The temptation was almost irresistible, but the new head of cardiology was unlikely to live that one down in a hurry. Beth pulled her face straight. ‘No, probably not. You don’t want everyone to know it, do you?’
Before Jack could answer she raised her hand to tap on the door. As she did so, it flew open and her knuckles almost hit solid flesh instead of wood. Snatching her hand away, Beth caught his cool, clean scent as Matt Sutherland started backwards.
Only Jack seemed undeterred by the abrupt introduction. ‘Hi, Dad.’
This close, he seemed taller. And without his jacket, the sleeves of his crisp, white shirt rolled up, he looked broader as well. ‘Dr Sutherland?’ Jack’s reaction had pretty much established that, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say that was even vaguely appropriate.
‘Yes…Yeah, I’m Matt, Jack’s father. What’s he doing here?’ He was standing stock still, blocking the doorway, one hand on Jack’s shoulder.
‘Beth Travers. Can we come in?’
‘Sorry…Yes, of course.’ His eyes flipped rapidly over the empty waiting room behind them and he stepped back, motioning Beth over to a chair. Jack slid past him and ran to the revolving chair that sat behind the desk.
‘Is this your chair, Dad?’
‘Yes. Want to try it out?’ He was watching Beth as Jack climbed into the chair, his expression dispassionate.
‘I found Jack wandering on his own, outside Hearing Therapy. He told me that his day-care lady was knocked over by a car and that he’d been brought here with her in the ambulance.’
‘What?’ Matt spun round towards his son. ‘Are you all right, Jack?’
Jack was ignoring him in favour of the contents of his desk.
‘He wasn’t hit by the car, but he fell over when his carer pushed him out of the way and there’s a graze on his hand.’ Beth kept her voice even, reassuring. ‘He hasn’t complained of any pain and doesn’t seem dizzy or disorientated.’
The shock in his eyes had subsided and Matt was nodding to her as if he were taking a patient’s history from a colleague. ‘Thank you. Will you stay a moment, while I take a look at him?’ He didn’t wait for an answer and Beth supposed it was an instruction rather than an invitation.
He dropped on one knee in front of the boy, swivelling the chair around to face him. Without being asked, Jack pulled Beth’s penlight out of his pocket and proffered it to his father. ‘Are you going to shine a light at me?’
Matt took the penlight and flipped it on. ‘You want me to shine it anywhere in particular?’
Jack leaned forward, jabbing his finger towards his father’s eye. ‘When you shine a light into someone’s eye, the middle bit gets smaller. Con-con….’
‘Constricts.’ Beth supplied the word quickly and Matt turned towards her, the tenderness that was spilling from his face catching her unawares, making her wish she’d kept quiet.
Matt shot her a grin and returned to his son. ‘Do you know what makes them get bigger again? That’s called dilating.’
‘When you’re in the dark. Beth showed me. Her eyes do it, too.’
Matt laughed quietly. ‘I imagine they do.’ He shaded Jack’s face from the overhead lights with his hand, checking his pupils quickly with the penlight. ‘That looks good. Shall I ask you some questions as well?’
Jack thought for a moment. ‘I didn’t hit my head when I fell over. And nothing hurts. I told Beth that already.’
‘Well, that’s good to know. Anything else?’ As he was speaking he was easing the boy out of his coat, checking him for any signs of injury as he went, his manner so casual that Jack hardly seemed to notice.
‘I have a minor abrasion on my hand.’ He held out his grazed palm for his father to see.
‘Do you now? Well, I’m glad you
remembered that.’ He shone the light from the pen torch onto Jack’s hand and studied it closely. ‘Well, I think you’ll live, mate. We’ll put some antiseptic cream on it, just to make sure it heals nicely.’ He flipped the penlight quickly towards his son and Jack caught it adroitly. There was nothing wrong with the boy’s reactions.
Matt seemed satisfied, but Jack grabbed at his arm. ‘You haven’t done the thing with your fingers yet, Dad.’ Matt shot her a questioning look and Beth avoided his gaze.
‘Look, like this.’ Jack tipped his father’s face back towards him, laying one hand under his chin and carefully moving the other back and forth. He nodded slightly, in an almost flawless impression of what Beth had done, then suddenly made a face, hooting with laughter.
Embarrassment crawled across the back of her neck. Okay, so crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue had made Jack laugh, but she wasn’t so sure that his father would consider it particularly professional.
A deep chuckle shook his frame. ‘All right. That does it.’ He had his back turned to Beth, but from Jack’s reaction it was apparent that Matt had risen to the challenge and was indulging in a face-pulling contest. Jack grimaced horribly and Matt rose. ‘You win. No one with a face like that can have a great deal wrong with them.’ He turned to Beth. ‘Thank you. Do you know what’s happening with his carer, Mrs Green?’