“Oh,” I said as I took a long blink. “Um, well. That’s . . . good to know.”
“He says he’s not seeing you in the clinic anymore,” Barclay continued.
“Well, he’s under Prof’s care and I don’t usually run the HIV clinics. I just step in to help Prof every so often. I’m mostly on the wards or in the sexual health clinic.”
“I want Henry to seeyouin clinic,” he said, his tone firm. I narrowed my eyes – I’d never been terribly good at taking instructions from authority figures, no matter how handsome they were.
“Well, yes, I’m sure that can be arranged,” Nigel put in. “We’ll easily sort things out so that Dr Murphy will–”
“Mr Derwent,” I said, all business now and, with the way Nigel’s eyebrows went up, I could tell I’d surprised him. “With respect, you don’t know how my department functions. We’re short-staffed in the sexual health clinicandon the wards. Neither of those are areas that Prof is going to be able to help with. I donotrun the HIV clinics and–”
“I’ll pay you,” Barclay cut me off, again. My temper flared.
“I getpaidby the hospital,” I told him.
“I’ll pay you to see him privately, outside of your hospital hours.”
“I don’t do private work. I do enough hours here. Way over what I’m contracted.” I gave Nigel a pointed look and he shifted in his chair. GU medicine was chronically understaffed.
“Then I’ll pay the hospital for a replacement to cover you. Two replacements. And I’ll payyouto see my brother.”
“Privately?”
“Privately.”
I shook my head. “I don’t do private work.”
“Are you being deliberately obtuse?” Barclay clipped, and I realised that it wasn’t just my temper that was flaring.
“No, I am not being,” I paused and lowered my voice to a poor imitation of his posh one, “‘deliberately obtuse’. I’m just telling you: I don’t do private workever. I work for the NHSexclusively.”
“That’s not true,” he shot back. “You’ve worked for Médecins sans Frontières. You worked for them last year.”
I beat back the shock that he knew so much about me, and levelled him with my best withering look. “That is hardly private work, Mr Lucas.”
“It’s not exactly NHS work either.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just because I worked for a humanitarian organisation, who only covered my living expenses by the way, does not mean I am for hire.”
“I’ll pay you five hundred pounds per appointment with Henry. Plus, travel expenses to the house. He . . . he won’t agree to extra visits to the hospital.”
“Mr Lucas, I don’t think you under–”
“A thousand. A thousand per appointment.”
“I don’t do private work,” I gritted out.
“Why not? What the hell is wrong with private work?”
“I just don’t do it. I don’t need the hassle of setting up the extra indemnity cover. And it’s . . . it’s against my principles, okay?”
“It’s against your principles to earn perfectly good money?”
“No, Mr Lucas. It’s against my principles to earn money outside the NHS, looking after rich people who can usetheirmoney to jump the waiting lists. I know that might be tricky for someone of your political persuasion to understand, but it’s not why I went into medicine. Anyway, Henryshouldstay under Prof’s care. He is a leading light in HIV, he lectures all over the world. And Henryhasto come into the clinic. That’s where the blood tests are taken, that’s where we have all the equipment.”
“I know Professor Patel’s credentials,” Barclay said through gritted teeth. “Why the hell do you think I had Henry go to his clinic in the first place? I’m not saying he should stop coming into the hospital clinics. This would beextrainput for him.”
“Right, well . . .”
