his shoulders, and at that moment she became aware of Sam Benedict standing by her side. She had been absorbed in her conversation with Matthew, and didn’t know how long Sam had been standing there.
She looked up at him. ‘Sorry—have I been too long?’
‘Not at all. You should take as long as you think you need.’ He pulled up a seat and sat down next to Matthew. ‘Have you been all right, here, Matthew? Is everybody looking after you properly?’
‘They haven’t got a train set,’ the little boy complained. ‘I’m not coming here again.’
‘Haven’t they? I’ll have a word with Miss Maxwell about that,’ Sam said, his face taking on a serious expression. ‘What about everything else here? Is there anything else you would like to do—what do you like doing most of all?’
‘I like going to the playground with Mummy and my little brother.’ Matthew’s brown eyes widened. ‘We go up and down the slide and we go on the roundabout. I like that.’
Sam grinned. ‘Yes, it’s fun, isn’t it? I remember doing that when I was your age.’ He winced. ‘It seems a long while ago now.’
Thinking about Sam Benedict whooshing down a slide in his impeccable grey suit, Megan tried to hide a smile and failed miserably. Looking up, she caught his lancing grey gaze fixed on her and she quickly tried to turn the smile into a cough, without much success.
He looked down at the slim gold watch on his wrist and said, ‘Matthew, I’m sorry, but Dr Llewellyn and I have to go now. I’ll come and talk to you again if you decide to come in and see us another day. I would really like to see you again, you know, and if you like I’ll have a word about getting that train set for you to play with next time you come in. What do you think? Would you like to give it a try?’
Matthew pursed his lips for a moment, and then relaxed. ‘All right,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll see what my mummy says.’
Sam nodded. ‘Good, I’m glad to hear it. I’ll look forward to seeing you again.’
He and Megan left a minute or so later, going back to the observation lounge. Megan looked around and was surprised to see that David and James were no longer there.
Following her glance, Sam murmured, ‘I’ve sent them off to deal with some case notes. I thought perhaps you and I might talk for a while longer.’
‘If that’s what you want.’ She hoped he wasn’t going to persuade her that the boy needed to go down the route of assessment at a child guidance clinic, or that he needed to be on medication such as James had suggested. ‘I should tell you now,’ she said cautiously, ‘I don’t like the idea of using Ritalin with young children.’
‘Nor do I, and it isn’t common medical practice here to use such drugs.’ He waved her towards the double doors, holding one open to allow her to walk through. ‘Are you saying that you agree with James’s and David’s diagnosis now?’
Megan shook her head. ‘No, I’m not. In fact, after seeing Matthew, I believe that we should do some tests before we go any further.’
‘What sort of tests did you have in mind?’
‘Blood tests and an EEG.’ The electroencephalogram was a painless procedure, and it would give her a measurement of the tiny electrical signals produced inside the brain.
‘Is this your experience as a paediatrician coming to the fore,’ he remarked drily, ‘or are you reluctant to believe that a seemingly disruptive and inattentive child could have psychiatric problems?’
She flashed him a cool blue glance. ‘Perhaps it’s just that I prefer to make a decision based on all the facts. I can’t see that it would do any harm to take a simple blood test, and at least it would serve the purpose of eliminating other possibilities.’
Sam’s eyes darkened. ‘I can see that you’re a woman who’s prepared to stick to her guns.’ He made an expansive gesture with his hands. ‘OK, go ahead. Do your tests, and report back to me with the results—just make sure that you get on to the lab to hurry things along. I don’t want to keep Matthew and his parents waiting for any longer than I have to.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Oh—right, yes, I’ll do that.’ His answer had caught her by surprise. She had been expecting an argument.
He shot her a quick, penetrating glance. ‘Well—what are you waiting for? Hadn’t you better go and get on with it? Matthew isn’t going to be hanging around all day, you know.’
Flummoxed, she said, ‘No—no, of course he won’t. I’ll go and see to it right away.’
‘Do that.’
She watched him as he strode along the corridor towards the double doors. He was a powerful figure of a man, long-legged, lean and muscular, his whole body exuding energy.
Did he still think she was wasting everybody’s time? He was a complete mystery to her, she decided. She had absolutely no idea what went on in the man’s mind.
Even so, she couldn’t help feeling a growing tinge of respect for him. At least he wasn’t standing in her way—he was giving her the opportunity to do what she thought was right, even if he thought she was on the wrong track. He had shown that he was prepared to listen to her, and he wasn’t going to stand in her way as long as she was clear in her reasoning.
She hurried away to make preparations for the tests…best not to delay, or give Sam any reason to change his mind.
It was a couple of hours later when she finished work for the day, and she decided to call in at the accommodation office on her way out to ask for the keys to the flat Sam had mentioned. It wouldn’t hurt to take a look at it.
She hurried back to Jenny’s house once that had been done. ‘Do you want to come with me and have a look at the flat, Jenny?’ she asked. ‘It might be a good idea to let the children take a look. That way, Ben will get used to it right from the first. You know how he always has a problem with anything new and any change to his usual routine—we might as well show him from the start, so that he doesn’t have a problem when you visit me.’
‘Is this the one your boss mentioned?’ Jenny asked.
‘That’s right. As far as I know, it’s not on the market at the moment because some work is being done on it. The brickwork is being pointed up, I think, and the outside lighting is being updated, as far as I can gather, along with some general redecoration.’
‘That sounds like quite an overhaul,’ Jenny murmured. ‘It doesn’t sound as though it will be very comfortable, living there. There’s no rush, you know. You don’t have to move out right away.’
‘I know. But I am in the way here—my stuff takes up so much room, and it’s not fair on the children to be crowded out like this, having to share a bedroom. Besides, I’m sure Tom will be back before too long, and you won’t want me around then.’
Jenny shook her head sadly. ‘I don’t think he’s going to come back, but if you’ve made up your mind to move out I’ll do what I can to help. It sounds as though this place might be what you need.’
‘Well, at least it’s not too far away, and it’s fairly close to the hospital,
