in the day was missing. She frowned. That nonsense needed to be stamped on quick smart.
‘All done, Joe. We just need to dress that before you move.’
Joe arched his neck to look at her handiwork. ‘Woah. Cool.’
‘A thank you would be good, Joey,’ said his mother.
‘Thanks, Dr Mitchell.’ The freckled face flashed a puckish grin.
‘You’re very welcome.’
‘Terri?’ Susan poked her head around the curtain. ‘We’ve got a ten-year-old with ARD on the way in.’
‘Okay. Thanks, Susan. I’m just finishing up here.’
An odd look crossed Susan’s face as she hesitated a second. ‘Shall I send someone in to dress that for you?’
‘Okay. And a tetanus booster, too, thanks.’ Something was definitely worrying the nurse. She stripped off the gloves and said to her delighted patient, ‘You’ll need to keep the dressing on and dry for twenty-four hours and we’ll see you back here in a week to have the stitches removed.’
‘Okay.’
‘The wound was very clean,’ she said to Joe’s mother. ‘But if you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to come back and see us.’
‘Thanks, Terri.’
‘Someone will be here in a minute to put a dressing on that and give you a sheet of instructions.’ Terri smiled and excused herself.
She found Susan in the office, making a note on the patient tracking board.
‘Problem?’ Terri said.
‘Maybe.’ Susan looked up, frowning. ‘The message was a bit confused but I think the ARD patient is Luke’s daughter.’
Terri’s hands stilled. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘The teacher who called it in was very shaken but she kept saying it was Alexis and asking for Dr Daniels.’
‘Ambulance dispatched?’ Terri swallowed a stab of foreboding. Luke had mentioned Allie’s worsening asthma attacks.
‘No. The child was already in transit with one of the other teachers when the call was made.’
‘Right, what’s their ETA?’
‘Now. The class was on a field trip to the museum. They decided to make the dash straight here rather than wait for an ambulance as they’re only a couple of blocks away.’
Terri suppressed a sigh. She could understand the temptation to make the dash, but it was precious minutes that the child should have been having treatment.
‘Okay. I agree, let’s assume that it is Alexis. Have we got medical records for her?’
‘I’ve rung Admin,’ said Susan. ‘They’re on the way.’
‘Great. Thanks.’ Terri glanced at the clock. Ten o’clock. She wondered what Luke had planned. He wouldn’t be too far away because he was on duty this evening. She didn’t want to page him unnecessarily but she knew he’d want to be there if it was Allie having the attack.
‘Let’s confirm the identity of our patient…’ She trailed off as a car drove into the emergency drop-off point and the sliding doors swished open. The child in the passenger’s seat was hunched forward so that she couldn’t see a face. But the bob of straight dark hair looked all too familiar.
Her stomach swooped.
‘Call Luke, stat, please, Susan,’ she called, picking up an oxygen cylinder and mask as she raced for the door.
CHAPTER SIX
‘OH, DOCTOR, thank goodness,’ gasped the young pale woman rushing around the car to intersect with Terri at the passenger door. ‘The attack’s so bad. I didn’t think we were going to make it.’
Terri leaned into the car, conscious of the teacher hovering behind her as she ran a critical eye over Allie. Hunched shoulders, hands pressed to her sides as she laboured for breath, audibly wheezing with each hard-won lungful.
‘Hi, Allie. Can you understand me?’
The glossy head gave a tiny nod.
‘I’m going to put an oxygen mask on you.’ She fitted the soft plastic mask over the blue-tinged lips and flaring nostrils. Frightened blue eyes clung to hers briefly before closing.
‘I’ve got a gurney here, Terri,’ said Susan.
‘Okay, let’s get her inside.’
Terri was shocked by how frail the child felt in her arms. She settled her on the gurney, seating her as upright as possible.
Susan wheeled the gurney through to a cubicle as Terri took a set of obs. Allie’s slender shoulders rose and fell at a rate of about forty respirations per minute. Beneath her fingertips, Terri could feel the child’s radial pulse rocketing at one hundred and sixty beats per minute.
‘I know it’s hard, sweetheart, but I want you to try to relax as much as you can, slow down your breathing.’ Terri clipped a pulse oximeter onto one dainty finger.
Another slow nod.
‘We’re looking after you now and we’ll have you comfortable in no time,’ she said soothingly.
‘Where’s Daddy?’
‘He’s on his way, sweetheart. Susan’s taking your shirt off now so she can attach some dots to your skin.’
With the clothing stripped away, Terri could see the way each desperate breath hollowed out the soft tissues around Allie’s clavicle, leaving skin gleaming white over angular bone.
Terri placed the stethoscope diaphragm on Allie’s chest and listened to pounding heartbeats accompanying the harsh wheeze in the girl’s lungs. No sound at all would have been a very bad sign.
‘Do you think you could do a peak flow for me?’
The dark head bobbed and Allie reached for the tube.
‘Good girl.’ Terri glanced at the scale on the side of the tube. The baseline reading was forty percent of what she’d expect for a child of Allie’s age and size. ‘Allie, have you been taking preventative medication?’
‘Didn’t. Take.’
‘What about your puffer, sweetheart? Did you have it with you at the museum today?’
The cubicle curtain clattered and suddenly Luke was beside the gurney.
Allie raised shadowed eyes to her father then looked at Terri and shook her head tiredly.
‘Okay, sweetie,’ Terri said. ‘Susan, a gown, large, and a pair of gloves, please.’
‘Allie, honey, what happened?’ Luke stroked the hair off her forehead with hands that shook visibly. ‘Try to relax, sweetheart.’ He looked up at the oximeter and then pinned Terri with a fierce look. ‘What’s going on? Her oxygen sat is only eighty-nine per cent. Why isn’t she on a nebuliser?’
‘We’re just about to start one,’ Terri said gently. ‘Luke, you have to let us do our job. Your job is to be calm for Allie.’
His face worked as he pulled himself back under control. When he spoke, his voice was rough but more measured. ‘I’m staying.’
‘I know. Susan’s beside you with a gown and gloves for you. So, let’s get this nebuliser started.’ She was aware of him moving, pulling on the gown, as she broke an ampule of bronchodilator into the nebuliser cup. Oxygen gurgled noisily through the liquid, delivering a fine mist of life-saving bronchodilator. The clear plastic frosted with Allie’s urgent rasping breaths.
Terri glanced at Luke. How hard it must be for him to see Allie’s battle. His strong features reflected the suffering his daughter was going through. The naked emotion brought a hot lump to her throat.
She turned away to check Allie’s readings.
