Читать книгу Paddington Children's Hospital Complete Collection - Kate Hardy - Страница 19

CHAPTER TEN

SHE WAS HER usual confident self at work and did not try to avoid him.

In fact, Victoria met his eyes when she handed over patients and didn’t dash off.

Perhaps she actually wanted to be a single parent, Dominic pondered.

Some women did.

He knew that Victoria was incredibly independent and she had told him that she didn’t really do well with relationships.

Yet, he wanted a chance for them, and more and more he was getting used to the idea of being a father.

Not in the rush-out-and-buy-the-books way this time.

He was starting to feel the fear.

He saw her leave the department and Dominic followed her out. He knew they would be making up the vehicle and sure enough there were Victoria and Glen.

She was sitting in the back drinking tea poured from a silver flask; it was the only hint that she might be avoiding him, because in months gone by she and Glen would have come into the department to grab a drink.

‘How are you?’ he asked.

‘Fine.’ She gave him a smile and Glen made some noise about calling his wife and left them to it.

‘When are you on nights?’ Dominic asked.

‘We start tomorrow.’

‘How do you think you’ll go?’

‘I’ll be fine.’

‘Well, if you need anything, I’m on call over the weekend, so just—’

‘I shan’t need anything, Dominic.’

‘You do need to tell work,’ he said.

Yes, the fear was real and he could not stand the thought of her out on the streets at night over the weekend.

‘I know what I need to do.’

She tried to end the conversation but Dominic persisted.

‘What happened the other night?’ Dominic asked. He had been over and over it, and the night that had started with such promise had failed for reasons that he could not grasp.

‘Nothing happened.’

Exactly.

‘Just because I’m not talking to my family at the moment, it doesn’t mean—’

‘Dominic,’ Victoria interrupted him. ‘What happens between you and your family is your concern. I don’t want to get involved with all the ins and outs. I’ve got enough going on in my own life. Aside from the pregnancy, the campaign for Paddington’s is getting bigger by the day.’ She gave a shrug.

‘What about us?’

‘There’s no us,’ she said, and she made herself look right at him as she did so. ‘Dominic, you only asked me out when you knew I was pregnant...’ He opened his mouth to speak but she overrode him. ‘If I’d wanted anything more than that night, then I think I’m assertive enough that I’d have asked you for a date, but I didn’t. We’re adults—we’ll work things out closer to the baby’s due date.’

And still she made herself look at him, though it was almost her undoing because she wanted to lean on him; she wanted him to tell her again that it wasn’t a mess.

That it would sort itself out.

She was scared how deep her feelings were for him and was terrified to let Dominic close.

‘Have you rescheduled the ultrasound?’ he asked.

Victoria nodded. ‘It’s on Monday at ten. I’ll ask them to cc you in on the images.’

‘Victoria,’ Glen called her. ‘We’ve got a collapsed infant...’

She tipped her drink into the bush and replaced the lid. ‘See you.’

It was a call-out to a baby who was unresponsive and the location was a hotel.

Glen drove them right up to the entrance and they loaded their equipment onto the stretcher. A member of staff greeted them and told them what was happening as she showed them up to the hotel room.

‘The father called down to Reception and said to get an ambulance straight away and that the baby was very sick,’ she explained. ‘That’s all I really know.’

They took the lift and Victoria looked at Glen, who was very quiet, as had become usual for him when it was children or babies.

The woman who had guided them up knocked on the door and, as she opened it with a swipe card, Victoria stepped in. For the first time in her career, she faltered. A gentleman greeted them in a panicked voice.

‘What the hell took so long?’

For an instant she had thought that the man was Dominic.

And in that instant, she told herself that Dominic was way too much on her mind if she was starting to think that complete strangers were him.

This man was younger. It was the accent that had sideswiped her.

And also, Victoria knew, Dominic didn’t panic, which this man was clearly doing.

It was all just for an instant, so small that even Glen did not notice her pause.

Just a tiny slice of time, but it was enough for Victoria to realise that this was Dominic’s brother.

And so this must be Lorna.

Dominic’s ex.

A tearful Lorna was kneeling on the floor beside the bed and bending over her son.

‘Why were you so long...?’ Jamie persisted.

‘Jamie,’ Lorna shouted to him to stop. ‘He’s turned grey! At the hospital we were told he was fine,’ Lorna said. ‘But I knew though that something was wrong.’

Something was very wrong.

A very small baby was lying on the bed on his back with his limbs flaccid by his side. He wore only a nappy and Victoria could see even before she reached the bed that he was grunting and struggling to breathe.

‘Come on, William,’ his father cried. He was frantic. ‘Come on, son!’

As Glen checked the baby’s vitals, Victoria administered oxygen to the infant via a bag and mask. He was breathing, but it was with effort, and so she bagged him a few times, pushing oxygen into his little lungs to assist the little one with his breathing.

As Glen attached him to the cardiac monitor she could see from the trace and hear from the beeps that his heart was beating far too fast.

‘We came down to London to bring him to Paddington’s,’ Jamie explained. ‘My brother is a doctor there.’

And this was no coincidence, Victoria was starting to realise—they had come here to seek help for their baby.

‘I know your brother,’ Victoria said, and looked up briefly from the struggling infant. ‘In fact,’ she said to Jamie, though she was too busy to look at him, ‘I thought that you were him for a second.’

She felt it better to say she knew Dominic now, rather than to say nothing. There was no time for small talk though; Victoria just felt it was better that she stated it up-front.

The baby had responded to the oxygen and was beginning to pick up; now his little hands were making fists and he was starting to kick at the air.

He went to cry and that was the best moment to bag him—Victoria actually saw him pink up before her eyes. In the background, she could hear them explain a little more of what had happened.

‘I was feeding him and he just went all floppy,’ Lorna explained.

‘He’s on the breast?’ Victoria checked.

‘For the most part.’ Lorna nodded. ‘He had formula yesterday while we were travelling. Sometimes he feeds well, other times it’s a struggle, so I’ve been mixing them up.’

Little William had started to cry in earnest now and was looking a lot better than when they had first arrived.

Victoria and Glen discussed their options for a couple of moments. Inserting an IV would distress him and calling for backup wasn’t required yet. Though stable now, he needed to be at the hospital if he deteriorated again, so the decision was made to transfer him as a babe in arms, the priority being to keep him from getting distressed.

They worked swiftly but calmly.

‘He’ll be more settled if he’s held by you,’ Victoria explained. As Glen watched the baby, Victoria helped Lorna onto the stretcher. Little William was placed in her arms and the monitor was laid by her legs, and soon they were in the ambulance and on their way to the Castle.

He was pinker now and looked so much better, but Victoria would relay to the staff at Paddington’s just how very ill this baby had presented when they had first arrived.

‘I’ve been so worried,’ Lorna said. ‘I’ve been saying that there was something wrong with him for weeks and everyone said I was just being neurotic.’

‘You’re not neurotic,’ Victoria said.

Lorna started to cry, for, while it was nice to be believed, it was awful to have it confirmed that there was something very wrong with your child.

‘There’s been so much going on...’ Lorna said.

‘It’s okay, Lorna,’ Jamie said. ‘None of this is your fault.’ He looked over to Victoria. ‘There’s been a big family fallout. My wife’s been through a lot of late.’

So they had married.

Victoria kept a very close eye on the baby and listened to the couple trying to comfort each other while so very scared for their child.

‘Should we ring your parents?’ Jamie asked Lorna, and she nodded. ‘They’re in Greece,’ he added to Victoria.

‘Maybe we should wait and see what the doctors say?’ Lorna suggested.

Little William was a picture of contentment now, pink and warm in his mother’s arms, but Victoria’s eyes never left him except to glance up and see how far away they still were.

Paddington’s came into view, and when there was a very sick child in your care, it was such a sight to see.

That was why so many were fighting to save it.

There were many who knew from painful experience the value of this wonderful establishment.

Little William’s arrival was seamlessly dealt with, though the department was clearly very busy.

Victoria knew that even before she stepped inside because there were several ambulances in the foyer when they arrived.

It did not affect the care that William received.

Even though he was pink and crying, Victoria swiftly conveyed that this was rather more urgent than it appeared, more with her eyes than anything else, and the triage was rapid.

They were taken through to the resuscitation area and that was busy too. There must have been a vehicular incident just brought in because most of the bays were full and there was a sense of urgency all around. It was then that she saw him.

Dominic.

He was standing talking to Alistair North, a paediatric neurosurgeon, but he glanced over as Victoria came in.

And then she watched as he looked down to the stretcher and she saw his forehead furrow and his jaw tense at the sight of Lorna holding her small baby.

‘Dominic!’ Jamie’s voice was raw as he called out to his brother. ‘He’s not at all well.’

And she was right about him—Dominic wasn’t one to panic.

He said something to Alistair and then he came straight over.

‘William MacBride,’ Glen said. ‘He became unresponsive while his mother was feeding him...’ He relayed some more details as Victoria lifted the baby from his mother’s arms and placed William in an examination cot.

‘I was going to call you today,’ Jamie said to his older brother, ‘and ask you to take a look at him.’

‘You’re in the right place now.’ Dominic nodded. He called for assistance, but when there was none forthcoming, he knew that these next few moments were down to him and took command. ‘What’s been happening?’

‘He’s been struggling to feed and put on weight. The doctor didn’t seem too concerned and the nurse said that Lorna, well...’

‘She thinks that I’m overly anxious.’ Lorna spoke for herself.

‘How was the pregnancy?’ Dominic asked.

‘It went well.’ Lorna just sat on the stretcher, helpless and wringing her hands as her son was transferred from the ambulance’s monitor to the hospital’s. ‘It’s just been these past two weeks. We’ve been getting nowhere. Finally, I got an appointment to see a paediatrician, but it’s not for a couple more weeks. In the end Jamie suggested that we bring him down to be seen by you.’

Dominic nodded but did not comment on that—he was too busy taking care of the infant and, despite the pressure he must surely be under, he did not miss a beat. He was feeling the little boy’s scalp and checking his fontanelle, which Victoria knew from her own examination was sunken, a sign that he was dehydrated, and Dominic asked for more information.

‘So what happened today?’ Dominic asked as Victoria helped Lorna from the stretcher.

‘We were at the hotel.’

‘How long have you been there?’

‘We got there around midnight. The journey down was fine and he had a really good night. I was starting to think we were making a fuss to have come all this way. I was feeding him and saying the very same to Jamie when he started to make all these choking noises and he went floppy.’ She started to cry and Dominic nodded when Karen suggested that she find someone to take the parents to get a detailed history.

Victoria had helped Lorna from the stretcher and the anxious couple were gently led away, but at the last moment Jamie turned and came back.

‘Dominic, he looks fine now, but—’

‘I get that he’s unwell,’ Dominic said. ‘Jamie...’ His voice was firm. ‘You need to hold it together right now. You need to keep your head.’

‘I know but—’

‘Come on,’ Karen said, and he was again led away.

Victoria guessed that it wasn’t the first time Dominic had had to tell his brother that.

The baby was listless again—even crying seemed to exhaust him—and while he lay quietly, Dominic had a very long listen to his heart.

And still she stood there.

Glen made up the stretcher and replaced the used equipment, and still she watched as Dominic took blood. Victoria stood outside as a portable chest X-ray was taken.

But then, instead of heading for the ambulance, she went back in.

‘Can we get the on-call cardiologist down here,’ Dominic instructed.

‘Victoria,’ Glen called out to her. ‘We’ve got another job to go to.’

She knew that they had to leave.

They were extremely busy, but Victoria found herself wanting to linger and to know more.

She admired how calm Dominic was. Oh, she knew it was his job to be, but no one could even guess what he was going through right now.

There was a sense of agency to him that Victoria liked.

And then he looked up and caught her eyes and she gave a thin smile, one of support, one that said she knew how hard this was.

And he gave back a grim smile of thanks.

‘We’d better go,’ Glen said.

Only she didn’t want to go.

For the first time she wanted to linger—unfortunately, there was no choice but to leave.

It was a long day.

An incredibly long one, and there wasn’t a patient aged under sixty in sight, which meant that they didn’t get back to Paddington’s once.

Oh, how badly Victoria wanted to go to the hospital to find out how William was, but instead they were in and out of Riverside and nursing homes. And in a quick coffee break, where Glen rang Hayley, Victoria thought not just about little William and how he was, and not just about Dominic and how he was coping.

But about Lorna.

Victoria had had neither the time nor the inclination to think about it when they had been dealing with the baby, but now, pausing for the first time since it had happened, she reflected on the woman that Dominic had once loved.

Perhaps he still did.

In her head Victoria had painted Lorna as some sort of vixen; in fact, she was softly spoken and pretty.

Dominic and Jamie were very similar in appearance.

Jamie, though, was expressive, not just with his emotions but with the information he shared. Oh, she knew the circumstances had been dire today and that people’s reactions were often extreme when under pressure, but she just could not imagine Dominic opening up in front of someone else the way that Jamie had.

By Dominic’s own admission, even when he had found out the baby wasn’t his, he had stayed quiet as a doctor was present.

They were similar, yet different.

And it was the more stoic MacBride brother that Victoria very possibly loved.

It was a scary thought and one she did not want to pursue, but at the end of a very long shift she could take it no more.

‘Could we stop by the Castle on the way back to the station?’

‘Sure,’ Glen said. He could see her tense face and was wise enough not to probe.

* * *

It had been a long day for Dominic too.

A new cardiologist had started at Paddington’s and Dominic had felt a wash of relief to hand little William over, especially as Dr Thomas Wolfe seemed very thorough, if rather stern.

‘He’s my nephew.’ Dominic had given his findings and then started to explain the relationship he had with the patient but had immediately been interrupted.

‘Then you need to step back,’ Thomas had said. ‘I’ll be in to speak with the family shortly.’

Dominic relayed that information to Jamie and Lorna and though they had communicated throughout the day it had all been about the baby.

Lorna contacted her parents, who were holidaying in Greece, and Dominic was the one who rang his and Jamie’s.

They had been very upset by the news and the call had been brief. They had soon rallied though and had called back to say that they were flying down to London and could Dominic meet them at the airport.

The underground would be far easier but their plane came in near the end of his workday and so Dominic agreed. Though he warned that he might be half an hour or so late, depending on traffic.

Then he rang his cleaner and asked her to stop by and give his apartment a quick once-over.

On top of that there were patients, of course, and near the end of a long and difficult day he looked up and there was Victoria walking towards him.

‘Do you need me to come out?’ he checked, assuming that she wanted him to come and assess a patient in the ambulance, as happened at times.

‘No, no,’ Victoria said. ‘I just stopped by to see how William was doing.’

And he knew from experience that she chose not to get involved with patients, so it touched him that, for his nephew, she had made an exception.

‘He’s in the catheter lab at the moment. He’s had a day of tests and they think he’s going to need surgery.’

‘Cardiac?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’

‘How are his parents?’

‘Exhausted. They’re going to be staying with him overnight, of course.’

And tomorrow? she wanted to ask.

Would he be opening his home to them?

But it was not her place to ask such personal questions; Victoria had made very sure of that, so she was vague in her questioning.

‘Do your parents know?’

‘Of course. They’ll be landing in an hour or so,’ Dominic said. ‘I’ll be heading to the airport soon to pick them up.’

‘I thought you weren’t speaking.’

‘We’ve always spoken,’ Dominic said. ‘We just didn’t know what to talk about for a while.’

And she just looked at him as if he was speaking in a foreign language, and then she gave her smile.

‘I’ve got to go,’ Victoria said. ‘Glen’s waiting.’

‘Okay.’

‘I hope things go well.’

He watched her walk off, somehow elegant in boots and green overalls, and he did not want it left there. ‘Victoria...’ he called out, but she carried on walking.

She was, Dominic decided, a complicated lady.

And he wanted to understand her.