Jimmy Tate, aren’t you?’ he asked gently, having a swift look at the file he’d been given. ‘I’m Dr Sinclair and this is Nurse Marshall, and we’re going to be looking after you. Don’t you worry, we’ll have you feeling better in no time, Jimmy.’
Patrick’s voice was soothing and the familiar clichés reassuring. Gradually Jimmy’s sobs became intermittent, just the odd one shaking his little body, and although his lip still trembled, now he was looking at Patrick, gradually relaxing a little.
Jandy swivelled the overhead light above the child so that his wounds could be seen more clearly, and reflected almost with surprise that the new registrar seemed to have a good manner with his small patient—getting Jimmy to relax and trust him went a long way towards recovery. If Dr Sinclair was arrogant, he was hiding it at the moment and she relented.
‘You’re a brave boy,’ Patrick said, looking closely at the bruise on the child’s temple and then the cut on his leg. He looked up at Jandy. ‘I think we can use steristrips for this, don’t you?’
Jandy nodded and smiled reassuringly at the little boy. ‘It really will feel better when I’ve put the magic strips on,’ she said. She went to a cupboard which, when opened, revealed a stock of toys from which she pulled out a kaleidoscope. ‘Have you seen one of these, Jimmy? While I’m bandaging your poorly leg, I want you to shake that and look down it—you’ll see some lovely patterns there.’
Slowly Jimmy reached for the toy and put his eye to it. Jandy watched as the little boy became absorbed in what he was seeing then she started to swab the wound gently with saline solution.
Patrick turned to the woman, who’d barely looked up as they’d come in, continuing to be engrossed in her magazine. She seemed totally uninterested in what was happening to Jimmy.
‘Excuse me.’ His voice was courteous but firm—meant to be heeded. ‘Can you tell me what happened?’
The woman stopped chewing her gum for a second and brushed a lock of greasy hair from her eyes. She had the unkempt look of someone who had lost interest in life and herself, reflected Jandy. There were a lot like her who came to Casualty.
‘He fell off his bicycle and hit his head on the steps,’ she said tersely. ‘I told him not to ride it in the back garden with the dogs around.’
‘I take it you’re Mrs Tate—his mother?’ asked Patrick, making a few notes.
‘I’m not his mother—I’m his stepmother.’
Her voice was almost aggressive and Jandy saw Patrick look up quickly, something unfathomable in his expression, then he said smoothly, ‘Has he been sick?’
‘Yes—all over the floor of course.’
‘I see. And did the dogs snap at him while he was riding his bike?’
Mrs Tate shrugged and said in a defensive tone, ‘No, they just jumped up at him, having a bit of a lark. It was Jimmy’s fault—he was teasing them. They wouldn’t hurt a fly if they hadn’t been provoked…he’s been told often enough.’ She shifted restlessly in her chair. ‘Will this take long? I’ve got a baby at home and I had to ask my neighbour to look after her while I brought this one in.’
Patrick’s eyes met Jandy’s for a brief second—they were flinty hard. They were all taught to be impartial but she didn’t blame him for showing a hint of the fury he must be feeling on the child’s behalf. How could anyone be so unsympathetic to an injured five-year-old? A muscle tightened slightly by Patrick’s mouth and his voice was clipped.
‘It will take as long as it takes to see to this wound and make sure Jimmy’s not injured his skull—he’ll be taken to X-Ray in a minute. Now, can you tell me what time he had this accident?’
‘About an hour ago,’ Mrs Tate replied sulkily.
‘Did you see it happen?’
Her eyes shifted momentarily and she muttered, ‘No—but I sent for the ambulance as soon as I saw it was serious,’ she added self-righteously.
‘Were you out when it happened?’
Again her eyes looked away from his. ‘Just at a neighbour’s—not far away.’
‘So you don’t know if the dogs attacked him?’
Jandy could almost feel Patrick Sinclair restraining himself—it wasn’t their role to be judgemental, but it could be difficult at times. He made some notes on the file and the woman scowled.
‘I told you—they wouldn’t do that. Can I go now? You can ring me when you’ve seen to him. Stop whinging, Jimmy—you’re a big boy now.’
Big tears had started to roll down Jimmy’s cheeks again and Jandy compressed her lips—it wasn’t fair that the little boy should be chastised.
‘Perhaps you could wait and see the result of the X-ray?’ she suggested. ‘It won’t take me long to dress his wound. I take it he’s had his tetanus jab?’
Mrs Tate sighed heavily. ‘He’s had all them jabs. I’ll have to go and ring my neighbour, then…I’ll be outside the entrance if you need me.’
She disappeared down towards the waiting room and Patrick turned to Jandy. ‘We’ll need to run blood tests, Hb, CRP and respiration checks before we take him down to X-Ray and ring up Paediatrics and get someone to look at the plates.’
Jimmy looked at them both, eyes round and anxious behind his glasses. Patrick smiled kindly at him.
‘Hang on there, Jimmy, and we’ll take you down to have a photograph taken of your head—it won’t hurt a bit. I tell you what, Nurse Marshall, I think this little boy’s been one of the bravest we’ve had here today—I think he deserves something special!’
His blue eyes looked at her questioningly—not having worked at this hospital before, he wouldn’t know what rewards they offered their little patients.
Jandy grinned. ‘Quite right, Doctor—I’ve got a special medal for someone like Jimmy!’
She opened a drawer and handed Patrick a plastic medal with ‘Very Brave Patient’ printed on it, which Patrick pinned on Jimmy’s jumper. The little boy stared down at it then looked up at the adults with a shy smile.
‘Is it mine?’ he asked. It was the first time he’d spoken.
‘It certainly is—you deserve it, sweetheart,’ said Jandy. ‘And now we’ll take you to have that photograph taken.’
‘I’m not happy with that head wound and the fact he’s been sick,’ said Patrick as he and Jandy walked back from the paediatric section, leaving Tilly Rodman to stay with Jimmy and read him a story. ‘Have you rung Paediatrics yet? He’ll be kept in anyway for observation, whatever the results are.’
Jandy nodded. ‘They’ve got a bed—and at least it gives him a night away from that ghastly woman. She’d obviously left him alone while she gossiped with her friend.’
Patrick’s expression darkened, and Jandy noticed the small scar at the side of his face seemed more pronounced
