Chapter 17
17
LISA
‘Matt, thank you so much for seeing me.’ Lisa had made her way along the unusually empty – almost serene – corridors of Green Lea wing at Midhope General, stopping to greet those she knew and who had helped her so much over recent years. Old friends they were really, although, as the wing had expanded over the past year under Matt Spencer’s professional lead, there were a lot of faces she didn’t recognise.
‘Lisa, why wouldn’t I see you?’ Matt, looking tired and rather washed out, rose and came forward from his desk, giving her a kiss on each cheek before offering a comfortable chair.
‘What on earth are you still doing here at…’ Lisa glanced at the clock on the wall ‘…goodness, it’s after 9p.m.? You’re a consultant, for heaven’s sake. I thought you did nine to five?’
‘Oh, come on, Lisa. You should know better than most, the hours we put in.’
‘D’you not have a home to go to?’ Lisa teased, immediately regretting her words when she saw Matt’s face.
‘Not much there for me except an unlit fire and an empty fridge. And Tinder,’ he added meaningfully as an afterthought.
‘I’m sorry, Matt.’
‘So am I.’
They both knew without further words what they were referring to.
‘Look…’ Lisa hesitated and then her words came out in a rush ‘…if it makes you feel any better, I thought you and Jess were really well suited. I don’t understand her.’
‘One of those things. I really fell in love with her, you know.’
‘I know.’
‘Is that why you’re here?’ Matt smiled, running a hand through his thinning sandy hair. ‘When Jill told me you’d asked to come and see me…’
‘Jill?’
‘My new secretary.’
‘Gosh, more new people. The wing really is extending.’
‘And expanding all the time. Exciting research being done here, Lisa.’ For a moment, Matt’s face and voice were animated. ‘Anyway, when Jill told me you’d asked to come and see me, I hoped you might be coming as a sort of go-between. You know, with an olive branch from Jess…?’ Matt trailed off when he saw Lisa’s face. ‘No?’
‘I’m so sorry, Matt.’
‘She back with Dean?’
‘No, no. NO! Well, I hope not anyway. If she was, she’d be too embarrassed to tell me. Having said that, I was no positive role model in the way I behaved with Jayden over the years. Genes will out: learned behaviour, isn’t that what they say?’
‘OK, so if you’re not here to matchmake, why are you here? You’re not feeling ill, are you? Medication all right? Not having any problems with that? I have to say, Lisa, you’re looking fabulous.’
‘Matt, I’ve not felt as well as this since I was in my early thirties. In fact, I’ve just been singing!’
‘Singing?’
‘Joined a choir. Obviously, it’s Jayden who has the fabulous voice but, I was only telling someone the other day, I used to work with him on stage if one of the backing singers had upped and left. Which they often did. Anyway, I’ve walked into the village hall by myself, and had a wonderful time singing. Musical theatre stuff. Loved it.’ Lisa was animated, proud that she’d found the confidence to make the initial move and gone for a taster session. ‘So, yes, I’m feeling great.’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’ Matt smiled. ‘OK? What, then?’
‘You know we’ve discussed in the past about this bloody awful condition being hereditary?’
‘Hmm?’ Matt leaned forward at his desk.
‘You’ve always said it can be.’
‘Yep.’ Matt stared. ‘Jess isn’t ill, is she?’
‘No. It’s Sorrel.’
‘Sorrel?’
‘She’s been feeling terribly anxious, had stomach pains, nausea and vomiting. Some tingling, she says.’
‘Remind me again, how old is she?’
‘Fifteen. Well, sixteen next month. And she was so excited about getting the audition for the Susan Yates Theatre School. You know?’
‘I do.’ Matt smiled. ‘Fifteen is very, very young to start with porphyria.’
‘Suddenly, instead of being excited and spending time with Robyn being put through her paces, she’s throwing up, tired and tearful. Very tearful. Very anxious.’
‘OK, let’s hope it’s not porphyria. I doubt it is. Sounds more like nerves and panic at what’s in store for her in London. You know, she’s probably desperate to be accepted at the school, but she is only fifteen. Leaving home and everything.’ Matt sat back, reaching for a notepad. ‘We need to run some tests. Can you get her in?’
‘She says she doesn’t want to know if she’s carrying the gene.’
‘Well, if she is starting with it, the sooner we begin tests and treatment, the better.’ He stopped writing. ‘Lisa, we need to know if you inherited the condition.’
‘But, you’re aware, Matt, I’ve no idea who my birth parents were.’
‘Of course. It was one of the first things I asked you, if you remember?’
‘Vaguely. When I was brought in, back in September, the last thing I was capable of doing was discussing my family tree.’
‘I think we need to find out. For Sorrel’s, Robyn’s and Jess’s sake. And Lola’s, of course.’
‘The girls have always turned a blind eye. Frightened, I suppose. You know, Jess only told me the other day that Dean had always said if she ended up with it, he’d be off.’
Matt raised an eye at that, but said nothing.
‘I don’t know how I’m going to persuade the girls…’
‘You need to get Sorrel to come and see me. Not only for her sake, but here at the hospital we’re starting databanks, amassing what little we know about the condition.’
‘OK. You’re right.’ Lisa smiled uncertainly.
‘What do you know of your birth parents, Lisa?’
‘Very little. The people who brought me up wouldn’t tell me anything.’
‘Your parents, you mean?’
‘The Foleys.’ Lisa relented. ‘My adoptive parents.’
‘Any idea why they weren’t cooperative?’
‘They were terribly racist. Actually embarrassed that I had “a touch of the tar brush”.’
‘What? No! Surely not? Your own parents? Against their child?’
Lisa looked at Matt but said nothing.
‘And you’ve never wanted to find your birth parents?’
‘No. They gave me up to be brought up by a quite dreadful couple. Incapable of love, racist, misogynistic. Is it any wonder I turned constantly to Jayden?’ Lisa’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m sorry, Matt, I thought I’d got over it all.’
Matt pushed the box of tissues across the desk. ‘Lisa,’ he asked gently, ‘have you never thought about having some counselling?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘ I don’t think you are.’ He paused, holding her eyes until she looked away. ‘OK, but for all the girls’ sake, and any children they might go on to have, you could do with investigating your birth mother and father.’
‘I wouldn’t know where to begin.’ Lisa started to stand. ‘All I know, according to my mother – and I never knew if she was giving me the wrong information – is that my birth mother was from India and my birth father obviously white. British presumably. Karen Foley used to hint at honour killings . You know, a girl from an Indian family becoming pregnant by a white boy? If that’s the case, I really don’t want to know. It’s enough that Jayden’s mother and lover were killed by Jayden’s father. It would be just too much for my girls to take in if both sides of their family are murderers.’
‘Goodness, I can see why you’ve not gone into it.’ Matt paused, obviously debating whether to probe further. Eventually he said, ‘You were born in Surrey? I remember you telling me. But came up to Sheffield when you were nine?’
Lisa nodded, making her way to the door. ‘There’s always something, Matt. Isn’t there? Always something that won’t go away, no matter how hard you try to make it.’
* * *
Lisa was surprised to see all the lights on when she pulled up on the drive of her cottage. Jess’s cottage too. It was gone 10p.m. Robyn had said she was staying with Fabian and yet her car was in the drive. She did hope Sorrel wasn’t still up, cramming those equations. Or worse still, feeling ill again.
She certainly wasn’t expecting, when she let herself through the kitchen door, all three of her daughters sitting round the kitchen table, a plethora of cups and mugs in front of them.
‘Oh?’ Lisa stared. ‘What’s the matter? Is it Lola?’
‘Lola’s fast asleep next door with the door locked. She knows I’m here and she’s got my phone.’ Jess was tense.
Lisa turned to Sorrel. ‘Are you not well again? What?’
‘Sit down, Mum.’ Jess appeared to take charge. ‘There’s tea in the pot.’