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‘You can stop pretending to read now...’ She leaned towards him, whispering.
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Your eyes aren’t moving.’
Fair enough. Edward hadn’t thought that anyone would notice that he was staring at the same word on the page in front of him, listening to what the women were saying.
‘I know what it says, anyway.’ He snapped the notes shut.
‘Can you fill me in on Mercy’s history? Before we go to see her?’
‘Yes, sure.’ Edward looked at the sign above the door of the conference room and saw that it was empty. ‘Let’s go in here.’
He sat down, and Charlotte took a seat opposite him. He’d seen her at the clinic, and he knew that she was great at her job, but she always made it seem so natural. This change in context let him see just how professional she was.
‘We don’t know much about Mercy’s background. She’s thirteen years old, an orphan, and was clearly fending for herself for a while before being picked up by one of the charities working in the area. They’ve found a new adoptive family for her, back in Africa, and by all accounts she’s very happy with them. She’s been going to school and doing well.’
‘Sounds good so far. Have they accompanied her to the UK?’
‘No, she’s staying with a foster family. I’ve spoken with the mother and she seems to be doing an excellent job. The problem is that Mercy doesn’t want to talk about what happened to her before she was taken in by the charity.’
‘So you’ve not been able to take a detailed medical history?’
‘Yes and no. We know what’s the matter with her, but I’d like to know what caused some of her problems as well. For instance, she has a perforated eardrum.’
‘Hmm... Not usually a result of trauma. Although it sounds like a good probability in this case.’
Charlotte pressed her lips together in thought, and Edward ignored the little thrill of pleasure that seemed to accompany all his dealings with her.
‘Your first objective is just to let her get to know you, though. See if you can reassure her so that she feels she’s got a friend at the Hunter Clinic. Any information you can get is a bonus.’
‘Okay. What else do I need to know?’
‘She’s here for surgery on a healed Buruli Ulcer.’
‘That’s a bacterial infection, isn’t it?’
Edward nodded, pleased that Charlotte wasn’t slow in asking for more information when she needed it. ‘Yes, that’s right. A Buruli Ulcer is relatively easy to treat when it’s caught early, but if it’s not—as was the case here—patients can develop large ulcers which result in disabilities and restricted joint movement as the scars heal. In Mercy’s case there was a contracture which had multiple joint involvements—hand, wrist and elbow.’
He scrunched his own arm up to demonstrate the way that Mercy’s arm and hand had been folded tightly in on themselves and Charlotte winced.
‘Poor kid. It must have hurt like nothing I can imagine.’
‘She’s been through a lot. But the operation to straighten the limb, grafting in new material where necessary, was a success.’
‘You did it?’
‘Yes.’
That warmth again, as if her smile were caressing him. Pride because she cared that it had been Edward who had carried out the precise skin and muscle grafts which would restore some of the movement in Mercy’s arm and hand.
‘How much mobility will she recover?’
He shook his head. ‘Difficult to say at this stage. But the prognosis is good, and if she keeps her physiotherapy up she should do well. That’s another thing I want you to look at. She needs to be committed to this, and to understand how important it is for her to continue the things that she’s being taught when she goes home.’
‘Right. Okay, then. So I’m working on her heart, not her medical condition.’
‘Primarily. Although she’s going to need nurse-led care at the Hunter Clinic and you’ll be providing that.’
