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‘Yes. We have an informal arrangement. She’s got my number and she’ll call me and I’ll take her somewhere nice for lunch. Or if she doesn’t call me in the next week, I’ll call her.’
‘Ah. Befriending.’
‘No, I like Isobel. She’s got guts.’
Lucas shrugged. ‘That’s what befriending is, isn’t it? Part of a support structure?’ He was teasing her now.
‘Oh, be quiet. You want an unstructured coffee break? I haven’t had lunch yet.’
‘Thought you’d never ask. You go on ahead, I’ll just check my emails.’
* * *
Thea had only just sat down on the bench outside the cafeteria, which was rapidly becoming their place to sit. The thought unsettled her, and she wondered whether she should move. She and Lucas were just working together, and it was a temporary arrangement. They didn’t have their own special places any more.
Lucas came striding towards her, frowning vigorously. He’d obviously walked straight through the cafeteria, without stopping to get himself anything to drink.
‘What’s up? I thought you wanted coffee?’
‘There’s another case.’
‘What?’ This was never good news, but from the look on Lucas’s face it was the very worst. ‘I thought we had no outstanding tests.’
‘This one was picked up by her GP. He referred her on to a different hospital and the paperwork’s only just come through and been connected up with our cases.’
His hand shook as he took a printed copy of an email from his pocket and handed it over. ‘Her name’s Safiyah Patel. Safiyah’s got active pulmonary TB. It’s a hard course of treatment for anyone, but at her age… She’s only fourteen.’
Thea scanned the paper. ‘This is Ava’s school, isn’t it? You know the family?’
‘Yeah. I know Safiyah and her family.’ There was something that Lucas was trying very hard not to say.
‘Then she’s a friend of Ava’s.’ Something cold crept into Thea’s heart. Every case was personal, but this time she saw the raw edges of fear in Lucas’s eyes.
A pulse beat at the side of his temple. Then suddenly he broke, all the stiff resolution seeming to drain out of him. ‘I’m thinkin
g that I should put Ava under the care of a private doctor. To avoid any conflict of interest.’
Conflict of interest didn’t sound like the real reason. ‘You mean that if Ava’s having private treatment, she’ll get better care.’
‘I know what you’re thinking, Thea. But Ava’s my child, and I have to do the best for her that I can.’
‘And what exactly am I thinking?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘You’re thinking about all the times we said that medicine was about need and not ability to pay. About how we said we should stick by those values.’
‘I’m not thinking that at all. I’m wondering why you think that Ava’s going to be better off having private treatment. Are you saying that we aren’t doing the best we can for our patients?’
‘No, of course not.’ Anger and desperation flooded his face. ‘But I don’t care what’s fair or what’s right when it comes to Ava. I have to do what’s best for her.’
‘And what is best for her? In your considered opinion?’
He was silent for a long time. ‘I can’t lose her, Thea.’
‘You’re not going to lose her.’
‘I didn’t expect to lose Sam and Claire.’ The haunted look in his eyes wrenched at Thea’s heart.
‘I think…’ She paused for a moment to decide what she really did think. ‘I think that’s a separate thing.’
