‘Whoever invented keeping in touch days has a hell of a lot to answer for.’ Zahir smiled despite his words. Aidan was currently on paternity leave, after the arrival of his baby daughter, Ellis. He and his husband, Jase, had finally been able to fulfil their dream of becoming parents with the help of a surrogate. He was taking six months’ leave, and Jase would be doing the same once Aidan returned to work. Now that he was in the second half of his leave, Aidan was doing weekly keeping in touch days and Eden always looked forward to him being on shift.
‘I think if you bought some end-of-shift doughnuts fromAmericanawe might be able to remember some of those redeeming qualities, don’t you?’ Eden raised her eyebrows, enjoying the fact that she was starting to feel relaxed enough with her colleagues to join in with the jokes. It had been a long time since she’d felt this settled, and when the only reason she had for looking over her shoulder was hospital inspectors, rather than an obsessive boyfriend.
‘At this rate you’ll be getting some of those broken biscuits I reckon they scrape off the factory floor to sell in those multipacks.’ Zahir attempted a stern look, but didn’t quite pull it off.
‘To make it up to you, I’ll take a look at Ali when it’s his turn for treatment.’ Eden didn’t miss the look of surprise that crossed Zahir’s face. Treating Ali was definitely seen as drawing the short straw, and she’d heard some of her colleagues conspiring to assign the task to agency nurses more than once. Despite knowing the examination would be far from pleasant, she never minded seeing Ali. He needed help and that’s what she’d gone into nursing for. No one had promised her it would all be sticking plasters and lollipops for cute kids, and it definitely wasn’t. But there were lots of people like Ali who needed rescuing, often from themselves, and Eden had always been drawn to the people who needed rescuing. It was in her blood.
‘Are you sure? I’m pretty certain you’ve been the one to deal with Ali the last three times he’s been in.’ Meg wrinkled her nose. ‘I’ve only been in the cubicle once when he took his shoes off and it’s not an experience I’m keen to repeat.’
‘I wouldn’t mind if he didn’t keep getting infections on purpose, just to try and get more medication.’ Zahir shook his head.
‘I think you have to be pretty desperate to do that though, don’t you? So I never think of him as a time-waster, just someone with a mental health condition who doesn’t seem able to get the help he needs.’ Eden had been called a soft touch more times than she could remember, but she always tried to see the reasons behind a difficult patient’s behaviour. Although she had to be careful sometimes to balance that tendency with following hospital procedures. If there was such a thing as trying too hard to fix a patient’s problems, she’d paid the price for that on a personal basis, but she didn’t want to become one of those jaded nurses, the type she’d worked with in the past, who saw every patient as an inconvenience. She’d rather do too much than too little.
‘I agree with you, and he’s so young to have got himself into such a state. It’s really sad.’ Aidan sighed. ‘I knew the first shift I worked with you that you’d be an asset to the department, Eden, and as usual I was right. And I’m not even saying that because you’re willing to deal with Ali’s toxic toes.’
‘I’m not sure that’s an official medical term, is it?’ Meg laughed, knowing full well it wasn’t.
‘I don’t think there’s a medical term that would do them justice.’ Aidan grimaced. ‘But whatever we call them, Eden will deserve more than a doughnut at the end of the shift. How about we all go for a drink after work?’
‘Sounds good to me.’ Zahir clearly didn’t need much persuading.
‘Yeah, maybe. I just um… I’ll let you know nearer the end of the shift if that’s okay.’ Meg looked as if she was desperately trying to think of an excuse, but wasn’t able to come up with one in time. Eden knew that feeling only too well and she could tell that Aidan was about to put her on the spot.
‘What about you, Eden? Seeing as the drink is in honour of you being so selfless.’
‘I can’t think of any reason why not.’ She gave him a half-hearted smile, and what she’d said was completely true. She couldn’t think of any excuse that wouldn’t reveal far more about her personal life than she wanted her colleagues to know. They already knew she had a little boy, but they didn’t know why she was still fearful of leaving her mother in charge of Teddie when her father wasn’t around too, despite her mother having been sober for years now. Tonight was her father’s metal detecting club meeting, and he’d be heading out an hour before she got home. Even those sixty minutes worried her, but she knew it would break her mother’s heart if she realised just how much panic that induced for Eden. She could justify the tiny risk that arose from leaving her mother in charge for that long while she was working, but she couldn’t justify leaving her alone with Teddie for any longer, just so that she could go out for a drink, especially when it had been alcohol that had almost ripped their family apart forever. She had the rest of the shift to come up with a reason, but for now she’d just have to go along with the idea.
‘Brilliant, it’s about time you and Meg came on an A&E night out. The only time I’ve seen you outside of work was at Wendy and Gary’s wedding, and I desperately need an evening out that doesn’t involve me and Jase talking about the colour and frequency of our daughter’s bowel movements!’ Aidan winked. ‘Hopefully Eve will be able to make it too. That’s got to be the best reintroduction to work that I can think of. I’ll put a message on the WhatsApp group and see who else fancies it.’
‘Great.’ Eden’s smile was more genuine this time and she really hoped Aidan would get to enjoy the night out he deserved, even if she wasn’t a part of it. ‘Right, my shift is officially starting in five minutes and I better get on with seeing some patients, or the inspectors are going to have a field day.’
She was more than ready to lose herself in the working day ahead. Whatever it threw at her, she knew it would be a respite from the worries of her own life and she couldn’t wait to start.
* * *
All of the patients who came into A&E were triaged by a member of staff, according to how urgent their conditions were deemed to be. As a result, Ali ended up being the fourth patient Eden saw.
‘I’m so glad it’s you.’ When Ali smiled, it took about twenty years off him. Most of the time he looked as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but his whole face transformed when he smiled, and the ravages of his lifestyle almost disappeared. He was thirty-two, but looked two decades older. He’d had a problem with drugs and alcohol since his early teens and had told Eden about his experiences of bouncing from foster family to foster family, before ending up in a residential home. Both of his parents had been addicts and it broke Eden’s heart that his future seemed to have been pre-determined almost from day one. Not least because that could have been her fate too, if her father hadn’t made sure he met the basic needs of his children, when Eden had been almost certain they were going to lose her mother to alcohol. Her father might have buried his head in the sand about his wife’s addiction, hoping it would somehow magically go away, but at least he’d been there, solid and reliable, even if he was in denial about just how troubled Eden’s mother was. Ali hadn’t had the same privilege. He’d had no one but himself to rely on, and it was no surprise he’d repeated the behaviour he’d witnessed every day growing up. His life felt like a reflection of the one Eden could have had and, whenever she was confronted by something like that, it brought out a desperate desire in her to save the person whose life could so easily have been hers.
‘It’s always lovely to see you too.’ She smiled at Ali and he gave her a quizzical look in return.
‘I think you might be the only person who ever says that to me. Especially in this place.’
‘I’m sorry, Ali.’ Eden laid a hand on his arm. His clothes were clearly in need of a wash and he smelled of damp, like an empty room in a long-abandoned house and she had a horrible feeling he was every bit as lonely. ‘Where are you staying now?’
‘I’m sofa-surfing.’ She’d have known he was lying, even without the shifty look in his eyes.
‘Are you sleeping rough?’ Eden’s chest ached at the thought. Ali didn’t deserve this, no one did.
‘There’s an old caravan on one of the farms out towards Port Tremellien. It must have been for seasonal farm workers, but there’s a row of mobile homes for them now and the caravan seems to have been left to rot away. It’s mostly dry, and it’s warmer than it would be if I was sleeping outside. I just have to be really careful not to be seen, so I can’t come and go unless it’s dark.’ Ali made it sound like a minor inconvenience, and Eden’s heart broke a little bit more, because he probably saw it that way, too. He was grateful to have the use of a grotty caravan that sounded as though it was falling apart, but even then he couldn’t call it home. He wasn’t doing anybody any harm, or using a resource anyone else wanted, but he’d be thrown out if he was discovered, she knew that as well as he did.
‘I wish you’d let me put you in touch with someone who might be able to find you a more permanent solution.’ Eden knew of a local homelessness charity, called Domusamare, which her mother, Karen, had recently started fund raising for, but Ali was already shaking his head.
‘I can’t be hemmed in like that, in a hostel. It reminds me too much of the residential home.’ He shuddered at the memory. ‘I’d rather take my chances and have my freedom. I’m doing okay.’
‘But you’re not, are you?’ Eden’s tone was gentle. ‘Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.’
‘It’s just my foot.’ Ali shrugged, but the shifty expression was back. ‘The wound seems to have flared up again.’
