Chapter 39
Rick spent the next few days working his way through legal papers for the upcoming court case and generally helping out at the surgery with non-patient-facing jobs. By arriving early in the morning, well before the start of clinic, and staying late in the evenings, he successfully avoided drawing any unwanted attention to the fact that he was back in town. On Friday, Sam stuck his head into the back office just as Rick looked up from filing blood test results.
‘There’s a Beth Hope in the waiting room for you, mate.’
‘What is she doing here?’
‘Don’t ask me. Ask her. I’m busy. Michaela’s running behind and the natives are getting restless.’
‘Can I do anything else to help?’
‘Yes,’ said Sam. ‘Talk to your friend. I’ll send her in. And if you’re making tea, I’ll have two sugars.’ He was gone before Rick could respond.
*
Rick jumped to his feet when Beth walked into the room. She looked pale and fragile, with a huge bruise on her forehead of a mottled yellow-green. It was all he could do not to pull her into his arms. He’d missed her so much it was a permanent physical ache.
‘So, this is your staffroom,’ she said.
‘It is. Grab a seat.’ Rick looked around, seeing the eclectic collection of tatty furniture as if through her eyes. ‘Sorry about the mess. It’s only tidy in here if we’ve got a CQC inspection.’ With the surgery operating at full pelt all the time, there was rarely an opportunity to down tools and sort out the décor. Any refurbishment tended to focus on clinical areas and rooms with a high patient footfall. The staffroom never got a look in. He filled mugs with hot water from the kettle at the little kitchen unit crow-barred into a corner.
‘CQC?’
‘Care Quality Commission. Ofsted, but for doctors.’
‘Oh.’
‘The rest of the time we’re run off our feet with only seconds to grab coffee and stuff.’ He placed a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her and retreated to lean against the kitchen counter. ‘How did you get here?’
‘Lucy gave me a lift. She’ll be back in a bit to take me home.’
‘Why did you come?’ The words were out before he could stop them. They sounded so blunt, but he needed to know.
‘Lucy showed me the horrible comments about you online. I know you mentioned them before, but I had no idea how bad it was. I wanted you to know that you’re not on your own with all the horrible stuff that’s going on.’
‘You could have called. Rose has my number.’
She hunched her shoulders. ‘I’m rubbish at talking on the phone. I needed to do this in person.’
‘It’s good to see you.’ She couldn’t possibly know how good.
‘Can I ask…? I mean, there are laws against saying stuff that isn’t true. Can’t you sue for libel or something?’
‘With hindsight, maybe I should have done. Only, I was afraid it would perpetuate the story. I was hoping it would all settle down.’
Beth struggled to her feet and paced towards him. ‘Come back to the forest. Let me help.’
‘I can’t. It’s kind of you, but—’
‘I’m not being kind. I thought we were friends.’
‘We are, but you need to go. I’m serious, Beth. You can’t be around me.’ The flash of pain in her eyes was awful, but he needed to make her leave. He turned his back on her. ‘My situation will cause problems for you.’
‘I don’t care about that.’
Rick slammed his cup down. ‘You should care. I can’t protect you. I’m going to lose this case. There will be massive damages awarded. Crazy numbers. They’ll take everything I have.’
‘You don’t need to protect me.’
‘Yes. I do.’ Desperate to touch her, he closed the gap between them and cradled her head in his hands, staring into her eyes. ‘You are the most incredible person I have ever met.’
A small frown crinkled her forehead. ‘You must have met some crummy people.’
‘Don’t do that.’
‘Do what?’
‘Don’t put yourself down. You’re amazing.’
Her smile wobbled. ‘You’re pretty wonderful, too, you know.’
How he didn’t kiss her there and then, he didn’t know. He released a huge sigh and stepped back, releasing her. ‘I won’t drag you into this.’
‘You’re not dragging me anywhere, Rick.’
‘You don’t understand. They won’t stop with just me. They’ll go for everything. Any asset linked to me. My apartment, the barn, my savings – everything. Damn it, even my friends aren’t safe.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘This surgery is an unlimited liability partnership. Michaela and Gita are equally liable for… for…’ He swallowed, hardly able to say the words. ‘My friends could lose their home because of me.’ He glanced around the room. ‘This place will go, for sure. God knows what’ll happen to our patients.’
‘That’s monstrous.’
‘It is what it is. And while they can’t get you financially, being associated with me will damage your business. You need to stay away from me.’
‘I don’t think I can do that.’
‘I need you to. Please.’
There was a long silence.
Then, Beth spoke, ‘It’s your patient’s mother bringing the case, isn’t it?’
Rick gave a short bitter laugh. ‘Yes. I’m beginning to think that Barbara might have been right about her. She said all the publicity wasn’t hurting Cora’s career. Even Jack said she was chasing clicks.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Doing stuff to raise her profile, get people to like her social media stories, that sort of thing. If she is, it’s working. She wasn’t particularly famous before, but she is now.’
‘If that’s true, then it’s awful,’ agreed Beth. ‘But are you sure that’s what she’s doing? Have you spoken with her?’
‘I’ve never met her. My lawyers have advised me to stay away.’
‘So, everything you know about her is second-hand or hearsay.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Well – I’m just playing devil’s advocate here – you don’t really know what her motives are. You’re judging her based on what the media says, just like all those other people are judging you.’
‘Beth, come on. She’s suing me for millions.’
‘She might not know what else to do.’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘If any of my kids were that ill, I’m not sure I’d react logically. And if there was no chance of recovery, I’d want to scream my pain from the rooftops. If the court case and all the media attention give Cora a platform to do that, she may not be thinking about the fallout. The collateral damage to you and everyone around you might genuinely not have occurred to her.’
‘I don’t think that’s the case.’
‘But, Rick, remember you told me you had a rugby injury when you were the same age as Dean? You said you were in a coma for a month.’
Rick rubbed his scarred eyebrow. ‘So?’
‘How did your mum react?’
‘My mother is nothing like Cora Diamond.’
‘Answer me this, if this was any other patient – forget the legal situation and all of that – what would your instinct be telling you to do?’
Rick already knew the answer. ‘I’d go and see them. To find out what I could do to help.’
‘Why aren’t you doing that this time?’
‘A lot of people, who have my best interests at heart, are telling me not to.’
‘Do you always do what you’re told?’
Rick laughed. ‘As a doctor, yes. We have to conform. There are so many rules; CQC, NICE guidelines, professional revalidation checks, continued professional development. Working for the NHS is not like being in a medical drama where the maverick doctor does something totally left field and saves the day. Real medicine… no, real life doesn’t work like that. The consequences are too high. So yes, professionally, I do what I’m told, because that way I can help the most people.’
‘If it wasn’t for people telling you to stay away, would you have contacted Cora?’
‘Yes, but my hands are tied. I can’t risk making things worse for everyone else.’ Rick spun on his heels and stalked to the window to stare out at the rain-lashed car park, his thoughts already jumbled without Beth adding to them. He watched an orange Mini turn off the main road as if pursued by the hounds of hell and skid to a halt. The driver performed an erratic three-point-turn, missing several parked cars by a whisker, and stopped in the designated no-parking zone right outside the surgery entrance.
A muted ping sounded in the room. Beth unzipped her bag. ‘Lucy’s here. Rick… I… Here’s the thing, you once told me that it was better to try something and fail, than not try at all.’
He turned. ‘Did I?’
‘Yes.’
‘I think I was giving you back your own advice from when you were up on the roof.’
‘It doesn’t matter if you were. We’re both right.’
‘Are we?’
‘Yes. Look at it this way. You say that you will lose everything. Right?’
‘That’s what my lawyer says.’
‘Then what have you got to lose? Sod conforming. You’re an honourable person. You acted in good faith.’
Rick laughed softly. ‘Barbara told me once that Brian said when you’re in a difficult spot the only thing to do is the next right thing. That way, you can live with yourself.’
Beth grinned. ‘Well, if Brian says it, it must be true. Go and see Cora. Tell her. Give it one last throw of the dice.’
‘I’ll think about it, but I need you to do something for me.’
She crossed the distance between them, her eyes full of hope. ‘Anything.’
It was breaking his heart to say this, but he had to. ‘I need you to break off all contact with me. No, don’t shake your head. I mean it. If I am going to survive what is coming, I need to know that it can’t impact badly on you and your family. You’re too important.’
Her eyes filled with tears, but he held firm.
Her phone pinged again, breaking the deadlock, and she nodded. ‘Fine. I’ll stay away for now. But please, Rick, don’t let it be forever.’ She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips and hurried from the room, taking all the sunshine in the world with her.