The boy was, in fairness to the paediatricians, markedly more distressed by the time Harry arrived. Harry took some bloods, called the lab and asked for the tests to be put through urgently. Then he called the orthopaedic surgeons as it began to look more and more as though the child might have septic arthritis, which was a surgical emergency and needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible. ‘They’re going to take him up for aspiration of the hip under sedation,’ Harry explained to Cate a short while later, ‘and they’re getting started immediately on antibiotics.’ He was just writing up his admission notes when Lillian, the director of nursing, came and asked Cate if she could have a word. ‘Over here.’ Lillian gestured to a place away from the nurses’ station and as they walked up to the drug fridge and out of Harry’s earshot, Cate took a deep breath, because she knew what was coming next. ‘Why,’ Lillian asked, ‘is the student nurse sitting in the observation ward, drawing pictures with Harry’s children?’ ‘Because Dr Vermont, who was supposed to be the on-call consultant this weekend, has rung in sick.
