‘Right. Charlotte, make a note of that. Annie, go back to the mother,’ Jago ordered, ‘find out if the child cried immediately—I need to know whether she was unconscious for any time. And get me details of allergies, medications, past medical history and when she last ate or drank. And try and get a more precise account of the accident. What surface she landed on, how she was lying—that sort of thing.’

Annie hurried off to do as he’d instructed and Jago spoke quietly to the little girl, reassuring her in a gentle voice as he worked.

Charlotte was visibly upset as she undressed the child so that they could make a more accurate assessment of her injuries.

‘She’s so tiny. That poor mother.’

‘Lose the emotion,’ Jago said harshly. ‘We’ve got a job to do. Finish undressing her and get some overhead heaters and warming blankets—a fall in body temperature causes a rise in oxygen consumption.’

Charlotte swallowed and looked at him, startled by the sharp reprimand.

Katy felt a flash of empathy for her colleague but she knew that Jago was right.

It wouldn’t help the child if they let emotions get in the way of their work. The child needed them to be professional.

But there was no doubt that Jago was unusually tense.

They removed all her clothes and then covered her in warm blankets and adjusted the heaters so that she wouldn’t become cold.

With the minimum of fuss, Katy found a vein and slipped in the cannula.

‘Her blood pressure is slightly down,’ one of the nurses said, ‘but not dramatically.’

‘Check her capillary refill time,’ Jago ordered, and Katy finished taping the first IV in place and glanced up at him.

‘Is that significant?’

He gave a brief nod. ‘A child can suffer considerable blood loss without a significant change to the vital signs,’ he told her, his eyes fixed on her fingers as she searched for another vein. ‘When we diagnose shock in children we rely on other signs, like capillary refill time, the appearance of the skin, the temperature of the extremities.’

‘Based on those criteria, this child is in shock,’ Katy murmured, pausing as she located what felt like a vein.

Without hesitating, she inserted the cannula smoothly and watched as the blood flowed backwards.

‘Both lines are in,’ she said quickly, relieved that she’d managed what had proved to be a difficult task. Finding veins in a child that small was difficult at the best of times and sometimes they had to give an infusion directly into the bone.

The child had barely protested, which was another indication of how ill she was.

‘That was a tricky job.’ Jago’s voice was gruff. ‘Well done.’

For a brief moment their eyes met and he gave a slight smile. The tension in the room seemed to ease slightly but there was a hint of challenge in that smile that made Katy breathless.

The subject of their relationship was obviously far from closed.