs to know.”

He watched Hel and swore she veered slightly further away from the bed when he called Star his girlfriend. Shit.

When they got to X-ray, she stopped outside the door. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

He nodded as he was wheeled into the dark room.

“Hi.” A very young and bubbly girl greeted him. “My name is Cindy. I’m your radiographer. I’m going to slide a board under your leg. I’ll try not to move it much. We’ll take one X-ray there, then we’ll take the board out and do another one from the side.”

“Okay,” Frost agreed. There wasn’t really any other answer. He wasn’t exactly going to say no.

“It’s lovely to meet Hel’s boyfriend, even if it isn’t the best circumstances. She’s great. None of us knew she was even seeing anyone.” Cindy bustled around him, chatting as she went.

“Hel isn’t my girlfriend,” he muttered.

“Oh. Sorry, I just assumed when she accompanied you and wasn’t in her scrubs. Sorry. My mistake.”

Cindy didn’t talk again except to give him instructions related to taking the X-ray.

“Great. That’s you all done. We’ll get you back around to ED.”

“Sure.” Frost winced as he was slid back onto his bed. The painkillers were wearing off, and the throbbing in his leg was increasing.

Hel didn’t say anything to him when he was wheeled out the door, only speaking when they got to his bed space in the emergency department.

“I’ll go and track down Sue and ask her to review your X-ray.”

She was striding out past the curtain when he called to her. “Please could you ask for some more painkillers?”

“Sure,” she said and left.

He lay there and stared up at the ceiling in the cubicle, listening to the sounds of a Saturday afternoon in an emergency department. There was beeping of monitors, murmuring voices, crying, and some screaming. No one seemed particularly phased by it, so this must be the normal sounds of a hospital. It was so alien to him. Screaming usually elicited running to find out what was wrong, but here, it appeared to be no big deal.

He lay alone until a nurse popped her head around the curtains. “I’ve got some painkillers for you.”

“Thanks,” Frost replied.

Another nurse followed in her wake, and together, they confirmed his details and then injected some drugs into the drip.

“We’ll be checking on you regularly, and we’ll leave the curtain open so we can keep an eye on you, okay?” The nurse said, not waiting for a reply before she was dashing off, he assumed to her next task.

It felt like an age before Hel came back, and when she did, the grim look on her face didn’t reassure him.

“Right. We’ve looked at your films. As you know, it’s a nasty break.”

“Yeah.” He could have guessed that with the whole, bones on the outside thing.

“We’ve spoken to the orthopods, and they’re organising theatre time for tonight. You’re going round to CT in a few minutes, and then they’ll take you up to theatre.”

“Right.” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her if she would stay, when Coach Morgan came into view.

“Knock, knock,” Coach said politely before he walked into the cubicle. “Hel, thanks so much for sticking around until I got here. Son, how are you feeling?”

“Not the best, Coach.”

“I can imagine. I came down as Hel told me she couldn’t contact Star, so I thought you might want some company.”

Frost did want company. He wanted Hel’s company, although he couldn’t admit that one, so instead, he said, “Thanks, Coach.”

He glanced over to see Hel moving from foot to foot, looking awkward.

“Thanks for sticking around until I got here. You should head home. You’ve gone above and beyond by staying so long.” Coach Morgan pulled up the chair next to Frost’s bed and sat down, getting himself comfortable.

Frost felt a pang in his chest. He wanted Hel in the chair. Then he pushed it away. He couldn’t think like that, not until he managed to actually break up with Star.

“That’s great, Coach. Good luck, Frost. Clara is the anaesthetist on, you met her in the pub, so you’ll be in good hands. Bye.” Hel gave him a little wave and turned abruptly to leave.

“Bye,” Frost called after her.

He watched her until she was out of sight, then turned his attention to Coach Morgan, whose shrewd gaze was fixed on him.

“We were lucky Hel stepped in at the last minute for this team.”

Frost nodded his agreement.

“We’ve had more medical issues this season than any other I can recall. We’ve been fortunate to have such a competent doctor on board.”

Frost agreed, “We are. She saved Aiden.”

“Yes, she did. She’s a fine woman,” Coach Morgan said.

Frost looked sharply at him, and the look on the older man’s face told him everything he already knew. He needed to split up with Star.