“Must you?Here?” The stranger disapproved. His voice was a warm baritone with a lilting brogue.
“I’m in mourning, doc. Call it self-medicating.”
“Do you really think that’s wise? Withyourliver?” There was a strange weight to the man’s words. “Are you trying to press your chances?”
“You were mymother’sphysician, not mine. And unless you want to pressyourchances with a malpractice suit, I’d keep your opinions about my drinking habits to yourself.”
The doctor breathed heavily and turned to go, but Saga couldn’t let him so easily.
“Excuse me,” she said breathlessly, catching him as he stepped of the dais. “I’m so sorry, but aren’t you…Doctor…” Saga laughed uneasily. “Oh, I’m so terrible with names, but Eira spoke of you fondly, Doctor…”
The man regarded her in confusion but warmed to mild flattery. “Campbell. Alistair Campbell. And you are?”
“Saga Trygg,” she answered, hoping her name would be enough to dismiss any suspicion around false familiarity. As close as they may have been, Eira was not the sort to ever discuss her own medical struggles.
The recognition in his expression abated her worry. “Of course. Eira spoke of you often and fondly, as if you were her own.”
“She talked about me during her appointments?” Saga asked surprised.
“Sometimes, but I’ve been a friend of the family for years. You’re Saoirse’s granddaughter, are you not?”
Elis turned, one thick eyebrow quirked as if he were prepared to make a sharp comment, but instead Saga caught him by surprise. His mien softened and he laughed. “No, I’m sorry, you can’t be Saga Trygg.” He leaned down slightly and placed a hand just a little below his sternum. “You were but this tall last I saw you.” An impish grin formed beneath the mustache of that well-coiffed beard as his hand then raised to her current height. “Though, on second thought. I suppose not much has changed.”
Saga rolled her eyes. “And neither have you, Elis.”
“I think Mother said you’re studying medicine at Oxford now.”
Saga hesitated. There was always the chance she’d go back. Technically, she was on a break for the summer. “Yes.”
“Really?” Doctor Campbell smiled broadly. “That’s no small accomplishment. Congratulations. How far along are you?”
“I just wrapped my first foundation year,” said Saga. Secular or not, the idea of blatantly lying in a chapel didn’t sit well with her, and so she was grateful for questions that allowed her to merely skirt the full truth.
“Those were the best days,” mused Alistair Campbell. “Getting a taste for the field—pulling back the curtain on the inner workings of each specialization. Do you know where you might want to land yet? Anything really pulling your attention?”
“Em…” This was an opportunity. Saga knew if she played her cards right, she could leverage this conversation into the information she actually wanted. “Well, right now I’m really interested in forensic medicine, actually.”
Campbell was genuinely surprised. “Really? Why is that?”
“I like the puzzle of it.” Again, Saga did not lie.
“That’s like… autopsies, isn’t it?” Elis asked.
“Autopsies are responsible for a myriad of medical advancements,” said Saga. “They help save lives.”
“Seems gross,” disdained Elis.
“They’re notgross, they’re helpful.” Saga turned her attention back to Doctor Campbell. “Was there an inquest after Eira’s passing?”
Doctor Campbell shook his head. “There was no need. I’d been helping her manage her heart condition for years, but even with her resources and modern advancements, heart defects can still be rather unpredictable.”
“Oh…” Saga frowned. “I didn’t realize Eira’s heart trouble had been going on for so long.” This time she did lie, but it was in hopes that Doctor Campbell might feel compelled to share something she didn’t already know.
“I’m not surprised. I don’t imagine Eira or Saoirse would have wantedto burden you with that knowledge… But as a fellow medical professional, you probably know heart defects are common with cases of lymphedema-distichiasis.”
Saga nodded, wishing she had her old school textbooks with her. Lymphedema, swelling due to excess fluid. Though didn’t congestive heart failure cause lymphedema, not the other way around? Or did she have it backward? No, they were linked. One could cause the other from either end, that was it. “I had no idea.”
“Even after hearing himsayit, I still have no idea,” interjected Elis. “And my mother still died, so let’s be honest, how much of an idea canhereally have?”
