LITMIR.BIZ

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toddler looked uncertain, his lower lip trembling, and the nurse attempted to distract him by producing a teddy bear from a basket at the side of the bed. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘Teddy’s feeling poorly, too. His tummy hurts.’

      Tom’s eyes widened and he gazed at the toy, putting out a hand to feel his silky fur. Alex sent the nurse a grateful glance and gently began her examination. When she had finished, she said softly, ‘That’s all done now, Tom. You were very brave.’

      The boy clutched the teddy to him. ‘Teddy hurting,’ he said. ‘He feels sick.’ Suddenly all the colour left his face and the nurse promptly moved forward with a kidney dish, holding it in place as he began to retch.

      Alex went to sit next to the child’s mother. ‘We tested Tom’s urine earlier,’ she told her, ‘and it looks as though he has a urinary infection of some kind. It’s quite possible that his kidneys are inflamed, so I’m going to start him on a course of antibiotics. I’ll give him the first dose by injection so that it will start to act quicker, but the rest we’ll give by mouth.’ She glanced at Charlotte and gave instructions about the medications. ‘And that includes something to ease the pain and bring down his temperature.’

      ‘Thank you.’ Mrs Stanhope seemed anxious. ‘How long will it be before he’s better?’

      ‘It could be two or three weeks. I feel we should admit him to hospital so that we can keep an eye on him—I know that’s probably worrying for you, but we have to make sure we deal with this properly, right from the start, and of course that way he’ll be on hand when we get the results of his urine culture back from the lab.’

      Mrs Stanhope nodded. ‘It’s all right. I just want what’s best for him.’

      ‘That’s good. I’ll make the arrangements.’ Alex stood up and went back to her small patient. ‘Just a tiny jab,’ she told him, preparing the antibiotic injection. ‘It will all be over in a second or two.’

      A few minutes later, she left the infant and his mother in Charlotte’s capable hands, and went to look for Callum. He was nowhere to be found, not in any of the treatment rooms, or in Resus, or even out by the ambulance bay. She checked the quadrangle where staff sometimes took a breath of fresh air between seeing patients, but he wasn’t there either.

      She frowned. ‘Any sign of Dr Brooksby?’ she asked Katie as the nurse walked towards the reception area.

      ‘None at all.’ Katie shrugged lightly. ‘I expect he’s gone back to Resus.’

      Alex suppressed a sigh. ‘Not to worry,’ she said. ‘I dare say I’ll catch up with him sooner or later.’

      Katie nodded. ‘That’s how it is down here, unfortunately. Everyone’s so busy.’

      Alex’s mouth made a flat line. Busy or not, they all had to work together to help streamline the department, or before too long the trust board would be calling for closures. One way or another they had to find time to cooperate with her. ‘If anyone needs me, I’m heading over to Pathology,’ she said.

      She would take Tom’s sample over to the lab herself for culture, and ask if the results could be hurried up. Once they knew the bacterial culprit, they could choose the most appropriate treatment for the child. The wide-spectrum antibiotic she had used was a catch-all for the most likely bacteria, but given the severity of the infection it was possible that they needed to use something more specific to counteract it.

      She walked into the lab a few minutes later, shooting a quick glance around the room. Over to one side, by the workbenches, she saw a by-now familiar figure huddled over a rack of test tubes.

      ‘So here you are,’ she murmured, after handing over the specimen to the lab technician. ‘I never would have thought to find you here, Dr Brooksby.’

      He straightened, turning to look at her. ‘I’m checking on some samples I sent for testing. I want to see how things are coming along, you know.’

      ‘Really?’ She inspected the label of the sample he was studying. ‘Since when were you working with the staff on the geriatric ward? Was your patient sent there from A and E?’

      He frowned. ‘It’s the wrong sample,’ he said. ‘My patient’s elderly, but not geriatric.’

      She sent him a cautious look, her grey eyes doubtful. ‘You wouldn’t be deliberately trying to avoid me, would you, Dr Brooksby?’

      ‘Callum, please. Now, why on earth would I want to do that?’

      ‘That’s what I’m wondering. Only I was under the impression we were going to meet up in the treatment room a while ago. Didn’t you agree to that?’

      ‘Of course—though I believe what I actually said was that it was a good idea, which is not necessarily the same thing as saying I’d be there. You can’t guarantee anything in the hectic atmosphere of the A and E department.’ He searched among the papers in a wire tray and grasped one in triumph. ‘Found it,’ he said. He held it up to her. ‘My patient’s results.’

      She stared at him in frustration. ‘Why is it that I have the feeling you’re playing games with me?’ she asked. ‘You haven’t actually completed the drug lists, have you? Or tried to catch up on filling in the waiting times on your casualty cards?’

      He leaned back against the workbench, his long legs crossed at the ankles. ‘Actually.uh.no, you’re right. I haven’t.’ His mouth made a rueful shape. ‘As I said before, I’m much more of a hands-on medic than someone who concentrates on keeping his paperwork up to date.’

      His gaze ran over her, appreciation lighting his eyes as he took in the shapeliness of her figure outlined by her classically styled dress. ‘I know you want to get on with updating your numbers and counting the financial cost of everything, but is it so essential that it’s done right this minute? You’ve only been here a short time. Surely you need to take some time to settle in? And how about giving everyone a bit of leeway? Give them a chance to get used to the idea of you being around. That way people would be so much more on your side.’

      She sighed. ‘That would be so satisfying, wouldn’t it…just to let everything hang easy for a while, gain a little popularity and then sit back and enjoy the ride?’ There was amusement in her tone. ‘I hardly think that’s going to happen.’ Her grey glance meshed with his.

      ‘You don’t?’ He frowned.

      ‘I don’t. Why do you imagine I was brought in here? The executives were hardly going to appoint a pussycat to monitor things, were they?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘The hospital budget is badly overdrawn and the trust has to make drastic cuts if the services the public want and expect are to survive.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘So that’s where I come in. I have the task of auditing the department to find out where savings can be made…and if I don’t come up with the right answers, the whole emergency unit is at risk—so it’s not just my job on the line, but those of everyone who works here.’ She studied him. ‘You do understand that, don’t you?’

      He lifted his shoulders. ‘Of course I do…it’s just that I don’t see why you can’t hold fire for a while. The trust has been overspending for years—a few weeks isn’t going to make much difference to the grand scheme of things, is it?’

      She shook her head, causing her chestnut curls to swirl and shimmer under the overhead lights. ‘That’s where you’re wrong, I’m afraid. I have to report back to the board at the end of each month. They aren’t going to look kindly on me or the department if I show them an empty file.’

      He watched the cloud of burnished hair drift and settle. ‘You realise, don’t you,’ he countered, ‘that the board will do what it wants, no matter what facts and figures you manage to produce? If they’re set on closing the department, then ultimately that’s what they’ll do. They just need you to give them the firepower.’

      She regarded him steadily. ‘Well, I don’t think that way about it

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