‘She won’t die,’ Ally said firmly, and gave her a gentle push in the direction of the kitchen. ‘How about putting the kettle on?’
Not that she wanted any tea, but she knew that they’d need to assess the situation without an agitated mother peering over their shoulders.
Kelly was lying on the sofa, struggling for breath, a bluish tinge colouring her lips.
Sean’s hands were already in his bag, drawing up salbutamol. ‘She needs high-flow oxygen.’
Ally was ahead of him, handing him the mask and tubing even as he finished saying the words.
‘I’m going to use aminophylline.’
Ally delved into his case and pulled out the ampoule. ‘How much does Kelly weigh, Mrs Watson?’
There was a brief silence. ‘About four stone.’
Sean pulled a face. ‘What the hell’s that in kilograms?’
Ally did a quick mental calculation even as he was drawing up the drug. ‘Say 25 kilos.’
Sean cast an eye over the little girl. ‘Sounds about right. OK, so I’ll give her 5 milligrams per kilo.’
‘One twenty-five milligrams,’ Ally agreed, taking the little girl’s hand and giving it a squeeze. ‘You’re doing fine, Kelly. You’ll soon be breathing easier, sweetheart.’
Kelly just looked at her, her eyes dull and exhausted, too short of breath to even attempt to speak.
‘Let’s give her some hydrocortisone as well,’ Ally murmured, and Sean nodded.
‘She’s got severe bronchospasm. We might need to bag and mask her.’
Ally met his eyes briefly and then delved into the case for the equipment they might need. Kelly’s breathing was more and more laboured, and Ally glanced up and caught Mrs Watson standing in the doorway, her face white and pinched.
‘She’s breathing more easily—her respirations are down slightly,’ Sean murmured suddenly, settling the mask more comfortably on the little girl’s face.
‘Thank goodness for that.’ Ally stood up, wincing as her cramped muscles protested violently.
Mrs Watson glanced out through the window. ‘The ambulance is here.’
Sean nodded briefly and adjusted the mask. ‘Right. Well, she still needs to go to hospital. She’s better, no doubt about that, but her colour and her breathing could still improve a lot so let’s get her loaded into that ambulance.’
Ally smiled at the paramedic who strode into the room. ‘Hi, Daniel. Things are looking a little better here but we still need your help.’
‘Will do.’ He stared down at the little girl and gave her a wink. ‘Can’t stay away from me, can you, pet? I was here last week, wasn’t I?’
Kelly managed a weak smile and Daniel sat next to her and soothed her gently while Ally gave a brief but thorough description of what had happened and the treatment they’d given.
Daniel stood up as his partner came in with a chair covered in red blankets. ‘One of you coming in the ambulance?’
Sean frowned. ‘I’m still on call…’
‘I’ll go,’ Ally said promptly, and then bit her lip. Charlie.
Sean scanned her face and held out his hand. ‘Give me your keys and I’ll be in when Charlie comes home. If I get a call, Charlie can come with me.’
Ally hesitated. ‘My mum can probably stay with her…’ But, then again, maybe not. She’d told her mother that she’d be home so she might have made plans. The farm kept her whole family busy. She didn’t have a choice. Delving into her bag, she handed Sean the keys and then followed Daniel out to the ambulance, helping to settle Kelly comfortably while Mrs Watson locked the house.
As the ambulance pulled away Ally gave the woman a comforting smile. ‘She’ll be just fine now, Mrs Watson.’
‘Until the next time.’
Ally nodded slowly. ‘Yes, well, we need to get to the bottom of this. I’ll talk to the hospital when they’ve had a chance to assess her. It is unusual that she wasn’t better controlled on that dose of steroids she’s been taking.’
Was it her imagination or was Mrs Watson avoiding looking at her? Her instincts told her that something wasn’t quite right…
‘How long will she have to stay in?’ Mrs Watson rummaged in her bag for a tissue and blew her nose hard.
‘She’ll probably be allowed home tomorrow,’ Ally told her, steadying herself as the ambulance went round a corner. ‘Do you have any idea what triggered this attack, Mrs Watson? Has she been in contact with animals or anything different that might have caused it?’
Was there the briefest hesitation?
‘I don’t know.’ Mrs Watson shook her head firmly.