‘And when did she last have paracetamol syrup?’

‘Two hours ago.’ The mother looked at her anxiously. ‘What’s going to happen?’

‘I’m going to check her temperature now and then ask one of the doctors to see her straight away.’ Libby reached for the thermometer. ‘Has she had all her immunisations, Mrs Miller?’

‘Please, call me Alison and, yes, she’s had everything.’

‘Good.’

Libby checked the temperature and recorded it on the chart. ‘It’s very high, as you know. Has she been drinking much?’

‘She’s just not interested in anything.’

‘When did she last have a wet nappy?’

The mother looked startled by the question. ‘I don’t know…’

‘It’s a way of judging her fluid output,’ Libby explained, and the woman nodded.

‘Oh, I see.’ She frowned slightly. ‘I suppose I changed it about three hours ago.’

Libby checked the child’s blood pressure and then gave Alison Miller a brief smile.

‘OK, well, the next thing to do is to ask one of our doctors to see her. We need to find out what’s causing this temperature. I’ll be back as soon as I can. If you’re worried, press the buzzer.’

She gritted her teeth and went to find Andreas. She would have preferred to have avoided him completely but that wasn’t an option. Bleeping one of the more junior members of his team would have taken time and she didn’t have time.

And, anyway, she didn’t really want one of the more junior members of his team.

She was worried about little Rachel. She needed someone experienced and he was the consultant after all.

She found him at the nurses’ station, checking a set of X-rays, his shoulders impossibly wide as he stood with his back to her.

Libby swallowed and dragged her mind back to her work. She already knew he was a fantastic kisser. It was time to find out what he was like as a children’s doctor.

‘I need a doctor to see a new admission for me urgently.’ Her tone was cool and ultra-dignified as she struggled to behave as though she hadn’t kissed him senseless and then woken up half-naked in his spare bedroom. ‘I don’t like the look of her. Seeing that the rest of your team are elsewhere, I wondered whether you’d do it.’

Or was he the type of consultant who preferred to delegate to his staff? He turned and she backed away a few steps, watching him warily.

In work mode he suddenly seemed very imposing.

‘I’ll see her.’ He flicked off the light-box and moved towards her. ‘What’s the history?’

Relaxing her guard slightly, Libby fell into step beside him as they walked back to the side ward. ‘She was referred by her GP, but the letter just says that she’s worried about the child’s temperature. Not much else. The child is floppy, she’s refusing fluids and I don’t like the look of her.’

She’d been a children’s nurse long enough to trust her instincts and her instincts were shrieking about Rachel.