him. The edges of the wound were deep, as though his hand had been rammed by a broken bottle. According to his notes, the woman who had brought him in had said she’d found him wandering in the street, looking dazed. ‘It looks nasty, doesn’t it? Have you any idea what caused the dizziness?’
He shrugged. ‘No, not really.’ He coughed again.
‘Everything all right in here?’ Josh put his head around the door, and Alison wondered if he had come to check up on her. Perhaps he was looking in on all the A&E staff?
‘We’re fine,’ she said.
Josh nodded, and looked as though he intended to hang around for a while. She would have preferred he didn’t do that. How was Rees going to open up to her with Josh watching over them?
‘Your trauma patient is still in recovery,’ she told him. ‘Last I heard, he wasn’t doing too well.’
‘I know. I’m going to do an aortogram. I suspect there’s something wrong with the heart vessel.’
Perhaps he realised that she didn’t want him around. His glance went from her to Rees, and then he nodded towards the boy and said, ‘You’re in good hands.’
Josh left, and Alison let out a slow, soft breath. She went back to checking Rees’s neurological reflexes.
‘Everything seems to be okay on that score,’ she said quietly, ‘although your blood pressure is a bit low. Did you have anything to eat before you went out this morning?’
He shook his head, and was overcome once more by a bout of chesty coughing that left him exhausted. No wonder he hadn’t complained about being kept waiting. She guessed he was probably glad of the chance to sit and rest somewhere warm and comfortable for a few hours.
Something about him brought out all her tender instincts, and she wasn’t exactly sure why. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he looked a lot like her brother had at that age. Anyway, she felt there was more to his story than met the eye.
‘This is a pretty deep cut,’ she said, examining the wound. ‘I don’t think I can follow the usual procedure and leave it open while we wait to see if there is any infection brewing. It will need several stitches—but I’ll give you an injection of anaesthetic first, of course. We’d better make sure that you have an up-to-date tetanus jab as well.’
‘Okay.’
‘Did this happen on the way to school?’ she asked conversationally as she set about preparing the anaesthetic.
‘No. I left school in the summer.’
‘On the way to work, then?’ she murmured.
He shook his head. ‘I don’t have a job yet. I’ve been trying to find one.’
It was becoming clear that she wasn’t going to make any headway on that score, so she contented herself with explaining the procedure to him. ‘I’m going to inject anaesthetic into the wound,’ she said softly. ‘I’m afraid it will sting a little to begin with, but then gradually the area should become numb. When it’s completely anaesthetised I’ll start to put in the sutures.’
He didn’t say anything, but kept up a stoic expression throughout the procedure, and she wondered what might have happened to him in his young life that made him appear so withdrawn and world-weary.
‘There—that’s the worst bit over with,’ she said a short time later. ‘We’ll wait a moment longer for it to take effect.’
She studied his brooding features for a second or two. He had refused to give an address to the desk clerk, and that worried her. What was he trying to hide?
‘That’s a nasty bruise to your jaw,’ she murmured.
‘It’s nothing,’ he said, his voice gruff.
It was the kind of response she was beginning to expect. Coupled with the lack of information about his home or his parents, she couldn’t help wondering if he was a runaway. Of course at sixteen he wasn’t legally any concern of the authorities, but it worried her that he was here alone and injured, apparently with no relative for them to contact.
‘I’ll make a start on the stitches now,’ she murmured. ‘Can you feel anything when I press here—or there?’
‘No, it’s okay.’
She concentrated on her work for the next few minutes. ‘I’ve noticed that you have a nasty cough,’ she said after a while. ‘When I’ve finished here, I think it would be a good idea if I run the stethoscope over your chest, to see what’s going on in your lungs. I’ll take your temperature as well—if that’s all right with you?’
He frowned. ‘What will you do if you find out there’s something wrong?’
‘It depends on what I find. If there’s an infection you might need to take a course of antibiotics. I can give you a prescription for those, and our pharmacy will dispense them for you.’
He nodded. ‘All right.’
She finished suturing his hand and began to clear away the equipment she had used. While she was doing that a commotion started up, somewhere outside the treatment room, and a hum of deep male voices reverberated through the department.
Rees was looking anxious again, and she told him, ‘That’ll be members of the bikers’ club, come to present the hospital with a cheque from their fund-raising efforts. They’ve done that ever since we treated some of their friends here a few years back. As soon as I’ve examined your chest, I’d better go and make sure they’re being looked after.’
There were a lot of crackles and signs of infection coming from his lungs, she discovered. ‘It sounds as though you have bronchitis,’ she murmured. ‘I’ll ask the nurse to take you along to X-ray as soon as she’s put a dressing on your hand. That way we’ll know for certain what’s going on in your lungs.’ She studied him closely. ‘I’ll be back to see you in a while, when I have the results. All you need to do is sit back and take it easy. Are you happy to go along with that?’
He seemed to relax. ‘Yes, that’s okay.’
She studied his pale, tired features. What had happened to this boy? Had he been living rough on the streets? It was cold outside at this time of year and he only had a thin jacket. He looked clean enough, though, and it was possible he had been staying with a friend. Perhaps she was letting her imagination run away with her?
Still, her instincts were urging her to do what she could to help him out. ‘I brought some food in with me, to serve to the people who are here for the ceremony…Would you like something to eat after your X-ray? I’ll see if we can rustle up a cup of tea for you, too, while we’re about it.’
His face brightened for the first time since she had gone to see him. ‘Yes, please…if that would be all right?’
‘Of course it will. I’ll find someone to bring a tray over to you.’
She hurried away. No doubt Josh was still tending to his patients, and she knew that the specialist registrar was busy in theatre, so unless someone from Management had put in an appearance at the presentation, the bikers were being left to their
