The Good Neighbour (8 page)

You’re right I must stop thinking about Darren, easier said than done, tho. Can’t get his face out of my head, that cheeky smile, dream about him even, god love him. Doctors are ‘always right’ of course.

Wade’s new place sounds peachy (see I am practising my American!), when you going to visit him?

R xx

Cath lost track of time, and when the doorbell rang she couldn’t believe it was nearly midday. Shit! She was only supposed to let Tilly sleep for forty minutes. She hurtled into the living room, swept Tilly up into her arms with big shaking movements to wake her, and told Lola to turn off the telly.

‘I’m hungry, Mummy,’ Lola wailed.

‘You’ll just have to wait.’

Holding Tilly close, Cath opened the door to a revived-looking Minette, whose dark hair was cut in a glossy bob. ‘Oh, you look lovely. Look, Tilly, isn’t Mummy pretty?’

‘Do you like it? I was worried it was a bit short. But loads had to come off. There was a bit at the back that was so matted she couldn’t get the comb through, really embarrassing.’

‘Like a spot of lunch? Just a sarnie, nothing fancy?’

‘You sure?’ Minette stepped over the threshold swiftly, as if afraid Cath would change her mind. She looked at Tilly properly, who was bleary-eyed in Cath’s arms. ‘Wow, she looks sleepy. When did she wake up?’

‘Oh, ages ago. Maybe she’s already feeling tired again.’

‘Did she have most of her milk?’

Bollocks. ‘Yes, she had it all. Didn’t you? What a good girl!’ Cath handed Tilly back to her mother and led them into the living room. ‘Have a seat. I’ll just pop the kettle on,’ Cath said. As soon as she was in the kitchen, she tipped the milk Minette had given her down the sink, and hastily rinsed the baby bottle out, cursing herself under her breath. She returned to the living room to find Minette walking up and down, a sobbing Tilly on her shoulder.

‘Sorry about the noise, Cath. Did she do this with you?’

‘No, she was good as gold.’

‘I don’t know what the matter is. She can’t be hungry yet.’ But Tilly’s piteous cries were obviously hunger.

What sort of monster are you?

She shook her head to get rid of Andy’s voice. ‘She’s probably just ready for her lunch.’

‘She’s not due more food till one o’clock though.’

Oh, for heaven’s sake, these middle-class mummies and their routines. ‘Sometimes they need a bit extra. Growth spurts, you know. I’ll do her some bread and butter.’

Cath escaped back to the kitchen and threw the food together. God, she really dropped the ball there. Got to be more careful, Cathykins.

Soon they were all sitting at the table, with a much happier Tilly. Minette marvelled at how much she ate, even slices of Cheddar which she’d never liked before.

‘She can see Lola eating cheese,’ Cath said. ‘They love copying the older ones.’

‘It’s so nice, having lunch with other people,’ Minette said.

‘Haven’t you met many women at mother-and-baby groups? Or NCT classes, that’s where I made friends.’

‘I tried a baby group, but it was awful, everyone sat round like zombies. And I didn’t click with anyone at the NCT. Most of them were pretty old.’

‘What, like me?’

‘Oh, god, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t think of you as old.’

Cath laughed. ‘I don’t think of myself that way either.’

‘Shit, sorry Cath. You’ve got older children anyway. There were loads of forty-two-year-olds having their first baby.’

‘I guess you’re quite young to have kids these days. Mad though, isn’t it?’ Cath said. ‘My mum was seventeen when she had me.’

‘Wow, that must have been hard for her.’

‘She did her best. So, have many of your friends had babies?’

‘No, I’m the first one. I was hoping my mum, or even better, Abe’s mum, would help more, but they’re both so busy.’

So Minette didn’t just have the normal baby-at-home-boring-blues, but was isolated from her friends as well. That’s why she’d been willing to leave her baby with Cath, who she’d only known a few weeks. Because there was no one else.

‘Can I watch telly?’ Lola asked, snuggling against Cath’s back.

‘Again? You watched loads already. All right, ten minutes, but then we’ve got to fetch Davey.’

Minette said, looking disappointed, ‘Wow, Davey’s school finishes early.’

‘No, we’re taking him out for a hospital appointment.’ Cath decided to wait before asking her along. ‘So how come you and Abe went for a baby, then? Was it planned?’

‘Yes, though we didn’t know it would happen so quickly. But we were both up for it. We’ve been together nine years.’

‘Jeez, Louise. You must have been kids when you met.’

‘Pretty much. Not quite as young as your mum. We got together the second year at university.’

‘Love at first sight?’

‘No, it was more of a slow-burn thing. There was this older guy, Paul, a postgraduate. We had a thing, very intense, and I guess I took it too seriously. He was unbelievably sexy. Everyone thought so. Including my friend Bella, or should I say, my ex-friend Bella.’

‘One of those boyfriend-nicking Bellas, huh?’

‘Someone nicked him off her pretty quickly, too. Anyway, I’d been friends with Abe for ages, and I cried on his shoulder and …’

‘One thing led to another.’

‘Yes. He was so kind, and trustworthy. He said what he meant.’

‘Will you get married, do you think?’

‘Lots of our friends are, but we’ve got a mortgage and a baby instead.’

‘Those are big commitments.’

‘We’ve done the two hard bits and not had the fun party and holiday that goes with the wedding.’

‘Was Abe at Tilly’s birth?’

‘Yes, he was a star. It was awful, she got stuck, it was all incredibly messy. It’s no wonder …’

‘No wonder what?’ Cath said, though she knew.

‘Um. Nothing. Usual slow sex life with a small baby, that’s all.’

‘Oh god yes, we’ve all been there.’ Cath started piling up dirty plates. ‘For a while, me and Andy had such a long gap, I gave up hope of ever having a second baby.’

‘Really? Oh, that makes me feel a bit better. It’s been a proper drought, almost a year. Is that normal? The last time was two months before Tilly was born. And that wasn’t any good really, I was so huge.’

‘Sounds pretty normal to me,’ Cath said.

Minette looked as if she thought she’d said enough, and busied herself turning the pages of the local paper, which Cath had left on the table.

‘Have a look at page fourteen,’ Cath said, sweeping underneath Lola’s seat, which was a sea of crumbs, as usual.

‘Oh! Is this you?’ Minette read out, ‘“Local triathlon mum delighted by new sponsor.” Hey, that’s brilliant, I didn’t know Hilton were sponsoring you.’

‘Not that much, to be honest, only five hundred. But other companies will see it and think they should get on board. Josie next door arranged it.’

Minette looked surprised. ‘I didn’t realise you knew her that well.’

‘I don’t, we just chat sometimes.’

Minette pointed at the paper. ‘This picture isn’t of Davey! It’s just some random blond kid in a wheelchair.’

‘Yeah, I know. Local papers are not exactly the last word in accuracy.’

‘You ought to complain.’

‘Ah, no point, it’s out now,’ Cath said. ‘Hey, don’t suppose you and Tilly want to come to the hospital with us? It won’t be an exciting afternoon out. But it’d be nice for me to have someone to talk to.’

‘That’d be great.’ Minette was delighted. ‘Something different, isn’t it?’

Cath smiled to herself. ‘What about people round here, isn’t there anyone in the street you’re friendly with?’

‘Only you, really. Priya’s nice but she’s out at work all day. Everyone’s at work all day.’

Cath began loading the dishwasher. ‘Except Liam.’

A blush spread across Minette’s face. ‘Oh!’

‘I was only saying, because he came round the other week?’

There was a pause, long enough to make Cath wonder if she’d pushed too far. Then Minette said, ‘And yesterday.’

‘Did he, now?’

‘Oh, god.’ Minette covered her face in her hands.

‘Sounds promising.’

‘I’m bursting to tell someone.’

Cath slammed the dishwasher shut and sat down, propping her elbows on the table. ‘If I was any more all ears, I’d be one great big elephant ear.’

‘You mustn’t say anything to Josie.’

‘Course I won’t! You’re my mate, not her. Go on, lips are sealed, honestly.’

Minette glanced down guiltily at Tilly, on her lap, who was playing with a plastic beaker.

‘I don’t think she can understand you yet,’ Cath said.

‘I know, but …’ Minette paused, then said quietly, ‘Nothing much happened. Well, we kissed.’

‘Holy moly! I like your definition of “nothing much happened”. Just one kiss?’

‘The first time he came round it was just once, outside on the bench …’

‘Oh, it’s all coming out now! And this time?’

Her hand over her mouth, Minette said, ‘We were snogging like teenagers, on the sofa.’

‘Bit muffled, but I got it. Fantastic! Well, I don’t blame you. I’d certainly not kick him out of bed. Or off the sofa. Or bench.’

‘We haven’t done anything more than kissing,’ Minette said fervently. ‘That’s bad enough, right?’

‘Yeah, well.’ Cath stood up again and started packing a bag for the hospital. ‘You know what I always say?’

‘What?’

‘We’ll all be dead in a hundred years.’

Minette laughed, shocked. ‘But I feel really awful about it. About Abe.’

‘Yes, I’m sure.’ Cath guessed that Minette had expected a more censorious reaction from her. ‘But still. Hundred years, know what I mean? Don’t want to have them old deathbed regrets.’

Minette went home for Tilly’s car seat, then they piled into Cath’s Citroen and collected Davey from school. He was full of chatter on the way to the hospital, about the Aztecs or something. Cath noted how easily Minette talked to him, asking all the right questions. Minette, she decided, wasn’t that great with babies, but was good with older children. Cath knew that she was the opposite. She’d never been happier than when the children were tiny. Though Lola was only four, and usually very amenable, Cath couldn’t always be certain of getting her to do what she wanted. As for Davey, he was becoming difficult.

Cath parked right in front of the hospital, in a disabled bay.

‘The multistorey’s round the corner,’ Minette said.

‘Don’t need it,’ Cath said. ‘Got the blue badge, don’t we?’

‘Oh, of course. Handy!’

They went up to the physiology department. ‘This is our second appointment,’ Cath told Minette. ‘I wish they’d hurry up and refer him on.’

‘Don’t they have his records from your last hospital?’

‘Well, they have to follow their own procedures,’ Cath said.

Minette waited in the corridor with the girls, while Cath took Davey into the medical room. It was a different doctor from last time. This one, Dr Ogueh, chatted briefly to Davey about school, and getting around in his wheelchair. Then he started explaining muscular dystrophy to them both, as if they’d never heard of it before. Cath knew how much doctors liked to show off their knowledge before they got to the point. So she put a listening expression on her face, waiting till he was ready to discuss the referral.

Finally, Dr Ogueh opened Davey’s file. ‘I don’t understand why we don’t have any of Davey’s notes from your previous home town,’ he said.

‘I explained this in the previous consultation with Dr Persaud,’ Cath said, trying not to sound exasperated.

‘Yes, there is a note here from Dr Persaud, but I confess I don’t entirely understand. Please would you be so good as to explain it again?’

Cath turned to Davey. ‘Lovie, would you mind going back outside?’

Davey silently wheeled himself out, closing the door behind him.

‘He is a great boy,’ the doctor said.

‘He is, doctor. And that’s why I’m trying to protect him. Cath stared at her lap. ‘Dr Ogueh, as I explained at our last appointment, we left our last town in a massive hurry. My kids and I are in hiding, we’ve all changed our names, we live in fear every day …’

‘I am so sorry,’ the doctor said, pushing a box of tissues towards her.

‘I don’t want to have any connection at all to that place, or our former names. I’m so frightened that we could be traced.’

‘But you know, of course, that hospital records are kept confidential?’

‘They’re meant to be,’ Cath nodded. ‘But having been a nurse myself, I know that there are occasionally slips. I just can’t risk it.’

‘I understand. So, what this means for Davey is that, without the notes, we will have to do his diagnostic tests again. Did he previously have a muscle biopsy?’

Cath nodded. ‘And I had the letter which gave the results, but I had to leave all my hospital notes behind. I had to leave everything behind.’

‘I’m afraid we will have to do another biopsy before we go ahead with the referral to the neurology clinic.’

‘I was wanting to ask if we could get the referral first, doctor.’ Cath took a tissue and dabbed her eyes. ‘The fact is, my Davey is absolutely terrified to go through the biopsy again, because of the general anaesthetic. He has nightmares about it.’

‘It is a very standard procedure.’

‘You try telling that to an eight-year-old boy, doctor. One who’s already been through so much.’ Cath knew they could postpone the biopsy if they had a good enough reason. ‘We’re happy to do all the blood tests again, of course, at the clinic.’

‘But as I’m sure you’re aware, Ms Brooke, given your nursing background, the blood test simply gives a provisional diagnosis. Only the biopsy can confirm the condition.’

‘I know. But even a provisional diagnosis, from a specialist clinic, will give us certain services we can’t access otherwise: benefits, physiotherapy, the latest treatments, well, you know better than anyone.’

Dr Ogueh made a note on his computer. ‘It might be possible to refer you directly to the clinic before assessment. It’s unusual, but so are your circumstances. I’ll need to discuss it with my colleague.’

Cath knew she’d have to be satisfied with that for now. She got up, and Dr Ogueh accompanied her to the door, so he could say goodbye to Davey. He’d clearly done the bedside-manner module on his training, Cath thought, and lucky for her, because when he stepped into the corridor he immediately clocked Minette, sitting with Tilly on her lap, her arm round Davey as she read to him and Lola from a picture book.