‘I think we should see about getting this young lady admitted, don’t you, Nurse?’ said Ross.
One of the nurses stepped forward and took Amanda gently from her mother. There was a moment when it looked as if Amanda was going to protest loudly but Ross said quickly, ‘Don’t worry. Mummy is coming along too. Shall we move?’
Everyone walked over to the lift, which took them up to the transplant unit. There, Kate and Sandy were ushered out last by the nurse who had been detailed to look after them while her colleague took care of Amanda. She made small-talk about the weather as they followed Ross and Kinscherf along the corridor.
‘Here we are,’ said Ross. ‘This is Amanda’s room.’
Kate and Sandy broke into smiles as they entered. The room looked as if it had been specially designed for a little girl of Amanda’s age. Characters from Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh lined the walls in friendly profusion. A number of dolls and cuddly toys were arranged around the room, making a link between reality and the characters on the walls. A giant doll’s house stood in the corner beside the bed.
Ross turned to Amanda and said, ‘Mummy and Daddy and I are going to have a little chat next door while Nurse gets you ready for bed. We’ll come back in a few minutes, I promise. Will that be all right?’
Amanda nodded and Kate and Sandy smiled at how quickly she had succumbed to Ross’s obvious way with children. They followed Ross along to his office and sat on two leather chairs in front of his desk while he opened Amanda’s case notes.
‘We’ll get her on to dialysis this evening and then see how she does before we go any further,’ said Ross. ‘The important thing will be to try to get her into a stable condition so we can establish a routine for her instead of constantly altering dialysis times and schedules. If we can do that, she’ll settle down and her general level of fitness will improve. There’s also the problem of tissue degradation to deal with, but first things first, eh?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Kate.
‘But a word of caution. Our colleagues at the Children’s Hospital didn’t manage to succeed and I can’t promise anything either,’ said Ross. ‘We’ll do our best, but a transplant is still Amanda’s best option. It may be her only one but that, as you know, is outside our control.’
‘We understand,’ said Sandy.
‘Good.’
‘About visiting, Doctor,’ began Kate.
‘Any time you like,’ said Ross. ‘And any time you feel like staying over, that’s quite all right too. You may stay as our guests.’
‘That’s good to know,’ said Kate.
‘I suggest that you don’t stay tonight, however. We’d like Amanda to get used to us. It’s important that we gain her trust. Don’t worry, we’ll look after her.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ said Kate. ‘Thank you, Doctor. We’re most grateful.’
Kate and Sandy returned to Amanda’s room to find her in her pyjamas, listening to the nurse, who was explaining the ins and outs of the doll’s house to her.
‘There’s a little switch at the back here that makes the lights go on. See?’
The windows of the doll’s house lit up and Amanda grinned. She looked up at her mother and father and then back at the doll’s house, as if a little embarrassed at being so outwardly pleased.
Sandy and Kate exchanged glances and smiled.
‘Would you like Daddy to build you one of these for when you come home?’ asked Sandy, although there was little doubt about the answer. Amanda nodded and cuddled down into her pillow. Sandy knelt down beside her. ‘It’s a deal then,’ he said. ‘You be a good girl and do what the doctors and nurses tell you and I’ll build you the best doll’s house you ever saw.’
‘Will it have lights?’ asked Amanda.
‘In every room,’ said Sandy and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Amanda put her thumb in her mouth.
‘She’s tired,’ said Kate, taking Sandy’s place beside her and stroking her hair back from her forehead. ‘Mummy and Daddy are going to go now, but we’ll see you tomorrow. Be good.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said the nurse, seeing the vulnerable look that appeared in Kate’s eyes as she got up, ‘we’ll look after her.’
Outside the door Sandy put his arm round Kate’s shoulders. ‘Hey, come on,’ he said. ‘This is the start of better things, remember?’
Kate squeezed his hand. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘It’s just that sometimes she looks so small. She’s really just a baby and she’s had such a lot to put up with.’
‘She’ll come through,’ said Sandy. ‘You’ll see.’
‘God, I hope so,’ said Kate dabbing at her eyes with a crumpled tissue she’d extracted from her handbag. She sniffed deeply, then straightened her shoulders and said, ‘Come on, let’s go.’
Outside in the car park Sandy stopped abruptly as they neared Esmeralda.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Kate.
‘Do you get the impression that we may be ever so slightly… out of place?’
Kate looked puzzled; then she saw what he meant. Esmeralda was flanked by a Mercedes saloon on one side and a BMW coupe on the other. ‘Oh dear,’ she said. ‘I fear you may be right.’ A quick glance around showed few of the cars were over two years old and most were top marques.
Sandy held the door open for her and put on his butler’s voice. ‘If Modom would care to enter?’
‘Idiot,’ smiled Kate and got in.
Sandy turned the ignition key, but nothing happened save for a clicking sound. ‘Shit,’ he said.
‘You’re kidding,’ said Kate.
‘’Fraid not,’ said Sandy with a grimace. ‘Esy’s doing the dirty on us.’
‘She knows how to pick her moments,’ said Kate glancing over her shoulder. ‘Any idea what the problem is?’
‘The solenoid’s engaging but the starter motor isn’t turning. Maybe it’s jammed.’
‘Can you fix it?’
‘Can a bird fly?’ Sandy opened his door and got out. Kate waited patiently while he disappeared under the open bonnet. Various swear words told her that work was in progress. The car rocked a little.
‘Give it a try, Kate.’
She moved into the driving seat and turned the key. There was a solitary click, followed by a curse from under the bonnet.
‘No luck?’ asked Kate with slight trepidation.
‘The battery’s flat. We’ll have to bump-start her.’
Kate let off the handbrake and took hold of the steering wheel, while Sandy pushed the car backwards out of its slot. ‘Ready?’ he asked, going round to the back of the car to begin pushing.
‘Ready.’
The car park was flat, so there was no convenient gradient to make use of. Sandy found it hard work getting some momentum into Esmeralda. ‘Right!’ he said lifting his hands off the boot and straightening up. Kate let up the clutch and the car jerked to a halt, showing no interest in starting.
‘Right, we’ll try again,’ said Sandy.
‘Can I help?’ said a male voice at Sandy’s shoulder.
Sandy turned to find a tall, dark-haired man standing there.
‘She seems a bit reluctant,’ the stranger went on.
‘I don’t understand it,’ said Sandy. ‘She can’t be that cold. She’s only been parked for half an hour and the battery goes flat.’
The two men gave Esmeralda a good shove and built up more momentum than the time before. ‘Right!’ yelled Sandy.
Once again Esmeralda jerked, then lurched to a halt in mechanical silence.
‘Third time lucky,’ said the stranger, resting his hands on the boot again.
Sandy nodded, then suddenly looked up as if he’d had an idea and said, ‘Kate?’
‘Yes?’ came the reply.
‘You have got the ignition on, haven’t you?’
There was a long pause before a small voice said, ‘Sorry.’
Sandy and the stranger smiled at each other and gave Esmeralda another shove. This time her engine came to life when Kate let up the clutch, and Kate drove her round the square while Sandy thanked the stranger for his help.
‘Not at all. Been visiting one of the patients?’
‘Our daughter’s just been admitted to the transplant unit.’
‘That’ll be Dr Ross’s unit.’