He chewed disconsolately at his bottom lip. His fair hair gleamed under the overhead lights and Laura noted that his cheeks were faintly flushed with fever. His leg was obviously distressing him, and the reddened, swollen area around his shinbone was plain to see. Understandably, he was feeling uncomfortable and out of sorts.
Nick gave him a thoughtful look. ‘I know this is upsetting for you, Lewis, but we’ll get you sorted out as soon as we can. In the meantime, I’m sure that Dr Brett will look after you, and your mother told me that she’s going to stay close by, so there’s nothing for you to worry about.’
Reaching into his jacket pocket, he drew out a small plastic box wrapped in Cellophane and then crouched down beside the boy so that he was at his level. As he leaned towards the child, Laura found herself staring down at the faintly bronzed nape of Nick’s neck. Her glance strayed. His black hair was attractively styled, cut short in clean lines, and rays of sunshine slanted in through the window behind him, picking out iridescent lights.
‘Here you are,’ he said, softly, handing the box to the child. ‘You can have this, if you like.’
‘What is it?’ Lewis looked curiously at the small package.
‘It’s a kind of puzzle,’ Nick explained. ‘You fit the pieces together in different ways to make lots of funny-looking people. If you’re feeling up to it, you might want to play with it for a while.’
Lewis’s eyes widened. ‘Thanks.’ Intrigued, he pulled at the wrapping, then opened the box and began to sort through the cards that were in there, his mouth gradually quirking into a smile.
Watching the boy, Laura’s mouth softened. She had seen Nick do this kind of thing before, and she had to admit that he was very good with children. He had a way of putting them at ease, and she guessed that he must have a store of small games and puzzles that he produced to distract children whenever they had to sit and wait for a diagnosis or treatment.
Seeing that Lewis was preoccupied, Nick straightened up. He looked at Laura and frowned, drawing her to one side. ‘What’s going on here?’ he demanded, his voice low and terse.
‘I thought it best if I brought Lewis down to X-Ray myself.’ The mass of her bright curls tumbled around her face, lightly brushing her shoulders in its usual unruly fashion. In a defensive gesture, she pushed back a coppery strand of hair from her cheek. ‘We aren’t too busy in A and E at the moment, and I was due for a break. He seems more settled with me around, so I thought I would bring him here and then go and grab some lunch.’
‘I realise all that, but you came down here ages ago.’
Laura shrugged lightly. ‘That’s a matter of opinion. Anyway, the radiologist had just begun to take a series of X-rays of a rheumatoid patient from one of the afternoon clinics, when we arrived. It’s taking longer than we expected.’
‘It certainly is…much too long. We have critically ill patients in our department who need to be dealt with as quickly as possible.’
‘It’s hardly the radiologist’s fault,’ Laura pointed out mildly. ‘I’m sure she’s working as quickly as she’s able.’
‘I appreciate that,’ Nick said firmly. ‘What I’m saying is that it’s not right that our patients should have to wait at all. I’ve been saying for a long time now that we need an X-ray machine dedicated for A and E use.’
‘If it had been an outright emergency I would have intervened, of course. As it is, I expect we’ll only have to wait for a few more minutes and then Lewis can go in.’ Laura’s finely arched brows drew together. ‘You’re probably asking for too much if you’re expecting the department to get new equipment at the drop of a hat. You and I both know that funding will only stretch so far.’
His jaw tightened. ‘So your father says. I’m sure that if he put his mind to it he could bring his influence to bear. And it isn’t just the question of the X-ray machine—it’s the whole set-up in A and E, especially where children are concerned. It’s a soulless place for them to have to wait to be treated. There’s no atmosphere whatsoever, just dull, plain hospital surroundings. It’s enough to put any child off.’ He was glowering now. ‘Something needs to be done about it.’
Laura held back a faint sigh. They were back to this again, were they? She had only worked at the hospital for around three months, and in all that time she and Nick had hardly ever been able to see eye to eye on things, especially where her father was concerned.
A faint atmosphere of antagonism had sprung up between them almost from the beginning. At first she had put it down to the fact that she had been brought in to replace another doctor who had been scheduled to start work on the team. A domestic upheaval had caused the man to change his plans at the last minute and move to another area instead, and from all accounts Nick had been put out by that turn of events. He had been part of the initial interview panel, but the way things had gone, it must have seemed as though Laura had been foisted on him, and she had been a completely unknown entity.
Now, though, Laura wondered if the real thorn in Nick’s side was the fact that her father was chief administrator here at the hospital.
‘My father does what he can. He doesn’t make the decisions on his own…you know that. He has to consult with the rest of the management team.’
‘I also know that he holds a lot of sway with them and, if he wanted to badly enough, he could change things.’ He glanced down at his watch. ‘I have to get back to A and E right now, but I’ll have a word with him later on today. There are quite a few things I need to go over with him.’
The determined set of his mouth alarmed her. ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Not just at the moment. This is his first day back at work, and he’ll have a lot on his plate…’ But Nick had already turned away and was moving swiftly along the corridor.
She would have called after him, but at that moment the radiologist appeared and beckoned her into the X-ray unit.
‘Sorry to have kept you waiting,’ the woman said. ‘Do you want to come through?’
‘Thanks.’ Laura gave Lewis a bright smile. ‘Come on, then,’ she said. ‘Let’s have a look at what’s going on with your leg, shall we? As soon as we have the pictures we can decide what needs to be done to make you feel better.’
She already had some idea of what the X-rays might reveal. Lewis’s mother had brought the child into A and E, and she had explained that her son had been limping for the last week or so. Gradually, his condition had worsened, and now the limb was severely painful and it was also beginning to suppurate at the point of tenderness, although the mother was fairly sure that Lewis hadn’t banged his leg or hurt it in some way.
She had also mentioned that Lewis had been quite ill with a chest infection, and Laura believed there might be some connection.
The X-rays took a few minutes, and when they were done, Laura wheeled the little boy back along the corridor.
‘We’ll go and meet your mother in A and E,’ she told him. ‘Why don’t you have another look at your puzzles while we’re on our way? They’re fun, aren’t they?’
‘OK.’ He nodded tiredly and winced as he tried to move his leg into a more comfortable position.
Laura felt a surge of compassion for the little boy. He reminded her so much
