Laura was delighted when she discovered that Katie had been assigned to her care. Learning what she had about the child’s background, had made her more determined than ever to do her best for the little girl. She made a point of stopping to speak to her whenever she got chance throughout the day.
Daniel Glover came back from Theatre and she had a reassuring word with his mother when she saw how anxious Mrs Glover was.
‘Everything went extremely well, Mrs Glover,’ she assured her, smoothing the sheet over the drowsy child. Although Daniel had come round from the anaesthetic, he was still a bit groggy. ‘You’d be surprised how many children have this operation to clear up severe cases of glue ear like Daniel had.’
‘That nice Dr Dawson said that but you can’t help worrying, can you?’ Josephine Glover sighed as she looked at her son. ‘I just wish I’d realised sooner that Daniel had a problem with his hearing but, to be honest, he never acted as though he couldn’t hear me.’
Laura smiled, determinedly quelling the flutter her heart gave at the mention of Mark’s name. She hadn’t seen him since that morning as he hadn’t been back to the ward. She’d heard Rachel telling one of the parents that he was tied up in a meeting but would be available the following day if they wanted to speak to him. The consultant paediatrician, Simon Martindale, was away on holiday so Mark was having to stand in for him, which must have increased his workload.
Now Laura forced herself to focus on Daniel’s worried mother, rather than allowing thoughts of Mark Dawson to intrude. ‘A lot of children adapt to the problem of impaired hearing, so you mustn’t blame yourself. And, of course, the sticky fluid that collects in the middle ear and interferes with the movement of the eardrum and ossicles and causes the problem tends to build up over a period of time. Each time Daniel had a cold or respiratory infection the situation became worse.’
‘I see. But what about these grommets the doctor mentioned—they won’t cause Daniel a problem, will they?’ Mrs Glover queried uncertainly.
‘Not at all. They are just tiny tubes which the surgeon has put into the incisions he’s made in Daniel’s eardrums. Their job is to equalise the pressure on both sides of the eardrum so that the mucus can drain down the Eustachian tubes into the back of Daniel’s throat. They usually fall out of their own accord once the hole in the eardrum closes.’
She smiled encouragingly. ‘Quite frankly, Daniel is going to find life a lot easier now that he can hear what’s going on!’
Mrs Glover looked a lot happier as she was left to sit with her son. Laura carried on with her work and before she knew it five o’clock had arrived. She went to have a word with Katie before going off duty, smiling when she saw the child’s face light up as soon as Katie saw her approaching.
‘I’m going home now, poppet. Is there anything you want before I leave—a drink of juice perhaps?’ she offered, bending to brush the wispy brown hair back from the little girl’s face. There had been a lot of parents in and out of the ward all day, but Katie’s mother had been noticeable by her absence. Now Laura felt her heart ache as she saw the child look eagerly toward the doors as they opened to admit two more visitors, and her ensuing disappointment when once again her mother wasn’t one of them.
‘No, thank you. I’m not thirsty.’ Katie managed a wan little smile as she glanced down at the bedspread. ‘I really like these kittens, Laura. I wish I could show them to Daddy.’
‘Maybe your mummy will phone him and ask him to visit you, then he can see them,’ she suggested, mentally crossing her fingers.
Katie shrugged resignedly. ‘Mummy and Daddy don’t love each other any more. She won’t speak to him when he rings up.’
Laura stifled a groan. It seemed so unfair that the poor mite should have to suffer because of her parents’ break-up. However, there was little she could say so she gave Katie another warm smile. ‘Right, then, sunshine, I’ll see you tomorrow. Be good!’
Katie’s wistful eyes followed Laura as she made her way down the ward. She paused to wave to the little girl then hurried to the staffroom. The other two nurses, who she’d discovered were called Jane Oliver and Cathy Williams, were already there, putting on their coats. They bade her a cheery goodbye, but didn’t wait as they hurried out of the door. They’d disappeared by the time Laura got to the lift. They’d seemed friendly enough but there had been little time to chat as they’d been so busy.
Still, there would be time to get to know one another soon enough, Laura decided, pressing the button for the ground floor. She mustn’t be greedy. Considering it had been her first day, it had gone far better than she’d hoped!
An icy wind greeted her as she left the hospital. It was the end of March and the weather still hadn’t settled down. There had been a mixture of sunny days interspersed with heavy rain for several weeks. This part of northern Lancashire was very beautiful but the weather certainly wasn’t predictable. However, even Laura, well accustomed to the vagaries of the climate, was surprised when it began to snow as she reached the end of the drive. She definitely hadn’t expected that!
Drawing the collar of her coat up under her chin, she hurried towards the bus stop then looked round as she heard a car horn. It took her a second before she recognised the driver as Mark. He drew up alongside her and rolled down the window.
‘Hop in and I’ll give you a lift. Looks as though we’re about to have a bit of a storm.’
He glanced at the sky and Laura realised that he was right as she followed his gaze. The sky had turned a funny yellowish-grey colour, indicating that there was a lot of snow on the way. She hesitated a moment but the thought of the long walk she had once she got off the bus helped her make up her mind.
‘Thanks. I appreciate it,’ she said, sliding quickly into the seat as Mark thrust open the passenger door.
‘No problem.’ He gave her a lazy grin before he pulled out into the traffic. Flicking on the windscreen wipers, he focused his attention on the road as he headed towards the centre of the town. The snow was coming down harder now, sticking to the pavements and turning them white. He didn’t say anything until he’d cleared the worst of the traffic which always built up at rush hour around the cenotaph. Then he shot Laura a smiling glance.
‘Right, where to? I’m afraid I can’t remember where you live from your job application.’
‘I’m sure you can’t,’ she replied tartly. ‘I wouldn’t expect you to.’
‘No?’ He shrugged lightly, guiding the car expertly around a vehicle that suddenly pulled into the kerb without bothering to signal. He seemed unfazed by the manoeuvre and showed no sign of impatience as he drove past, but Laura suspected that tolerance was an intrinsic part of his nature.
She brushed aside that thought, realising that she was making judgements about him which she wasn’t qualified to make.
‘No,’ she stated firmly. ‘I’m sure that you must have read dozens of applications for the job, so why should you recall my details?’
‘Hmm, modest, as well as everything else, Laura. Is there no end to your virtues, I ask myself?’ He laughed to let her know that he was teasing, although there was the strangest gleam in his grey eyes as he shot her a glance.
‘I shall take that with a large pinch of salt, Dr Dawson,’ she retorted, struggling to find just the right note of levity and inwardly sighing with relief when he grinned.
‘Oh, dear, I can see that I won’t be able to soft-soap you, Nurse Grady.’ He changed down a gear as they came to a junction, waiting while a lorry trundled past before he pulled out.
He continued in a more sober tone, ‘Anyway, as it happens, I do remember a lot of what you