the spleen can result in significant long-term health problems?’
‘That’s right.’ Jago nodded. ‘It’s very unusual to remove the spleen these days.’
Charlotte checked the child’s vital signs again. ‘I think she’s improving. That fluid is helping.’
At that moment the doors opened and the surgical team swarmed into Resus.
They conferred with Jago, checked the abdominal ultrasound and examined the child carefully.
‘I think you’re right,’ the consultant said finally, glancing at Jago with a slight smile. ‘I’d say she has a small tear in her spleen.’
Jago glanced at Katy and a slight smile touched his firm mouth. ‘It was Dr Westerling’s diagnosis,’ he said softly, and the consultant gave her an approving nod.
‘In that case, well done to you, Dr Westerling. We’ll get a CT scan and take it from there. If her signs continue to improve, we’ll manage it conservatively. Are the parents with her?’
‘The mother’s in the relatives’ room,’ Jago said, ripping off his gloves and dropping them in the bin. ‘I’m going to speak to her now. Katy, you can come with me as this seems to have turned into your case.’
Warmed by his approval, Katy blushed slightly. Despite his encouraging comments, she was well aware that it was he who had saved the child.
‘Do you think she’s going to live?’ Katy quickened her stride to keep pace with him as he strode out of Resus and made for the relatives’ room. She’d never been assigned the task of talking to relatives before, and was relieved that he was there to do it with her.
Jago pulled a face. ‘Because children are so small, a fall like that can cause multisystem injury. You have to assume that they have multiple injuries until proved otherwise. If it’s just a small tear to her spleen, she should recover fully.’
‘You were so calm.’
He cast her a wry smile that was thoroughly unexpected. ‘Not that calm.’ He paused for a moment, his dark eyes resting on her face. ‘I have feelings, too, you know.’
She looked at him, breathless, wondering whether he was just referring to Molly.
‘But you don’t show them.’
He lifted a broad shoulder in a shrug. ‘How would that help the child? The patient needs me to be detached and efficient. Emotion clouds judgement, Katy. Remember that.’
He gave a twisted smile and suddenly she knew what he was thinking.
That emotion had clouded his judgement eleven years ago when he’d seen those photographs.
And in a way, wasn’t it the same for her?
She knew that loving Jago was a quick road to heartache but she just couldn’t help herself. He was drop-dead gorgeous and seeing him save a child’s life with such impressive skill and supreme coolness made her want to surrender to him on the spot.
She studied him helplessly.
Everything about him was just so masculine. From his straight, aristocratic nose and perfect bone structure to the blue-black stubble beginning to show on his hard jaw, he was one hundred per cent red-blooded male and she realised with a sinking heart that she’d never stopped loving him.
Realising that they’d reached the relatives’ room, she jerked her eyes away from his sinfully sexy mouth and tried to concentrate.
‘Don’t you usually take a nurse with you to do the gentle, caring bit?’
He dealt her a sizzling smile that cranked her pulse rate up still higher. ‘Why do you think I’ve brought you along?’
Without waiting for her reply, he pushed open the door with his shoulder and extended a hand to the woman sitting slumped in one of the armchairs.
‘Mrs Churchman? I’m Mr Rodriguez, one of the A and E consultants. This is Dr Westerling. We looked after Molly in the resuscitation room.’
Katy closed the door behind them and went to sit beside the mother, concerned that she looked so distraught. Annie had told them that she hadn’t even wanted to see her daughter in the resuscitation room.
‘I’ve killed her. I know I’ve killed her.’
She started to sob hysterically and Katy glanced at Jago, expecting to see him tense and uncomfortable in the face of such hysterics. Instead, he frowned in concern and hunkered down next to the sobbing woman, taking her hand in his.
‘You haven’t killed her, Mrs Churchman.’ His voice was warm and firm. ‘She had a bad fall and she is suffering from some internal injuries but she is doing very well at the moment. We’ve transferred her to the children’s surgical ward for some more tests and observation.’
The young mother looked at him, her chest jerking as she tried to hold back the sobs. ‘She climbed out of the window.’
Jago nodded. ‘So I understand.’
‘I didn’t even know she could reach the window,’ Mrs Churchman whispered, horror in her voice as she related the tale. ‘She pulled up a chair and climbed onto the window-sill. I was changing her bed at the time and I’d only nipped out for a moment to fetch a clean sheet. I must have been out of the room for less than thirty seconds, no more.’
She gave another sob and Katy reached for a box of tissues. ‘Being a parent is the most difficult, responsible job in the world,’ she said quietly. ‘What Molly needs now is not for you to feel guilty but for you to be there for her. She needs her mother.’
Mrs Churchman blew her nose and nodded. ‘You’re right, I know you’re right. But seeing her lying there as if she was dead just upset me so much.’
Jago frowned. ‘She isn’t dead, Mrs Churchman.’ He went on to outline Molly’s injuries and treatment in a cool, factual way and eventually the young mother seemed to gain some measure of control.
‘Can I see her now?’
Katy nodded. ‘When you’re ready, one of the nurses will take you to the children’s ward and you’ll be able to stay with her. Is there anyone you’d like us to call to be with you?’
Mrs Churchman shook her head and reached for her bag. ‘No. Her father is away on business and I don’t want to worry my parents with it. I’ll be fine now.’
Looking at her pale face, Katy wasn’t so sure and she made a mental note to check on her later.
Leaving Mrs Churchman to gather her belongings together, they left the room and Katy arranged for a nurse to escort her to the ward.
‘I’m glad you were there,’ Jago said dryly as they walked back towards the main area of the A and E department. ‘Dealing with hysterical females is not my strong point.’
She smiled at him. ‘I thought you were brilliant.’
‘Well, thank you,’ Jago drawled softly, pausing as one of the other casualty officers waylaid him to ask his opinion on an X-ray.
Jago took the film in question and pushed it into the nearest light-box, his gaze fixed on the X-ray in front of him. ‘There’s a hairline fracture on the anterior view.’
The doctor muttered his thanks, looked slightly embarrassed that he hadn’t spotted it himself and then hurried off to manage the patient accordingly.
Katy staring at Jago with a mixture of admiration and frustration. ‘You never miss anything, do you? Has anyone ever told you that you set impossibly high standards?’
‘This is an A and E department,’ Jago reminded her with a careless lift of his broad shoulders. ‘How can standards ever be too high? If we get it wrong, people die. And in this wonderful age of litigation, if we were even remotely to blame, we’re sued.’
They