Page 17 of On the Edge

‘Harvey?’Nel said.

Harvey’s mum stood up, struggling to hold the boy who looked about six.

‘Hi, I’m Nel.I’ll get your bag,’ Nel said, picking up the tote bag from the floor.

‘Thanks.’She gave Nel a strained smile.Her eyes were the colour of faded denim.‘I’m Sophie.’

‘Hey, mate,’ Nel said gently, once they’d sat down in the consult room.‘You’re not feeling too good, hey?’

He regarded her with suspicion, then buried his face in his mother’s neck.

Sophie stroked his blond curls.‘He’s had a cough and a cold for a couple of weeks, but it’s getting worse.’She put a hand on his forehead.‘He feels hot to me.’

‘Let’s take a look.Harvey, can you open your mouth nice and wide for me?’

He reluctantly did as she asked, allowing Nel to examine his throat and ears.

She held up her stethoscope.‘Do you know what this is?’

He nodded slowly, his face still stern and untrusting.

‘Let’s have a listen to your chest.This might feel a bit cold at first.Can you take three big deep breaths for me?In and out, in and out, in and out.That’s it, good boy.You can cuddle Mum again now.’Nel spoke to Sophie.‘He’s got an upper respiratory infection.I’ll give you some antibiotics to clear it up.We’ll swab him too, just to check it’s not any of the other nasty stuff going around.’She took a cotton bud from a drawer.‘Head back, mate.That’s it.This will tickle a little bit.Good boy.Now the throat.Perfect.’

She put the cotton bud into a tube for pathology and opened Harvey’s patient record on the computer to write up the script.Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes landed on his last name.Warner.HarveyWarner.Was he Ryan Warner’s son?

Nel looked at Sophie, who was rubbing Harvey’s back.Was she Ryan’s wife?Nel cast her mind back.He’d started going out with a bubbly blonde girl not long after Maddie died.A friend of Lauren’s.Was that girl now this world-weary woman?

Nel tried to refocus.‘Is Harvey allergic to anything?’

‘No, nothing,’ Sophie said.Nel turned back to the computer.‘You’re Doctor Foley’s daughter?’

‘That’s right,’ Nel replied, her eyes still on the screen.

‘How long are you in town?’

‘Just for a week or two to keep things running,’ Nel said, as she pressed print.

‘Handy for your mum, having another doctor in the family.’Sophie smiled.‘We’ve been seeing your dad for years, since our oldest was a baby.I’m sorry.For your loss, I mean.’

‘Thank you,’ Nel said with a polite smile, taking the page from the printer tray.

‘So where’s home?’

‘Sydney.The inner west.’

Sophie nodded vaguely, as though that meant nothing to her.‘This must be a change of pace, compared to Sydney.’She rubbed Harvey’s back.‘Do you think you’ll stay long?’

Nel looked at Sophie again.Was this small talk, or something else?‘I’m just taking it week by week,’ she said, keeping her answer vague.

‘Well, I hope you enjoy your time here.’Sophie gave her a kind smile.

‘I’m sure I will,’ Nel said, chastising herself for being paranoid.The poor woman was just being friendly.She handed Sophie the script and explained the dosages.‘He should start improving in a day or two.’

‘Great, thanks, Doctor Foley.’

‘Please, call me Nel.Less confusing.’She reached for the jar of jelly beans on the back of the desk.‘Hey, Harvey, what’s your favourite colour?’

‘Green,’ he whispered with a shy smile.