The Doctor's New-Found Family by Laura MacDonald

Author:Laura MacDonald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Harlequin Medical Romances
ISBN: 9781460377116
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘I WANT you to try some different medication. I have to warn you there won’t be any overnight miracles but I do hope that when I see Jonty again in three months’ time there will have been at least some improvement.’

‘I do hope so, Dr Gilbert.’ Jonty Miles’s mother Dee looked totally exhausted. She was in her mid-thirties but looked ten years older as the constant strain of caring for her thirteen-year-old autistic son took its toll. There were dark circles around her eyes from constantly disturbed nights, as Jonty demanded attention every couple of hours, while her features looked pinched and drawn and her hair lank and lifeless.

‘Have you been able to arrange any respite care?’ asked Olivia as she handed the prescription to Dee, only for Jonty to try to snatch it out of her hand. When he failed to do so he began shouting and banging the desk in front of him.

‘His care manager is looking into it.’ Dee raised her voice over Jonty’s shouting. ‘But my husband is reluctant for him to go.’

‘Why is that?’ Olivia frowned. Usually in these cases the reverse was true as carers became desperate for respite care.

‘He says that by the time Jonty comes back to us his routine will have been so disrupted and it would take him so long to settle down that it isn’t worth him going in the first place.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Olivia, ‘but even if that is the case, I still think you and your husband and your other son need some time to recharge your batteries.’

‘Well, we’ll have to see.’ Dee stood up. ‘Come on, Jonty,’ she said, ‘we’re going home now.’ Immediately the boy’s demeanour changed. He stopped banging the desk and fell silent. ‘Goodbye, Dr Gilbert,’ said Dee, taking Jonty’s hand.

‘Goodbye, Dee. Goodbye, Jonty.’ Olivia sighed as she watched them leave her consulting room. Sometimes she felt she had very little to offer those of her patients with such long-term, ongoing conditions as Jonty’s, but at the same time she also felt that the parents seemed to derive some small measure of comfort in their uphill struggle by these routine visits to the paediatric outpatient clinic, even if it was only for a chat. And if that was the case, it was well worthwhile.

Already that morning, apart from Jonty, she’d seen a child with cerebral palsy, another with spina bifida, one with sickle cell anaemia and two with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Jonty had been the last child on that morning’s list and after she’d typed up the notes and saved them on her computer, Olivia left her consulting room and made her way onto the paediatric ward.

Kirstin was in charge of the ward that morning, and instinctively Olivia knew that as soon as she saw her Kirstin would want to discuss the events of the weekend.

Olivia hadn’t yet seen Nathan since arriving at St Benedict’s that day, but strangely she gradually became aware that, albeit unconsciously, she was looking for him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.