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Maybe one day she would finally be over Malachi Gunn enough to convince herself of the fact, too.
‘Here she is—Moorlands General’s little trooper.’
‘Well, thank you, Babette,’ she forced out, despite knowing perfectly well it hadn’t been a compliment.
It never was. And it had been a long enough shift as it was, but Babette’s constant sniping hadn’t made things any easier. At least she would be out of here in less than an hour. Or should be, anyway.
‘What have we got, Maggie?’ She turned to the other nurse instead.
‘Stella Jones, four years old, nasal foreign body. Previous intervention by parents and local GP, but his attempt to retrieve it only pushed the object further inside.’
‘You won’t be able to do anything,’ Babette commented disparagingly. ‘The family have been sent here for local anaesthetic before removal.’
Saskia very nearly bit her tongue—literally.
‘I’ll take a look anyway.’
‘It’s a waste of time.’
‘Strangely enough, it’s my job,’ Saskia countered, taking a moment to peruse the notes in peace before heading towards the cubicle.
‘Hello, Mrs Jones. I’m Saskia, and you must be...wait...let me guess... Stella.’
Stella cast her a woebegone look whilst her mother practically slumped with relief.
‘Stella stuck a bead up her nose a couple of days ago. I tried to get it out, and so did our doctor, but it just won’t come down.’
‘Stella, would you mind if I had a little look?’ Saskia used her softest voice.
Stella wriggled up the bed until her back was wedged into the corner of the wall and shook her head mutinously.
‘I’m on her naughty list, too—for bringing her to all these doctors,’ the mother offered a weak smile.
‘It’s a thankless task being a parent, isn’t it?’ Saskia sympathised, before cranking her smile up a notch and turning back to Stella. ‘Has it been hurting a lot, sweetie?’
She was rewarded with a vigorous nod.
The notes said that the object wasn’t visible on an anterior rhinoscopy, but she would like to see for herself.
‘If I promise I won’t try to get it out, would you just let me have a little look? I could pinkie swear?’
The little girl eyed her sceptically for what felt like an age.
‘Please let the doctor look, flower,’ Mrs Jones cajoled. ?
?We can’t leave it up there—it will make you really ill.’
Stella turned to her mother and shook her head again, but this time it was a little less emphatic. Then she edged across the bed for a cuddle.
Not a bad sign, Saskia considered. It might take a little more careful treading and negotiation, but this might not take as long as she’d initially feared.
‘What happened with the GP?’ she asked the mother, making no move to approach Stella yet.
‘What happened? Well, he looked up her nose and at first he could see the bead, so he tried to get it out with tweezers, but he couldn’t. I think he might have pushed it up deeper, because afterwards he wasn’t sure he could see it any more, but Stella wouldn’t keep still so he couldn’t get a proper look.’
‘Okay, I see. So—what about this, sweetie?’ Saskia kept her back against her seat as she faced the little girl again. ‘I’ll have a little look—just a look, no trying to get the bead out—and then, if I can see it, maybe Mummy can give you a big kiss and that might help to get the bead out for you.’
‘A big kiss?’ Stella’s mother looked puzzled.
