Midwife...to Mum!. Sue MacKay

lid on the sizzle before anyone else in the clinic started noticing. That was the last thing he needed, and no doubt Ally felt the same.

CHAPTER THREE

      ‘FLYNN,’ MEGAN CALLED from her office as he was shrugging into his jacket. ‘The path lab’s on line one.’

      ‘Put them through.’ Damn, he’d just seen Ally head out the front door for home. He’d intended talking to her before she left, maybe even walk with her as far as Kat’s flat, then backtrack to home. Which, given he lived on the opposite side of town, showed how fried his brain had become in the last twenty-four hours.

      For an instant he resented being a GP. There were never any moments just for him. Like it had been any different working as an emergency specialist. Yeah, but he’d chosen that career pathway, not had it forced on him. So he’d give up trying to raise Adam properly, hand him over to spend even more hours with day carers? No, he wouldn’t. The disgruntled feeling disappeared in a flash, replaced with love. His little guy meant everything to him.

      ‘Flynn?’ Megan yelled. ‘Get that, will you?’

      He kicked the door shut and grabbed the persistently ringing phone from his desk. ‘Flynn Reynolds. How can I help?’ Could you hurry up? I’m on a mission.

      ‘Doctor, this is Andrew from the lab. I’m calling about some biochemistry results on William Foster.’

      William Foster, fifty-six and heading down the overweight path through too much alcohol and fatty food since his wife had died twelve months back. He’d complained of shoulder pain and general malaise so he’d ordered urgent tests to check what his heart might be up to. ‘I’m listening.’

      ‘His troponin’s raised. As are his glucose and cholesterol. But it’s the troponin I’m ringing about.’

      He took down details of the abnormal results, even though Andrew would email them through within the next five minutes. Finding William’s phone number, he was about to dial but thought better of it. Instead, he phoned Marie on the run. ‘I’m going to be late.’

      ‘I’ll feed Adam dinner, then.’

      Flynn sighed. ‘I owe you. Again.’

      Marie chuckled. ‘Get over yourself. I love having him.’

      Yeah, she did, but that didn’t make everything right. For Adam. Or for him.

      William lived ten minutes away and halfway there Flynn decided he should’ve rung first to make sure the man was at home and not at the club, enjoying a beer. William didn’t know it yet, but beer would be off the menu for a while.

      William opened his front door on the third knock, and appeared taken aback to find Flynn on his doorstep after dark. ‘Doc, what’s up?’

      ‘Can I come in for a minute?’

      William’s eyes shifted sideways. ‘What you want to tell me?’

      The man was ominously pale. He hadn’t been like that earlier. ‘Let me in and we’ll discuss it.’ From the state of William’s breathing and speech, Flynn knew there’d be a bottle of whisky on the bench. That wouldn’t be helping the situation. ‘It’s important.’

      With a sigh the older man stepped back, hauling the door wide at the same time. ‘I haven’t done the housework this week, Doc, so mind where you step.’

      This week? Flynn tried not to breathe too deeply, and didn’t bother looking into the rooms they passed. It was all too obvious the man was living in squalor. He wasn’t coping with Edna’s passing, hadn’t since day one, and nothing Flynn or William’s daughter had done or said made the slightest bit of difference. The man had given up, hence Flynn’s visit. A phone call would never have worked. Besides, he needed to be with William as he absorbed the news.

      In the kitchen William’s shaky hands fidgeted with an empty glass he’d lifted from the table. He didn’t look directly at Flynn, not even for a moment, but every few seconds his eyes darted sideways across the kitchen. Sure enough, an almost full whisky bottle was on the bench, as were three empty ones. How long had it taken for him to drink his way through those?

      It would be too easy to tell the man some cold hard facts about his living conditions and his drinking, but Flynn couldn’t do it. He understood totally what it was like to lose the woman he loved more than life. He suspected if it hadn’t been for Adam and having to put on a brave face every single day, he might’ve made as big a mess of his own life after Anna had been killed. He still struggled with the sense of living a life mapped out by fate, one that held none of his choices.

      Pulling out a chair, he indicated William should sit down. Then he straddled another one, not looking at the condition of the once beautiful brocade on the seat. ‘William, your test results have come back. They’re not good, I’m afraid.’

      ‘Figured that’d be why you’re here.’

      ‘The major concern is that you’ve had a cardiac incident. A heart attack, William.’

      Rheumy eyes lifted to stare at him, but William said nothing, just shrugged.

      ‘You need to go to hospital tonight. They’ll run more tests and keep an eye on you until they find the cause of the attack.’

      ‘What else?’ William wheezed the question.

      ‘They’ll give you advice on diet and exercise.’ Things he’d have no inclination to follow. The same as with any advice he had given him.

      ‘I meant what other tests were bad?’

      He was about to add to the man’s gloomy outlook, but couldn’t see a way around it. All he could hope for was that he shocked his patient into doing something about his lifestyle before it was too late. ‘Your cholesterol’s high, which probably explains your cardiac arrest. You’ve got diabetes and your liver’s not in good nick.’

      ‘I hit the jackpot, didn’t I?’ The sadness in William’s voice told how much he didn’t care any more. ‘I don’t suppose you went on a bender when you lost your wife, Doc.’

      Yeah, he had. Just one huge bender, when he’d almost killed himself. Big enough and frightening enough to put him off ever doing it again. But he knew he still might’ve if it hadn’t been for Adam. ‘I couldn’t afford to, William.’

      ‘I get it. Your boy.’

      ‘You’ve got family who care about you, too.’ Flynn tried to think of something that might interest William in getting his act together, but nothing came to mind, apart from his daughter and grandkids. That had been tried before and William hadn’t run with it. ‘Now, don’t get upset, but I’ve ordered the ambulance to transfer you to hospital. It should be here any minute.’

      ‘I don’t need that. I can drive myself there.’

      ‘What if you have another heart attack and cause an accident that hurts someone?’

      There was silence in the kitchen. Not a lot William could say to that. He was a decent man, unable to cope with a tragedy. He wasn’t reckless with other people.

      ‘I’ll wait here until you’re on your way. Want me to talk to your daughter?’ Working in the ED, he’d have phoned the cardiologist and had William wheeled to the ward, no argument. Patients were in the ED because someone recognised the urgency of their situation. Urgent meant urgent—not talking and cajoling. He missed that fast pace at times, but if he got William under way to getting well then he’d feel deep satisfaction.

      ‘After I’ve left. Don’t want her telling me off tonight.’ William stared around the kitchen, brought his gaze back to Flynn. ‘Don’t suppose I can have a whisky for the road.’

      By the time Flynn finally made it home Adam was in his pyjamas and glued to the TV. ‘Hiya, Dad.’