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‘There’s nothing you can do.’ Isobel jutted her chin at him defiantly.
‘Try me.’ Lucas batted the challenge right back at her.
‘It’s nothing… I’m just…’ Isobel heaved a sigh. ‘My mum’s ill. I was worried about my test because I didn’t want to pass anything on to her.’
Thea exchanged a quick glance with Lucas. ‘What’s the matter with your mum, Isobel? Does she have a cough?’
Isobel rolled her eyes. ‘No. She has cancer.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ Thea bit her lip. So much for jumping to conclusions. There were enough kids in this area whose parents didn’t care enough to accompany them to a hospital visit, but it seemed that Isobel wasn’t one of them.
‘If I had TB, then I’d have to stay away from her. She has a compromised immune system, due to the chemo. Then she’d have no one to look after her.’
‘Is it just you and your mum?’ Lucas asked.
‘Yes. I can manage, we don’t need anyone else.’
‘It must be pretty hard for you, though.’ His voice was calm, gentle, but Isobel burst into great racking sobs. When Thea put her arm around her shoulders, she clung to her, crying like a baby.
* * *
‘She’s okay?’ When Thea walked back into the office an hour later, Lucas was sitting at his desk.
Thea shrugged. ‘As well as can be expected, in the circumstances. I took her up to Maggie, the hospital social worker, and she’s going to take her home. I think Isobel understands that we’re not going to try and take her away from her mother, and she knows that there are some practical ways that we can help her.’
Lucas shook his head. ‘She needs help. She’s only sixteen, and trying to look after her mother and keep up with her schoolwork. It’s too much, both physically and emotionally. Is that why she didn’t say anything? Because she was afraid that she’d be taken into care?’
‘Yeah. And she turned sixteen last week. So perhaps the thought that she was safe from that now, coupled with the worry over the Mantoux test, just pushed her over the edge.’
‘Whatever it was, it was good that she’s finally said something.
How long has she been doing this?’
‘Six months.’
‘And no one knew? Not even her school?’
‘Nope. No one.’
Lucas nodded. ‘Well done, you, then. For picking it up and getting her to talk.’
‘It wasn’t exactly rocket science. And I think it was you and the cup of tea that got her to talk, wasn’t it?’
He grinned. ‘You think so?’
‘Well, I got the impression that you were willing to sit there until two o’clock in the morning.’
‘I was. Only that probably wouldn’t have helped much. I was wondering whether she was going to call the police and accuse us of kidnapping.’
An involuntary shiver ran down Thea’s spine. ‘Don’t say that.’
He gave her a querying look. ‘Just a joke.’
A lot he knew. It was all too easy to get into trouble when you crossed the line between doctor and social worker. But this time it had been okay. This time Lucas had been there. She wondered if he knew just how much she appreciated that, but decided not to tell him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Week Five
