The Greek Children's Doctor(24)

Jenny continued to scream for her mother and Libby exchanged worried looks with Andreas.

'Let's get on with it,' he muttered, and Libby breathed out heavily. It was horrible, seeing the child so distressed.

She was sobbing now and Libby couldn't stand it a moment longer. She  pulled up a chair, wrapped the child in a sterile towel and scooped her  onto her lap, cuddling her close.

'There, sweetheart,' she crooned. 'Mummy will be coming in a minute. There's a good girl.'

She continued to talk soothing nonsense while Andreas searched for a  vein. Libby prayed that he'd find one quickly, watching his lean, brown  hands as he tapped and squeezed until he was satisfied.

He rocked back on his heels and pulled a face. 'Well, I think that looks hopeful.'

The A and E sister stepped forward. 'I'll squeeze.' She wrapped her  hands around the tiny wrist and squeezed while Andreas slipped the  cannula into the vein with ridiculous ease.

Libby let out a sigh of relief and Charlotte whistled in admiration.

'Nice work,' she said cheerfully, taping the cannula in place and  attaching it to the bag of intravenous fluids. 'Here's that morphine you  requested.'

She waved the syringe under his nose and Andreas checked it carefully  before taking it from her and injecting it slowly into the tube.

'We'll start with this and she can have more in ten minutes if it hasn't done the trick.'

Jenny clung to Libby, shivering and sobbing until gradually the drug took effect and the little girl slumped in Libby's arms.

Andreas straightened and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. 'OK,  let's do a map of those burns and dress them, and then I want to pass a  catheter so that we can measure her urine output.'

They worked as quickly as they could and Jenny clung to Libby, obviously seeing her as some sort of substitute mother.

Finally Andreas was satisfied that they'd done all they could. 'We need  to check that her fluid replacement is adequate. I want an output of one  mil per kilogram per hour.'

Libby nodded and she and Charlotte manoeuvred the child onto the scales, recording the result in the notes.

'Right, let's get her up to the ward and make her comfortable. Keep an  eye on her pulses in case her circulation is compromised. Now, how's  that baby?'

'She seems fine.' While she'd been helping with Jenny, the A and E  sister had put the baby safely in a cot and she was now lying there  quietly. 'Do you want to check her here or on the ward?'



'I'll do it here.' Andreas unlooped the stethoscope from around his neck and walked across to the baby.

With Jenny still snuggled on her lap, Libby watched as he examined the  baby thoroughly, finally picking her up and making her laugh by blowing  raspberries on her stomach.

'She seems none the worse for her dramatic fall,' Andreas observed  quietly, holding the child with the easy confidence of someone who was  thoroughly at home with children.

Libby watched him, unable to stop herself. He was just so good with children.

It was amazing that he didn't have any himself.                       
       
           



       

But that would have meant settling down with one woman, and that clearly wasn't his style.

And he obviously wasn't that keen to be a father. After all, he'd been the one to suggest that she take the morning-after pill.

Pushing the thought away, she stood up, intending to place Jenny on the  trolley so that she could dress her legs, but the little girl clung to  her and whimpered pathetically.

'I'll do the dressings,' Charlotte said immediately. 'She seems to have  taken to you so it seems a shame to upset her again. Keep her on your  lap and I'll sort it out.'

She bustled around the room, collecting various bits and pieces, and then pushed a dressing trolley close to Libby.

With the deft efficiency of a nurse who was well used to doing  dressings, Charlotte covered the burns and made the child comfortable.

'Carry her up to the ward,' Andreas advised softly, placing a large,  reassuring hand on the child's head. 'She's had just about all the  trauma she can take, poor thing.'

Libby nodded and shifted the child into a more comfortable position, careful not to hurt her injured legs.

'I'll take her up, then,' she said quietly, and Andreas nodded.

'I just want to get an update on the parents and then I'll join you with  this little one. It won't hurt to have her in overnight, given the fall  she suffered, and we can't exactly discharge her anyway until we know  what's happening with the parents.'

Libby nodded and left him to it, carrying little Jenny the short distance to the paediatric ward.

Bev was waiting for them, the room all ready, clucking with sympathy  when she saw the child. 'Oh, the poor mite-how are her parents?'

Libby shook her head. 'We don't know yet. Andreas is talking to Jago now.'

Bev sighed and pulled out a chair so that Libby could sit down. 'It  looks as though you're going to be occupied for the rest of the shift so  I'll reallocate the rest of your patients. Luckily we're not that  pushed today so it shouldn't be too difficult.'

'Thanks, Bev.' Libby cuddled Jenny closer. Like the ward sister, she  knew that staying with the child was the most important thing she could  do at the moment. 'What are we going to do with the baby?'

'We've got a spare cot in with Rachel,' Bev said, hooking Jenny's  infusion up to a drip stand. 'I thought we'd put her in there for now.'

'Good idea.'

Libby cuddled Jenny close, talking to her quietly until she fell asleep, her soft hair brushing against Libby's cheek.

'I'm glad she's asleep.' Andreas spoke from the doorway and Libby looked  up to find him leaning against the door-frame, watching them, his  handsome face inscrutable. 'You look good with a child on your lap,  Libby.'

She blushed and changed the subject. 'How are her parents?'

Andreas pulled a face. 'Not good. Her mother is in Theatre now-she  fractured both femurs in the fall so she's going to be in hospital for a  good while.'

'Poor lady.' Libby considered the implications of his words. The woman  had two young children. How was she going to manage? 'Did she suffer  burns?'



'Apparently not.' Andreas shook his head. 'She jumped out of the bedroom  window with the baby to get away from the smoke. How is the baby, by  the way?'

'Seems fine.' Libby spoke softly, careful not to wake Jenny who was  still dozing, snuggled against her chest. 'Bev's made up a cot in  Rachel's room and put her there for now. I suppose we'll need to find  out if there are any other family members to care for her. What about  the father? How's he?'

'Suffering smoke inhalation and quite severe burns to his hands where he  tried to remove Jenny's pyjamas.' Andreas ran a hand through his dark  hair, his expression suddenly weary. 'He certainly isn't going to be in a  position to care for a baby on his own for some time.'

Libby sighed. 'Have we managed to contact any other family? Do the neighbours know of anyone?'

'The police are looking into it,' Andreas told her, his eyes resting on Jenny. 'Poor little thing. She looks exhausted.'

'It's all that crying,' Libby murmured, bending her head and dropping a  light kiss on the little one's head. 'It's hardly surprising she was  upset. The one person you want when you're hurt is your mummy and hers  wasn't around.'

Andreas lifted his gaze. 'But she seems to have bonded with you.' His  voice was deep and the look in his eyes was extremely unsettling. 'You  have a very special gift with children, Libby. They love you.'                       
       
           



       

Her heart thudded in her chest and breathing was suddenly difficult.  'Better with children than adults,' she said lightly, dragging her gaze  away from his. 'Children don't let you down.'

'Neither do most adults,' he responded quietly. 'You've just been unlucky. And we have a conversation to finish, Libby.'

She didn't even pretend that she didn't know what he meant.

He wanted to talk about the possibility that she could be pregnant.

But there was no way she was going to take the morning-after pill and she didn't want him to try and talk her into it.

'It's fine, Andreas,' she said softly, lifting her eyes to his. 'It's not your concern.'

He frowned. 'If you're pregnant then it's my concern.'

She blushed, slightly embarrassed by the intimacy of the discussion and  desperately hoping that no one was in the corridor, listening to the  conversation. She wondered briefly what had happened to her notion of  discretion since she'd met Andreas. First they'd made love in the open  air where anyone could have discovered them and now they were discussing  the consequences in the middle of a busy hospital ward.

'I'm a modern woman,' Libby said lightly, looking away from him again.  'If it happens, rest assured that I'm not going to chase you for money.'

His gaze darkened ominously. 'Unfortunately, I'm not a modern guy,' he  responded icily. 'I'm Greek and Greek men are notoriously old-fashioned  about things like that. If you're pregnant, Libby, you'll be getting  much more from me than money.'