Read Online A Doctor to Remember by Joanna Neil - Free Book Online Page B

check out her stomach and duodenum, and they’ve taken a biopsy. They’re keeping her in hospital because she’s very anaemic from loss of blood, and she’s lost a lot of weight recently. Obviously, they want to build up her strength.’
    ‘From what you’ve told me, I’d imagine she must have stomach or duodenal ulcers.’
    ‘Yes, that’s right, but the tests have shown they aren’t due to any bacterial infection.’
    His grey eyes were troubled and she said softly, ‘It’s worrying for you…if there’s anything I can do to help, you only have to ask. I could watch over Ben for you any time you want to go and visit her.’
    ‘Thanks, Saffi.’ He squeezed her arm gently. ‘I appreciate the offer…but Ben wants to see his mother whenever possible, so I’ll probably take him with me.’
    She nodded. ‘Well, the offer still stands…if there’s anything I can do…if you want to talk…A trouble shared is a trouble halved, as they say.’ She waited while he closed the boot of the car. ‘Do you have any other family?’
    ‘Only my parents, but they don’t live locally, and, like me, they’re both out at work during the week, so they’re not really able to help. And Gemma was desperate to have Ben stay close by.’
    ‘It’s good that you were able to look out for him.’
    He nodded. ‘The other alternative was foster-care, and I didn’t want that for him.’ His mobile phone trilled, and he quickly took the call, becoming quiet and alert, so she guessed it was the ambulance control centre at the other end of the line.
    He cut the call and glanced at Saffi. ‘Looks like you get to come along for the ride once again,’ he said, a brow lifting questioningly.
    She pulled in a quick breath, doubts running through her. Was she up to this? What if it was another child, like Charlie, whose life stood on the brink? Part of her wanted to pull out, to shut herself off from anything medical, but another, more forceful, instinct urged her to face up to her demons.
    She nodded. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked, easing herself into the passenger seat a moment later.
    ‘A riding stables—or, at least, an area close by them. A girl has been thrown from her horse.’
    Saffi winced. ‘That could be nasty.’
    ‘Yeah.’ He hit the blue light and switched on the siren and Saffi clung on to her seat as they raced along the highway, heading away from town towards the depths of the countryside.
    A few minutes later, he slowed down as they turned off a leafy lane on to a dirt track that ended at a wide wooden gate, bordered on either side by a rustic fence and an overgrown hedgerow.
    Saffi saw a small group of people gathered around a young woman who was lying on the ground. Someone was holding the reins of a horse, and a little further away two more riders stood silently by their mounts. Everyone looked shocked.
    Matt stopped the car and removed his jacket, tossing it onto the back seat. He grabbed his medical kit and hurried over to the girl, leaving Saffi to follow in his wake. There was no sign of the ambulance as yet.
    ‘What happened here?’ he asked. ‘Did anyone see how she fell?’
    ‘The horse reared,’ one of the bystanders said, her voice shaking. ‘Katie lost her hold on him and fell. Then Major caught her in the back with his hoof as he came down again.’
    ‘Okay, thanks.’
    Matt kneeled down beside the injured girl. ‘How are you doing, Katie?’ he asked. ‘Do you have any pain anywhere?’
    ‘In my neck,’ she said in a strained voice. ‘It hurts if I try to move.’
    Saffi could see that she was completely shaken, traumatised by finding herself in this situation. For Saffi, it was heart-rending, knowing how serious this kind of injury could be. If there was a fracture in any of the neck bones, causing spinal-cord damage, this young woman might never walk again.
    ‘All right,’ Matt said in a soothing voice. ‘It’s best if you try to keep as still as possible, so I’m going to