his brain has been affected. His speech might be a bit unclear, and he might find it hard to communicate—or he might have what we call a specific learning disability, say, a problem with maths or reading or drawing, if a specific part of his brain has been affected.’
Dave took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘And that’s it? Or can it get worse?’
‘Worst-case scenario,’ Brad said, ‘is that he might also have a squint or hearing loss. And around a quarter to a third of children with CP have epilepsy.’
‘But there’s a lot we can do to help, and we can put you in touch with the local support group,’ Zoe added, ‘so you can talk to other parents who’ve been through what you’re feeling right now, and they can help you.’
‘Is it curable?’ Jenny asked.
‘There’s no cure,’ Brad said gently, ‘but the good news is that it won’t get any worse. Treatment can help to improve Michael’s condition, and his disability really doesn’t mean that he can’t lead a full and independent life when he gets older.’
‘Doesn’t it?’ Dave rubbed a hand across his face.
‘The earlier we start treatment, the more we can help him,’ Zoe said.
‘So what causes it? Is it anything I did while I was pregnant?’ Jenny asked.
‘No, it wasn’t your fault at all. The risk factors include if either of you were under twenty, he was your fifth or later child, he was a twin and the other twin died, he was very light when he was born—that’s under one and a quarter kilos—or he was born more than three weeks early. Around one in four hundred babies are affected,’ Brad reassured her. ‘What happens is that part of the brain—the bit that controls muscles and body movements—fails to develop either before birth or in early childhood. It can be caused by a blocked blood vessel or a bleed in the brain, or a difficult labour, if he was very premature or ill after the birth, or he had an infection during early childhood, such as meningitis.’
‘I can’t take this in,’ Jenny said. ‘I knew there was something wrong. I knew it. But nobody would listen to me.’
‘Your health visitor did,’ Zoe said softly. ‘She referred you to us. And sometimes it’s hard to pick up—it might not show until the baby’s twelve to eighteen months old. She said that he was hypotonic when he was born—that his muscles were floppy.’
‘And sometimes you might find his muscles are spastic, or tight.’ Brad looked at Dave. ‘You might prefer the word “hypertonic”. It’s the same thing.’
Dave shook his head. ‘I thought he was all right, that Jen was blowing everything up out of proportion and Michael was just a bit of a fussy eater. You know, not liking lumps and…well, having constipation so much.’
‘They’re common in children with Michael’s condition,’ Zoe explained. ‘It might be that he’s having problems chewing and swallowing. How’s his sleeping?’
‘Average,’ Dave said.
‘He only wakes up three or four times a night,’ Jenny said.
Brad exchanged a glance with Zoe. By twelve months, Michael should have been sleeping through the night.
‘What kind of treatment will he need?’ Jenny asked.
‘A physiotherapist can help you with his coordination—teach you exercises he can do at home,’ Brad explained. ‘As he gets older, a speech therapist will be able to help with speech and using language. And he’ll need regular eye checks. He might not have a physical problem with his eyes, but he might find it hard to distinguish shapes.’
‘That’s something an occupational therapist can help with,’ Zoe said. ‘The important thing is that you don’t have to cope on your own—there are a lot of people who can help Michael reach his full potential.’
By the time they’d finished answering questions, made a referral to the physiotherapist and orthoptist and left the Phillipses, Zoe looked drained.
‘Come on. I think we’re both overdue a break. I’ll shout you a coffee,’ Brad said.
Zoe could feel herself blushing and was furious with herself. She really, really didn’t want Brad Hutton to think she was bowled over by him. He might be tall, blond and utterly gorgeous—with those white teeth and his tan, he’d immediately been nicknamed ‘surf-boy’ by some of the more jealous males in the department, particularly when they found out he hailed from California—but he wasn’t for her. She didn’t have room in her life for a relationship. Not now, not ever. For ten years she’d kept to her decision of offering friendship, and nothing more, when it came to the opposite sex.
But this hadn’t sounded like a trying-for-a-date sort of offer. It was more like a boss-rewarding-good-work sort of offer. Which meant it was perfectly safe to smile at him and say yes. ‘Cheers. I think I need some caffeine,’ she admitted.
Though she was still thoughtful when they were sitting in the canteen, nursing a large coffee and a muffin each.
‘Penny for them?’ Brad asked.
‘I just hope the Phillipses will work things out,’ she said. ‘You know, there’s a high divorce rate for parents of children with cerebral palsy, and I think Dave Phillips is going to have a lot of trouble adjusting to the idea that his son is less than perfect.’
‘But they’re not on their own. There are good support groups—and you handled the situation very well. You gave him the facts, you weren’t judgmental, and you gave him some hope, too.’
Pleased by the praise, Zoe met his eyes. And wished she hadn’t. They were the blue of an ocean on a summer’s day. The kind of eyes you could drown in.
He smiled at her. ‘PAU isn’t the easiest of areas. I’m glad I’ve got someone like you on my team—someone I can work with.’
‘Thanks for the compliment, but I think you’ll find the rest of the ward’s the same.’
‘No dragon matron?’
‘No. The senior sister—Val—is more like a mother hen.’ She smiled back at him. ‘It’s so frantic on the ward these days that you don’t get time to meet people properly. Are you doing anything tonight?’
He blinked. ‘Are you asking me out?’
‘Um, no. Yes. Well, not me personally.’
‘Thanks for the offer,’ he said drily, ‘but I don’t need a date.’
‘You’re married?’ She glanced automatically at his left hand. No wedding ring, no pale band of flesh hinting at the recent removal of a wedding ring either. ‘But I thought you were in London on your own?’
‘I am on my own,’ he said quietly.
But there was a slight prickliness to his voice that hadn’t been there before. She backtracked fast. ‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to pick you up or anything. It’s just that you’re on secondment and you don’t know many people around here, so I thought you might be a bit lonely.’
Lonely? She could
