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Ros sighed with relief. ‘You’re a star. I’ll send her through. Her name is Penny, by the way, and more than that she will not tell me, poor lass.’
Penny walked hesitantly into the room, her face pale and blotched with crying. Lucy’s heart went out to her. She’d never seen a more miserable-looking creature.
‘Penny?’ She closed the door behind Ros and guided the girl to a chair. ‘Sit down and tell me what’s upsetting you.’
‘I’ve been so stupid.’ The girl’s face crumpled and she started to cry again, great tearing sobs that shook her whole body.
‘Oh, Penny!’ Touched by the girl’s distress, Lucy instinctively slipped an arm around her shoulders and held the girl tightly until the sobs lessened. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’
Penny gave an enormous sniff and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her coat. ‘You’re going to think I’m so silly…’
‘I would never think that,’ Lucy assured her quickly.
Penny gave a sniff. ‘I just didn’t know who to turn to.’
‘Well, you can start with me,’ Lucy said quietly. ‘Sometimes when you have a problem it’s easier to talk to people that you don’t know very well.’
She sank back onto her heels, her arm still on Penny’s shoulder.
‘Do you promise not to tell my mum?’
A quick glance at the notes showed her that the girl was seventeen. Lucy bit her lip, knowing that she had to be careful what she said. ‘What happens here is confidential, just between you and I. But you’re very young, Penny. You shouldn’t be shouldering big problems on your own. I’m sure your Mum would want to know if something was upsetting you this badly. Tell me what’s happened, sweetheart, and we’ll work out what to do together.’
Penny took a deep breath. ‘I slept with a boy last night and now I wish I hadn’t.’ Having blurted it out, Penny started to cry again and Lucy handed her a box of tissues.
‘Why do you wish you hadn’t?’
‘Because now I might be pregnant,’ Penny choked, and Lucy’s voice was gentle.
‘You didn’t use any contraception?’
Penny shook her head, her breath coming out in jerks as she spoke. ‘No. I didn’t think of it, and neither did he. And what if I’ve caught something awful?’
‘Take a deep breath for me, Penny.’ Lucy tried to soothe her, handing her a box of tissues. ‘That’s right. Now, then, let’s take this one step at a time. This happened last night, you say?’
Penny nodded.
‘So we need to give you some emergency contraception.’
‘But I thought you could only take it the morning after. And it’s the afternoon now so it’s too late.’
‘You can take it up to seventy-two hours after you’ve had sex,’ Lucy told her, ‘so it certainly isn’t too late.’
‘I don’t know why I did it.’ Penny shook her head slowly and looked at Lucy helplessly. ‘I met him at a party and I wasn’t even meant to be there. I told Mum I was sleeping over at a friend’s. He was gorgeous—older, really good-looking. I suppose I got carried away.’
Lucy gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘It happens.’
‘Well, I wish it hadn’t,’ Penny whispered, shredding the tissue with her fingers. ‘I’m in a complete panic now. I know I need to see a doctor, but Mum has known Dr Richard since they were at school together and he’ll tell her.’
Lucy frowned. ‘You’re seventeen, Penny, and what happens between a doctor and a patient is confidential. I can assure you that Dr Whittaker wouldn’t tell your mother.’
Penny pulled a face. ‘It isn’t just that. Even if I knew he wasn’t going to tell Mum, I still couldn’t talk to him—he’d never understand. It’s a generation thing, isn’t it? I don’t suppose he’s had sex for years. It would be too embarrassing.’
Lucy wondered what Richard’s reaction would be if he could hear the conversation. ‘Well, if it’s age that’s worrying you, how about seeing Dr Michael?’
Penny hesitated and then nodded. ‘Yes. All right. I expect he does at least know what sex is.’
Completely sure that Richard Whittaker also knew all too well what sex was, Lucy smothered a smile as she left the room and slipped along the corridor to Michael’s room.
