this your chair, Dad?’
‘Yes. Want to try it out?’ He was watching Beth as Jack climbed into the chair, his expression dispassionate.
‘I found Jack wandering on his own, outside Hearing Therapy. He told me that his day-care lady was knocked over by a car and that he’d been brought here with her in the ambulance.’
‘What?’ Matt spun round towards his son. ‘Are you all right, Jack?’
Jack was ignoring him in favour of the contents of his desk.
‘He wasn’t hit by the car, but he fell over when his carer pushed him out of the way and there’s a graze on his hand.’ Beth kept her voice even, reassuring. ‘He hasn’t complained of any pain and doesn’t seem dizzy or disorientated.’
The shock in his eyes had subsided and Matt was nodding to her as if he were taking a patient’s history from a colleague. ‘Thank you. Will you stay a moment, while I take a look at him?’ He didn’t wait for an answer and Beth supposed it was an instruction rather than an invitation.
He dropped on one knee in front of the boy, swivelling the chair around to face him. Without being asked, Jack pulled Beth’s penlight out of his pocket and proffered it to his father. ‘Are you going to shine a light at me?’
Matt took the penlight and flipped it on. ‘You want me to shine it anywhere in particular?’
Jack leaned forward, jabbing his finger towards his father’s eye. ‘When you shine a light into someone’s eye, the middle bit gets smaller. Con-con ….’
‘Constricts.’ Beth supplied the word quickly and Matt turned towards her, the tenderness that was spilling from his face catching her unawares, making her wish she’d kept quiet.
Matt shot her a grin and returned to his son. ‘Do you know what makes them get bigger again? That’s called dilating.’
‘When you’re in the dark. Beth showed me. Her eyes do it, too.’
Matt laughed quietly. ‘I imagine they do.’ He shaded Jack’s face from the overhead lights with his hand, checking his pupils quickly with the penlight. ‘That looks good. Shall I ask you some questions as well?’
Jack thought for a moment. ‘I didn’t hit my head when I fell over. And nothing hurts. I told Beth that already.’
‘Well, that’s good to know. Anything else?’ As he was speaking he was easing the boy out of his coat, checking him for any signs of injury as he went, his manner so casual that Jack hardly seemed to notice.
‘I have a minor abrasion on my hand.’ He held out his grazed palm for his father to see.
‘Do you now? Well, I’m glad you remembered that.’ He shone the light from the pen torch onto Jack’s hand and studied it closely. ‘Well, I think you’ll live, mate. We’ll put some antiseptic cream on it, just to make sure it heals nicely.’ He flipped the penlight quickly towards his son and Jack caught it adroitly. There was nothing wrong with the boy’s reactions.
Matt seemed satisfied, but Jack grabbed at his arm. ‘You haven’t done the thing with your fingers yet, Dad.’ Matt shot her a questioning look and Beth avoided his gaze.
‘Look, like this.’ Jack tipped his father’s face back towards him, laying one hand under his chin and carefully moving the other back and forth. He nodded slightly, in an almost flawless impression of what Beth had done, then suddenly made a face, hooting with laughter.
Embarrassment crawled across the back of her neck. Okay, so crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue had made Jack laugh, but she wasn’t so sure that his father would consider it particularly professional.
A deep chuckle shook his frame. ‘All right. That does it.’ He had his back turned to Beth, but from Jack’s reaction it was apparent that Matt had risen to the challenge and was indulging in a face-pulling contest. Jack grimaced horribly and Matt rose. ‘You win. No one with a face like that can have a great deal wrong with them.’ He turned to Beth. ‘Thank you. Do you know what’s happening with his carer, Mrs Green?’
He spoke quietly, without exaggerating the movements of his mouth, and faced her. When most people heard her speak and divined from her accent that she was deaf, they looked away and shouted, neither of which helped in the slightest.
‘I can hear you.’ She’d rather say it upfront than leave people to wonder. He nodded but still his eyes never left her face. ‘I called Phyllis to find out where you were and she’s trying to locate Mrs Green. She’ll call as soon as she knows.’
‘Thanks. I really appreciate your kindness.’ He perched himself on the edge of his desk, leaving Jack to play with the penlight. ‘So you found him outside the hearing therapy unit? Is that where everyone who gets lost looking for Cardiology eventually ends up?’
So he did remember her. Beth couldn’t suppress the smile that sprang to her lips. ‘Pretty much. Parallel universes will do that kind of thing.’
His face broke into a wide grin. ‘That they will.’ The gleam in his eyes extinguished suddenly. ‘And he was all on his own?’
‘He must have given the staff the slip when the ambulance crew handed over to Casualty. He was looking for you.’
Matt let out a growl of exasperation. ‘Jack, how many times have I told you—?’
Beth’s phone came to Jack’s rescue, vibrating suddenly in her pocket. ‘This must be Phyllis.’ She glanced at the caller display. ‘Here. You’d better speak to her.’ Phyllis had a knack of being able to speak in whole paragraphs before she needed to draw breath and Matt was more likely to be able to keep up with her on the phone.
He took the handset with a grin and pressed it against his ear. Barely getting a ‘hello’ in, he nodded and then a thumbs up in Beth’s direction told her that Mrs Green was not too badly hurt.
‘That’s great, Phyllis, thanks. I’ll take him up there to see her … Can you call—? Great … thanks.’ He snapped the phone shut and handed it back to Beth and then his attention was all for Jack, who had been fidgeting miserably in his seat. ‘Rough day, eh, mate?’
Jack nodded, sliding down from the chair towards Matt, who lifted him effortlessly into his arms. ‘Is Mrs Green really going be all right?’ Jack’s hands were clasped tightly around his father’s neck and he seemed to be wiping his nose on Matt’s shirt.
‘Yes. She’s hurt her wrist and her ribs are very sore, but they’re looking after her very well right here in the hospital. She’ll be as good as new before you know it.’ He tipped Jack’s face up towards his and Beth found herself smiling at the almost unbearable tenderness of the gesture. ‘We can go and see her later and you’ll be able to check her out for yourself. In the meantime, Phyllis is ringing your gran and she’ll come and fetch you.’
Jack brightened visibly, wriggling in his father’s grip, and Matt let him back down onto his feet. ‘That’s all right, Dad. I can stay with Beth.’
‘No. Beth’s got enough to do, without coming to our rescue every time you and I decide to get lost.’ He flashed her a delicious grin. Warm and confiding, with a hint of mischief. Perfectly calculated. Beth reckoned
