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Dr Wong knits her brows. “Such as?”
“Vampires.”
“Vampires?”
“Yes. I know it sounds mad, but please hear me out.” I rake my fingers through my hair. “Something bad happened to me on Saturday. The craziest thing ever. I thought my fiancé …” The sentence dies. What am I doing? As if she’s going to believe me.
“Go on,” Dr Wong says softly. “Your fiancé …?”
I change the subject. “Do you think the walking dead can be photographed?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘walking dead.’ Are we talking about zombies?”
“Maybe. Oh, I don’t know. Look, forget I ever said anything. My head’s all over the place and I’m not thinking straight.”
“Carly, I’m very worried about you. You’re behaving erratically.”
“I know, but I haven’t lost the plot, honestly. No need to call the men in white coats.” I laugh shrilly and drop my gaze to the floor. “It’s just all this stuff with my dad. It’s getting to me, but once I’ve had some Thurlax and some sleep, I’ll be fine.”
“Well, if you’re sure …” Dr Wong places the Thurlax in a paper bag and hands it to me. “Take these and see how you go. Remember, it can take a good few weeks before the effects start to kick in, so why don’t we give it till Christmas? Then, if you aren’t seeing a major improvement, we can explore other treatments. But Carly, please do think about what I said.”
“Huh?”
“About getting some counselling. It’s definitely something for you to consider.”
“Oh, I will.” Smoothing down my skirt, I stand up and sling my bag over my shoulder. “Thanks. Talking to you has made me feel so much better about things.”
Dr Wong shakes my hand and wishes my father a speedy recovery. She also tells me to phone her if I have any more questions.
On shaky legs, I leave the office and stand in the corridor, catching my breath. I pound my knuckles against my head.Idiot!I can’t believe I almost told her about Nick.
As soon as I get outside the building, I dump the bag of Thurlax in the trash. My mind is made up:no more antidepressants. Despite what she said about giving them time to take effect, deep down I know they do nothing for me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Saturday
On Saturday evening, I arrive at the hospital to find my father in a terrible state. According to him, the nurses haven’t changed his incontinence pad for five hours and the bed sheets are soiled. He also doesn’t appear to have been fed since morning. Angrily, I stomp to reception and demand to speak with someone in charge.
“I’m afraid Dr Noble isn’t working over the weekend,” the nurse replies. “And most of the staff here are from a temping agency.”
“Well, isn’t there someone else?” I shout. “This is totally unacceptable. My father has been left lying in his own faeces for more than five hours and in all that time, no one thought to go and check on him. I mean, is that acceptable to you? If it was your father, would you be happy?” I run my fingers down my nose and lower my voice. “Look, I know you’re busy, but for God’s sake, couldn’t someone at least—”
She holds up her hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll send someone to change him right away.”
“Thank you, but can you see where I’m coming from?”
“Yes, I can.”
“What guarantee do I have this won’t happen again? How can I leave here tonight knowing that he’s not being looked after properly?”
“But we’re doing the best we can.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not good enough. Listen; put me onto your supervisor, this Annie person.”
“Certainly.” In a fluster, the nurse scurries off to find her supervisor. Five minutes later, she and a male colleague go into my father’s room to carry out the necessary ablutions. While I’m waiting in the corridor, a large blonde lady in her fifties waddles over to me. She’s carrying a brown medical file and her ID badge tells me her name’s Annie Daniels.
“Hello there,” she trills. “Nisha said you wanted to speak to me about your father, Steve Singleton.”
