‘I’ve got a late lunch meeting after clinic,’ he’d told her, ‘but I’m free after that. Around five o’clock. Does that work?’
She’d nodded, and he’d seen the expression of relief that crossed her face. Not that he was defending her, but he knew that it must have taken a lot of courage for her to come here. It couldn’t be easy facing the worst thing you’ve ever done and the people you’ve hurt the most. But then, she’d always been courageous and strong. That was one of the many things he’d loved about her. And it was one of the things that had shocked him most when he’d found out the truth, that she hadn’t been brave enough to tell him what she was doing. ‘Five o’clock is good. Do you want me to come to the house?’
‘No,’ he’d blurted before he’d even thought it through. He still lived in the home they’d shared, and it had taken all this time for him to finally be there without thinking of her constantly. He didn’t want her back in that space, creating more memories, more images that would play in his mind. ‘How about Carlo’s Café?’ he’d suggested. It was the Italian place inthe square just a few hundred metres away, and where he was meeting Cheska for lunch. She was due back on shift by 4p.m., so he could just hang out there for an hour and wait for Anya, or pop back to the hospital and do some paperwork.
He’d known that today was going to be emotionally tough, but damn, this was turning out to be even more challenging than he’d expected.
‘Yeah, I remember the place. Okay, I’ll see you there.’ She’d taken a couple of steps away, then paused. ‘And, Noah, thank you. It really is good to see you again.’ With that, she’d carried on out the door.
Noah had made his way over to the lift, and almost unconsciously found his way up to the paediatric ward on the third floor. Clinics were usually held in the outpatient department, but Noah had campaigned for them to be moved to his office on the ward, where previous patients were familiar with their surroundings and first time visitors could be distracted and comforted by the brightly painted walls and playrooms. It also helped that there was a brilliant team on the ward to keep the patients busy if he needed to talk to their parents alone.
At the nursing station, the charge nurse for the day, June, had raised her head when she’d heard his footsteps. ‘I was about to send out a search party for you. You’re not twenty minutes early and getting under our feet, so I figured you must have been taken hostage somewhere.’ He’d known June since he was a trainee just out of university, and she was one of his favourite people. Her irreverence and relentless cheek just made him love her even more. She’d been down in ICU for a few years, then transferred up to Paediatrics about six months ago.
Noah had dropped his backpack on the counter top. ‘Can you book a call to HR into my schedule? I have a complaint about nurses being relentlessly sarcastic.’
‘How about if I bribe you with an apple turnover?’
‘Complaint dropped.’
‘Excellent. Your records for today are on your desk. Three patients, and the first is—’
She’d filled him in on his cases, then he’d headed to his office to prepare it for the families that were on the way. And to let the conversation with Anya ruminate over and over in his mind.
Now, as the clock on his wall flicked to 10.30, he gladly and gratefully switched his brain to work mode, and he popped his head out of his door. ‘Jean, is there any sign of Ol—’
‘Dr Noah! I brought my new car to show you!’ Ollie Lopez, aged six and three quarters, cut him off and answered his question, as he barrelled down the corridor holding a vehicle that looked suspiciously like… ‘It’s the Batmobile!’ Ollie confirmed.
‘That’s awesome! I think it’s the coolest car I’ve ever seen.’ Noah held out his arm and fist-bumped his tiny patient, who, sticking to the theme, was dressed head to toe in a Batman suit. Behind him, Ollie’s parents, Jason and Lisa, made eye contact as they approached, and Noah knew from the tight smiles and the searching gazes exactly what was going through their minds. He saw it every day.
Ollie Lopez was here today to get the results of his one-year scan after the removal of a brain tumour. The chemotherapy he’d endured afterwards had ravaged his little body, but he’d recovered incredibly well and if the scan was clear today, there were good odds that it wouldn’t return. Right now, his parents were trying to see if they could read Noah’s face for some indication of whether he was about to make this one of the best days of their lives or one of the most devastating.
Noah had already read the report, so he knew the best plan of action. ‘Ollie, do you want to hang out here for a minute and show Nurse June your Batman moves?’ He stretched down sothat he could feign a whisper, ‘And don’t tell her I told you this, but she might have some chocolate buttons in her drawer.’
It was against hospital policy, which advocated no sugar or sweets for children, but Noah and the nursing staff on this ward didn’t pay much attention to those rules. After everything these kids had been through, and as long as it was okay with the parents, they took the view that the joy on the little ones’ faces was worth it.
Jason and Lisa’s smiles tightened just a bit more, so he swept them into his office as quickly as possible. They hadn’t even sat down, before he reassured them with a calm, succinct, ‘It’s good news, don’t worry.’
He wasn’t sure if the couple sat down or collapsed at the knees, but tears immediately sprang to Jason’s eyes, and Lisa grasped at her husband’s hand as she double-checked. ‘Really? It’s definitely okay?’
This was why he preferred not to have the child in the room, even when the results were good. The emotional reaction could be just as strong, and this gave the parents the space to seek all the reassurance they needed.
Noah nodded. ‘It’s definitely okay. The scan is clear, every test came back fine, no sign of any recurrence. He’s doing great. Obviously there are no guarantees, but there’s nothing to suggest it won’t stay that way. If you ever notice anything that concerns you, call me any time and bring him in to see me. Otherwise, we’ll scan him every year, just as a precaution, but I’ve no reason to think that the results will be different. So you can take Batman home and get on with having a great life.’
Both of them were smiling through their tears now, and Noah was thrilled for them. This was the best kind of moment in his job, and he never took it for granted.
‘Another happy customer,’ June murmured to him, as they watched the Lopez family head off down the corridor, twoecstatic parents and one happy Batman, clutching his chocolate buttons.
The next appointment was a check-up with three-year-old Ivy, who was making a full recovery from meningitis. He sometimes saw a different outcome, so this was another one to savour.
When her family left, June popped her head in the door. ‘I just got word to say the Smiths have cancelled. Wee Demi has suspected chickenpox and they don’t want to risk bringing it onto the ward, so that’s you done for the day. You can resume your day off and count the hours until you’re back in on Monday morning.’
‘Every moment will seem like a lifetime,’ he bantered back.
She leaned against the doorway, tilted her head and spoke with uncharacteristic sincerity. ‘How are you doing today? And how’s Tress? Can’t be easy for either of you.’
June had been on shift on the day of the accident and had helped him through the nightmare of caring for his grievously injured wife, his fatally injured best mate, and the much-loved friend who had unexpectedly gone into labour and been rushed into the maternity wing. Later, just hours after Tress had given birth, they’d brought her and the baby over to the ICU to say goodbye to Max, and he’d died shortly afterwards. Not one of the medical staff who was working that night would ever forget it.
This wasn’t the time or the place to get into specifics, but he appreciated June’s thoughtfulness. ‘Tress is doing great. Obviously, it’s Buddy’s birthday today, so we had a celebration this morning. There was singing and stuffed zoo animals, so he loved it. We’re having his official party on Sunday, so we’re making the most of the opportunities for cake.’
