Under Pressure
Adam is relieved and grateful to Tracy for saving his life. They share a moment of happiness before getting back to work.
Adam is struggling to sleep after his ordeal at the hands of the killer. He stays up through the night, even knitting at one point, in an effort to ease his mind. When Harry shows up in the morning, Adam promises that he’ll be back soon but at work, he’s overly cautious on every single patient.
Lockhart and his assistant Julian want to send the patient home, but Adam decides to let her stay the night as a compromise. ..
Mrs Winnicka is a regular patient on the ward. There’s some pretty funny banter between her and Adam when he heads in to see her. While this is going on, Shruti comes under fire from the other nurses who question what she’s doing. She covers for Adam but it’s clear she’s under a lot of stress too. ..
Adam ends up going out to dinner with Greg and his partner. Despite them not wanting to find out the sex of their baby, Adam slips up and reveals that “she’s beautiful”. Oof. ..
Adam admits later on to Harry that he’s jealous of them and intentionally ruined their night. He also refuses to talk to Harry about how he feels and what’s going on too, causing a rift between them.
The next day, Adam is berated by Lockhart’s crony, Julian, for following directions. He’s sent home and stresses the importance of following instructions.
Adam is stressed and eventually heads outside the hospital for some air… and a cigarette. Whilst there, Adam manages to spot a patient in a lot of discomfort and makes the right call bringing her into the theatre. Does it make up for a whole bunch of incidents and bad calls all day? Well, that’s for Mr Lockhart to decide.
Adam is brought into Lockhart’s office after all this, where he has a massive wall full of baby pictures behind him. Unfortunately, Lockhart has bad news. Erika – the patient with the 25 week C-section – has decided to lodge a complaint.
At home, Harry tries to encourage Adam to open up and tell him what’s going on …but instead he asks Harry to marry him. “No?” He replies in confusion.
The Episode Review
Adam is haunted by what happened in the previous episode, and there is a nice ebb and flow to this show that balances out how hard and stressful doing this job is with some genuinely well worked laughs. ..
The personal and professional life balance for those who work on the ward is really nicely showcased and there’s a definite appreciation for how hard our nurses and doctors actually work. In that respect, this chapter is far more serious than the opener.
Adam’s job is becoming increasingly stressful, and it’ll be interesting to see where the tipping point is for him and what helps him to open up. Adam needs a supportive system in order to open up and feel comfortable talking about his experiences.
The focus on Adam throughout the novel is causing stress for Shruti, who is trying to balance her studies and experience with her role as a protagonist. Seeing more of Shruti’s struggles makes the central focus on Adam feel less important, making the book more enjoyable to read.
The balance of the show is on a knife-edge as the next few episodes air.
