Page 96 of Special Delivery
Poppy’s stomach lurched.
‘You know,’ her mum added, ‘the old one with the ponytail.’
Wenda!
‘Good idea, Mum,’ said Poppy, glad her mother couldn’t see the redness that had been creeping up her neck. ‘I’ll ring her now.’
She ended the call with her mother and looked up Wenda’s number. She could feel a big wet patch forming on her shoulder. Poppy felt a mild sense of satisfaction that the snot was basting her bare skin rather than clothing. The last thing she needed was more laundry.
Her call was answered on the first ring.
‘Hello, Orange Antenatal Unit,’ said a deep voice.
Poppy froze. She had not anticipated this.
‘Hello?’ said the voice.
‘James, hi,’ said Poppy weakly. She’d walked right into this like a blind fool.
She needed to say something. But what? The silence on the other end of the line was unbearable.
‘I’m sorry to bother you; I was trying to get hold of Wenda. I was about to get in the shower and then I heard Maeve crying so I went and got her and then I called my mum and she suggested I call my midwife, so I thought of Wenda—not you, definitely not you. Not that I wouldn’t trust your advice, it’s just that Wenda popped into my head first—just like that!—and here we are. So … is Wenda there?’
Smooth, McKellar. Real smooth.
‘I just—’
‘Is Maeve okay?’ interrupted James impatiently.
‘Oh, ah, yes,’ said Poppy, flustered. ‘But no. She vomited. And she’s got conjunctivitis. And I don’t know if the two are related or if she’s got a gastro buganda conjunctivitis bug. I get that neither is life-threatening but I thought Wenda would be able to recommend a doctor, so could I talk to her? Her snot is going all over me. Maeve’s snot obviously, not Wenda’s.’
‘Wenda is on long service leave.’
‘Oh … right.’Shit!Wenda had told Poppy all about her plans to walk the Cinque Terre with her younger sister. And now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure she and James had talked about it too.
‘Whoops. Mum brain. That’s embarrassing. I just—’
‘You can bring her in here.’
‘Sorry, what?’
‘You can bring her into the hospital to see the community health doctor. I can book you in.’
‘Oh, that’s nice of you, but honestly—’
‘Just doing my job,’ said James curtly. She could hear him tapping on a keyboard.
‘Okay,’ said Poppy meekly. She wondered whether she should try to explain that she really hadn’t engineered the call to talk to him. It was purely accidental and Maeve was actually sick—a complete coincidence. Hilarious, really.
‘There’s been a cancellation. If you’re free, you can come in now,’ said James.
‘Now?’ replied Poppy. Her mind was whirling like a tornado.
‘Now,’ repeated James, as if she were thick.
‘But I haven’t got any clothes on,’ she blurted.Argh! Why?!‘What I mean is, I’m not ready. I do have clothes on, I promise. Well, I mean, I don’t have clothes on’—stop!—‘but I have a towel on. No clothes under the towel, obviously, ha, because that would be weird. I was going to shower—did I say that?—but then I couldn’t because Maeve was crying and now I haven’t been able to put her down since. So, yes, I am still wearing the towel.’
Silence.
