The Other Half by Sarah Rayner

Author:Sarah Rayner [Rayner, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

24

The doctor’s receptionist consulted the computer screen. “Mrs. Slater,” she muttered, moving the cursor down. “Ah, yes. Remarkably lucky we had a double appointment.” She eyed Maggie as if to say: You don’t appear sick; you should be grateful. “Go on up.”

The practice occupied a tiny picture-postcard cottage opposite Nathan’s school. Ramshackle to the point of tumbling down, it was one of the many houses in the village to which a worn wooden sign DRIVE CAREFULLY OVERHANGING BUILDINGS applied. Yet despite their low-tech accommodation and the demands made on them, the three GPs dealt efficiently with reams of local people, and over the years of bringing Nathan, Maggie had found one doctor particularly sympathetic. Now she always asked for Dr. Hopkin.

She mounted the creaky stairs, ducking to avoid a beam, and took the last seat in the waiting area. Two elderly women in the corner were sharing a moan about their ailments—a visit to the doctor’s office seemed as much a chance for a gossip as treatment. Opposite was a sulky-looking teenage boy with severe acne and an overweight man whose pale, blotchy beer gut was protruding from under his T-shirt. He’d be doing himself a favor if he covered that properly, Maggie decided, her aesthetic sense protesting in spite of her tiredness. Lastly, next to Maggie, a harassed-looking mother was trying to keep her two small children amused with the uninspiring selection of toys.

Of course the practice won’t be able to justify the expenditure for new ones, Maggie thought ruefully. It’s such a shame everything has been so affected by a lack of funding.

She picked up an ancient copy of Babe and began to flip through it, but as she skimmed the pages of tips on fashion, beauty, and relationships, she realized she wasn’t taking in a word.

Why I am here? she asked herself. They’re so stretched these days in the NHS, and there’s nothing wrong with me physically, unless you count the insomnia … Though it does seem to be getting worse. She looked down at her hands—they were shaking. Maybe the trembling is a sign of growing older, she thought, something I’ll have to get used to?

“Mrs. Slater!” the doctor boomed from down the corridor.

Maggie got up. As she braced herself to speak to him, she had a horrible surge of anxiety. I shouldn’t have come, her inner voice scolded. I’m wasting Dr. Hopkin’s time. Some people are genuinely sick, and here I am, worrying him over worry itself. I should be able to get over this on my own.

Somehow her feet propelled her into the office.

“Hello. What can I do for you today?” The doctor beamed at her. He was in his fifties, with disheveled gray hair and ruddy cheeks, dressed in comforting elephant cord and brushed cotton.

“I’m not sure,” said Maggie, as she took a seat next to his paper-smothered desk.

“Oh.” He sounded surprised. Then he looked at her, frowned, and propped his half-moon spectacles up so that he could focus on his computer screen. “I see you have a double appointment.

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