The Army Doctor's New Year's Baby by Helen Scott Taylor Page B

anxious face came into view, guilt filled Daniel. Here he was
moping about his love life, or lack of it, when the poor Smyth family really
did have things to worry about.
    This was
Kieran's third visit to the clinic for his injury to be monitored. "Hello,
Kieran." Daniel smiled at the boy. His damaged hand was splinted,
bandaged, and held immobile against his body in a sling. "Hello, Mrs.
Smyth. How are things?"
    The woman
rose, her gaze brightening. "Hello, Dr. Fabian. Thank you so much for
seeing Kieran again."
    "You're
welcome. I'm glad to help. I gather Mr. Smyth is making good progress."
    Tears filled
her eyes and she dropped her gaze. "So they say, but he'll be in the
hospital for months. I don't know how we'll manage with him off work."
    Daniel
placed a hand on the woman's shoulder in silent support, not sure what to say.
At least Mr. Smyth was expected to recover. Daniel hadn't seen much of Megan,
but she had taken the time to keep him updated on that.
    "Come
through and we'll talk about Kieran." Daniel led the way to his room and
ushered them inside. He tapped the back of the chair nearest his desk.
"Sit here, Kieran. We'll take a look at your hand."
    The boy and
his mother sat down, both tense and pale. "How have you been since I last
saw you?" Daniel asked the boy.
    "My
fingers tingle and burn sometimes, and they throb at night so I can't
sleep."
    Daniel
nodded. The boy had been on a number of drugs: antibiotics, codeine, and a
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. There was a limit to the type of pain relief
Daniel could prescribe for home use. It might be time to admit the boy to the
ward and give him some morphine. That would make him more comfortable and help
him sleep.
    "The
district nurse popped in to change the dressing as you requested," Mrs.
Smyth said. "She said Kieran's fingers didn't look as bad as she
expected."
    "That
sounds promising." Daniel gave them a smile, silently hoping the district
nurse was right. He gently removed the boy's injured hand from the sling.
"If you stretch out your arm, we'll take off the dressing and have a look,
shall we?"
    Daniel
pulled on gloves, unwrapped the bandage, and set it aside in a plastic tray. He
held the boy's left hand by the wrist and angled it to check the fingers. The
skin had blistered and scabbed over in places, but the injury was proving to be
less extensive than he'd feared. The nail on the little finger would fall off
and the tip of that finger and the ring finger would need to be amputated, but
the middle finger and index finger would not need surgery. The serious problem
was going to be the thumb.
    Supporting
the damaged hand, he examined the thumb in more detail, carefully schooling his
expression. "Okay, thank you." He rested the boy's hand back on the
arm of his chair. "In a moment I'll ask a nurse to redress that for
you."
    "Will
he need an operation?" Mrs. Smyth said.
    "Yes.
Let's talk about that. See where the ends of the two smallest fingers have
discolored?" Mrs. Smyth nodded and Kieran stared at his hand. "That
part of Kieran's fingers got frozen and will need to be removed. The good news
is that once it heals, you'll quickly adapt and it shouldn't affect how you use
your hand."
    "What
about my thumb?" Kieran tried to flex it and winced.
    Daniel
feared both the soft tissue and bone were necrotic. "Some of your thumb
will have to be taken away, but I have lots of experience with reconstructive
surgery. I'll make sure you can still use your thumb."
    With five
years of experience reshaping faces, often having to break bones to transform
noses, cheekbones, brow bones, and jaws, repairing Kieran's thumb would be a
cake walk. "It'll be a simple procedure. I'll replace the two small bones
in the end of your thumb with a metal post and take a skin graft from your
forearm to build you a new thumb."
    "Will
it hurt?" The boy's voice wobbled.
    "You'll
be asleep when I operate, but it will be sore for a while once it's done."
    "And
it'll work like his old thumb?"