Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Honestly I haven’t thought about it,” he replied. “But when I look at my mum and dad, there’s nothing about their relationship that would make me set against it.”
“They’re in Norfolk?”
He nodded. “We should go. They would love to meet you and it would mean we could go out and take a walk. They have a new puppy. We can take him down to Blakeney point.”
“You want me to meet your parents?”
“We can escape Hampstead and London and the danger of being seen by anyone in the hospital. Why not?”
When he put it like that, it sounded perfect.
“That sounds good, but only if you promise not to propose.”
“Cross my heart.”
Twenty-Three
Sutton
After rounds, I’d not seen Jacob at all. He was in clinic with Gilly, seeing patients. I was following up a number of things from rounds, checking results of blood tests and ECGs. I’d worked through my lunch to get things done and everything was going pretty smoothly. I was feeling pretty good about myself.
“Sutton,” Gareth called from the other side of the bay.
I turned and stepped toward his bed. “How are you feeling, Gareth?” Gareth was nine and recovering from having a new pacemaker fitted.
“I’m fine. More than fine. Will I go home today?”
“You want me to lie or tell the truth.”
“Tell the truth, of course,” he said.
“I think you’ll have to spend another night here. If you’re still okay this time tomorrow, we can let you go home.” Gareth had had to have a blood transfusion during his operation and we wanted to keep an eye on him.
“But I’m okay now. Why can’t I go home?”
“Because we want you to rest a little while longer. If you go home, you’re going to be tempted to go out on your bike and get on the Xbox you keep telling me you’re so good at.”
Gareth looked despondent. “I promise I’ll rest at home. I just want to be with my mum.”
My heart squeezed at the way his voice trembled. I pulled up a chair next to his bed and took a seat. “You want to call her?” Gareth’s father was in the navy and was on deployment at the moment. He had twin baby sisters at home, which meant his mother couldn’t stay over at the hospital as much as some of the other parents did. Sometimes I wondered whether my parents would have stayed if I’d ever been in hospital. Maybe when they’d been together, but after the divorce, my mum wouldn’t have wanted to be bothered with visiting me. I would have been viewed as a bother if I was in hospital. Hell, I was viewed as a bother by just existing.
I was sure Gareth’s mother didn’t feel the same. I’d found her crying at the lifts when she had to leave him to go and take care of her daughters.
He shook his head. “It’s the twins’ nap time. She tries to sleep too. I don’t want to wake her.”
I slid my hand over his and squeezed it. “She loves you an awful lot.” I glanced at his bedside table and the gold and maroon washbag.
“You a Harry Potter fan?”
He nodded his head. “I’ve read all of the books. Twice.”
“Impressive. What about How to Train Your Dragon?” I asked.
He frowned like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
“You’ve not read it? Oh, wow. I have a treat in store for you. Hang on a sec.” I’d seen a worn copy of the first book over by the nurses’ station earlier, waiting for the mobile library this afternoon. Gareth would love it.
My pager bleeped and I checked it. A&E. I grabbed the book. “Make a start on that,” I said to Gareth. “I’ll be back later to see how you like it.”
I picked up the phone and dialed A&E. “Hi, it’s Sutton,” I said.
“We need Jacob down here,” Fraser, one of the FY1s, said. “As soon as you can. One of his patients. Looks like it might be a heart attack.”
“Okay, I’ll get him.”
Swiftly, I headed toward Jacob’s clinic room and almost ran into him as I was passing through the lift lobby. “You’re needed in A&E.”
“I know. Come with me.”
I nodded as he reached around me and pressed the button. Miraculously, the lift doors opened as if they’d been waiting for us and we stepped into the semi-empty lift.
“They paged you?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yup.”
“Gilly is still in clinic?”
“Just finishing up notes. I was about to head to lunch.”
We hit the ground floor and I scrambled to keep up with Jacob’s long, swift strides.
We headed to the nurses’ station, where Fraser was waiting, transferring his weight from foot to foot, which made him look like he was desperate to go to the loo. “Brittni Handle,” he said. “Six years old. You’ve treated her for a ventricular septal defect. She’s falling in and out of consciousness.” He pushed his iPad toward Jacob, who immediately shared it with me. We saw her vitals. The EEG didn’t look like she was having a heart attack, but in children, things could present so differently.