‘Eh, didn’t you break the diet last night when you were drinking wine with a side of flaming hot Doritos?’
‘Shit, you’re right. Okay, well, I’m on day one of my diet and it’s only noon – I can’t break it yet, so if you wouldn’t mind…’ She dangled the clear bag containing the tube with the swab in front of Keli, who laughed as she took it.
‘I’m on it. But, for the record, you don’t need to diet.’
‘Tell that to the jeans I’m wearing this weekend.’ Keli was already on her feet and moving, when Yvie added with exaggerated innocence, ‘The lab is also on the same floor as the chemist. Which sells all sorts of things. You know, like tests. Just saying. Oh, and the staff lift is out of action for the next half-hour, so you’ll have to use the public one.’
Her friend got one out of ten for diplomacy, and ten out of ten for persistence.
After an interminable wait for the lift, Keli got in and was immediately faced with two women, both holding babies. It was almost certainly just a twisted coincidence, given that Paediatrics, her brother’s mothership, was two floors above her, but it really felt like the universe fricking hated her today. One of the babies was sound asleep in its portable car seat, while the other one was fussing up a storm in its mum’s arms. Keli had always been ambivalent on the subject of having children. She’d done rotations on Maternity and Paediatrics, and enjoyed them both, but the prospect of introducing tiny humans into her life had always been a fairly abstract notion, a vague ‘one day, if I meet the right guy’. And hadn’t she thought that had happened?
The doors opened on the ground floor and she let the two women go ahead of her into the huge hospital foyer. She followed them out, before doubling back and using her security pass to get through the nearby door that took her down one flight of stairs, into a warren of corridors that weren’t accessible to the public. The staff canteen, the labs and a dozen other hospital services were located down there.
It took Keli five minutes to drop off the sample, plead for a swift return, and then get back up to the main foyer. Of course, the first thing her gaze landed on was the row of shops next to the front entrance: there was a Tesco express, a gift shop, a sandwich shop, a bakery and… the chemist. Right there. Calling to her.
She thought about ignoring it, but something about the babies in the lift, the mums, Yvie’s nagging, her constant yo-yoing between fear and desperation to know propelled her forward and right into the shop. She had a quick scan to see if she recognised anyone before deciding the coast was clear and taking the box to the till. Stomach flipping, she paid using her phone, popped it in a bag, then marched right back over to the lift and got in, before she could change her mind.
This time, there was a bloke holding the hand of a wailing toddler. He met Keli’s gaze, then grudgingly picked the little boy up. ‘Sorry, son, but I’ve already told you no more sweets today. Now dry your eyes, so that you look nice for Mum.’
Keli read between the lines. They were going to see the boy’s mum, outside of the normal visiting hours. That meant it was probably something serious and the nurses on the ward were making an exception. This wasn’t a bloke being impatient with his crying child. It was just a dad, doing the best he could under what might just be awful circumstances. Keli gave him an understanding smile, then said goodbye when they reached her floor first.
Back on the ward, she nipped into the staffroom to ditch the package until her break, still not entirely sure that she had the courage to do the test just yet, but at least she had the tools if she was ready.
In her mind, she saw the strong but anxious face of the dad in the lift, and it gave her the kick she needed. She could do this. She could. As soon as she had a free five minutes, she was going to do the test and retake charge of her life, no matter what the result was.
She tossed the bag into her locker, closed it and then washed her hands, ready to get back on the ward. The hand towel had just been dropped into the waste bin beside the sink when herphone pinged again. No doubt her mother, with another request about dinner.
She pulled the phone out of her scrubs’ pocket and checked the screen. Not her mum. A number she didn’t recognise.
A flick of her thumb opened the message.
Hi. Sorry to do this, but I think you’ve been sleeping with my boyfriend. Can you call me back?
Keli froze, rooted to the spot, just as Yvie came through the door. Her recognition of the shock on Keli’s face was instant. ‘What’s wrong? Oh God, did you do the test? Was it positive? It was. Okay, don’t panic. I’ve got you. We’ll figure this out. We can…’
‘No.’
‘No? It was negative? Then why aren’t we celebrating?’
‘I didn’t do the test.’
Yvie’s confusion was obvious. ‘Then why do you look like that?’
It took Keli a moment for her brain to unfreeze long enough to send a message to her arm to hold out her phone. ‘Because I just got this.’
Yvie came close, read the message… ‘What?’ she gasped. ‘No! Yes! Oh shit! What are you going to do?’
Again, a pause for instructions to be relayed from her brain.
‘I’m going to call her back.’
NOON – 2 P.M.
9
ODETTE
‘Right, are you sure your emotional equilibrium has been restored and you’re ready for this?’
