Page 4 of Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital

Keeping her voice at the same even tone she’d fought to use all the way through, Danni gently touched her patient’s arm. ‘I need to go and speak to one of the fire officers, but I’ll be right back.’

‘Don’t leave me!’ The older woman suddenly made a grab for Danni’s hand and when she couldn’t find it, ripped the oxygen mask off her face.

‘You need to keep the mask on, but I’ll be right back. I promise.’ Danni put the mask back over Connie’s face and squeezed her hand briefly. ‘I need to make sure we can get you out quickly, so we can get you to the hospital.’

‘Am I going to die?’ Connie widened her eyes, her chest rising and falling as she breathed in the oxygen so deeply that the skin on her neck seemed to pucker.

‘Not if I can help it.’ Danni had promised herself during her training that she’d never knowingly lie to a patient who asked her a direct question, but over time she’d realised that the truth wasn’t the only option in situations like this. She had no way of knowing if Connie was going to make it, but it was clear she was in a bad way.

‘I need you to take the letter, please. I can’t go without telling Richard.’ Connie was grabbing at her own clothing this time, trying desperately to get something out of her jacket. ‘It’s in my pocket, please.’

‘You can give it to Richard yourself.’ Another thing Danni had learnt over the years was how important it was for patients to have hope. If she let Connie believe for one minute that she wasn’t going to make it, then the chances of her dying would probably treble.

‘He needs to know I love him, that I never stopped.’ Connie’s voice was muffled by the mask, but nothing could disguise the pleading in her eyes. ‘I should have told him thirty-eight years ago, please. I can’t stand the thought of dying without Richard knowing the truth. I don’t care about anything else. Just promise me, please.’

Danni had no idea why Connie had held on to her secret for so long, and the older woman could never have guessed how easy it was for Danni to identify with what she was saying, but she could feel Connie’s desperation as if it was her own. The thought that anything could happen, and that she could die, without Lucas ever knowing the truth, hit her hard.

‘I promise.’ Her hand was shaking as she reached out to pull the crumpled letter from Connie’s jacket pocket. Four words were written on the front in loopy handwriting.

Richard Bruce, Trengothern Hall

‘He needs to know… please.’ Connie repeated her plea as a single tear rolled down her cheek and Danni stuffed the letter inside her uniform. She might have made a vow never to tell Lucas how she really felt, but she’d keep her promise to Connie if she had to. She just hoped with all her heart it wouldn’t come to that.

4

If there was anyone still querying whether the Three Ports area needed its own hospital, the scene in A&E when the emergency teams began bringing in the casualties from the bus crash would surely have been enough to convince even the most diehard of doubters. The most seriously injured passengers had begun to arrive first, after being stabilised on scene. There was a ‘golden hour’ to start treatment at the hospital to give them the best chance of survival, with the larger group of less seriously injured patients being transported as soon as other crews became available. It was like something out of a TV drama.

Connie was the last of the critical patients to be transferred and, by the time she and Danni arrived at A&E, some of the others had already been taken to other specialist centres. Connie’s condition was amongst the most serious being treated at St Piran’s and Danni felt as if the letter was burning a hole in her pocket. Connie had been in and out of consciousness since handing her the letter, and she’d only stopped fighting the oxygen mask being put over her face when she was certain that Danni had agreed to deliver it. Whatever the contents, it clearly meant the world to Connie and Danni would do everything she could to make sure her patient got to pass on the message herself.

‘This is Connie. She needs a CT scan, she’s in hypovolemic shock as a result of blood loss from a puncture wound and I suspect there’s an injury to the pelvis or hip causing internal bleeding.’ Danni’s voice as she filled in the team in A&E sounded matter of fact, even to her own ears, all those years of training enabling her to flick an invisible switch that allowed her to stay professional, regardless of the emotions racing through her head. Despite being a new hospital, in the middle of a very challenging incident, the team seemed to be rising to the occasion and there was a flurry of activity as they took over Connie’s care, while Danni continued to fill them in on the checks and treatments she’d had so far. Even as more pain medication and fluids were administered, Danni still couldn’t walk away. She needed to know Connie was going to be okay.

‘We’ll get her down next.’ Aidan put a hand on Danni’s shoulder ten minutes after she’d brought Connie in. ‘Are you okay? You look shattered. The paramedics said it was awful on scene.’

‘The bus was packed, and with that many people on it, it could have been even worse than it was, but it was pretty bad.’ The sound of a teenage boy screaming as the bus seat in front of him was cut away and the extent of his injuries was revealed was one Danni didn’t think she’d ever forget. His foot had been completely degloved by the impact of the crash and from the updates the paramedics had got on the way in, it sounded like he was already undergoing the surgery that was the only chance of saving his foot. All non-emergency surgery had been cancelled as soon as the major incident had been announced, but Danni still didn’t know if Connie might need to be transferred elsewhere. There were only four operating theatres at the hospital and a small surgical team, who had suddenly seen an influx of patients that even much bigger hospitals would struggle to cope with.

‘If you need a break, take one. You’ll be no good to man nor beast if you run yourself off your feet.’ Aidan had a beautiful lilting Irish accent and just listening to his voice was usually enough to ease some of the tension on a long shift, but not today.

‘I’m fine, but thank you.’ Danni gave him the briefest of smiles, before leaning closer to Connie. ‘You’ll be going down to have a CT scan soon, so they can take a look and see what’s causing your pain and decide the best way of removing the metal from your leg. Then we can get you all sorted and back on your feet.’

‘Will you be here when I get back?’ Connie’s voice was hoarse and she was still deathly pale, but there was a fire in her eyes when she looked at Danni.

‘I’m not leaving until I know what’s happening with your treatment. Are you sure there’s no one we can call for you?’ She’d already asked the question twice and Connie had been insistent there was no one. She had a niece, Darcy, but she was due to have her first baby soon and Connie didn’t want her worrying. The rest of her family – her mother and only sister – were long gone. The only phone call Connie had agreed to anyone making, when Danni had first asked, was if the worst came to the worst.

‘You can call Darcy if I don’t make it. Her number’s in my phone and tell her there’s a letter for her too, inside the treasure chest. It explains everything.’ Connie had closed her eyes after that, until they’d reached the hospital, as if she was trying to cut off any further questions. But this time, Connie was looking straight at Danni.

‘Darcy doesn’t need to know anything unless I die. She won’t be on her own now she’s got Jimmy, but she might have more questions once their baby arrives and I’m the only one who can answer them. Tell her it’s all in the letter and that I’m sorry I lied for so long. I’m sorry I lied at all. The only people who ever knew the truth were me, my sister and her husband, and we all thought it was better that way. They’re gone now and I thought the secret should die with me, but keeping it means I’m still lying to Darcy.’ Connie let out a long shuddering sigh. ‘That’s the problem with lies: they multiply until you can hardly even remember what the truth is any more. If I die, I need Darcy and Richard to know what really happened and you’re the only person I can trust.’

Part of Danni wanted to ask why Connie was so convinced she could trust a total stranger with what sounded like a decades-old secret, but maybe when you were keeping a deep, dark secret of your own, it gave you the power to see it when someone else was doing it too. Either way, she didn’t want Connie to worry about anything other than getting better. ‘You can trust me, but I need you to believe me when I tell you that you can get through whatever injuries you’ve got and tell Richard and Darcy for yourself.’

‘But if I don’t, you’ll—’

Danni cut her off. ‘If you can’t tell them yourself, I’ll make sure they know about the letters.’

‘Thank you.’ Connie reached out for her hand and Danni squeezed it.

‘Let’s get you down for this scan, then.’ Aidan smiled at Connie, before turning towards Danni, raising his eyebrows and mouthing a silent question.‘What was all that about?’

But she just shrugged and shook her head. Even if she discovered Connie’s secret, she wouldn’t share it with anyone other than Richard and Darcy. She was good at keeping things hidden, and she knew only too well the potential for damage if a secret found its way into the wrong hands.

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