Tina replaced the phone. ‘How are you on diving-related emergencies?’

Jenny shook her head apologetically. ‘I worked in London. I’ve never seen one.’

‘Then this is your lucky day,’ the unit sister muttered, picking up the phone and dialling. ‘Alex? You know you said that you wanted to be rescued from that meeting—’ She broke off and listened for a second. ‘Yeah, they’re bringing in a diver—sounds like decompression. OK—see you in a mo.’

She replaced the receiver and hurried towards Resus, taking Jenny with her.

‘Obviously, because we’re by the coast, we get divers in here periodically. If they’re very bad we transfer them to the diving medicine unit. Alex will decide.’

Jenny stiffened slightly. All she could think about was his careless treatment of her sister. ‘What about the other doctors? Isn’t there anyone else that can deal with it?’

‘If they have to, they will, obviously.’ Tina grabbed a pack from a shelf and placed it on a trolley in readiness. ‘But this is Alex’s field really. He’s done some diving himself and he spent some time at the diving medicine unit so he knows what he’s doing.’

As she finished speaking the doors swung open and the paramedics hurried through, accompanied by Alex.

‘What’s the story?’

The paramedics moved the patient across onto the trolley. ‘This is Pete Warwick. He was on the beach this afternoon and collapsed complaining of numbness in his legs. His friends called us.’

Alex nodded and turned his attention to the patient. ‘How are you feeling now, Pete?’

The man groaned slightly. ‘Awful. Everything hurts.’ He winced slightly. ‘Mostly my shoulders and elbows.’

Alex looked at Jenny who was poised at the head of the trolley, nothing in his gaze revealing that she was anything other than another member of the emergency team. ‘Give him high-flow oxygen and let’s get a line in. I want to take some bloods.’

Jenny placed the mask over the patient’s mouth and nose and adjusted the flow of oxygen carefully.

Alex was still examining the patient. ‘Does the pain get worse if I move your arms?’

The man gasped and nodded, the pain visible in his face.

‘There’s no localised tenderness but there is some swelling and you’ve got a rash.’ Alex ran a hand over his skin. ‘When did you last dive?’

The man closed his eyes and Jenny moved the mask slightly so that he could answer. ‘Yesterday. My legs feel numb now and my back hurts.’

‘Did you do multiple dives?’

Pete hesitated and then nodded. ‘Yeah. I know you’re not supposed to but it was so great down there and I thought I’d be OK.’

Alex continued to talk to the man, questioning him about his method of computing bottom and ascent times, asking about stoppages and the conditions in the water, about the length of time between the dive and onset of symptoms.

It was all totally alien to Jenny. She’d worked in A and E for almost two years but she’d never seen a case like this one. Why did it matter whether the water had been cold or what the currents had been like? Obviously the questions carried some significance or presumably Alex wouldn’t be asking them. She was fascinated and dying to know more, but she didn’t like to question him while the patient was listening. Besides, they hadn’t established any sort of professional relationship yet. She didn’t feel comfortable asking questions.