City Surgeon, Small Town Miracle

CHAPTER FIVE

TERRI stared at the now-silent CB receiver in her hand, noting the tremor in her fingers with an odd detachment. The radio unit clattered slightly as she returned it to the base cradle.

A baby. Eight months. Fever of one hundred and two degrees for several hours. Part of her knew she should have suggested continuing with fluids and waiting another couple of hours before coming in. But the rest of her couldn’t bear to take the risk.

Not today.

Babies were special, the small lives so precious.

Of their own volition, the fingers of one hand splayed across her abdomen. Her own baby would have been eighteen months old if she hadn’t miscarried.

Eyes closed, she bowed her head. Abruptly, her sensory memory delivered a staggering tableau. The pungent stench of cordite clogging her nostrils, Peter’s cries ringing in her ears. The cramping pain in her stomach as she’d crawled to try to help him. So much damage, so much blood. The very air had coated the back of her tongue thickly with the metallic taste.

She could still feel the puff of Peter’s breath on her ear as he struggled to talk, to apologise, to ask her to look after their child. In his final moments, a connection between them, one that had all but vanished after they’d married.

A spasm low in her abdomen reminded her how she’d failed them all: Peter, her baby, herself.

In the aftermath of the trauma, her body had rejected its precious cargo.

Today was the second anniversary.

‘Terri?’

‘Luke!’ Her eyes flew open and she spun round to face him. ‘Luke.’

The room seemed to rock for a second and she put a hand on the bench to steady herself.

He stepped forward, his hand wrapping around her arm above the elbow. The warmth of his fingers a tiny comfort against the chill she felt. Concern filled the blue eyes drilling into hers. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Oh, yes,’ she managed, faintly. Even to her own ears she sounded less than convincing. But she was all right…or she would be. He’d just caught her at a vulnerable moment.

‘Come and sit down before…Sit down and tell me what the problem is.’ His compassionate bedside manner flowed over her, making her want to believe he cared.

She swallowed and stood firm. ‘Really, I’m fine.’

In a way, her turmoil was his fault. Talking to him the other night had left her more vulnerable than usual, that was all. His kindness, his offer to help had left her raw. She’d coped so well with the first anniversary. This second one was ambushing her, ruthlessly exposing the cracks in her defences. The skills she had used to keep herself functioning for the past two years felt fragile and unreliable. Twenty-four months. Would any amount of time be long enough to blunt the pain?

Perhaps she’d have taken today in her stride if Luke’s visit hadn’t unlocked her vault of painful memories, pitching her back into the emotional maelstrom of the tragedy.

But she would get past it, she had to.

‘Terri?’

Luke’s voice snapped her back to the present and she barely suppressed a start. If she didn’t pull herself together, he’d be afraid to have her working in the department tonight. And she needed to work-she couldn’t go home and sit alone with her thoughts. She had one constant, her ability to focus on her work. She was good at her job and that wasn’t going to stop now. She couldn’t let it-work was all she had left.

She took a deep steadying breath. With her eyes on the notes she’d made, she concentrated on the details.

‘We’ve got two patients on the way in. A thirty-year-old male involved in a quad bike accident. Required resuscitation at the scene. He has head, chest and leg injuries.’ Her voice was level and calm. No sign of the turmoil so close to the surface.

‘Right. And the other patient?’

Her fingers tightened and the paper she held crackled a protest. She swallowed.

‘The other patient is a febrile eight-month-old. Some vomiting and diarrhoea with a temperature of a hundred and two for several hours. There’s no indication that his case is anything more serious than a childhood fever but I’ve suggested bringing him in for examination. Mum’s extra-anxious because her niece had meningicoccal disease last year. The family live out of town and Dad’s away on business so…’ She clamped her lips to stop the flow of words. Her reasoning was feeble, the product of personal anxiety rather than professional concern. She needed to marshal a better argument.

‘So you didn’t want to leave Mum isolated in case things deteriorate during the night?’ Luke shrugged. ‘That’s part of the reason we’re here, isn’t it? Better to have a patient come in and prove to be a minor case than to have us miss something major.’

Terri opened her mouth to defend her case for having the child brought in and then his words sank in. He wasn’t questioning her decision, as she’d expected…as she deserved.

‘Um, yes.’ Grateful as she was for his attitude, the quick acceptance of her position made her feel like an inexperienced rookie. She suppressed a sigh and acknowledged the truth-the mood she was in tonight meant that whatever response Luke made, she would be hard to please.

She set the paper aside and glanced at her watch. ‘The ETA on the quad bike victim is any minute now. The febrile infant will be at least twenty minutes.’

As soon as she’d finished speaking an ambulance glided up to the entrance, red and blue lights revolving.

‘Let’s get to work,’ he said grimly, heading for the door.

With Luke’s attention directed towards the unconscious patient being unloaded by the paramedics, Terri felt a subtle release of tension in her muscles. The quiet air of strength and competence that he radiated should have made him a pleasure to work with…it did make him a pleasure to work with, but it was also subtly threatening.

He saw too much and she had secret agonies she couldn’t bear to have exposed. He’d already encroached where no one else had by asking her about the explosion that had killed Peter. Other people tiptoed around the issue, relieved when she moved the conversation away to safer topics. But not Luke. Had he sensed there was a problem?

She had to find the resolve to keep him out, not let his compassion weaken her. The guilt and responsibility, the burden for the terrible loss was hers and hers alone.

Luke watched the diminishing lights of the helicopter ambulance for a moment longer before turning wearily to walk back into the hospital. The future of the quad-bike victim was in the neurosurgeon’s hands now.

The man’s wife had wanted absolute reassurances that he’d recover but Luke couldn’t give them to her. Even if her husband survived, he’d probably have months of rehabilitation ahead of him.

He and Terri had done everything they could. The skull X-ray had shown an intracranial haematoma, as he’d suspected from the blown right pupil. With the help of a telephone consult to a Melbourne neurosurgeon, they’d evacuated an epidural clot through a burr-hole. They weren’t ideally set up for the procedure but they’d had to do it as soon as possible for the man to have any chance of a full recovery. Now stabilised, with the pressure on his brain released, the accident victim was on his way to facilities where he could be monitored by regular CT scans.

The only good thing about the situation was that the couple’s five-year-old daughter had hopped off the bike moments before the performance of the tragic stunt.

Luke stripped off his blood-stained gown, lobbing it into the laundry bin beside the sink before scrubbing his hands.

He wondered how Terri was getting on with the dehydrated infant.

Odd how she’d behaved earlier when he’d first come on shift. She’d been so obviously upset that all his protective instincts had gone on high alert, demanding that he do something, anything, to help. After avoiding him for the best part of a week, she’d seemed positively delighted to see him. A disproportionate leap of pleasure had rushed through him in that split second when she’d turned to look at him, her eyes shining. Until she’d put her hand out on the bench to steady herself and he’d seen the desperation underlying her veneer of composure. For a moment, he’d been afraid she was going to collapse at his feet.

But there’d been no sign of hesitation or diffidence when she’d helped him with the quad-bike trauma case. He’d watched for it, been ready to take over if she’d faltered. But she’d been great. Better than great.

She’d been fantastic since day one, taking direction from him with no hostility at all. After his father had explained to him the hospital board’s poor handling of the filling of the position he’d wondered how their working relationship would function. But it was a pleasure…in every way. And if there were any undertones of resentment, he couldn’t detect them. If anything, he was the one giving out the mixed signals.

He enjoyed working with her. And on a personal level, he enjoyed being close to her. Perhaps just a little too much. Since that first night when he’d had his hands on her, he’d wanted nothing more than to touch her again.

Professionally, it was a potential time bomb.

She impressed the hell out of him.

As a doctor, she was strong and competent.

As a woman, she was an enigma. One he wanted to solve. The more he knew about her the less he understood her.

Those occasional flashes of uncertainty and fragility he saw in her cut straight to his heart. They were so out of keeping with the rest of her.

What had upset her tonight? Obviously not the trauma patient. Could it have been the infant?

It didn’t make sense. That case appeared to be so straight-forward. Perhaps Terri had been a little on the cautious side but he preferred that in the staff he worked with than someone who was negligent about cases.

He knew Terri had taken the infant and her mother through to one of the double rooms. The woman had a toddler to look after as well and Terri’s suggestion of a family room for them had made sense. His runners made no noise as he padded through to the quiet corridor

At the door of the room, he stopped dead.

Terri held the happy chortling baby on her knee. He could see her profile, see the loving smile on her lips. The boy’s trusting eyes looked up into Terri’s face as a stream of unintelligible words tumbled out of the rosebud mouth. The fingers of one chubby hand wrapped around Terri’s thumb and he tried to stuff it between his lips.

‘Aren’t you a gorgeous wee man?’ cooed Terri, her voice a warm, maternal caress. Luke’s breath choked up in his throat.

‘Ga!’ said the child, responding enthusiastically to her tone.

‘Yes, you are.’

The sight rocked Luke to the core, raising age-old masculine instincts to protect, to possess. He swallowed hard, waiting for the world to settle.

He adored being a father. From the moment he’d laid eyes on his daughter, his soul had been filled by her sweet invasion of his life.

A sharp, uncomfortable hunger stirred in his heart as he watched Terri with the child.

He must have made a small noise because Terri looked up suddenly. Her smile was filled with a warm uncomplicated love that slammed into him. The charged moment was packed with intimacy. His heart made a slow painful revolution in his chest and a shudder of recognition fizzed through his brain.

He wanted…He refused to let his mind finish the thought.

Terri’s smile faltered and he wondered what she read on his face. Then she blinked, and a quick puzzled look filled her lovely dark eyes before she looked away. She was still seated in front of him but he had the oddest feeling she’d withdrawn from him, mentally fled.

He moved closer, compelled by a wholly male desire to pursue.

‘Someone’s looking a lot happier.’ He sat beside her, putting one hand on the back of her chair as he leaned towards the child. He suppressed a grin when Terri flicked him a wary look. Her senses were spot on. Though he tried to present an unthreatening appearance, she had stirred a primitive corner within him.

He smiled as he stroked the baby’s soft cheek with the back of one finger. The small mouth drooled saliva as it made chewing motions on Terri’s knuckle. ‘Teething as well, is he?’

‘Yes. Which is possibly why he wasn’t settling for his mum.’ Her voice was soft and tender. ‘Poor little fellow.’

Luke’s eyes were drawn to Terri’s profile. She wore her hair up twisted in a loose bun on the crown of her head, making it easy for him to study her profile, the curve of her cheek, the neat straight nose, stubborn chin.

Another wave of need spiralled through his gut. He hadn’t felt such compelling sexual awareness for a long time. Experiencing it now so powerfully was exciting and unnerving.

He had some thinking to do. His situation with Terri was a sensitive one. He was her boss, they worked in a small hospital. They were both here for a limited time.

But there was something between them. Would Terri allow him to pursue it?

Or perhaps the more important question was, was pursuing it wise?

‘Come on, kiddo. You can’t sit there all day.’

Luke’s head lifted at the sound of his sister’s voice coming from just outside his line of sight. He knew Allie was reading a book on the patio. His fingers paused on the pawn he’d been about to move as he strained to hear his daughter’s mumbled response. He picked up his father’s black knight and left his piece on the square.

Not deterred, Megan chirped, ‘It’s time for some girl stuff. Let’s go and see if Terri’s home.’

Terri. A hot thrill streaked through him before he could suppress it. Sharp angles on the chess-piece dug into his palm as his fingers clenched around it. God, he had it bad if just her name being spoken unexpectedly could affect him like this.

‘I don’t know if Dad will let me.’ Allie sounded bored and sulky.

‘You won’t know unless you ask him, will you, bunny? Come on. He’s just inside playing chess with Dad.’ Megan stuck her head around the corner of the French door. ‘Hey, Luke, I’m going down to see Terri. Okay if Allie comes with me?’

His daughter’s head appeared beside Megan’s, her face anxious. Was she worried about going? Or worried he wouldn’t let her? Everyday life required the skills of a wiser man than he.

‘Do you want to, Allie?’ he asked, keeping his tone neutral.

‘I guess, sure. It’s not like there’s anything else to do.’ She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but he’d seen the gleam of interest in her eyes. More than he’d seen in a long while.

‘Okay, then,’ he said, letting her comment slide. ‘Don’t stay too long.’

‘Thanks, Luke.’ Megan grinned as she turned to Allie. ‘See. What did I tell you?’

Luke watched them go, his silent daughter walking beside his ebullient sister. It should have been the other way around-the teen with the world-weary attitude and the ten-year-old with the naïve enthusiasm.

He was failing her in some way that he couldn’t understand. The things he’d tried to reach her fell dismally short of success. He was beginning to wonder if they needed a counsellor to help them through this patch. But if Allie stead-fastly continued to refuse to talk, then the sessions might just cause more of a problem than they solved.

What would Terri make of his unhappy child? This week, he’d found out that she was great with children of all ages. Maybe she could see what was troubling his daughter’s spirit. He would ask.

Perhaps when the girls came back he could wander down to the beach cottage.

Yeah, right. And perhaps Terri would see through him.

‘She’s not settling, is she?’ said his father.

Allie?’ Luke said, earning himself a quizzical look. ‘No, she’s not.’

‘Maybe you should have planned a day out with her today.’

He met his parent’s faintly critical gaze. ‘I did. She didn’t want to go.’

‘Ah.’ His father nodded sagely and turned his attention back to the board.

Luke contemplated the elegantly carved black and white chess pieces. White was in a hopeless position. The defence was shot and he had no offensive pieces in good positions. In short, no matter what he tried now, he was going down.

His thoughts drifted back to Allie. Every approach he’d tried had been grimly rebuffed. He’d hoped the move to Australia might have ultimately sparked some interest in her. He’d know it wouldn’t be easy but he hadn’t expected it to get so much worse. He had to do something soon. He couldn’t stand by while his daughter sank into depression.

His father made a move, taking the white queen with his remaining knight. ‘Well, maybe she needs some female company. Meggie and Terri might sort her out.’

‘Maybe.’ He hoped so. ‘Megan’s been great since we’ve been here.’

His father grunted. ‘Wants to be a nanny. Did she tell you?’

‘No, but she’d be good at it.’ He castled, without much hope of salvaging his position. ‘She got Allie moving, which is more than I can do these days.’

‘Your mother and I have christened her the relentless angel.’ There was a small pause.

Luke looked up to catch the thoughtful narrow-eyed look his father gave him over the top of his glasses.

‘So, how are you finding Terri to work with? I hope you’re cutting her some slack after the way the board treated her.’

‘Terri doesn’t need any slack to be cut from anyone, least of all me. As you well know.’

‘Well, just so long as you’re doing the right thing by her,’ his father said gruffly. ‘I don’t want the hospital to lose her.’

‘Neither do I.’ And his concern wasn’t just for the hospital.

‘She’s been through a lot, that girl.’

‘Yes.’ Luke looked back at the table. ‘Has she told you what happened to her husband?’

‘Just the basics. She’s not much of a talker.’

‘No.’ So it wasn’t just him that she was shutting out, thought Luke grimly.

‘Hell of a tragedy, losing someone that way.’

‘Yes.’

His father grunted then leaned forward to move his queen. ‘Checkmate.’

‘Hey. Got time for a couple of pests?’

‘Always.’ Terri looked up to see Megan walking around the side of the cottage. A moment later, to her surprise, Allie followed. ‘Out for a walk?’

‘As far as your place,’ Megan said with a cheeky smile.

‘I see.’ Terri grinned back. ‘In that case, let me finish planting the last of this punnet then I’ll get us something to drink.’

‘Cool,’ Megan said.

Terri was aware of Allie’s solemn eyes following her every move as she and Luke’s sister chatted. The child was much too quiet, even allowing for natural shyness. Megan’s irrepressible bubbliness wasn’t succeeding in drawing her into the conversation.

‘Do you like gardening, Allie?’ Terri asked when there was a small silence.

Allie shrugged.

‘These are herbs. When they grow bigger, I’ll be able to use them for cooking.’

‘Mummy has some.’ Allie’s toe dug into the dirt as she muttered, ‘Had some.’

‘Did she?’ Terri patted the earth into place around the last seedling as she thought about Allie’s slip and then correction. ‘What did she have?’

Another shrug.

‘You don’t remember?’

Allie shook her head.

‘When these little guys grow up, they might look more familiar.’

‘I won’t be here then.’

‘Well, if you are. They don’t take long to grow. Now, about that drink I promised.’

Terri led the way into the kitchen and went to the sink to wash her hands. When she turned, Allie was standing by the hutch. One tentative finger was stroking her old china soup tureen.

‘Do you like that, Allie?’

The girl snatched her hand back, her cheeks tinting. ‘Mummy’s have the same pattern. I can’t remember what it’s called.’ Her expression was infinitely sad and Terri’s heart ached for her.

‘It’s the willow pattern. My great-great-grandmother brought a whole dinner set over to Australia with her on the ship when she came from England.’

‘Same with Mummy. Not the ship. But it was from her great-, um, grandmother,’ Allie said. ‘I think they’re pretty.’

‘I think you’re right.’ Terri smiled and was rewarded with a tentative smile in return. She was about to ask if Allie’s mother had the full set when an urgent beeping broke the moment.

Megan dug in her pocket for her phone. ‘Uh-oh, it’s my study partner. She wants to go over our English Lit. assignment-we’re presenting it next week.’

The teen’s vivid blue eyes pinned Terri with a speaking look. ‘Is it okay if I leave Allie here with you?’

‘Sure.’

‘Thanks.’ Obviously feeling that she’d delivered whatever message she’d been silently sending, Megan bounced to her feet. ‘See you later, Allie cat.’

In the silence that Megan left behind, Terri and Allie eyed each other.

‘I suppose you want me to go,’ Allie said colourlessly.

‘Stay for a bit longer if you want to.’

‘Can…can I?’

‘Sure. You can help me in the garden for a while. I hate seeing a willing pair of hands go unused…even an unwilling pair,’ Terri teased gently.

She kept up a steady patter of information about different plants and answered Allie’s occasional question. As Terri had hoped, working in the garden helped the girl to relax a little.

‘There.’ She sat back on her heels and looked at the garden bed they’d finished preparing. ‘Haven’t we done a great job?’

Allie looked at it doubtfully. ‘It’s just dirt.’

‘Ah, yes, but it’s happy dirt that’s going to nourish and pamper my next crop of tomatoes which will taste extra-good. Better than anything you’ll buy in a supermarket.’ She smiled then glanced at her watch. ‘Let me clean up and then I’ll walk you home.’

‘I can go by myself.’ Allie sounded belligerent, ready to defend her position.

‘I’m sure you can,’ said Terri mildly. ‘But today’s special because it’s your first visit and I’d like to take you home.’

‘O-okay.’

As they walked across the yard together, Terri had the impression that Allie wanted to say something. After another handful of paces, the girl finally blurted out, ‘So, if this was my first visit…’

‘Yes?’

‘Does that mean it would be okay if I visited again? Please?’

‘I don’t see why not as long as it’s okay with your dad.’

‘It won’t bother him,’ she said flatly. The corners of her mouth pulled down.

‘Why do you say that?’

The slender shoulders twisted into a shrug. ‘Because it wouldn’t.’

‘I’m sure that’s not true, Allie.’

Another shrug. The girl had turned the gesture into a whole new language of subtle nuances. No wonder her father was concerned. Terri felt for both of them. Allie seemed to be stuck in denial about her mother’s death. Which left Luke with the sad task of helping her face the sorrow.

‘Anyway, maybe I can help with your garden some more.’

‘If you’d like to.’ Terri smiled.

‘I-I used to help Mummy sometimes.’

‘Did you? Well, I’d be delighted to have you come and help me sometimes, too.’

Luke was sitting on the patio when he saw Allie and Terri come through the line of bushes. Allie was talking animatedly to Terri, much more like her old self.

And Terri was…well…Terri. Looking gorgeous in shorts cut just above the knee and battered tennis shoes. The thin knit material of her old T-shirt clung in all the right places. Her hair draped in a ponytail across one shoulder, the ends curving around her breast.

He stood, shoving his hands into his pockets, and walked across the lawn to meet them. Terri lifted her head and gave him a small smile. A moment later, Allie saw him, her face falling. He suppressed a sigh.

‘Had a good time?’ he said to his daughter, ignoring her sudden mood change.

‘Yes. Terri said I could visit again as long as it’s okay with you.’ Her tone was terse. ‘So may I?’

He raised one brow and his daughter’s eyes slid towards Terri in a shamefaced look.

‘Please?’

Luke glanced at Terri, who gave him a small nod. ‘All right,’ he said slowly. ‘As long as you understand that Terri might have to say no sometimes.’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, then.’

Her quick thanks were perfunctory but the grin she gave Terri was more open. ‘Thank you, Terri.’

‘Thank you for your help in the garden.’ Terri smiled.

Luke cleared his throat. ‘Nana’s nearly ready for dinner, Allie, so how about going in to wash up?’

He watched his daughter disappear then turned to find Terri watching him, her dark eyes filled with soft sympathy. He realised abruptly that it was not the look he wanted to see when she focussed on him.

‘Allie’s struggling with her mother’s death, isn’t she?’

Shock and hope jolted through him. Had Terri managed the impossible? ‘Did she talk to you?’

‘Not really. I just got the impression that she hasn’t accepted what’s happened.’

‘You’re right. She hasn’t. I can’t seem to reach her or get her to open up at all.’

Terri looked towards the house, her face pensive. She opened her mouth as though to say something, then must have thought better of it.

‘Whatever you were thinking just then…tell me,’ he demanded. She gave him a startled look. ‘Please,’ he said, moderating his tone, ‘Don’t worry about offending me, just say it.’

He could see her hesitate but after a small silence, she said, ‘Your daughter seems almost…angry with you.’

Conscious of a sense of disappointment, Luke slowly released the breath he’d been holding. Unreasonable though it was, he’d expected Terri’s answer would provide a break-through for him with his daughter.

‘Too true.’ He gave her a wry grin.

‘But it’s more than that, Luke. Watching her with you just now, it’s like she’s made up her mind not to let you get close.’ She gazed off into the distance again. ‘Maybe she’s punishing you for something.’ Her words came haltingly, as though she was choosing each one with great care. ‘Or…’

‘Or?’

Her deep chocolate-brown eyes came back to his, the expression in them puzzled. ‘Or maybe it’s herself she’s punishing.’ She shook her head. ‘But for what, I can’t imagine.’

‘Neither can I.’ He silently turned over what she’d said. Perhaps there was an answer in her impression. He just had to find it, use it to untangle whatever was going on in Allie’s mind. After a moment, he said, ‘I don’t know what the answer is but you’ve obviously worked some magic with her today.’

‘Me? I haven’t done anything.’

‘I think you’d be surprised. It’s the most enthusiasm I’ve seen in her for a long time so thank you.’

‘Poor little girl,’ she said softly as she stared in the direction that Allie had disappeared.

Luke ran his eyes over Terri’s profile, taking in the thick spiky black lashes that fringed her eyes, the lovely apricot tint of her cheeks. Her lack of awareness of a tiny smudge of dirt high on her cheekbone was endearing.

Without thinking, he reached up to brush it away for her.

She jerked back, her eyes wide and alarmed. ‘What are you doing?’

‘You have a bit of dirt just…’ He indicated on his own face as she so obviously didn’t want his touch.

‘Oh. Well. Thanks.’ She scrubbed it as she eyed him warily. ‘I, um, I’d better go, then. Bye.’

‘See you tomorrow, Terri.’

‘Yes, tomorrow.’ She swung away. Her long easy stride carried her quickly out of his view. With a small sigh, he turned towards the house. Terri making sure Allie got home safely was laudable but now his excuse for dropping in at the cottage was gone. He smiled wryly at his disappointment.

Probably just as well.

‘How are you going, Joe?’ asked Terri a few days later as the patient on the bed wriggled slightly.

‘Okay. Got an itch.’

‘Hold still just a little longer. I’m nearly finished.’ Using the dissecting forceps, she pulled back the last section of the skin flap and pushed the curved needle through the subcutaneous tissue. The needle holder made soft ratcheting clicks when she grasped the sharp tip to pull the thread through. With the final neat stitch secured, she snipped the ends and disposed of the needle in the sharps bin.

Luke wasn’t on the same roster as she was today. She should have felt relief but when she tried to define her feelings, they weren’t at all clear cut. If anything, she felt…flat. As though some indefinable ingredient for sparkle in the day was missing. She frowned. That nonsense needed to be stamped on quick smart.

‘All done, Joe. We just need to dress that before you move.’

Joe arched his neck to look at her handiwork. ‘Woah. Cool.’

‘A thank you would be good, Joey,’ said his mother.

‘Thanks, Dr Mitchell.’ The freckled face flashed a puckish grin.

‘You’re very welcome.’

‘Terri?’ Susan poked her head around the curtain. ‘We’ve got a ten-year-old with ARD on the way in.’

‘Okay. Thanks, Susan. I’m just finishing up here.’

An odd look crossed Susan’s face as she hesitated a second. ‘Shall I send someone in to dress that for you?’

‘Okay. And a tetanus booster, too, thanks.’ Something was definitely worrying the nurse. She stripped off the gloves and said to her delighted patient, ‘You’ll need to keep the dressing on and dry for twenty-four hours and we’ll see you back here in a week to have the stitches removed.’

‘Okay.’

‘The wound was very clean,’ she said to Joe’s mother. ‘But if you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to come back and see us.’

‘Thanks, Terri.’

‘Someone will be here in a minute to put a dressing on that and give you a sheet of instructions.’ Terri smiled and excused herself.

She found Susan in the office, making a note on the patient tracking board.

‘Problem?’ Terri said.

‘Maybe.’ Susan looked up, frowning. ‘The message was a bit confused but I think the ARD patient is Luke’s daughter.’

Terri’s hands stilled. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘The teacher who called it in was very shaken but she kept saying it was Alexis and asking for Dr Daniels.’

‘Ambulance dispatched?’ Terri swallowed a stab of foreboding. Luke had mentioned Allie’s worsening asthma attacks.

‘No. The child was already in transit with one of the other teachers when the call was made.’

‘Right, what’s their ETA?’

‘Now. The class was on a field trip to the museum. They decided to make the dash straight here rather than wait for an ambulance as they’re only a couple of blocks away.’

Terri suppressed a sigh. She could understand the temptation to make the dash, but it was precious minutes that the child should have been having treatment.

‘Okay. I agree, let’s assume that it is Alexis. Have we got medical records for her?’

‘I’ve rung Admin,’ said Susan. ‘They’re on the way.’

‘Great. Thanks.’ Terri glanced at the clock. Ten o’clock. She wondered what Luke had planned. He wouldn’t be too far away because he was on duty this evening. She didn’t want to page him unnecessarily but she knew he’d want to be there if it was Allie having the attack.

‘Let’s confirm the identity of our patient…’ She trailed off as a car drove into the emergency drop-off point and the sliding doors swished open. The child in the passenger’s seat was hunched forward so that she couldn’t see a face. But the bob of straight dark hair looked all too familiar.

Her stomach swooped.

‘Call Luke, stat, please, Susan,’ she called, picking up an oxygen cylinder and mask as she raced for the door.