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 feel myself grinning at the ridiculous use of the word ‘esteemed’, when we’re definitely the least-esteemed doctors I know—not to mention the fact that the esteemed are exposing themselves indecently and spending the afternoon getting drunk.

image

Two hours and two and a half bottles later, the esteemed stumble into the house of brown, and resettle on the couch. I look down at my phone, which I have happily neglected, and see that I have a reply from Dr Wolfgang Dietrich. In my happy wine haze I start to open it when I see I also have eleven missed calls from Max.

Estelle, meanwhile, finds her own phone and discovers a similar number of missed calls from the Godfather.

‘I bet they’ve found a party,’ she says, looking excited. ‘I’m calling him back.’

The Godfather answers immediately. I hear him yelling into the phone but can’t make anything out.

‘Slow down!’ Estelle interrupts him. ‘What? You’re where?’

More incoherent yelling.

‘Okay, okay. Shit.’

‘What’s going on?’ I ask.

She waves me silent. ‘Okay, Kitty and I’ll walk there as fast as we can. How far is the police station from our place?’

The police station?!

She hangs up and looks at me.

‘Get your clothes on,’ she says. ‘We’re going to the police station. Max has been arrested!’

NINETEEN

nineteen

Estelle fills me in as we begin the walk to the police station. We have a car, supplied by the hospital, but we’re both too drunk to drive—which, I discover, is the crux of our immediate problem.

‘Max was driving the nurse’s car,’ Estelle begins. ‘You know—the guy he went to the races with? Anyway, he was on his way home, but then he crashed into an ambulance.’

I stop walking.

‘I know.’ Estelle’s shaking her head. ‘Of all the luck, right?’

The Godfather assured Estelle it was only a minor scrape, but the paramedic, being a responsible member of the local community, insisted on calling the police. They attended the scene, mobile breath-testing kit in hand.

‘The nurse Max was with said he couldn’t drive because he was too drunk, but Max thought he was fine.’ Estelle grimaces. ‘It’s this hot weather—it really fucks with you.’

We’re nearly at the police station when the Godfather calls Estelle again. ‘Wait there, I’m coming outside,’ he says.

We stop on the lawn. I admire the architecture. PROTECTING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1911 a sign proclaims.

I see the Godfather exit the station and hurry towards us. I can’t help but notice he looks a little … on edge.

‘Are you high?’ Estelle asks him incredulously. ‘Your pupils look like dinner plates!’

‘I didn’t realise I’d have to pick Max up from the fucking police station!’ he whispers fiercely, trying to wipe sweat off his brow. ‘I’d just had some MDMA when he called me!’