The thought was unexpectedly stirring. Jon’s work in A and E was one area that was his alone and which Chloe didn’t normally have any part of.
Yes. Won’t keep you long.
I’ll be right down.
She found him at the doctors’ and nurses’ station at the end of a row of cubicles, staring at one of the computer screens. He motioned for her to sit down in an empty chair next to him.
‘Thanks for coming. I’ve got some X-rays I’d like your opinion about.’ His brow was furrowed, and he was clearly wrestling with a knotty problem. Chloe resisted the impulse to wonder what she could possibly add to Jon’s expertise, and hoped he wasn’t over-estimating her experience.
‘Okay.’ She sat down, warily.
‘What do you see?’
She looked at the X-ray on the screen in front of him. ‘A pretty nasty dislocation of the big toe. Do you have the patient’s notes?’ She reached for the manila folder in front of him, and Jon put his hand on top of it.
‘I just want to know what you see here. This is Patient A, right?’
‘Okay. Well, Alan’s got a dislocated toe.’ She could hardly imagine that Jon hadn’t seen that.
‘Alan?’ He shot her a suspicious look, as if she’d been looking at his notes behind his back.
‘His name’s on the X-ray, Jon.’
‘Oh. Well, anyway, how might that have happened?’
‘What is this? Have you asked Patient A?’ Chloe rolled her eyes. Diagnosis wasn’t a guessing game.
‘Of course I have. I just want your professional opinion, without knowing any of the context, because, having seen both the boys, I’m struggling not to jump to conclusions.’
‘There’s a Patient B?’
‘Yes. I’m coming to him.’
Chloe heaved a sigh. ‘Okay, I’ll play along. An injury like this is most probably caused by the foot coming into contact with something hard. Kicking a wall would do it, or a blow to the end of the toe. Something like that.’
‘What about another child stamping on the foot?’
‘It’s possible, I suppose, but not likely. If that’s what happened I’d be on the lookout for some underlying condition or deformity of the bones, which meant that a dislocation was particularly easy.’ Chloe frowned at him. ‘Jon, you know all this.’
He grinned. ‘Yes, I do. I just wanted a second opinion.’
Chloe suppressed a smile. It was nice to think that Jon had chosen her for that. ‘Have you relocated the toe?’
‘Yes.’ Jon punched one of the keys on the computer keyboard and another X-ray flashed up on the screen. ‘It’s been relocated and dressed. I’ll be making an appointment for him up in Orthopaedics for ongoing care.’
Chloe studied the X-ray carefully. ‘Nice job. I don’t see anything here that concerns me. There’s a tiny bone fragment there...’ She pointed to the X-ray and Jon bent in to look.
‘I didn’t see that.’
The fragment was so small that it was almost invisible. But it was gratifying to be able to add even this to Jon’s assessment. ‘I’d say this is definitely an impact injury. Do you want to tell me what this is all about now?’
‘In a minute.’ He punched the keyboard again, and another set of X-rays appeared on the screen. ‘Patient B.’
‘Right.’ Chloe scanned the X-rays carefully. Three different angles, showing the front and sides of a knee. ‘Well, I don’t see any fracture of the patella, although there may be a very small hairline one that won’t show up on the X-rays until it starts to heal. There’s another very small chip just here, and I’d like to have him back in a couple of weeks, just to check on that.’
‘Caused by?’
‘Impact on a hard surface most probably. I can’t say any more that that, Jon. You’re going to have to tell me what...’ She glanced at the bottom of the screen. ‘What Craig told you.’