Must be nearly ten minutes now—that’s why I was calling for help.’
‘What’s his history?’
‘He’s a few weeks post an autologous bone-marrow transplant.’
‘For what reason?’ Alex held Danny’s bald head as the boy’s muscles continued to twitch and jerk.
‘Intensive chemo post-surgery. They saved his bone marrow to put back afterwards.’
‘What was the surgery for?’
‘A neuroblastoma.’
‘Any secondaries?’
‘No. Or not that they know about. He had a really good result from the last round of tests.’
‘History of seizures?’
‘No.’
‘He’s very hot.’ Alex’s hands were gently cradling Danny’s head, making sure he wasn’t going to injure himself on the rough surface of the track.
‘I noticed he was looking flushed,’ Benita said. ‘But I thought he was just running around too much in the heat. He got really excited because we were off on a frog hunt.’
‘No flu symptoms? Did he get checked with the other children this morning?’
‘Yes. His temperature was up just a point or two but he seemed fine and it was still within a normal range. He said nothing hurt but, then, it takes a lot to slow Danny down.’
‘He looks awful,’ Stella whispered to Susie in horror. ‘Is he going to die?’
Susie put her arm around the girl. ‘No,’ she said. ‘The seizure makes it hard for him to swallow, which is why he’s got all that saliva on his face. It’s also a lot harder to breathe and that’s why his lips are getting a bit blue. He’ll be OK. He’s got your dad here to look after him now.’
Alex glanced up at her words. ‘Could you intercept whoever’s coming from the clinic? Make sure they’re carrying some oxygen and diazepam? Otherwise we’d better find a way to transport Danny pretty quickly.’
Susie didn’t have to go far before she met Beth coming in their direction in a cart, a large first-aid kit on the seat beside her and Garf riding in the trailer.
‘What’s happening?’ Beth queried. ‘Has the seizure stopped?’
‘No.’ Susie did a U-turn and trotted beside the cart. ‘Do you have oxygen with you? And diazepam?’
‘Yes. Who’s with Danny at the moment?’
‘Benita. And Alex—Stella’s dad. He asked me to check what you were carrying.’
They were back at the scene now and Susie could only stand beside Stella and watch as the two doctors treated little Danny.
‘How old is he?’ Beth asked.
‘Nearly six,’ Benita told her. ‘He’s just very small for his age.’
The nurse held Danny’s small arm as still as possible as Alex slipped a cannula into a vein. Susie could see what a difficult task it had to be, but Alex made it look simple. Beth calculated his weight and drew up the required dose of sedative.
Finally, the seizure stopped. Alex picked up the still unconscious child. ‘I’ll carry him,’ he said. ‘Let’s get him back to the clinic.’
‘Has he got any relatives with him?’ Beth asked Benita.
‘No. He’s one of the unaccompanied ones. My responsibility. I should come with him, shouldn’t I? But I sent the rest of the group back to the camp and I’ll have to make sure someone’s looking after them.’
‘We can do that,’ Susie offered. ‘Can’t we, Star?’
Stella’s nod was surprisingly eager.
‘Cameron went to find Beth,’ Benita continued. ‘But he knows to go back to the younger ones. There should be five of them waiting on the steps by the dining hall.’
‘We’ll find them,’ Stella said. ‘I can take them for a walk to look for frogs.’
The reminder of just how capable she was of doing that made Susie catch Alex’s gaze. He had seated himself in the front of the cart now, with Danny in his arms and the oxygen cylinder between his legs. Beth was putting the first-aid kit into the trailer.
‘Shove over, Garf,’ she instructed. ‘Make room or you’ll have to run behind.’
Alex looked as if he did things like this all the time, Susie thought. As though it was completely normal to be cradling a sick child and caring for him no matter how unusual the circumstances. Her heart twisted with another shaft of the astonishing depth of the new emotion she was feeling for this man, and she knew her smile was wobbly.
Alex smiled back. Calm and confident but apologetic as he shifted his gaze to his daughter.
‘Sorry about this, chicken. I’d better help Beth get Danny settled and assessed, but I shouldn’t be too long. We’ll do something special together later, yes?’
‘Sure.’
It wasn’t Susie’s imagination. Stella was standing taller. Looking somehow older and far more mature. Where was that slightly sullen teen she had spoken to just an hour or so ago? The one who had been muttering about getting less attention than her father’s patients?
‘It’s OK, Dad,’ Stella added. ‘Danny needs you more than I do right now.’
Susie wasn’t the only one to notice the change. A flash of the pride Alex had shown earlier returned, and Stella was clearly soaking it up. Her smile was almost smug as she turned to Susie.
‘Let’s go,’ she said.
Susie followed, still amazed at the change she could feel. That moment of victory she had engineered for Stella had opened new doors within relationships, it seemed.
For all of them.
An hour or so later, Alex was trying to find his daughter.
The camp seemed deserted but in the dining hall he found staff setting tables in preparation for the evening meal.
‘Try the pool,’ a young woman who was arranging trays on a table suggested. ‘Or the beach. It’s so hot, I think everyone wanted to swim. Which one’s your daughter?’
‘Stella. Wears a baseball cap and she’s got crutches.’
Maybe not for much longer, though, on both counts. Her hair was growing back and the prospect of seeing his girl walking confidently—even running or dancing—without her crutches was now a real possibility in the near future.
Thanks to Susie.
‘I know
