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here tonight.’

      ‘Rather a baptism of fire,’ he replied easily. He glanced at the ward sister and raised his brows. ‘Apparently, Charlie’s mum hit Heather. I don’t know if she told you.’

      ‘No, she didn’t!’ Marion exclaimed. ‘You should have said something, Heather.’

      ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Heather said quickly, because the last thing she wanted was to make a fuss. ‘The poor woman was upset and I understand that’s why it happened.’

      ‘It’s good of you to take it that way, but I made it clear to Mrs Maguire that we view these matters extremely seriously,’ Archie said firmly. ‘I won’t have members of staff being assaulted for any reason.’

      Heather shrugged. ‘I’m sure it won’t happen again.’ She swiftly changed the subject, loath to get into an argument. ‘What should I tell Mrs Jackson? She seems very anxious about taking Emily home.’

      ‘I’ll have a word with her,’ Archie offered immediately. He turned to Marion and grinned. ‘I’ll have to take a rain-check on that tea and the massage, I’m afraid.’

      He laughed when the sister rolled her eyes. It was obviously an ‘in’ joke and Heather couldn’t help feeling excluded as he followed her out of the office. She sighed. Being out of the loop was something she would have to get used to now that she was doing agency work. Still, the up side was that she wouldn’t have to explain herself to anyone and that more than made up for it.

      They went back to the ward and Archie headed straight for Emily’s bed. He seemed to have taken it for granted that Heather would go with him so she did. He smiled at Emily’s mother when she hurriedly stood up. Heather had noticed how nervous the woman appeared to be when she’d been speaking to her and she was pleased to see that Archie was making allowances for that.

      ‘I believe you were asking if Emily could go home tomorrow, Mrs Jackson,’ he said gently.

      ‘That’s right. Her…her father is very keen to have her back at home so I said I’d ask you,’ the woman whispered, nervously plucking at the cuff of her expensive cashmere sweater.

      Heather frowned when she spotted a livid bruise on the woman’s wrist. It was obviously a recent injury and it must have been painful, although Mrs Jackson appeared unaware of it.

      ‘I can understand that,’ Archie replied soothingly. ‘However, I think it would be better if we kept Emily here for another day or so. Her kidney function is almost back to normal but I don’t want to take any chances of her relapsing. Another couple of days will make all the difference.’

      ‘If you say so, Doctor,’ the woman mumbled.

      She quickly gathered up her belongings, said goodbye to Emily and left. Heather smiled at the little girl when she noticed her downcast expression.

      ‘Mummy will be back tomorrow to see you, sweetheart. In the meantime, would you like to watch some television or maybe read a book?’

      Emily’s big dark eyes fastened hopefully on her face. ‘Will you read me a story?’ she whispered, sounding exactly like her mother.

      ‘Of course I will!’ Heather reached over to hug her, feeling alarm run through her when the child immediately cowered away. It was obvious the little girl had been expecting a blow and there could be only one explanation for it, too.

      ‘I’ll go and find you a book then come straight back,’ she assured her, glancing at Archie to see if he had noticed Emily’s reaction. It was clear from his expression that he had, and that he’d drawn the same conclusion as she had done. He followed her to the dayroom and she could feel the waves of anger emanating from him.

      ‘You noticed it too, didn’t you?’ she said quietly, crouching down in front of the bookcase.

      ‘The way she cringed when you went to touch her? Yes.’ His tone was grim. ‘I had my suspicions when Emily was admitted but there was no proof that she’d been injured deliberately. The father’s explanation could very easily have been true.’

      ‘What did he say had happened to her?’ Heather asked, pulling out a book about Paddington Bear, a particular favourite of hers when she’d been Emily’s age.

      ‘He said that Emily had fallen off her scooter in the park and had hurt herself when she’d banged into a tree. The mother backed him up.’

      ‘I read her notes and I know she had severe bruising to her right kidney when she was admitted.’

      ‘That’s right. She was in a bad way when she was brought in—passing blood and in tremendous pain. Although only her right kidney had been damaged, we decided to take the strain off her left one and put her on dialysis while it recovered.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s hard to believe that any parent could do that to their own child.’

      ‘Has she been brought into hospital before?’ Heather asked, standing up.

      ‘We don’t have any notes for her here, but I’ll have a word with the social workers and see if they can check if she’s been treated at another hospital. If we can find a history of so-called accidents, it would help to prove that she’s being abused.’ He sighed. ‘They’ll need to be quick, though. I can’t keep her in here for ever.’

      ‘I noticed that the mother has a really bad bruise on her wrist. It might be worth following that up to see if there’s ever been a complaint made about domestic violence by any of their neighbours.’

      ‘Good idea!’ he exclaimed and smiled at her. ‘I can tell you’re going to be an asset to this department. Any chance of you taking a job here on a permanent basis?’

      ‘I’m afraid not. I don’t intend to put down any roots until I’ve decided what I want to do with my life.’

      ‘Do I take it that you didn’t go ahead with the wedding?’ he said softly.

      ‘No. I called it off that night, after I’d spoken to you.’

      His eyes darkened with sympathy. ‘It must have been very difficult for you.’

      ‘It was.’ She gave him a tight little smile, unwilling to go into detail when they were in such a public place. Thinking about the hurt she had caused everyone upset her and she didn’t want to risk breaking down. ‘I’d better go and read Emily her story before she thinks I’ve forgotten about it,’ she said, edging away.

      ‘Of course. But if you ever need to talk, I’m a good listener, Heather. Remember that, won’t you?’

      ‘I shall. Thank you.’

      Another smile and she made her escape. However, as she went back to the little girl’s bed, Heather felt a new lightness in her spirit. For the past few weeks she had done nothing but berate herself for the mess she’d made of things and it was a relief not to feel guilty for a change.

      She sighed because it would be stupid to get carried away by Archie’s kindness. She had every reason to feel guilty when she had let so many people down. It hadn’t been only Ross who’d been affected by her decision not to go ahead with the wedding, but both their families as well. Her father in particular had been terribly distressed. He seemed to believe that he was to blame in some way, but that wasn’t true.

      Matthew Thompson had done everything he could to make sure that Heather had been safe and happy since her mother had died so tragically after suffering a stroke. Heather had been fifteen at the time and she had been devastated by her mother’s death. Her father had been, too, but he had focused all his energy on helping Heather come to terms with her loss.

      It had brought them even closer so that Heather had had no hesitation about taking a job in Dalverston after she’d finished her nursing degree. Her father had supported her for all those years and she’d wanted to be there for him, too. Ross’s mother had been a partner at the general practice her father had run for a number of years, and when Ross had completed his GP training, he had joined the practice as well.

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