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James smiled fondly at her and she thanked her lucky stars they had both ended up back on the island together at the same time. She had a good feeling about this and there was no rush. They had all the time in the world . . . she hoped. Her mind was made up. This was where she wanted to be.
Chapter Forty-Nine
A few weeks later, Kirsty and Amy were in the doctor’s waiting room with their dad when the local busybody, Anna, made a beeline for them. Groaning inwardly, Kirsty forced a smile. ‘Hello Anna, how are you?’
‘Fine, thanks, dear, and you?’ She ploughed on before Kirsty had a chance to reply. ‘Are you not well? Or is it your dad? Hello, Alex,’ she said as an afterthought.
Dad gave her a small smile.
‘We are just fine, thanks, Anna. How about you? What are you here for?’
‘My indigestion has beenawful.’
Kirsty wanted to suggest that she cut back on the amount of wine she drank and tried to exercise more but of course, didn’t.
‘It’s just causing me havoc. You have no idea.’ She narrowed her beady eyes and lowered her voice. ‘I have been a bit worried about him if I’m honest,’ she said, tipping her head towards Dad. ‘I already said this to your sister.’ She spoke as though Amy was invisible. ‘I mean, he’s getting a bit forgetful, isn’t he?’
Kirsty shook her head. ‘My dad isn’t deaf, Anna. He can hear everything that you’re saying.’
Dad stared straight ahead, ignoring the conversation.
‘I mean we all forget things, don’t we, even me, but you must be worried. Especially with all those tee-off times he’s been forgetting. He’ll soon talk himself out the golf circle.’
Kirsty bristled, a huge part of her wanted to tell Anna to shut up and mind her own business. But for the sake of her dad, she bit her tongue extremely hard.
‘I mean if I didn’t know him and about the forgetting stuff I wouldn’t know.’
Kirsty exhaled through her mouth. ‘What do you mean?’ she said, through gritted teeth.
‘Well, your dad doesn’t look like he has dementia, dear.’ She scratched her chin which had a few hairs sprouting from it.
‘What do you mean?’ Kirsty frowned.
‘What’s that, dear?’
‘What do you mean when you say that he doesn’t look like he has dementia? What on earth is that supposed to mean?’ She felt her voice starting to rise and Amy placed a warning hand on her arm.
But it was Dad who spoke up. ‘I’m fine, thanks, Anna. Thanks for your concern. And I am here. I can hear every word you are saying. I’m not quite ready for the loony bin yet, thanks very much.’
‘Oh, I didn’t mean to cause offence,’ said Anna, her cheeks dotted with red spots. ‘I was just meaning you look very well and that you don’t look like a dementia sufferer.’
Fortunately, just at that moment, Nicola appeared in the waiting room to de-escalate the situation. ‘Hi, Anna, the doctor will see you now,’ she said, putting a hand gently on her shoulder.
‘Yes, don’t let us keep you,’ said Kirsty, her voice dripping sarcasm.
‘Well, there is no need to be rude, Kirsty, is there?’
Kirsty couldn’t believe the way Anna had just spoken to them. She reached over and clasped Dad’s hand, feeling him tighten his hold. She knew he was scared, and Anna’s outburst hadn’t helped one bit.
‘Well done for putting her in her place,’ said Amy.
‘Just to let you know, Anna,’ said Nicola in her soothing voice as she led her from the waiting room. ‘We don’t talk about dementia sufferers anymore. It’s not very nice language to use. We talk about people living with dementia . . .’
Kirsty was grateful that Nicola had appeared when she had, and that Amy was with them too. In fact, she was hugely relieved that Amy had decided to stay. She wasn’t quite sure how she would have coped without her and having a few days away with Steve after the wedding had given her a chance to recharge her batteries and think about things. The girls had been so supportive when she told them the news about her adoption, and they had all decided that now wasn’t the best time to broach the subject with Dad. Causing him more stress just now was the last thing they wanted to do. Kirsty had brought him in last week so the GP could take some blood and urine samples and he had asked him a series of questions as part of a memory test.
Nicola appeared a moment later. ‘Come on, come through now.’
Fortunately, the waiting room had now emptied, and Kirsty and Amy followed Dad into the doctor’s appointment room.
