Here are a few ways to continue the sentence, depending on the intended meaning:

1. **"The doctor phoned the nurse because he was late, wanting to let her know that the patient's appointment would need to be rescheduled."**

2. **"The doctor phoned the nurse because he was late, asking her to start the morning rounds without him."**

3. **"The doctor phoned the nurse because he was late, stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital."**

> **Note:** The pronoun **"he"** in the original sentence is ambiguous — it could refer to either **the doctor** or **the nurse**. The continuations above assume it refers to **the doctor**, but it could just as easily be the nurse who was late, which would change the context of the story.
