The Doctor's Lost-and-Found Bride by Kate Hardy

her out with that!’
    They could practically see the spots appearing and spreading. ‘I think,’ Marina said carefully, ‘Your daughter’s reacting to the antibiotics.’
    ‘But—I thought if they were allergic to antibiotics it happened straight away?’
    ‘Sometimes it does, but it often happens a day or so after the last dose,’ Marina explained. ‘You did the right thing bringing her here, because we can help her. Is she on any other medication?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Does she have any other medical conditions or allergies?’
    The woman shook her head. ‘Just the normal coughs and colds kids get, and she was definitely over the ear infection, because she’d stopped saying how much it hurts.’
    Marina established the rest of Jessie’s patient history on the way to Resus. As they reached the double doors, Max came up. ‘This is Max Fenton, our senior registrar,’ Marina said. ‘Max, this is Jessie, and I think she’s having a reaction to amoxicillin.’
    ‘OK.’ Max smiled at Jessie’s mother. ‘I know you’re worried, but your daughter’s in the best place now. Dawn here will take you through to the relatives’ room, and we’ll come and get you when Jessie’s feeling a bit better.’
    The woman shook her head wildly. ‘I can’t leave my baby. I can’t .’
    ‘The thing is,’ Marina said, ‘the medical procedures we need to use can look a bit scary, and we might not have time to explain them to you properly as we’re working. I know waiting’s going to be hard, but trust me on this. It’ll be a lot easier on your nerves than watching us.’
    Jessie’s mother looked at her. ‘You’re the doctor in the paper, aren’t you?’
    ‘Yes.’ Marina gave her a self-conscious smile.
    ‘I read your column every week. It’s really good.’ She nodded. ‘All right.’
    While Dawn took the woman through to the relatives’ room, Marina filled Max in on Jessie’s medical history.
    Gently, they removed Jessie’s coat and sweater; the rash had spread, and the little girl was fighting for air.
    ‘We’ll defer intubation until the epinephrine kicks in,’ Max said.
    ‘I’ll give her high-flow oxygen and salbutamol on mask,’ Marina said.
    ‘Good.’ Max deftly put a line into Jessie’s vein as Marina hooked her up to the monitoring equipment.
    ‘BP’s low,’ Marina said. With severe allergic reactions,blood could leak from the veins, causing low blood pressure and hypovolaemic shock.
    ‘Give her a bolus of Ringer’s,’ Max said. ‘How old is she?’
    ‘Five.’
    ‘Normal weight—I’d say about eighteen kilos.’
    ‘Agreed.’ Marina mentally calculated the amount of solution she needed to give, based on the child’s weight, and sorted it out while Max put in a second line and administered epinephrine.
    It took three doses before Jessie finally stopped fighting for air; Max added antihistamines to the mix, and Marina kept a close eye on the monitoring equipment, knowing that the drugs they were using to stabilise the little girl’s condition and stop the swelling of her throat could also cause heart arrhythmias.
    ‘I’ll call the paediatric ward and tell them we want to admit Jessie,’ Marina said. ‘We need her under obs for the next twenty-four hours.’ With severe drug reactions, there was a risk of a second, delayed reaction, so it was best to be prepared. ‘And that rash is going to be incredibly itchy—she’ll need some cream as well as the antihistamines.’
    By the time Marina had called up to the children’s ward and spoken to Lynne, the senior sister on the ward, Jessie had revived sufficiently to want her mother. Max was holding the little girl’s hand and telling her a story to distract her, and he was making a great job of it; anyone would think he had children of his own and was used to telling stories at the drop of a hat to ward off tears.
    Marina pushed away the thought of what might have been and said, ‘I’ll go and get her mum.’
     
    The little girl