Tall and slender as her Nigerian forebears, Daisy Woods was still well capable of turning heads wherever she went, even though into her thirties and with a son just entering his teens. From men, black or white, she was more or less used to it, found it tedious from time to time and occasionally even useful. However, as she entered Maplewood Surgery, she saw an unfamiliar female face at the reception desk.
"Hello – are you new here?"
"Yes, it’s my first day. My name is Jade Sweet."
"Pleased to meet you. I’m Mrs Daisy Woods." Just at that moment, Daisy was aware that someone else had entered the surgery and had taken a place in line behind her. "I was wondering – is Tricia McAndrew about?"
"The practice nurse? I should hope so – she’s my new landlady."
"Oh – so you’re moving in to Magnolia Close too. We’ll be neighbours."
Jade looked at the computer terminal showing appointments. "She got someone in with her just now. Is there anything I could help you with?"
"It’s something and nothing – I just wanted to have a quick word with her. I don’t want to go to all the trouble of a doctor’s appointment."
Jade looked at the terminal again. "I’ll just see if she’s free before her next appointment." Jade looked Daisy up and down, and smiled. "I think I might be able to sneak you in for a minute."
"Thank you, that’s very kind of you." Daisy turned away and took a seat in the waiting area.
Jade watched her as she walked away from the reception counter before turning to the next visitor. "Can I help you?"
"I hope so. My name’s Nasreen Siddiqi – well, it is for the moment – um, until I get married that is – I want to register myself and my husband – I mean, my fiancé – with a doctor."
"Are you new to the area?"
"Yes. We’ve just moved from the Midlands."
"Snap! Well, not the Midlands bit. I mean I’m new here too. Were you both registered with the same doctor before?"
"In the same practice. We were at college together."
"Ah, how romantic." Jade was apt to get dewy-eyed at the thought of going away to college and meeting up with their true love. She had studied to be a medical receptionist while still living with her parents. All that was changing now though. She searched around under the counter until she found what she wanted. She hated being the newcomer, not knowing where everything was kept, but was determined to ask for help from her fellow receptionists as little as possible. "Here we are. You’ll both need to fill in one of these forms and sign them, then drop them off back here. If you specially want a female doctor you’ll have to say."
"No, that’s no problem," said Nasreen, though in the back of the mind she had a slight niggle of doubt. The doubt being what her relatives might have had to say on the matter, given the chance. "We’ve all got nearly all the same parts, and I don’t think diseases make much of a distinction."
"No," Jade hesitated. "There’s just… the odd thing, though, isn’t there?"
"All doctors study the same thing, don’t they?" Again Nasreen didn’t feel as confident as she was trying to sound.
"You don’t need to see a doctor straight away, do you?"
"Good heavens, no. At least, not quite. Ask me again when we’ve finished unpacking!"
"And let us know when you change your name. When you get married, that is. Have you picked the happy day?"
"Soon." Nasreen looked at Jade. They were about the same age, but there was something about Jade that made Nasreen want to keep her at a distance. She turned to leave. "Thanks a lot."
Just at that moment, Jade spotted a patient come out of the treatment room, where Tricia McAndrew worked. She slipped from behind the desk and poked her head around the door. "Tricia, can you spare a minute to have a word with a Mrs Woods?"
Tricia, prim in her nurse’s outfit, a little older than Jade, looked round from her desk, cluttered with various medical bric-à-brac. "Daisy? Yes, send her in."
Jade beckoned Daisy over. "Thank you," Daisy said. Jade wanted to say something in return but could think of nothing, the moment passed, and the door closed.
Tricia got up from her desk. "Hello, Daisy. First of all, I’ve just got to thank you for that cat-food you recommended. Moxie loves it. He’s not looking so skinny now."
"I’m glad. I’ll tell Foster – he’s being trying to sell that stuff in the shop for a while now but I think the price has been putting people off."
"How can I help?"
"It’s about our son, Luther. I don’t want to go bothering the doctor over something and nothing, so I was hoping you could let me have some advice."
"I’ll try. If there’s something worrying you, you should really let the doctor see him, but I’ll do my best to put your mind at ease."
"You know what they’re like at twelve – they say it’s the new fourteen! I’d have to bring him in here kicking and screaming."
"Is he ill in any way?"
"That’s just it," Daisy shrugged. "He seems OK, but there’s a couple of things I’ve noticed. I mean, it might just be that he’s growing up. They all do, in time."
"What sort of things?"
"Well… the main thing is he seems to be drinking a lot just lately."
"Alcohol?"
"Lord, no! Foster would tan his behind if he caught him on booze at his age. No, I mean just soft drinks – squash, pop – he’s never without a can of cola – even just tap water. Then he’s going to the loo every five minutes. Can’t even sit through The Simpsons sometimes. He never used to be like that."
"I see," Tricia said. Her earlier levity was now replaced by her professional voice. "Anything else?"
"He seems tired all the time. He still eats OK, but I can’t help thinking he’s loosing weight. Of course, he’s getting taller so it’s hard to judge."
"Do you know his weight?"
"No. I’ve been thinking of getting a set of scales from the chemist’s but they’re a bit pricey."
"But worth it. You can get cheap, trendy ones from those big furniture shops, but the chemist scales are a lot more accurate."
"What do you think it might be?"
"It’s not for me to say. Above my pay-grade, as they call it. But I would recommend you get him an appointment with the doctor right away. And maybe get those scales too."
"Really?" Daisy didn’t like the sound of this.
"Really. After all, you can’t put a price on peace-of-mind, can you?"
End of Episode 5
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