‘I’m ready for a challenge,’ she said. ‘That’s why I’m here.’
‘Good,’ Trish said, handing her the file on top of the stack on the reception counter. ‘Angela Baker is your first patient. You won’t get much more challenging than that.’
Kellie suppressed a frown, hoping the patient hadn’t overheard Trish’s comments. She hadn’t appeared to, although perhaps it was because her son was now having a full-on tantrum in the middle of the waiting-room floor.
‘Angela?’
The young flustered woman got to her feet, almost dropping the baby in the process.
‘Here,’ Kellie said as she reached for the baby and the nappy bag the young mother was carrying. ‘Let me help you.’
‘Thanks,’ Angela mumbled as she reached for one of her toddler’s flailing arms. ‘Come on, Charlie. It’s time to see the doctor.’
The little boy opened his mouth even wider, his reddened eyes streaming with tears. Kellie felt sorry for both the toddler and his poor mother, who looked like she was close to tears herself. She looked far too thin for someone who had not long had a baby. Her cheeks were sunken and her hair looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in a couple of days at least.
It took a bit of cajoling but eventually Charlie shuffled in with his mother and sat down on the floor to play with the small basket of toys in Tim Montgomery’s room.
Kellie was glad she had come to the post with experience as she hadn’t had time to check the facilities out first. The room was fairly well equipped and organised in such a way that she didn’t think she would have too much trouble finding what she needed.
The baby became restless as it was still hungry so Kellie handed her back to Angela so she could run her eyes over the file to familiarise herself with the young woman’s history. There wasn’t a great deal of information, apart from the two pregnancies which had both progressed more or less normally. Tim’s writing was a little difficult to read in places but she could see that Angela was a nineteen-year-old girl. She wasn’t married but lived with the father of her children on the edge of town.
‘Right.’ Kellie smiled as she looked up from the notes. ‘What can I do for you, Angela?’
‘I think there’s something wrong with Charlie,’ Angela said, not quite meeting Kellie’s gaze. ‘He’s been crying a lot and keeps trying to hit the baby.’
‘Lucy is, what …?’ Kellie glanced at the notes again. ‘Just ten weeks old and Charlie is nineteen months old. It’s perfectly normal for him to be a little put out by the presence of a new baby. He’s had you to himself for all that time. He’s only a baby himself so it will take him a little while to adjust, but I’ll run a few standard tests to reassure you.’
Charlie was surprisingly obliging when Kellie approached him. She crouched down to his level, brushed back his dark brown hair from his face and told him she was going to see how much he had grown over the past few months.
Once she had finished her examination she handed him one of the more colourful toys and he played contentedly while she turned her attention to Angela and the baby.
Lucy was as cute as a button. Kellie felt every maternal urge pulling cathedral-like bells on her biological clock as she examined the tiny wriggling infant.
Lucy, like her brother, had big brown eyes and beautiful skin. Her weight and length were normal and she even gave Kellie a gummy smile, which sent the clanging bells inside Kellie’s head into overdrive.
Once the baby was settled back in Angela’s arms Kellie asked a few questions about the young woman’s health and diet, suggesting she might need to eat a bit more because she was breastfeeding. ‘I imagine it’s a difficult time, juggling the needs of two small children, but you need to take care of yourself. I’d like to run a few tests just to make sure your haemoglobin is fine and your thyroid function is normal.’ She waited a beat before adding, ‘I notice you have a slight tremor in your hands. How long have you had that?’
Angela’s eyes moved away from hers. ‘I don’t know … A little while, I guess …’ She brought her head back up after a moment and said somewhat defensively, ‘I don’t drink. As soon as I knew I was pregnant I stopped.’
‘That’s good, Angela,’ Kellie said with an encouraging smile. ‘That was a very sensible thing to do. Alcohol crosses the placenta and it also passes through breast milk so it’s best to avoid it.’
‘It’s hard … you know?’ Angela said, looking down at the baby. ‘There’s no one to help me. Shane doesn’t see it as his thing. He thinks it’s women’s work to look after the kids. I never get a break.’
‘Would you be interested in being part of a mothers’ group if I set one up?’ she asked.
Angela gave a one-shoulder shrug. ‘I guess.’
Kellie smiled. ‘I’ll make some enquiries and let you know.
You’ll need to come back and see me if the blood tests show up anything abnormal.’
Once she had drawn up the blood for testing she helped Angela back out to Reception with the children before reaching for the next patient file.
The rest of the morning whizzed by as patient after patient came in and out. Kellie saw Matt only twice, once when she was out at Reception, quizzing Trish on facilities available for an elderly patient, and then again when she went in search of the toilet. He had been coming out of his consulting room and briefly asked how she was settling in.
‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I have a couple of patients I wouldn’t mind talking over with you when you’ve got a minute.’
‘Trish usually leaves a thirty-minute gap for lunch so we can go over them then,’ he said. ‘The kitchen’s out the back. I’m not sure if Trish has had time to show you around. It’s been a full-on morning due to yesterday’s cancellations.’
The thirty-minute gap became a ten-minute one because Kellie was held up with another young single mother who was finding it difficult to cope with her three young children. Kellie spent most of the consultation handing over tissues as Gracie Young told her of her woes, but it made her all the more determined to try and sort out something for these unfortunate girls.
‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ Kellie said as she came into the clinic kitchen after seeing Gracie out.
Matt looked up from the paper he was reading. ‘That’s fine. Trish told me you’ve seen some of our more difficult patients.’
Kellie frowned as she flicked on the still warm kettle. ‘Where is Trish now?’ she asked.
‘I think she said something about going to the general store for something,’ he answered. ‘Why?’
She leaned her hips back against the counter and faced him. ‘She made a comment about a patient that I thought was a little inappropriate,’ she said. ‘The waiting room was full and anyone could have heard. The patient hinted that she had heard it as apparently it’s quite a common occurrence.’
‘Which patient was it?’
‘Angela Baker.’
‘Do
