‘This is a pretty deep cut,’ she said, examining the wound. ‘I don’t think I can follow the usual procedure and leave it open while we wait to see if there is any infection brewing. It will need several stitches—but I’ll give you an injection of anaesthetic first, of course. We’d better make sure that you have an up-to-date tetanus jab as well.’
‘Okay.’
‘Did this happen on the way to school?’ she asked conversationally as she set about preparing the anaesthetic.
‘No. I left school in the summer.’
‘On the way to work, then?’ she murmured.
He shook his head. ‘I don’t have a job yet. I’ve been trying to find one.’
It was becoming clear that she wasn’t going to make any headway on that score, so she contented herself with explaining the procedure to him. ‘I’m going to inject anaesthetic into the wound,’ she said softly. ‘I’m afraid it will sting a little to begin with, but then gradually the area should become numb. When it’s completely anaesthetised I’ll start to put in the sutures.’
He didn’t say anything, but kept up a stoic expression throughout the procedure, and she wondered what might have happened to him in his young life that made him appear so withdrawn and world-weary.
‘There—that’s the worst bit over with,’ she said a short time later. ‘We’ll wait a moment longer for it to take effect.’
She studied his brooding features for a second or two. He had refused to give an address to the desk clerk, and that worried her. What was he trying to hide?
‘That’s a nasty bruise to your jaw,’ she murmured.
‘It’s nothing,’ he said, his voice gruff.
It was the kind of response she was beginning to expect. Coupled with the lack of information about his home or his parents, she couldn’t help wondering if he was a runaway. Of course at sixteen he wasn’t legally any concern of the authorities, but it worried her that he was here alone and injured, apparently with no relative for them to contact.
‘I’ll make a start on the stitches now,’ she murmured. ‘Can you feel anything when I press here—or there?’
‘No, it’s okay.’
She concentrated on her work for the next few minutes. ‘I’ve noticed that you have a nasty cough,’ she said after a while. ‘When I’ve finished here, I think it would be a good idea if I run the stethoscope over your chest, to see what’s going on in your lungs. I’ll take your temperature as well—if that’s all right with you?’
He frowned. ‘What will you do if you find out there’s something wrong?’
‘It depends on what I find. If there’s an infection you might need to take a course of antibiotics. I can give you a prescription for those, and our pharmacy will dispense them for you.’
He nodded. ‘All right.’
She finished suturing his hand and began to clear away the equipment she had used. While she was doing that a commotion started up, somewhere outside the treatment room, and a hum of deep male voices reverberated through the department.
Rees was looking anxious again, and she told him, ‘That’ll be members of the bikers’ club, come to present the hospital with a cheque from their fund-raising efforts. They’ve done that ever since we treated some of their friends here a few years back. As soon as I’ve examined your chest, I’d better go and make sure they’re being looked after.’
There were a lot of crackles and signs of infection coming from his lungs, she discovered. ‘It sounds as though you have bronchitis,’ she murmured. ‘I’ll ask the nurse to take you along to X-ray as soon as she’s put a dressing on your hand. That way we’ll know for certain what’s going on in your lungs.’ She studied him closely. ‘I’ll be back to see you in a while, when I have the results. All you need to do is sit back and take it easy. Are you happy to go along with that?’
He seemed to relax. ‘Yes, that’s okay.’
She studied his pale, tired features. What had happened to this boy? Had he been living rough on the streets? It was cold outside at this time of year and he only had a thin jacket. He looked clean enough, though, and it was possible he had been staying with a friend. Perhaps she was letting her imagination run away with her?
Still, her instincts were urging her to do what she could to help him out. ‘I brought some food in with me, to serve to the people who are here for the ceremony…Would you like something to eat after your X-ray? I’ll see if we can rustle up a cup of tea for you, too, while we’re about it.’
His face brightened for the first time since she had gone to see him. ‘Yes, please…if that would be all right?’
‘Of course it will. I’ll find someone to bring a tray over to you.’
She hurried away. No doubt Josh was still tending to his patients, and she knew that the specialist registrar was busy in theatre, so unless someone from Management had put in an appearance at the presentation, the bikers were being left to their own devices—and that wouldn’t do at all.
As things turned out, though, she needn’t have worried. The chief administrator was there in Reception, and all due ceremony was being given to the burly bikers who had turned up en masse. A few bemused patients looked on from the waiting room, curious to know what was going on. And a man from the local newspaper was there, taking photos as the manager accepted a cheque from the leader of the bikers’ group—a huge fellow, clad in leather biker’s gear and sporting a tangle of wild black hair.
Alison asked one of the ward assistants if she would take a tray of food and a cup of tea to Rees in the treatment room, and then went to watch the proceedings.
Josh, against all the odds, put in an appearance a short time later, stepping up to the front of Reception in order to address the gathering of people. He began by thanking the bikers for their generous donation, and assured them that it would be put to good use.
The hospital managers, he said, would be exhilarated to know that a good portion of this money would be available for new diagnostic equipment, and when Christmas came around any children unfortunate enough to be in hospital at that time would surely find to their joy that Santa, after searching their homes in vain, had after all managed to discover their whereabouts. He brought chuckles from the crowd, and Alison couldn’t help thinking that his impromptu speech was better than anything she had imagined it might be.
Bringing his speech to a close, he smiled, an action that lit up his features in a way that made Alison go unexpectedly weak at the knees. Standing next to her, Katie, her flatmate, said in a low voice, ‘Oh, wow. That man is way too good-looking. How can any of us be expected to work at our best with him around? It’s very difficult to concentrate when you’re running a fever.’
Alison giggled softly. ‘I’m with you on that one. Of course you could always plead that you need his personal attention…the touch of his cool hand on your brow.’
‘Oh, don’t…don’t say that.’ Katie’s green eyes sparkled, and she wafted a hand by her face as though to fan cool air over her hot cheeks. ‘A hand on my brow would hardly do it. Now you have me imagining all sorts of things—long, sensual sponge baths and the like. Oh, my…what am I going to do? I’ll be fit for nothing for the rest of the day, and I have patients waiting to be seen.’
By now they were both chuckling, and Alison was doing her best to sober up when she became aware of Josh coming towards them.
‘Something amusing, ladies?’ he enquired. ‘Anything that you would care to share with me?’
Katie made a strange gulping sound and covered her mouth with her hand, lowering her head so that the curtain of her chestnut-coloured hair hid her features. Alison aimed a discreet tap of her foot against Katie’s leg to encourage her to restrain