A Mommy for Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

little worse, and the whites of his eyes were also starting to show the effects of the bilirubin in his system.
    And then there were the neurological symptoms…
    â€˜Will Dr Croft be coming to give me the results of the scan, do you know?’ the man asked as James covered him again.
    â€˜I expect so. I’ll ask him to keep me informed.’ He paused and met his eyes. ‘It may be nothing, you know. Don’t borrow trouble.’
    He smiled wearily. ‘No. I’ve been feeling a little light-headed and woozy off and on for weeks. I thought it was because I wasn’t keeping much down or eating very much, but I doubt it. Is there any way I can get the results before my wife gets here for visiting at three?’
    â€˜I’ll chase it up,’ James promised, and, leaving him, he went back to the nursing station and got the switchboard to page Guy.
    â€˜Any news on Symes?’
    â€˜Yes—I was just coming up. Not good, I’m afraid.’
    James sighed. He’d thought as much. ‘OK. I’ll be on the ward.’
    â€˜I’ll come and find you before I tell him, show you the photos.’
    â€˜Cheers.’
    Guy took a few minutes, and in that time James chased up some lab results for another patient and requested a nasogastric tube to aspirate a nauseous patient in under observation for query appendix with a very atypical presentation.
    He’d just finished writing up the notes when Guy arrived at his elbow and snapped the film onto the light box. ‘There you go. Three of the little bastards,’ he said softly, pointing out the small white blobs on the plate.
    â€˜Will you do anything?’
    He shrugged. ‘We could give him radiotherapy, but it needs a head mask to hold him in the same position every time and he struggled with the scanner, apparently. A bit claustrophobic—and the mask is worse, as you know. I’ll talk to him, see how he feels. He might think it’s not worth the hassle, given the odds. I don’t need to elaborate, I take it?’
    James shook his head and took a nice, slow breath. ‘No. It’s all utterly familiar.’
    Guy cocked his head on one side and studied him searchingly, so that he felt like a bug under a microscope. ‘Are you OK with this? Do you want me to handle it alone?’
    â€˜No, and no,’ James said frankly, and Guy gave a wry, understanding smile and laughed without humour.
    â€˜Let’s go and tell him, then.’
    Â 
    â€˜I gather Stephen Symes has got brain mets.’
    â€˜Yup.’
    Kate studied him for anything further, but there wasn’t a flicker. He could have been utterly indifferent, but she just knew he wasn’t. ‘How sad,’ she prompted.
    There was a flicker then, a tiny one, gone before she could analyse it. ‘You think? In his shoes I’d welcome it. At least it’ll get it over with.’
    Kate sighed inwardly. She’d have to see if she could get some information out of Guy. So far he’d been disappointingly unforthcoming, but she didn’t want to come right out and ask James where his wife was and what had happened to her. She had a horrible feeling she knew the answer.
    â€˜Clinic this afternoon,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘There’s a teenage girl with vomiting, weight loss and a small mass in the upper abdomen. I was going to see her, but I’m busy with follow-ups on patients I really want to see, and I’m feeling generous, so I’ll let you have her—see what you make of it. You might want to do a gastroscopy. And if you have any difficulties—if you feel I need to see her…’
    â€˜Is that likely?’ he asked, and she had to convince herself to let go. She liked to see the kids herself.
    â€˜Probably not. But just in case. There’s also a patient with Crohn’s who might need surgery tomorrow, and I’ll give you a few others. I know you’re more