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Glancing across the expanse of the department, she caught sight of Matt Calder coming in through the main door, and her first instinct was to walk in the opposite direction. She resisted the impulse. Whatever her feelings towards him, she had a job to do, and she couldn’t simply take an escape route and avoid him.
Then she saw that he wasn’t alone. He had with him the head of administration, and the two of them were chatting amicably, almost as though they were old friends.
A nurse handed her a chart outlining another patient’s progress, and she quickly checked the details on it before adding her signature and handing it back. ‘You can reduce the observations to half-hourly,’ she told the girl. ‘His condition seems to be improving at last.’
‘I’ll do that.’ The nurse hurried away, and Abby headed for the trauma room so that she could examine a child who had just been brought in.
‘May we interrupt you for a moment?’ the head of administration queried gently.
‘Of course.’ She gave him a polite smile. She had nothing against the man personally, but his department was forever coming up with new edicts to be followed or targets that had to be met, and not one of them ever made her job any easier. The only way he and his kind would ever understand the constraints she was under would be if he was to try working at the rock face, but that wasn’t likely to happen in a month of Sundays.
‘I believe you’ve already met my friend, Matt, here?’ His smile was encouraging. Clearly he expected an enthusiastic response.
‘Yes, we ran into each other earlier today.’ So they were pals, were they? Abby mused.
‘Good, good. Then you two already have a head start. Matt’s writing an article about what goes on in A and E. You know the sort of thing…the challenges you come up against in your daily work, the kind of cases you see on a regular basis. Perhaps you could help him out? I can’t think of a better person to show him around.’
Abby glanced at Matt and forced a smile. ‘I don’t know about giving you the grand tour. It will be more a case of following me around as I work and getting questions in where you can, I should imagine. I don’t have the luxury of free time, but you’re welcome to tag along.’
The head of administration looked a trifle disconcerted at that, but Matt responded well enough.
‘That would be excellent, thank you. I really don’t want to put you out in any way.’
Didn’t he? So why did she get the feeling she was being coerced into doing this? Anyway, she wasn’t going to spend too much time worrying about it, whatever either of them thought about her manner to them.
The trouble with men in authority, from her experience, was that they expected to have everything work their way, and it didn’t matter who they trod on to get to where they wanted to be.
Wasn’t that what Craig had done? Her ex-boyfriend had begged her to help him study for his exams, had picked her brains, and then he had walked all over her to get the promotion she had been after. He had taken their shared research paper, the one she had worked on intensively and had been struggling to perfect for over a year, and he had taken all the credit for it himself, using what had mostly been her work to wow the interview board with his so-called expertise.
‘I was on my way to see a patient,’ she murmured. ‘If you’ll excuse me?’
‘Of course.’ The man from Admin clapped Matt on the back and said brightly, ‘I’ll leave you in Abby’s capable hands.’ Then he strolled back the way he had come, taking a leisurely route and pausing to admire the colourful murals along the way.
‘I don’t know how much help I can be to you,’ Abby said to Matt, continuing on her way to the trauma room. ‘I would have thought you already have some experience of A and E. We all do a stint there during training, don’t we?’
‘That’s true and, to be honest, I actually specialised in it at one time. What I’m really looking for is your take on things. How you feel about your work, and which cases have an effect on you above all others.’ He paused for a moment or two, giving her a thoughtful look. ‘I noticed that you seemed sad when we walked in here a few minutes ago. Was it because of a difficult problem you had to solve?’
‘I don’t deal with cases or problems,’ she told him. ‘I treat sick children.’
She might have expected him to draw back at the snub, but he simply studied her more closely, a glimmer of compassion in his eyes. ‘And that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? That’s what makes yours such a heart-rending job.’
She winced at his perception. Why did he have to show that he understood? She didn’t like the man, neither did she want to have anything to do with him. He was the enemy, a thorn in her side.
‘If you can understand that,’ she said, ‘then it beggars belief that you should write an article on the pros and cons of vaccination. I have to deal with the fallout from that when parents read your stuff and decide that vaccination isn’t for their children. Then I have to try to save the lives of the ones who come in here with meningitis and respiratory infections that overwhelm their immune systems.’
‘Did you read the article?’
‘Bits of it.’ She grimaced. ‘Someone had left the magazine open on the table in the doctors’ lounge, and I glanced at it in passing.’
He gave a crooked smile. ‘I’m not going to win this argument when I’m up against a biased opinion like yours, am I? Perhaps you should have read the article in full before you made up your mind that I’m the devil incarnate.’
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ she said. ‘I tend not to think about you at all.’
That remark might have been a good payback for the putdown he had made on his website, but it didn’t have anything near the effect she’d wished for. He simply tilted back his head and laughed.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_905a1e58-63f4-525b-a0ef-518c21ba7fdd)
‘HOW is the article coming along?’ Abby queried, glancing at Matt as he walked up to the reception desk in A and E. He was beautifully turned out, as usual, wearing an immaculate grey suit, with a shirt that was a soft shade of blue. It matched the colour of his eyes, she noted irrelevantly. She watched him take his notepad from his briefcase.
‘I’m getting there,’ he murmured. ‘This last session should see me through to completing it. I already have a wealth of material to write up.’
‘That’s good.’ She frowned, glancing at him through narrowed eyes. Perhaps it would mean that he would soon be gone from under her feet. It was some three weeks since he had arranged to follow her progress through A and E, but at least she had managed to limit his visits to one day a week. She was still uneasy at having him shadow her every move. His presence in the unit put her on edge, though she was hard put to say why.
‘I hope you’ll be sure to let me see the finished article before it goes to print,’ she said on a warning note. Heaven forbid he should take the opportunity to aim a few more swipes at her through his website or, in this case, a Sunday newspaper magazine.
‘I will, of course.’ His mouth made a crooked slant, one that she was beginning to recognise. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and the fact that he had the ability to read her mind so easily was making her increasingly uncomfortable.
She started towards one of the treatment rooms. ‘I’m going to check up on a six-year-old who was brought in here a little earlier. His mother was brought to A and E after a violent domestic incident involving her husband, and the episode seems to have triggered the child’s asthma. He’s in a bad way.’
Matt frowned. ‘Was it simply stress that started the attack, or do you think there could be an underlying infection that’s adding to his troubles?’
‘There may well be an infection of some sort. He’s certainly very chesty. We’re doing tests to check on that, and we have him on antibiotic therapy in the meantime, but I think whatever happened at home tipped him over the edge and sent his lungs into spasm.’
They went into the room together a moment later. The little boy was propped up against pillows, and a nurse was checking the monitors and recording his vital signs on a chart.
Abby went over to him and adjusted the oxygen mask, which had become slightly dislodged. ‘Breathe in through here for me, Ryan, will you? It will help you to feel better. Here, you can hold it, if you like.’
Ryan struggled to pull in a few breaths of oxygen. He was a frail, thin little boy, with fair hair that added to his pallor. He was ashen-faced and very distressed, so that Abby was worried for him.
He gazed up at her. ‘I want my mum…’ he said in a thready voice. He turned his head and tried to look around the room, obviously searching for her, but he was very weak and the effort exhausted him. He sank back against the pillows, a teardrop trickling down his cheek.
Abby wished that she could comfort him. She wanted to reach out and hug him. ‘I’m sure she’ll be here to see you in a little while. We just need to make sure that you’re feeling better so that you’ll be able to talk to her when she comes to sit with you.’
‘My mum’s poorly,’ the boy said heavily, pulling the mask away from his mouth for an instant, and Abby held it for him so that he could still breathe in the oxygen. ‘I wanted to stay with her.’
‘I know you did,’ Abby said. ‘She was hurt, wasn’t she? But someone’s gone over to the grown-ups’ A and E to find out how she is. The nurses are looking after her right now, but as soon as she’s strong enough we’ll see if we can bring her over to you.’
His expression was solemn, as though he was thinking things through. After a moment or two, he said, his voice barely more than a whisper, ‘Daddy hit her in the tummy.’ His face started to crumple. ‘I tried to stop him. I shouted…But he pushed me out of the way…and my mum fell down.’
His breath gave way, and Abby said gently, ‘It must have been very upsetting for you to see that.’
Ryan nodded, a very slight movement of his head, and he started to chew at his bottom lip. Abby glanced up at Matt, and saw that he was frowning, his gaze intent on the boy.
‘Has this sort of thing happened before?’ he asked.
Again, Ryan nodded. Abby said, ‘I know this is hard for you, but you should try not to worry too much. It was very clever of you to ring for the ambulance, and your mother must be very proud of you. You did what you could to help her, and now, because of that, you’re both being looked after. You did very well.’
The boy didn’t look as though he was too sure of that, and Abby guessed that he would go on fretting until he actually saw his mother again. He stared wretchedly into space, and she moved away from the bedside in order to cast a glance over his chart.
Matt was still frowning, and said in an under-tone, ‘Where was the father while the boy was ringing for the ambulance, do you know?’
Abby shook her head. ‘It seems that he left the house, and no one has seen him since. The paramedics spoke to the neighbours and they said this kind of event wasn’t unusual. Apparently he likes to have everything his own way and the couple are always arguing.’
‘Has anyone checked the woman’s medical records to see if there are any other recorded instances of possible abuse?’
She nodded. ‘Yes. I had a word with someone in the department, and they were looking into it. She’s had rib fractures, apparently, and a few unexplained falls.’
Matt’s jaw flexed. ‘He needs to be stopped.’
Abby pressed her lips together. ‘You’re right, of course, but if his wife won’t take a positive stand and bring it out into the open, there’s very little that we can do to help her. She has to find the courage to make the first move.’
The nurse came to the bedside and tucked a teddy bear against the pillow, sitting him next to Ryan and folding the toy into the crook of his arm. ‘I’ve brought a friend to keep you company,’ she told him. ‘Teddy’s not very happy. I think he wants a cuddle.’
The boy was too weary to respond, but he rested his fingers over the bear’s soft belly, patting him gently, and then he breathed in through the mask, making a ragged little sigh.
Abby turned to Matt and said quietly, ‘I’m giving him a bronchodilator through the nebuliser, but it isn’t working fast enough, so I’m going to see if I can get him to swallow a dose of prednisolone. I don’t think we’re going to achieve the best results while he’s still upset, though.’
‘That’s probably true. The best thing would be to keep him as calm as possible.’
The nurse brought the medication in a plastic cup and Abby held it to the boy’s lips. He pulled a face, but she urged him to drink it, saying softly, ‘I know it doesn’t taste very nice, but it will help to make you feel better.’
When he had finished, she helped Ryan to put the mask in place once more, and then she handed the cup back to the nurse, asking quietly, ‘Is there any news about his mother?’
‘They’re still treating her in the adult A and E department for possible damage to her pancreas. Andrea is looking after her over there. She said she would let us know what’s happening.’
‘Thanks, Jane.’
The girl glanced at Ryan, and then turned back to Abby, her mouth drooping a fraction. ‘He’s obviously very distressed about what happened.’
‘That’s not surprising. He must have been very frightened, knowing that he was helpless to stop it.’
Abby was silent for a while, thinking about the boy’s anguish, and the nurse said softly, ‘You said earlier that you saw his mother when she was brought in, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, I did. I was just coming from the hospital car park when the ambulance drew up. I could see what a state the boy was in, and his poor mother looked traumatised. It would have been better if they could have stayed together, perhaps, but the staff were worried that his asthma was worsening, so after a while they sent him over here.’
‘I thought you seemed to be deeply affected by what happened to his mother. You were very quiet when you came in here first thing.’
‘Was I?’
The girl nodded. ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I’ve heard something of what happened to you a couple of years ago. You were hurt in a similar way, weren’t you? Are you sure that you’re all right? It must have brought back memories.’
‘I’m fine, thanks. It’s just that any kind of aggressive behaviour is disturbing, and I don’t like to think of either of them going back to that situation. What happened to me was just a fluke, a one-off. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so to speak.’
She sent a quick glance in the boy’s direction and was glad to see that he had closed his eyes and appeared to be resting now. It was awful to think of him living in that tense atmosphere, day after day.
She was startled to realise that the nurse had picked up on her own inner fragility, because she always prided herself on keeping any vulnerability well hidden. She couldn’t guard her reactions all the time, though, and nothing had been going the way it should lately. It seemed to her that ever since Matt had come into her life, life had been like a roller-coaster and she was struggling to keep herself from going off the rails.
As to today’s events, Abby had never suffered from domestic violence as such, but she didn’t want to dwell on exactly what it was that had governed her response to what had happened. It was something she tried to bury deep inside her, but no matter how she tried to prevent it every now and again it would bubble to the surface.
She was uncomfortably aware that Matt was looking on while they were talking. Jane kept her voice low, but he never seemed to miss anything, and she couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t overheard their conversation. She definitely didn’t want him to start asking questions.
She glanced at him, but just at that moment the door opened and Andrea came in, pushing the child’s mother in a wheelchair, which she carefully manoeuvred into position beside the boy’s bed.
Ryan’s mother was a slip of a girl, with long, straw-coloured hair that tumbled across her face, and Abby wondered if she let it stay that way so that it would hide her unhappy expression.
‘Melanie,’ Abby greeted the woman she had spoken to briefly earlier in an effort to reassure her that they were going to take good care of her son, ‘it’s good to see you again. How are you feeling?’
‘I’m not too bad.’ Her drawn features belied the words, but Abby didn’t pursue the matter, because it was clear that Mrs Stanton only had eyes for her little boy. ‘How is he?’ she asked in a low, anxious tone, gazing at the boy as he lay there unmoving, his eyes closed. She dragged her glance back to Abby.
‘He’s still very poorly, but his breathing seems to be improving,’ Abby said. ‘I think the new medication must be taking effect.’ She glanced at the nurse beside Melanie. ‘Thanks for bringing her to us, Andrea.’
‘You’re welcome.’ The nurse smiled and took a quick, compassionate look at the boy before she gave her attention to the woman once more. ‘You take care, Melanie,’ she said. ‘Remember, you don’t have to put up with the situation at home. You can take control of your life, and you can make sure that Ryan doesn’t have to go through any of that upset ever again. There are people who will help you.’
‘I don’t know about that…’ Melanie’s lips were quivering and she clamped them together to keep them still. ‘But thank you, anyway.’
The nurse left the room, and Matt moved to stand alongside the wheelchair. ‘Hello, Melanie,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m Dr Calder. I was sorry to hear about what happened to you. It must have been very upsetting.’
‘Yes, it was.’ She studied him, her gaze bleak, her expression full of defeat, but something flickered briefly in her eyes. ‘I know you, don’t I? Aren’t you the doctor from the television?’ The fact that she recognised him didn’t seem to do anything to lift her spirits, and her tone stayed flat.
‘That’s right, I am.’ Matt was very gentle with her, bending down beside the wheelchair and coaxing her to talk to him. ‘What did the doctors say to you in A and E? I can see that you have a drainage tube in place, so they’ve obviously been looking after you.’
He was very perceptive, Abby thought. The tube was mostly covered by the folds of a blanket, so that it was barely discernible, and the receptacle was strapped to the wheelchair for safety.
‘Have they managed to sort out all your problems?’ he asked. ‘Well, the medical ones, at least.’
‘I think so. The doctor said he thought my pancreas was damaged slightly and that there was a build-up of blood in my abdomen. They’ve put a tube in to drain it, and they say it should heal well enough, as long as I rest up for a couple of weeks.’
‘Are you going to be able to do that?’
The woman lowered her head and her voice faded into the covering blanket. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Do you have any family who can help you through the next month or so?’
Melanie shook her head.
Matt studied her thoughtfully. ‘It’s important that you realise you have alternatives. You don’t have to stay at home and put up with bad treatment, you know.’
Melanie winced. ‘I’ve nowhere to go, and if I was to try to leave, my husband would come after me.’ Her voice wavered. ‘Anyway, I’m more worried about Ryan. He looked so ill. He was so upset and frightened.’
‘He’ll go on feeling that way unless you do something to change the situation. I know it’s hard, but you don’t have to do it on your own.’
The little boy opened his eyes and blinked slowly. ‘Mummy,’ he said, a smile creeping over his lips. ‘Are you better now?’
‘Very nearly,’ his mother said. Her face lit up as she looked at her small son, and her features softened. She laid a hand on his head and tenderly stroked his hair. ‘How are you feeling, sweetheart? I was so worried about you.’
‘I’m all right.’ The words came out as a whisper.
He wasn’t by any means all right, Abby thought, and neither was his mother. They were traumatised, hurting and exhausted after what they had been through.
