‘If it’s okay by all of you, I will leave Bella here.’ Amazingly, my voice didn’t wobble as I addressed the others. ‘Please, can you help her if she needs anything? You know—with her cast.’

‘She’ll be fine with us,’ Julia reassured me. ‘And keep an eye out for that girl, Fox—she’s probably left the school grounds again.’

Last Thursday, Julia had found the eight-year-old wandering around the laneway behind playgroup. She had marched Fox to the principal’s office and demanded that the school pay more attention to the child’s whereabouts. Apparently Fox was in the same class as Julia’s daughter, and constantly disruptive. Julia had labelled her ‘Trouble with a capital T’. The school mums knew Fox by sight and looked out for her in the village.

At the gate, I called to Bella: ‘Don’t get sand in your cast, Tinker Bell. Go inside if you’re cold. See you in a minute.’

Clambering into the cubbyhouse, Bella didn’t see my wave.

2 MARTY PARKER

2

MARTY PARKER

‘HI THERE, MY NAME’S DR MARTY. I LIKE YOUR TRAIN. IS THAT THOMAS the Tank Engine? Now, we’re just going to have a quick check to make sure everything is working properly. Did you know that trains have engine check-ups like this all the time?’

‘Choo choo,’ the toddler chortled as he dragged the train along his mother’s arms.

In the two minutes between patients, Marty had skimmed the boy’s notes—a two-year development check for a child who had been unresponsive at birth. At a glance, the toddler looked healthy; he was above the fiftieth percentile for weight and height, and attached to his mother. A straightforward consult. Marty’s thoughts were still on the ward rounds from this morning; should he have ordered more blood work for the girl with the kidney transplant? He’d have to go back and see her after lunch, maybe ring the renal physician for advice. Christ, why couldn’t he make a simple decision these days? The girl had a needle phobia and taking blood was traumatic for everyone involved. If only Elissa were in today; she was brilliant with scared kids. Maybe he could talk to management about getting her in two days a week and trying to organise a paid position. Elissa was too valuable to remain as a volunteer. The patients needed her. The staff needed her.

Marty asked the toddler to climb up the little stairs onto the bed, watching the movement of his hips and legs.

‘Now, I’m going to have a look in your ears with this torch. Can you turn your head and smile at Mummy?’

The mother had mentioned recurrent ear infections. As he gently angled the otoscope into the toddler’s ear, Marty kept talking. ‘Isn’t it lucky that we don’t have great big ears like an elephant. Can you imagine waggling those gigantic ears?’