Keely rolled her eyes. 'To Zach, I'm still sixteen and I probably always will be.'
With that she stood up and left them to speculate.
She was checking an X-ray later in the day when she heard Nicky shout from the corridor.
'Keely, I need a doctor—now!'
Keely was there in an instant, her heart pounding as she saw the toddler in the arms of a paramedic.
'She's fitting,' Nicky said quickly. 'It may be a febrile convulsion. Get her into Resus and I'll bleep Eaeds.' A febrile convulsion was a fit brought on by a high temperature and was quite common in very young children.
'Are the parents here?' Keely took charge of the toddler's airway and gave her some oxygen.
'Not yet.' Nicky turned to one of the student nurses, her expression grim. 'Call Zach. Call Zach now!'
Keely glanced up in surprise. Why was Nicky in such a panic? It wasn't like her at all and everything was under control.
'It's OK,' she said calmly. 'I can handle this without Zach.'
'I know you can handle it,' came the reply. 'I don't need Zach for his medical skills.'
Keely didn't have time to question Nicky further.
'Let's give her some oxygen, please, and some diazepam rectally,' she ordered. 'Do we have any details? What's her name?'
There was a brief silence and then Nicky cleared her throat.
'Her name is Phoebe.'
Keely glanced up expectantly.
'Phoebe what?'
Nicky hesitated. 'Jordan,' she said finally. 'Phoebe Jordan. She's Zach's daughter.'
Zach had a daughter?
Oh, dear God.
Keely turned her attention back to the sick child, her heart thumping. 'OK, what's her temperature? Let's strip her off, give her some paracetamol and get a line in.'
Nicky looked doubtful. 'Should we wait for Zach?'
'No way.' Keely was adamant. 'We need to cool her down and find out what's causing her temperature. Can someone get a fan, please?'
Luckily Keely found a vein easily and secured a butterfly onto the tiny hand.
Only seconds later the doors to Resus slammed open and Zach strode into the room.
'What's the problem?'
His eyes fastened on the limp figure on the trolley and his face blanched.
'Phoebe?' He elbowed Nicky out of the way and bent over his daughter. 'Phoebe?' He glanced from one to the other. 'What the hell's happened?'
It was the first time that Keely had ever seen him near to losing his cool.
'It looks like a febrile convulsion, Zach,' she said quietly. 'We've checked her blood glucose and that's fine. Her temperature's 40.5. I've given her diazepam and paracetamol.'