The Doctor's Family Secret. Joanna Neil

he queried.

      ‘I do.’

      ‘OK. If you’re right, you should admit him and start antibiotics. He may need surgical drainage.’

      ‘Yes, I know. I’d intended to start him on antibiotics straight away.’ Her green eyes flashed momentarily. Didn’t he believe that she was capable of making her own diagnosis? Why did he feel it necessary to step in with advice?

      She pulled in a deep breath. There was no point in feeling resentful, was there? After all, he was in charge while the consultant was away, and he was just doing his job as he saw fit. Maybe when he got to know her better he would come to realise that she was a good doctor, and that she knew her stuff.

      Frowning, he said, ‘You may find that you need to explain it carefully to the parents. They could be worried that it might mean a long spell in hospital for him.’

      ‘It doesn’t necessarily mean that, though, does it? He might have to take antibiotics for several weeks but, provided he shows signs of improvement after his initial stay in hospital, he could probably continue those at home.’

      ‘Yes, you’re right. Have you thought about analgesia?’

      ‘Of course. It’s obvious that he’s in pain.’ She sent him a brooding look. ‘I am capable of looking after my patients, you know.’

      His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Sorry. It gets to be a habit, overseeing junior doctors. A lot of them are nervous when they start work in A and E. They come across things they’ve never seen before, and they need as much support as we can give them.’

      His unaccustomed humility came as a surprise, and she found herself looking at him in a new light. Her gaze travelled over his strongly sculpted features, the edges softened now by wry amusement. He was a good-looking man by any standards, but when he smiled it lit up his face, and she was uncomfortably aware of his sheer maleness. She looked away. She didn’t want to find him attractive—that was the last thing on earth she wanted.

      ‘I appreciate that you don’t know me very well yet,’ she murmured. ‘But you can have confidence in me. I’m not going to let you down.’

      ‘Well, we’ll see. You wouldn’t be the first to believe that you have it all under control.’ He paused, and then added, ‘There is just one other thing that you might not have thought about. It’s possible that the parents might be feeling guilty. Perhaps that’s something you should address.’

      ‘Why should they feel guilty? They’ve done nothing wrong.’

      ‘Sometimes parents feel that they should have recognised the problem before it reached this stage. That’s something you might need to reassure them about.’

      He walked away then, leaving Laura to dwell on his words. Was he right? Lewis’s mother had seemed confident enough on the surface, though now she came to think about it, the woman had been a little weepy. Laura had put that down to natural worry about her son, but there could be more to it after all.

      She went off to check with the lab about the blood tests, and just as she put the phone down, Lewis’s mother came hurrying towards her.

      ‘I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I had trouble getting through to my husband at work. I didn’t realise he was already on his way here.’ She looked anxiously at Laura. ‘How is Lewis? Have you had any results yet? Do you know what’s wrong with him?’

      Laura nodded. ‘It looks as though Lewis’s recent chest infection could be the source of his troubles. The infection has been carried in his bloodstream and is affecting the bone in his leg. It’s a very painful condition, but we’re giving him something to ease that.’

      Mrs Watkins looked panic-stricken. ‘It’s bad, isn’t it?’ Her face crumpled. ‘It’s all my fault. I didn’t realise how bad it was. I should have done something sooner.’

      Laura shook her head. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong, Mrs Watkins. You must believe that.’

      She grimaced inwardly. Much as it troubled her to admit it, it looked as though Nick had been right. The woman did blame herself, and it should be a lesson to Laura that she took too much for granted. She still had a lot to learn.

      ‘Lewis had treatment for his chest infection,’ Laura explained, ‘but the bacteria were aggressive and resistant. There was nothing you could have done about that.’

      She gave the woman a reassuring smile. ‘We’re going to give Lewis much stronger antibiotics than those that he had before,’ she said. ‘We’ll be giving them intravenously so that we can do everything in our power to beat this infection. We’re expecting him to recover completely, but it will take a while, possibly a few weeks.’

      ‘Will he have to stay in hospital?’

      Laura nodded. ‘Yes. Just for a week or so, until we’re sure that he’s on the mend. After that, as soon as he’s well enough he should be able to go on with the drug therapy at home.’

      ‘Can I see him?’

      ‘Yes, of course you can. You can stay with him as much as you like. I’m going to set up his intravenous line right now if you want come with me.’ Looking closely at the anxious woman, she added reassuringly, ‘We’ll soon have him feeling better.’

      ‘Thank you. I know that you’re doing all you can for him. It’s just that he’s so young…he’s all that I have.’

      ‘I’m confident that we’ve caught this in time,’ Laura said softly. ‘Come and see him. You’ll be able to cheer him up.’

      Laura was kept busy for the rest of the afternoon, and thankfully managed to keep out of Nick’s way. She didn’t want him breathing down her neck, watching her every move. It wasn’t as though he singled her out for attention—he kept firm control over everything that went on in A and E—but she found his presence unnerving. It was bad enough that he hadn’t wanted her on his team, and his ongoing disagreements with her father were an additional irritation.

      She wondered how her father was coping. He hadn’t been well, and she had been concerned about him all day. Now that things had quietened down again, she could go and see him.

      His office was on the next floor and, approaching it, she saw his door begin to open. She slowed her pace a little. If her father was at his desk, and free, she would pop her head round the door and say hello.

      Instead, she heard the sound of a voice clipped in anger, and her heart sank.

      ‘No, David, I don’t see your point at all,’ Nick was saying. ‘In fact, you can take it from me that this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot that can be done to make the department run more smoothly and efficiently, and I’ve a number of ideas as to how we can make the place more user friendly. I don’t accept that it can’t be done, and if I were in charge of the department I would be on your case every day. As it is, I’ll make sure Tom Edwards knows what I think.’

      Laura drew in a sharp breath. It was a good thing that the general public didn’t use this corridor. It wouldn’t have been helpful for them to hear the argument that was going on. She hesitated, not wanting to eavesdrop but not knowing what she should do. She had come to talk to her father, and it looked as though his meeting with Nick was about to come to an end. There was hardly any point in retracing her steps.

      ‘I’m sure that Tom already knows what needs to be done,’ her father responded shortly. ‘As the consultant in charge, I imagine that he wants to see changes every bit as much as you do.’

      He paused. ‘Look, Nick, I do agree with you that we need to run the department in an effective manner. I know how important these things are, and what you’re saying is reasonable enough, but it’s a question of priorities. A lot of the time the X-ray machine that we have is left idle—evenings and weekends, for instance, when the outpatient departments are closed. Surely you must see that?’

      ‘What