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‘Aw, shucks, lad You’ll have a grand time The nurses will spoil you rotten’

Leaving theess’s cubicle, only to have Hazel, the only female doctor on duty, call from the hub, ‘Molly, I want you with me when I examine Kath She’s spent ti in too ed to calm her down’

‘I agree’ The wo her stoht be losing her baby It had taken ages to quieten her enough to get some obs done

‘We all heard the commotion and our first instinct was to crowd in to see e could do, until it quickly beca to sobs and you had the situation under control Nathan and I decided not to interfere unless you called for help We didn’t want to fire her up again’ Hazel was reading the triage notes

‘Thank goodness you did She refuses to be seen by a male doctor’ That’d i if Kath had been abused by a man, but when she’d tried to find out she had been told she’d fallen down the stairs at the back of her house Molly had gone straight to Hazel to explain her concerns, but as Hazel had been about to suture a deep wound in a young ed Kath’s notes instead and kept an eye out for whoeverinto the cubicle

‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Hazel commented as she led the way into the small space where Kath lay curled up on the bed, a bunch of tissues clasped in her hand

Closing the curtains, Molly watched Kath closely as Hazel asked questions about what had brought her to hospital

‘I fell down the steps’

‘You’re co of abdominal pain How did that happen?’

‘There was a toolbox there, all right?’ Kath’s voice was rising ‘I must’ve landed on that’

‘You don’t know for sure?’

‘I did’ Tears streamed down the woman’s face

Molly’s heart went out to her If only she could hug her and say, ‘Tell us everything, and we’ll get you help’—but she knehere that’d lead The police would have to be informed, and social services would send someone to help Kath had to be ready for what that involved It wasn’t as easy as someone who hadn’t been abused would believe Of course, Molly could be wrong, but she doubted it It was like looking into her own eyes from the past

When Molly had re Kath and lowered her jeans and panties, she stepped aside for Hazel’s exa that didn’t broach the subject of her husband

Finally Hazel straightened and pulled up Kath’s clothes ‘You’re notBut I want you to remain in bed for the next few days, at least until the pain subsides There’s still a risk of e’

‘He won’t be happy,’ their patient said in a dead voice

‘About you staying in bed, or about not losing the baby?’ Molly asked softly

‘What do you think?’

Both, if she was on the right page But she kept quiet Kath was getting wound up again Better to keep her calm and only mention help was available if she was receptive

Molly opened the curtains so they could keep an eye on her from the hub

‘Hey, you can’t come in here without permission,’ Hank said loudly from the other end of the department

‘Try and stop ry voice of an unknown male

‘Come here,’ Hank demanded

‘Where is she?’

Kath gasped, ‘No,’ and curled in on herself

Molly asked, ‘Someone you know?’

‘Mysince early afternoon’

Great Just what they needed The sound of curtains being jerked open and sliding doors ra closer, and it wouldn’t be long before he found who he was looking for