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Back The Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
  78. Keep Reading …
  79. Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
  80. About the Author
  81. Books by Lisa Stone
  82. About the Publisher

A bit of time arranging the patients’ files now would save him time in the long run, Ian thought, and he began putting them into alphabetical order. He saw his and Emma’s parents’ names on folders but didn’t open them at this point. He just tucked them into their alphabetical place. He was used to being methodical at work. There were two random folders that didn’t contain patient details and he moved those to the end.

He began going through the folders of clients, starting with A. There were many files in each folder – some containing multiple pages. The first showed the patient’s name, contact details, age and date of birth. The next their medical history, then diagnosis of infertility, treatment dates and what appeared to be the outcome. In some cases there was a record of a healthy baby being born. There were plenty of medical terms and abbreviations Ian didn’t understand, but all the patient files seemed to follow a similar format. It soon became clear that Moller had been tracking all those who’d used the clinic and their children. He felt uncomfortable, voyeuristic, reading all their personal details, but it had to be done.

He left his and Emma’s parents’ folders until last, then, with trepidation, opened his parents’ first. Ian read of his father’s low sperm count, how long they’d been trying for a baby and the dates his mother had been inseminated with donor sperm. It had taken three attempts before she’d conceived him. His date of birth was recorded, the sex – boy – and that he was healthy. He opened Emma’s parents’ folder and found similar information, although her mother had conceived on the first attempt.

While some of this was what Ian would have expected from a fertility clinic, it seemed strange that despite all this information none of the patient files appeared to show a donor identification number – as Moller had said they did. He opened a few more and then the two non-patient folders, but they didn’t contain a list of donor IDs either. Somewhere there must be a folder containing donor details their ID numbers, and a file cross-referencing them to the clients, as Moller had claimed. He must have missed it.