the clinics and to garner some good publicity. She intended to promote The Hills and attract sponsorship for the Bright Hope Clinic at the same time.
‘I heard about Paulo. That was quite a success story,’ she commented, but she didn’t mention the forthcoming party—she had no intention of attending that if she could possibly avoid it.
Mila was beaming. ‘It was incredible! He is an amazing little boy with quite a spark, and to have such a great result was brilliant. You know no one expected him to survive the surgery? No one would touch him and to think he not only survived but is thriving is fantastic. Just imagine the amazing things we might be able to achieve together.’
‘The Bright Hope Clinic is Mila’s project,’ Damien explained. ‘She established it, it’s her baby, and she has another patient who needs our assistance.’
Abi was keen to hear more.
‘I was hoping you could help,’ Mila said, as Abi took a seat. ‘Damien tells me you’ve had a lot of experience with burns victims?’
‘Unfortunately, yes. In Afghanistan.’
‘We have a patient, a seven-year-old boy with third-degree burns to his arms and chest, sustained in a house fire. Dylan tried to put the fire out but was trapped and received extensive burns before the fire brigade could retrieve him.’
‘When did this happen?’
‘Four days ago. His mother was referred to us with an enquiry about skin-graft surgery. They don’t have any medical insurance but I don’t have any doctors who are skilled in this area. I am hoping that it is something you might be able to do here.’
From what Abi had been briefly told this would be exactly the type of case that Freya was keen to support and Abi was happy to help if she could. ‘I’ve had lots of experience with burns victims but they’ve been adults,’ she told Mila.
‘The principle is the same surely?’
Abi nodded. The only issue she could envisage was dependent on the size of the area that needed grafts and whether or not a seven-year-old would have enough skin for donation, but she wouldn’t know that until she’d examined the patient. ‘When can I see him?’ she asked.
Damien answered. ‘He’s being transferred by ambulance as we speak,’ he said.
Abi looked at him quizzically and he shrugged his shoulders in reply. His tailored jacket lifted and then fell again to hang perfectly from his broad shoulders. ‘I thought it might be a case you’d be interested in taking on,’ he explained. ‘It’s not cosmetic surgery. As such, it’s more along your lines, and I was pretty sure you’d agree to Mila’s proposal.’ He smiled at her and she knew that he wouldn’t have much trouble getting her to agree to a good number of things.
But he was right. She’d enjoyed being in Theatre yesterday but this type of case, as opposed to cosmetic surgery, was exactly what she would prefer to be doing. A successful outcome would not only be a huge thing for the patient but it would cement her place at The Hills. It would be a challenge but one she was ready for. But she wasn’t going to commit that easily and certainly not just because he’d smiled at her.
‘I need to assess him first. I need to see whether there is anything I can do before I agree to take him on.’
‘Of course,’ Mila said as she stood. ‘A consultation is all I’m asking for at this stage. Shall we go and meet the ambulance?’
Abi and Mila left Damien’s office together, leaving him behind. That was a good thing. She needed to focus, to concentrate on this new case and if Damien had chosen to come with them she knew he would only distract her. But she would swear she could feel his dark-eyed gaze following her out of the room, although she knew she was being completely fanciful. Why would he follow her movements when he could watch Mila instead? Mila was far more glamorous.
‘Thank you for agreeing to see Dylan,’ Mila said as they stepped into the main corridor and headed for the ambulance bay. ‘My clinic is important to me. I want to be able to provide medical care for people who can’t afford it but it’s an expensive exercise and there will always be some things we just can’t do, but with Freya’s help and with the support of The Hills we will be able to achieve more.’
Mila might come from a wealthier background than her but Abi sensed that despite that difference they had one thing in common—wanting the best for their patients. It was a common thread among those in the medical profession—patients came first—and Abi had seen it already at The Hills.
As they headed for the ambulance bay Abi could see James Rothsberg—head of The Hills and also Freya’s brother and Abi’s new boss—walking towards them. Abi felt Mila tense at her side as he approached them and Mila’s pace slowed, not enough to stop her movement altogether but Abi got the sense that if the corridor hadn’t been long and straight but had presented Mila with an alternate route to take, she would have taken it. She got the feeling that Mila was looking for an escape.
Abi saw James’s eyes widen in surprise as they approached him and he stopped short a few steps before he reached them.
‘Mila! What are you doing here?’ He looked uncomfortable and appeared to be unsure how to greet her. He didn’t seem to notice Abi at all. He certainly didn’t acknowledge her, having eyes for Mila only.
‘I needed to discuss a patient,’ she said, as Abi tried to blend into the background. ‘I have another patient that I’m hoping can use your services.’
‘Already?’
Abi could hear the note of surprise in James’s voice, or was it cynicism?
Mila obviously heard it too as her reply was frosty. ‘I wasn’t aware there was a time limit. Freya assured me you were okay with the collaboration.’
‘Of course.’
He didn’t sound okay. Abi could sense the tension between them. It was almost palpable and Abi could visualise the sparks snapping backwards and forwards between them. She wondered if she should give them some privacy but she was expecting the ambulance to arrive at any moment with Dylan, and she wanted Mila with her when they greeted their young patient.
In her peripheral vision she saw an ambulance pulling to a stop. James saw it too.
‘Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it,’ he said as he stepped away. ‘It was good to see you,’ he added, but Abi wasn’t at all sure that he meant it.
Mila also seemed a bit unsettled and looked a little lost when James walked away. She was no longer quite so unflustered and serene. Abi wondered what the story was—she was positive there was one.
Mila was still watching as James walked away. The rear doors of the ambulance were being opened and Abi started to move towards the exit. Her movement drew Mila’s attention back to the matter at hand and Abi forgot all about Damien and the Bright Hope Clinic and the tension between Mila and James as she focused on her young patient.
* * *
‘How did Dylan’s skin grafts go?’ Damien asked as he stuck his head into Abi’s office.
Abi had performed the surgery the previous day but this was the first chance Damien had had to follow up the case with her. She swivelled her chair around to face
