The Family Practitioner

by Leah Martyn

  ‘Oh, yes, the essay competition. He told us. Isn’t it exciting for him?’

  ‘It certainly is.’ Again, Joanna wondered about life’s ironies as she walked Steffi out through Reception.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Matt said, when Joanna told him the enforced change to their plans, ‘if it’s all right with everyone.’

  Joanna’s face lit up. ‘Oh, I’m sure it will be. And if we go a bit earlier, it’ll be a good chance for you to meet Steffi and reassure her about the job here.’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry about the restaurant but I have a kind of open-ended arrangement with Stef—’

  ‘Hush…’ Matt placed a gentle finger across her lips. ‘We’ll be together, Joanna, no matter where we spend the evening. And that’s all I care about,’ he murmured, gathering up a handful of her hair to expose the side of her throat for his kiss.

  The day of the inter-schools sports came round far more quickly than Joanna was prepared for. She stifled a sigh. These days her life seemed unusually compartmentalised and she worried she was spreading herself too thinly between her son, her lover and her work.

  Jason refused all but a high-energy protein-supplement drink for breakfast. Joanna recognised the signs. Her son was strung competition-tight, pumping out adrenalin like mad.

  ‘You know Matt is the MO for the meet today?’ She tried to sound casual, eyeing Jason evenly over the rim of her coffee mug.

  ‘Yeah, they told us at school.’ Jason downed the last of his drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘He’s the logical choice. I don’t have a problem with it.’

  No, only with the possibility of your mother becoming close to him. Joanna lowered her gaze. ‘What time is your event?’

  ‘They’ll run the heats first thing. Finals about eleven.’

  ‘So you’ll get the sprint over before lunch,’ Joanna clarified.

  He nodded. ‘I’ll stoke up a bit before the long jump in the afternoon. What time are you getting there?’

  Matt had talked of them going together but she’d vetoed that. This day belonged to her son. She smiled. ‘In time for your heat.’

  He nodded, pulling in a hard breath. ‘I’ll, uh, see you there, OK?’ He began to move towards the door.

  ‘Jase…’ Joanna quickly put her coffee down and went to him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she looked earnestly into his young eyes. ‘You can only give it your best shot, love. You’ve done all the preparation. You’ve trained hard and you’re fit.’

  ‘Yeah, I know all that.’ Jason gave her an awkward grin. ‘But I’ll win, Jo. Just watch me.’

  The playing fields at Blaxland looked a picture. Despite a rather frosty start to the morning, the sun was now out and already gathering strength.

  Joanna nosed her car into the designated parking area, wondering whether Matt had arrived yet. Swinging out of the car, she locked it and looked around her, her eyes feasting on the expansive flower-beds bursting with a riot of winter roses, stocks and creamy chrysanthemums.

  ‘Hi…’ Matt had come up unobtrusively behind her.

  Joanna spun round and her face lit with pleasure. She would have hugged him if she’d dared. ‘I wondered if you’d got here,’ she said instead.

  ‘Mmm.’ He looked away. ‘I’ve had the tour. The facilities seem excellent.’

  ‘That’s reassuring.’ Joanna gave a rueful laugh. ‘I’m glad those horrendous fees I pay are going towards something useful.’

  Matt stabbed his fingers through his hair. ‘How’s Jason?’

  ‘Strung tight, focused, determined he’s going to win.’

  ‘Our strategy’s paying off, then.’ The words were softly spoken, a bit throaty. For a long moment they looked at each other. Suddenly, Matt shook his head as if to clear it. ‘I’ll park myself somewhere near the first-aid tent. I’ll be there if you need me for anything.’

  ‘Shouldn’t think so.’ Her heart in her eyes, Joanna watched him go. Who was she kidding? She needed him like parched earth needed rain. She turned away, her mind suddenly a jumble of thoughts, longings and emotions.

  Exchanging greetings here and there, she took her place amongst the other parents and supporters who were rapidly filling every space along the sides of the running track.

  After what seemed like hours, Joanna had cheered herself hoarse and Jason had won his final. Unable to contain herself, and ignoring the rules, she ran towards the finishing line. ‘Jase!’ she shrieked, finding him at last among the crowd. ‘Congratulations!’

  ‘Thanks, Mum.’ He was pulling in hard breaths, propped forward, warming down.

  ‘That was magic!’ Joanna felt pride almost choke her. ‘You were magic!’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ His shrug was embarrassed but she could tell he was chuffed. ‘Told you I’d do it, didn’t I?’

  ‘You certainly did it.’ She put a hand on his back, finding it tacky with perspiration. Her motherly feathers fluffed. ‘Shouldn’t you get back into your tracksuit now?’

  ‘Don’t sweat it, Mum, OK?’ He turned away, grinning when several of his team-mates thumped him across the shoulders in congratulations. All high on adrenalin, they began playfully pushing and shoving one another and then bounded away into the crowd.

  Joanna felt suddenly bereft, left behind. Out of nowhere her eyes misted. ‘Oh, lord,’ she murmured, and took a huge shaky breath. Her son was growing up so fast, off about his own business. She would do well to remember that.

  She looked around for Matt. She needed a hug. But in the scheme of things that wasn’t possible either. A bit disconsolately, she began making her way slowly towards one of the refreshment tents. She needed a cup of tea to restore her equilibrium.

  Ten minutes later, Joanna was enjoying her tea and home-made apple strudel. She’d taken herself off to sit under one of the colourful umbrellas dotted about the lawn. Her thoughts were of her son and faintly wistful. The years had sped by so quickly…

  It was almost surreal, then, when she turned her head and saw him running towards her across the lawn. It took her a moment to register. ‘Jase?’ She’d sensed an urgency she couldn’t explain and whirled to her feet, an instant knot of unease in her stomach.

  ‘Oh, Mum…’ Jason jerked to a stop in front of her, his hands clenched at his sides.

  ‘What is it?’ Joanna felt the pinch of nerves turn to an avalanche. The boy was staring at her, his face white and crumpling uncontrollably. ‘Jason!’ Joanna shook his arm. He was obviously in shock.

  ‘Two of the guys…’

  ‘Yes!’ her voice snapped at him. ‘Two of the guys what? Tell me!’

  Jason’s mouth opened and closed and then he croaked, ‘I…think they’re dead.’

  Joanna froze, but only for a second. ‘Where are they?’

  ‘In the lo-locker room.’

  ‘Show me!’ Propelling Jason with her, Joanna began running.

  One look told her they had trouble of the worst kind. The students were big lads, probably from the senior form. One was in an untidy heap on the tiled floor, the other slumped in a plastic chair outside a shower cubicle.

  There were spent needles on the floor beside them.

  ‘Get Matt!’ Joanna rapped, her face intense.

  Beside her, Jason gave a keening little cry.

  ‘Now, Jason!’ Joanna screamed at him, shocking him out of his inertia. ‘The first-aid tent! Tell him it’s drugs—run!’

  Left alone, Joanna’s gut clenched and clenched again. But in a flash her training had smothered her fear. She needed triage here, and urgently. Instinct told her the boy on the floor was critical. He was frighteningly still, his skin almost blue. She felt for a pulse. Nothing.

  She leapt across to the other boy. His breathing was shallow, his pulse hardly palpable but at least it was there. Her heart jerked. She should get him into a left lateral recovery position but his bulk against her eight stone something made it impossible.

  Dear God…

  She looked wildly around, grabbing
several track jackets off their hooks and draping them over him. Try to keep him warm. She knew she was buying time. Her legs shaking, she dropped to the boy on the floor.

  ‘Matt!’ She looked up, the expulsion of his name shrieking relief. ‘Over here!’

  ‘What the hell?’ In a few strides Matt was through the door and hunkering down beside the youth. ‘What’ve we got, Joanna?’

  ‘No pulse, no breath sounds. We’ll need adrenalin.’

  ‘Bloody young idiots…’ Matt swore softly. But there was no time to sit in judgment. He dived into his case, locating and ripping open the dose of adrenalin, already prepared in its mini-jet. With swift precision, he sent the injection home to the youth’s inner arm.

  ‘Let’s hope it works, and soon.’ Joanna threw herself astride the youth’s prostrate form and began CPR, counting the rhythmic beats in her head, almost despairing that it was all too late. Dear heaven, what a waste of a young life…

  ‘Keep it going, Joanna!’ She heard the urgency in Matt’s voice, felt his fingers hard on her shoulder. ‘I’ll start bagging him.’

  Joanna longed to ease her neck and shoulders, but there was no time for that luxury. She had to keep the lifesaving compressions going.

  Matt had the resus bag attached to the small oxygen cylinder and was manually ventilating their patient.

  ‘Anything?’ Joanna’s heart felt like a jackhammer against her ribs.

  Matt shook his head. ‘This is a nightmare…And where the hell is the ambulance?’

  Thirty seconds later.

  ‘I have a pulse.’ Matt’s voice was steady, his brow furrowed in concentration. ‘But no breath. Stop compressions, Joanna, and take over the bagging. I’ll get a line in and then I’ll look at the other kid.’

  ‘Oh, my God!’ Cathy Lowe, the school nurse, burst in, an ashen-faced Jason following. Cathy’s hand went to her throat. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘As you see.’ Matt’s face was like granite. ‘We have one student in respiratory arrest but we’ve managed to get a pulse back. The other lad’s unconscious and in a coma.’

  ‘That’s Michael Jeffreys.’ Cathy’s horrified gaze went to the boy on the floor. ‘Is he—?’

  ‘In big trouble,’ Matt cut in darkly.

  ‘His father’s the local vet—Tom Jeffreys.’ Cathy was shaking her head as though she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

  Warning bells began ringing in Matt’s brain and pieces of the jigsaw began fitting together. ‘That’s probably where they got the dope, then.’

  The nurse gasped in disbelief. ‘Steroids?’

  ‘What else?’ Matt’s mouth had a grim little twist. He whipped a cannula into the second boy. ‘What’s this hero’s name? Anyone know?’

  ‘Dean Rolleston.’ Jason’s voice was hardly above a whisper. ‘He’s a boarder.’

  ‘And a bloody fool,’ Matt ground out relentlessly. ‘Jason, you don’t need to be here.’ His direction was terse, allowing no room for argument.

  ‘What can I do?’ Cathy was brisk and professional, breaking the tension.

  ‘Relieve Joanna,’ Matt snapped. ‘She’s borne the brunt of all this. And what’s the word on the ambulance?’

  ‘On its way. There was a pile-up on the highway. The base were going to redirect one a.s.a.p. Joanna?’ Cathy moved in to take over the CPR.

  ‘Wait!’ Joanna bent to place her cheek near the boy’s mouth. ‘I’ve got him! Matt—atropine! Quick!’

  Matt’s hands moved like lightning, drawing up the drug that would stimulate the boy’s heart rate and sending it home in a swift jab.

  Joanna rested back on her heels, almost seeing the drug work before their eyes. ‘Pulse back to sixty,’ she relayed evenly. ‘Matt, he’s waking up.’

  Their young patient was indeed waking up, panic and distress in his eyes.

  ‘It’s OK, Michael,’ Joanna bent to reassure him. ‘You’re going to be fine.’

  His eyes flicked wide open. ‘W-what happened?’

  ‘You tell me, mate.’ Anger like a loaded spring coiled in Matt’s chest. Snatching an empty syringe up off the floor, he held it in front of the boy’s face. ‘What did you use—animal steroids?’

  Michael whimpered. ‘Didn’t know…’

  ‘You bet you didn’t know!’ Matt’s eyes burned like blue flames. ‘You used enough to kill a draught horse. And your mate’s not out of the woods yet—not by a long shot.’

  ‘Matt.’ Joanna little cry was anguished. ‘Not now.’

  The ambulance had been and gone. Michael and Dean were on their way to hospital.

  ‘What’s your prognosis on Dean?’ Joanna asked, helping Matt repack their medical kit. She felt totally out of kilter, she realised, her nerves stretched to shreds.

  Matt grimaced. ‘He was as stable as we could get him. He’s young and fit. I’d guess he’ll pull through.’ He began to gather the sharps they’d used for safe disposal later.

  ‘Oh, good, you’re both still here.’ Cathy Lowe slipped quietly back into the locker room. ‘The principal asked if you wouldn’t mind having a word in his office.’

  Joanna drew in a jagged breath and looked helplessly at Matt. He lifted a shoulder. ‘Tell your boss we’ll be there in a few minutes, Cathy.’

  ‘Thank you both for coming.’ Gordon Ashby moved quickly to usher them inside a little later. ‘I’ve taken the liberty of providing some refreshment. Do help yourselves to coffee as well.’ He indicated the cafetière on a trolley.

  Joanna saw the generous array of sandwiches and cakes but doubted if she’d be able to swallow anything.

  Matt, it seemed, had no such qualms. Taking a sandwich, he bit into it with obvious hunger.

  Joanna stole a glance at her watch, startled to see it was two o’clock. No wonder Matt was hungry. He’d probably had nothing since breakfast.

  ‘Dr Winters, Dr McKellar, I’m very grateful for your discretion today.’ The principal leaned forward confidentially. ‘I know I speak for the whole of the Blaxland community when I say we’d like to keep today’s business under wraps if possible.’

  ‘I don’t like your chances, Mr Ashby.’ Matt was blunt. ‘The world and his dog must have seen the ambulance arrive. And I know for a fact there were several sports journalists from the national press gallery here.’

  ‘Quite.’ Agitatedly, Gordon Ashby brushed a hand across his greying hair. ‘We’ll have to be alert, then, and go into damage control when and if it’s needed.’ He turned to Joanna. ‘It was very fortunate Jason found the boys, Dr Winters, otherwise…’ He palmed his hands expressively.

  ‘Yes, it was,’ Joanna said slowly, the spectre of something sinister sending a river of unease up her backbone. It still wasn’t clear to her what her son had been doing there, given that the locker room had been made out of bounds during the meet. Unless Jason had arranged to meet Michael and Dean there…But for what purpose? She swallowed thickly.

  Surely that was unthinkable!

  She swung towards Matt, looking shocked. Stop it, the look in his eyes said. Reaching out, he put his hand briefly on hers and squeezed. ‘Mind pouring us a coffee?’

  ‘Oh. Of course not.’ Joanna stood quickly, as if by the action alone she could dam the terrible unease that was gripping her.

  ‘In view of what’s happened today…’ Gordon Ashby looked down at his hands clasped in front of him on the desk. ‘I’d like to ask you, Dr McKellar, if you’d consider coming here to the school and giving a talk to the boys about the dangers of taking drugs with the idea it will enhance their sporting prowess.’

  ‘I’d be glad to.’ Matt nodded his thanks to Joanna as she handed him his coffee. ‘But I’m surprised you haven’t done it already. This kind of activity amongst sports people is hardly new.’

  ‘It’s the first time it’s happened here,’ the principal said defensively, his sensitivities clearly ruffled.

  Matt’s look was bone dry. ‘That you know of.’

  Joanna knew neither of them was hu
ngry but she’d decided to make an effort with dinner anyway, hoping to tempt Jason to eat something. But what she really wanted was for them to get back to some kind of normality, she sighed to herself, whisking eggs for an omelette.

  And to do that she had to talk to him.

  But she was afraid to. Afraid of the answers he would give her. Still more afraid of those he wouldn’t. But, whatever else, she had to give him full marks for courage.

  Despite the terrible upset of his day, Jason had won his long-jump event in the afternoon. But he seemed in no mood to celebrate. Joanna cast a quick look at her son. For a moment he seemed like her little boy again, showered, his hair squeaky clean, dressed in his oldest jeans and sweatshirt and curled up with a comic book in the breakfast nook.

  ‘We’ll eat in here, shall we, Jase?’ Joanna threw a handful of fresh herbs into the omelette.

  ‘Yeah—whatever.’ Jason didn’t lift his head. And when the doorbell pealed a moment later, he didn’t move. Stifling a sigh, Joanna wiped some sticky residue from her fingers and went to answer it.

  ‘Matt…’ Her hand went to her throat and her heart rate revved up a notch.

  ‘Thought you might like some company.’ He held up a bottle of champagne.

  ‘Oh—OK.’ Flushing slightly, she stood back to let him in. ‘Matt’s here,’ she announced with overbright emphasis when they stepped back into the kitchen.

  ‘Hi.’ Jason looked up warily.

  ‘Hi, yourself. You did well today.’ Matt held out his hand. ‘Congratulations.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Jason hesitated for a second and then stuck out his hand to grasp Matt’s.

  ‘Would you like to eat with us?’ Joanna came in quickly, circumventing any tension. ‘It’s just omelette and I can make a salad of some description.’

  ‘Would you mind?’ Matt looked pointedly at Jason.

  ‘OK with me.’ A smile, faintly guarded, accompanied his little shrug of compliance.

  Joanna felt a surge of relief, likening Matt’s adult presence to a very solid rock she could lean on. She caught his eye and he winked. ‘Like me to open the champagne?’