up the concrete path that led to the entrance of the weathered clapboard dwelling.
‘Is that you, Dr Lawless?’ she said, peering out. The old door creaked.
‘Yes, it is, Kathy,’ Maggie called back. ‘And I’ve brought—’
‘Dr Braggett,’ he cut in, smiling. ‘Will Braggett. Dr Lawless and I are looking at the possibility of me joining her practice.’
No, we’re not!
Maggie bristled, but no one noticed.
Will grabbed the screen door which Kathy had pushed slightly ajar, held out his hand for her to shake, ushered Maggie past him and then entered the front hallway himself. The series of fluid actions, on top of his confident explanation of his presence, took just seconds and left Maggie—as usual—breathless with something she wanted to call outrage.
Wanted to. Couldn’t, in all honesty. He wasn’t deliberately attempting to overshadow her or crowd her out—he just did this charm stuff too well.
Kathy was smiling, too. ‘Well, that would be just great, wouldn’t it?’ she said. ‘Dr Lawless needs someone.’ Then her face fell. ‘Come on in. He seems real sick. More than just flu, and it came on so fast. He was fine this afternoon. The rash is getting worse, and it’s such a funny colour. It don’t look like poison ivy no more.’
She led the way, leaning her swollen hands heavily on a four-footed walking frame. She’d put on a little more weight. Maggie registered the painful stiffness of her walk, and the two inches of streaked grey showing at the roots of her long, braided coppery hair. Kathy’s great pride was her beautiful thick hair, and it was never the same colour for more than six months at a stretch. When she let the grey grow through like this, it meant the pain had been pretty bad. She had rheumatoid arthritis as well as fibromyalgia and struggled to maintain her quality of life.
Fourteen-year-old Matthew was lying on the couch in a darkened living-room. The television flickered in one corner, providing the only light, but his eyes were closed and he wasn’t watching. Maggie slipped past Kathy and went immediately to him, touching the palm of her hand to his forehead.
‘I’m going to have a look at you, Matthew, to see why you’re feeling so bad,’ she said quietly. ‘I’ll have to turn on the lamp here.’
He didn’t reply. He was burning up, beneath a heavy quilt, and didn’t even acknowledge her touch. She turned on the table lamp, lifted his T-shirt and found the spreading patch of rash. It was purple and blotchy, and her heart sank. Had she been too concerned with saving Kathy’s budget when she’d decided against calling an ambulance at once? This wasn’t poison ivy on top of a dose of flu.
Kathy was hovering in the background, and Maggie had to tell her, ‘I think he’s pretty sick, Kathy. He needs the hospital. I’m glad you called me early and didn’t wait this out.’
‘What is it, Dr Lawless?’
‘I’m afraid it looks like meningitis, Kathy.’
‘I’ve heard of that.’
‘There are several different types, some more dangerous than others. The meningococcal type is spread by saliva, and it’s so hard to get kids not to share drink bottles and lip salves, and that sort of thing.’
‘I’ll call the ambulance,’ Will said behind Maggie. ‘Where will I find the phone?’
‘Kitchen wall,’ Kathy answered.
‘Kathy, you’ll want to come too, won’t you?’ Maggie said.
‘Can I?’
‘Of course you can,’ She touched Kathy’s arm. It was trembling. ‘Do you want to put together a few things you might need overnight, and make sure you’ve got some cash?’
Kathy nodded, her mouth working. ‘Is he going to be OK?’
‘He’s going to get the best possible treatment, starting right now.’ It was all she could promise.
Kathy made her slow way out of the room. Maggie opened her medical bag, and then heard Will’s return.
‘You’re not going to wait for the ambulance?’ he said. ‘It’s on its way.’
‘No, I’m not waiting. I’ll put in an IV and run in as much fluid as possible. And I have some new antibiotic samples in my bag. Could you check them for me?’
‘See if any of them are worth a try?’
‘Yes.’ She racked her brains. ‘Can’t remember what’s there.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty well up on that stuff.’
‘I’m glad you’re here, Will.’ The words just slipped out. Will was probably as surprised by them as Maggie was, but he didn’t say anything.
Maggie got an IV kit out of her bag, found a good vein in the back of Matthew’s hand and swabbed the area. He stiffened and hissed as she slid in the cannula, but didn’t jerk away. Yes, it was safely in. She taped it in place and began to run in the fluid. There was nowhere to hang the IV bag.
She held it awkwardly until Will said, ‘Wait a second.’ He slipped through to the kitchen and appeared again with a wooden-backed kitchen chair.
‘Hang it on this. Ambulance should be here soon, and the hospital knows he’s coming. Can I look at those antibiotics now?’
‘Please. They’re all oral. I don’t know if it’s worth it. He needs intravenous.’
‘At this stage, let’s go with the idea that it can’t hurt.’
‘How much time did I waste by not calling the ambulance immediately?’
‘Five, maybe ten minutes. It’s not significant, Maggie. The fact that Kathy called early is the important part. If she’d waited till morning, or even another hour or two…Kids do recover from this.’
‘Some.’
‘Let’s try this. It’s broad spectrum, and pretty powerful.’ Will produced a sample packet of capsules and they managed to get Matthew to swallow one successfully.
The ambulance arrived within minutes, just as Kathy made her way back down the stairs. She put her swollen hand to her throat when she saw her son being carried out on a stretcher. Will held up the IV bag and Maggie took Kathy’s overnight bag and helped her to the vehicle.
‘I didn’t close up the house,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’
‘I’ll take care of that for you, Kathy,’ Maggie soothed.
She expected Will to wait in the car, but instead found that he was following her back into the house as the ambulance pulled away, with sirens rising.
‘Better check that everything’s switched off,’ he said. ‘I’ll take a look upstairs.’
Maggie found some soup sitting in a pot on the stove. She poured it into a plastic container
