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Back A Change of Circumstance Save as PDF
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Thirty-Four
  36. Thirty-Five
  37. Thirty-Six
  38. Thirty-Seven
  39. Thirty-Eight
  40. Thirty-Nine
  41. Forty
  42. Forty-One
  43. Forty-Two
  44. Forty-Three
  45. Forty-Four
  46. Forty-Five
  47. Forty-Six
  48. Forty-Seven
  49. Forty-Eight
  50. Forty-Nine
  51. Fifty
  52. Fifty-One
  53. Fifty-Two
  54. Fifty-Three
  55. Fifty-Four
  56. Fifty-Five
  57. Fifty-Six
  58. Fifty-Seven
  59. Fifty-Eight
  60. Fifty-Nine
  61. Sixty
  62. Sixty-One
  63. Sixty-Two
  64. Sixty-Three
  65. Sixty-Four
  66. Sixty-Five
  67. Sixty-Six

‘It’s Dr Deerbon. Would you like me to sort out your pillows? You’d be a lot more comfortable.’ He grunted. Cat moved him gently forward until he was leaning on her arm while she quickly rearranged and plumped his pillows. He smelled, a stale, old-body smell. Then, he opened his eyes suddenly.

‘I knew you’d come, Dr Cat, I knew it, I told them but they weren’t having any of it.’ The words came through a bubble of phlegm in his throat.

‘There you are! Hello. Can I get you some fresh water . . . or anything else? You still don’t look very comfortable.’

‘Ha, you don’t expect comfort in here, Doc. I’m all right, I’m fine, and I want you to tell them that please and then to take me home, and if they don’t like it, bugger them, because I’m not going to die in here.’

‘Have they worked out why you collapsed yet?’

‘Oh, they don’t tell me anything. Haven’t they told you?’

‘I’m afraid not. We eventually get a letter but not until you’re discharged. Has anybody been to see you?’

A scream from the opposite bed made Cat start but the old man only shrugged. ‘The entire time,’ he said, ‘night and day – a screech, then he goes back to sleep. Nobody pays any heed.’

The screech came again but the figure still lay flat, apparently unaware of the sound he was making. A nurse appeared, glanced round, then left again.

‘You are going to take me home, aren’t you? There’s plenty of pushchairs standing about, you just grab one, get me into it and we’ll go, they won’t even notice.’

‘I can’t do that and you know it.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘Meaning you won’t.’

‘Can you even imagine what trouble I’d be in?’

She looked at his chart, saw the meds he was written up for were to thin his blood and prevent him having another stroke. There was no note of any therapy. He had been on a rehydration drip. But he needed more frequent monitoring than he appeared to be getting and she wondered why he was not in the stroke unit. She went to find someone to talk to, conscious of the need to be tactful, as well as of the usual staffing and bed shortages. The same melee in the ward continued and there was no one at the nurses’ station, let alone any sign of a doctor.

As she left, another screech from Lionel’s ward echoed down the corridor after her.

Six

Simon glanced at his watch. ‘All right, five more minutes.’

DC Denzil Aberra, recently graduated to CID, looked around the conference room. Four of them, not including Serrailler.

‘They can’t all still be sick.’