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‘It’s very good of you.’ Mary frowned. ‘I’m sorry—’
Jamie cut her short. ‘It’s okay. What’s done is done and we look forward, eh, Callum?’
Callum nodded, his fingers moving to back of his right hand. Mary grabbed his hand, snatching it away before he could worry at the dressings.
‘Maybe you’d like to sit for a while before you go.’ The armchairs in the comfortable waiting room were laid out so that patients could sit in groups with their families, and Anna gestured towards the side table. ‘Help yourself to coffee or tea.’
‘Thank you. I think we’d like a drink before we get back on the train...’ Mary glanced at Callum and he nodded.
‘Great. Well I’ll see you in six weeks then, Callum.’ Anna smiled at him, and Mary nudged him.
‘Yes. Thanks, Miss Caulder.’
Jamie went to fetch Mary and Callum’s drinks, and Anna turned away, walking back to the consulting room. All the teenagers that Jamie brought here had some kind of story, and Jamie’s obvious concern for Callum showed that his probably wasn’t a good one.
She heard a knock on the open door and turned.
‘Nice job,’ Jamie said from the doorway.
‘Did you expect anything else?’
He shrugged and Anna took a gulp of air into her lungs. The to and fro between them didn’t seem to be working as well as it usually did. Maybe because of the green shirt, which made the colour of his eyes so much more prominent.
‘Ask. I know you want to.’
If he was going to add mind-reading to his talents, then Anna needed to establish a few more boundaries. But she was curious. She gestured towards the door, and Jamie walked into the room, closing it behind him.
‘All right then. Callum seems a nice lad, and Mary doesn’t look like the type to take any nonsense. What on earth is he doing with those tattoos?’
Jamie quirked his lips downwards. ‘He is a very nice lad. Mary’s his aunt, and she took him in two years ago. Before that, he was neglected and abused by his mother.’
‘Poor kid. So he’s acting up?’
‘Yeah. His older brother turned up three months ago, and Callum disappeared with him. Mary was frantic, and tried everything she could think of to find him, that’s how she made contact with us. He came back a week later, his brother had moved on and dumped him.’
‘And that’s where he got the tattoos?’
Jamie nodded. ‘Callum craves acceptance, and like a lot of kids with his kind of background he has a few issues with impulse control. He just wants to please, and he doesn’t think about the consequences. Our youth counsellor is working with him pretty intensively, and it’s pretty clear that we don’t know the full scope of what’s happened to him yet.’
‘You’re getting to the bottom of it, though.’
‘Yeah. We will. In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that we’re doing all we can to make sure that he won’t be back with another set of tattoos that he regrets. And to...um...apologise. For any embarrassment.’
‘I’ve seen worse. I didn’t run out of the room screaming then either.’
‘No. Of course. But your non-judgemental approach is just the kind of thing that Callum needs.’
Was that a thank you? Anna decided not to push it and ask. ‘I’m just glad that they’re a single colour and relatively superficial, so they shouldn’t be too difficult to remove completely. Something like that won’t help Callum when it comes to getting a job or a place in college. Or a girlfriend...’
‘Yeah. He didn’t grasp the full implications of some of them. Mary asked me to explain it to him...’ His brow furrowed. Clearly he’d not found the conversation particularly easy.
‘Well... Good luck with him...’ The words slipped out before she’d had a chance to think. Jamie quirked his lips down.
‘We don’t leave things to luck.’
‘No, I know. Hard work, determination and expertise.’ Along with a lot of caring. Jamie’s charity had a policy of tough love, and it worked. ‘I’m actually not too proud to take a bit of luck when it comes my way.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind. Thanks for what you did today. I’ll let you get on now.’ He turned suddenly, closing the door behind him as he left.
