BooksBarbecue
Back Going Under Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I BIRTH
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. PART II LIFE
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. PART III DEATH
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. FORTY-SIX
  54. FORTY-SEVEN
  55. FORTY-EIGHT
  56. FORTY-NINE
  57. FIFTY
  58. FIFTY-ONE
  59. FIFTY-TWO
  60. FIFTY-THREE
  61. FIFTY-FOUR
  62. FIFTY-FIVE
  63. FIFTY-SIX
  64. FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. FIFTY-NINE
  67. SIXTY
  68. EPILOGUE
  69. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  70. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I nod.

‘It’s next month,’ he continues. ‘On a weekend.’

I have the sudden feeling he’s trying to tell me something, but I’m terrified of misinterpreting him. Awkwardness overwhelms me. ‘So which patient should we see first?’ I call over my shoulder as I hurry towards the nurses’ station to grab the charts.

And just like that we are in professional mode once more. I follow him around the ward, writing notes in the chart and trying not to dwell on the moment in the lift.

‘I’ll email you the details of the research this afternoon,’ he says as we see the last patient. ‘And I’ll talk to Wolfgang and tell him I’ve found an intelligent and motivated junior doctor to help him.’

I feel a glow of pleasure at his words.

Before I can respond, his phone rings. It’s intensive care. Mr Wilde has come out of recovery. He is awake, and doing well.

‘He’ll be on the ward in a few days, until I’m sure everything is okay,’ Dr Prince tells me. He looks pleased. ‘But I think it will all turn out quite well. He should make close to a full recovery.’

‘To think those horrible people at that meeting didn’t want to let you operate,’ I say with feeling. ‘And now look: he survived the operation and will get better and his wife won’t have to drive in the city by herself ever again.’

He is surprised into laughter. ‘What?’

‘Mrs Wilde was really nervous about driving in the city because, you know, they live out on a farm,’ I explain. ‘And I felt so bad for her. Now they can just live out their days on their farm and never have to come back to battle Sydney traffic.’ My face is burning with embarrassment. ‘It’s the small human things,’ I add, feeling a bit stupid.

Dr Prince looks over at me and frowns slightly. I have no idea what he is thinking.

‘You’re a very interesting young woman, Dr Holliday,’ he says.

I’m so startled that by the time I open my mouth to respond he’s already walking away. I think I see the other Kitty Holliday, the one standing on the other side of the looking-glass, smiling. I peer at her, hoping to get a better look, but she slips out of my sight, always hovering just in the periphery.

THIRTEEN

thirteen

‘So then he just said you’re a very interesting woman?’

I’m standing in the kitchen the morning after Mr Wilde’s operation. Winnie’s looking at me sceptically.

‘He said, “You’re a very interesting young woman, Dr Holliday,”’ I correct her.

‘Like, he just came out with it? What was the context? Were you saying anything interesting?’

‘Not really,’ I admit. ‘I told him Mrs Wilde hated driving in the city. Maybe he thought that was interesting.’