‘So if you know that someone was thrown from a vehicle—’

‘Then you know that you’re dealing with potentially fatal injuries,’ he slotted in, nodding to the paramedics to indicate that they could load the patient into the ambulance. ‘It’s one of the reasons we always make you undress trauma patients in the A and E department. You never know what injuries may be hiding and clinical signs may be subtle, particularly in the unconscious patient.’

He directed operations as the patient was carefully lifted into the ambulance and then sprang into the vehicle, his movements swift and athletic.

‘You and Charlotte bring the car. I’ll see you back in A and E.’

She turned back to the car feeling a huge range of emotions. On the one hand she felt that she’d learned a lot but on the other she felt helpless and cross with herself, knowing that she hadn’t dealt with the situation well.

The truth was, she’d been horrified by the extent of the injuries she’d seen and too panicked to know where to begin.

Was that normal?

Had other doctors found themselves in the same situation?

Charlotte walked up to her, carrying some equipment. ‘Slick, isn’t he?’

Katy helped her lift it into the boot of the car. ‘He’s very confident.’

‘Well, that’s because he knows what he’s doing.’ Charlotte slammed the boot shut. ‘He’s ferociously intelligent and he never loses his cool.’

Except with her.

Katy walked round the car and slid into the passenger seat, relieved to get out of the rain.

What would happen now? He’d been waiting for signs that she couldn’t cope with trauma work and unfortunately she’d now given him all the ammunition he needed. The way he’d looked at her had left her in absolutely no doubt that he’d noticed her horrified reaction. Hardly an impressive response for a doctor who was beginning a career in accident and emergency medicine, she thought, frustrated beyond belief by what she perceived as her own weakness.

Her first experience of on-scene trauma and she’d panicked and behaved like a frightened rabbit.

He had every right to be impatient with her.

As she and Charlotte drove back towards the hospital, she pondered on the outcome of the inevitable encounter. He’d said that if she couldn’t prove herself then she’d be out.

So what would happen now?

CHAPTER FIVE

JAGO heard the tap on the door of his office and looked up from his computer with a frown.

He’d had a long and trying day and technically he was now off duty so he hadn’t been expecting visitors.

Katy stood in the doorway, her blue eyes wary as she watched him from the doorway.

She looked tired and incredibly nervous.

He sat back in his chair, his eyes suddenly watchful, his senses on full alert. Why was she nervous? She was looking at him the way a baby impala looked at a hungry lion at lunchtime.

She closed the door behind her and cleared her throat. ‘I didn’t mean to disturb you.’ Faint streaks of colour touched her cheekbones and for a disturbing moment he had an all too clear recollection of the way she’d looked after he’d finally made love to her the first time.