City Surgeon, Small Town Miracle

by Marion Lennox

  ‘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.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘OH, DOCTOR, thank goodness,’ gasped the young pale woman rushing around the car to intersect with Terri at the passenger door. ‘The attack’s so bad. I didn’t think we were going to make it.’

  Terri leaned into the car, conscious of the teacher hovering behind her as she ran a critical eye over Allie. Hunched shoulders, hands pressed to her sides as she laboured for breath, audibly wheezing with each hard-won lungful.

  ‘Hi, Allie. Can you understand me?’

  The glossy head gave a tiny nod.

  ‘I’m going to put an oxygen mask on you.’ She fitted the soft plastic mask over the blue-tinged lips and flaring nostrils. Frightened blue eyes clung to hers briefly before closing.

  ‘I’ve got a gurney here, Terri,’ said Susan.

  ‘Okay, let’s get her inside.’

  Terri was shocked by how frail the child felt in her arms. She settled her on the gurney, seating her as upright as possible.

  Susan wheeled the gurney through to a cubicle as Terri took a set of obs. Allie’s slender shoulders rose and fell at a rate of about forty respirations per minute. Beneath her fingertips, Terri could feel the child’s radial pulse rocketing at one hundred and sixty beats per minute.

  ‘I know it’s hard, sweetheart, but I want you to try to relax as much as you can, slow down your breathing.’ Terri clipped a pulse oximeter onto one dainty finger.

  Another slow nod.

  ‘We’re looking after you now and we’ll have you comfortable in no time,’ she said soothingly.

  ‘Where’s Daddy?’

  ‘He’s on his way, sweetheart. Susan’s taking your shirt off now so she can attach some dots to your skin.’

  With the clothing stripped away, Terri could see the way each desperate breath hollowed out the soft tissues around Allie’s clavicle, leaving skin gleaming white over angular bone.

  Terri placed the stethoscope diaphragm on Allie’s chest and listened to pounding heartbeats accompanying the harsh wheeze in the girl’s lungs. No sound at all would have been a very bad sign.

  ‘Do you think you could do a peak flow for me?’

  The dark head bobbed and Allie reached for the tube.

  ‘Good girl.’ Terri glanced at the scale on the side of the tube. The baseline reading was forty percent of what she’d expect for a child of Allie’s age and size. ‘Allie, have you been taking preventative medication?’

  ‘Didn’t. Take.’

  ‘What about your puffer, sweetheart? Did you have it with you at the museum today?’

  The cubicle curtain clattered and suddenly Luke was beside the gurney.

  Allie raised shadowed eyes to her father then looked at Terri and shook her head tiredly.

  ‘Okay, sweetie,’ Terri said. ‘Susan, a gown, large, and a pair of gloves, please.’

  ‘Allie, honey, what happened?’ Luke stroked the hair off her forehead with hands that shook visibly. ‘Try to relax, sweetheart.’ He looked up at the oximeter and then pinned Terri with a fierce look. ‘What’s going on? Her oxygen sat is only eighty-nine per cent. Why isn’t she on a nebuliser?’

  ‘We’re just about to start one,’ Terri said gently. ‘Luke, you have to let us do our job. Your job is to be calm for Allie.’

  His face worked as he pulled himself back under control. When he spoke, his voice was rough but more measured. ‘I’m staying.’

  ‘I know. Susan’s beside you with a gown and gloves for you. So, let’s get this nebuliser started.’ She was aware of him moving, pulling on the gown, as she broke an ampule of bronchodilator into the nebuliser cup. Oxygen gurgled noisily through the liquid, delivering a fine mist of life-saving bronchodilator. The clear plastic frosted with Allie’s urgent rasping breaths.

  Terri glanced at Luke. How hard it must be for him to see Allie’s battle. His strong features reflected the suffering his daughter was going through. The naked emotion brought a hot lump to her throat.

  She turned away to check Allie’s readings.

  Little response. She prepared a second inhalation and bent to swap the nebuliser cup. ‘Do you think you could swallow something for me, Allie?’

  The girl nodded.

  ‘Have you got a favourite jam?’

  Another nod.

  ‘Apricot?’ The dark head shook.

  ‘Strawberry,’ Luke said, his voice hoarse. A nod from Allie.

  ‘Susan, could you mash prednisolone in jam, please? We’re going with the strawberry.’

  Luke watched Terri smile at his daughter. He could see the situation was desperate. As a father he wanted to yell and rage and demand she do something to help Allie, to relieve his daughter’s suffering, to make it better.

  Stat!

  As a doctor, he knew everything that could be done was being done.

  Thank God for Terri. Calm, competent, caring. Confidence-inspiring. He was grateful for the small tasks she assigned him. He was there to be with his daughter, that’s what mattered. It helped him that he was doing something, no matter how small.

  Three hours later, Terri opened the door to Allie’s room and tiptoed across to the bed where Luke sat keeping watch. They’d worked for two hours to stabilise Allie. He’d been ready to slay monsters to save her if necessary. His protective concern appealed deeply and Terri realised she felt acutely vulnerable having seen him this way.

  Only now that the frightening attack was over could she admit how serious the situation had been. The thought that she might have failed Luke, failed Allie, sent a shaft of nausea into her stomach.

  She touched Luke’s shoulder. He stirred, turning to look up at her. His expression was dazed.

  ‘She’s going to be okay now.’

  ‘Yes, thanks to you.’

  ‘Thanks to the tea
m.’ She looked at his drawn face, lines of exhaustion etched around his mouth, and her heart squeezed. ‘Take a break, get something to eat and drink, Luke.’

  He opened his mouth, refusal in his eyes.

  ‘Just for a few minutes. I’ll stay here with Allie.’

  She could see he still wanted to refuse.

  ‘I promise I’ll be right here when you get back.’

  ‘Okay.’ He stood slowly and arched his back. ‘Thank you. I won’t be long.’

  ‘I know.’ She smiled.

  Alone with Allie, Terri smoothed the sheet at the edge of the bed and allowed herself a moment longer to watch the sleeping child. It was a pleasure and a relief to see the steady respirations and better skin colour. To check the monitor and see pulse, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate all nearly within the normal range. A stark contrast to the girl who had presented in the emergency department.

  For the initial one hundred minutes of her admission, it had been all too possible that her condition could have deteriorated disastrously. She’d been so tired, using accessory muscles as she’d fought for breath.

  Terri stroked Allie’s forehead, watching the fragile eyelids flutter open above the oxygen mask. Blue eyes, startlingly like her father’s, flickered and focussed slowly.

  ‘Hey, sweetheart,’ Terri said softly. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Okay.’ Allie smiled weakly. Her pale skin contrasted with the purple-grey crescents that shadowed her eyes.

  As her eyes cleared, she looked around.

  ‘Your dad will be back in a minute,’ said Terri. ‘He’s been sitting with you since you came in.’

  ‘I know. I don’t know why,’ she said, her voice filled with pain as she closed her eyes and turned her head away.

  Terri blinked and stood lost for words for a long moment. ‘What do you mean, Allie?’

  The girl’s mouth trembled. ‘H-he hates me.’

  ‘Oh, honey-’ Denial sprang to Terri’s lips, her tongue started to form the words. She stopped, stifling the automatic response. Allie believed what she was saying.