she stopped abruptly and immediately put her hand on her lower ribs.
Callum stilled. ‘Something wrong?’ He had this growing premonition that the baby was in danger. It was irrational, unfounded and absurd, but it bothered him that she was still working.
She laughed. ‘No, just Oscar’s foot doing some break dancing.’ She turned back to their patient. ‘Mr Renaldo, I have good news. Callum can operate on you here in Narranbool. Esther will get you ready for Theatre and I’ll organise all the paperwork.’
‘Whatever you have to do, Doc.’ Vince’s voice trembled with anxiety. ‘Can you tell my sister?’
‘Absolutely.’ Tess squeezed Vince’s hand.
Relief rolled through Callum. Tess would deal with the hysterical relatives, which suited him just fine.
‘Right, let’s get moving.’ Completely in his element, he took charge. Grabbing the chart, he scrawled down a drug dose. ‘Esther, take blood for cross-matching.’
‘Right you are, Mr Halroyd.’ Esther’s face shone with sympathy. ‘Your brother was a great doctor and Narranbool is very fortunate to have you on board now James has gone.’
No way am I ‘on board’. The words rose to his mouth but he stopped them from tripping off his lips. Now wasn’t the time to say that country life and country medicine were an anathema to him. They had a sick patient who needed his bleeding ulcer clipped.
Giving Esther a curt nod of appreciation, he turned to Tess, whose expression was unexpectedly calculating. But he didn’t have time to wonder about that—the clock was ticking, and his adrenaline was pumping. He clapped his hands together. ‘Let’s get this man to Theatre now, before he bleeds any more.’
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
