5
Thimblebury’s surgery had once been a house, and for anyone unaware of the fact the medical team that served the village worked from there, on first glance it might seem a local family still lived within its walls. There was a small garden fronting it, with neat borders and hedges, and a heavy door at the entrance. The only giveaway of its true purpose were the instructions and posters in the windows. Zoe arrived at work juggling a jar of coffee and half a dozen packs of biscuits she’d picked up on the way in.
‘How’s Ottilie? Have you seen her since the birth? How’s the baby? What did he weigh? When is she?—’
‘Hang on!’ Zoe cut Lavender’s barrage of questions off, laughing lightly. ‘I’ve barely walked through the door! Hasn’t Heath messaged you all? I thought he would have done.’
‘Not that I know of, but I did see Flo this morning, and she told me you’d delivered the baby.’
‘I did. Ottilie’s in hospital. There were a few problems, but she’s fine now, recovering well. Baby is fine too. As for the weight, I can’t tell you off the top of my head, but I’m sure Ottilie will give you all those details when she next speaks to you.’
‘What are they calling him?’
‘Anthony, I think. That was where we were at last time I spoke to them.’
Lavender wrinkled her nose. ‘Anthony? What kind of name is that for a baby?’
‘Ott’s been watchingBridgerton, and I think he caught her fancy…I mean,the namedid.’
This time Lavender grinned. ‘Oh, I see. Well, whatever floats your boat. I’m sure we’ll all get used to it.’
‘I’m sure it doesn’t matter as long as Ottilie and Heath like it.’
‘Does Heath know where Ottilie got it?’
‘That,’ Zoe said, heading for her room, ‘I couldn’t tell you. Something to ask her next time you see her, I’m sure.’
Before she’d set foot in the corridor, she was greeted by one of Thimblebury’s GPs, Emilia. ‘Oh, morning! How was your weekend?’
‘Good because Simon was on call so I actually managed to get a lie-in. I hear you had a busy one, though.’
‘I did.’
‘And Ottilie’s OK? Baby too?’
‘Yes, doing fine.’
‘I thought I might go over to see her this evening. I’m going to take her a gift.’
‘She’ll appreciate that, but I thought Lavender was doing a collection so we could send something from all of us?’
‘She has and I’ve contributed, but I wanted to get something else, more personal. She’s been very kind and welcoming to me since I arrived – of course, you and Simon have too…’
Zoe tried not to frown at the omission of Lavender from the list of surgery staff who’d been kind to Emilia. They’d been engaged in some obvious disagreements over the Christmas season, but Zoe hadn’t considered things to be that bad. Fromwhat Emilia was saying – or what she wasn’t saying – things were worse than anyone had thought.
‘Hmmm…’ Zoe resisted the impulse to question the subtext. ‘How’s Georgia? I meant to call round over the weekend, but…well, you know, things got a bit busy.’
‘She’s fine. Brett’s still behaving himself, and William is such a contented baby we hardly remember we’ve got him at times. She’s my sister, and I love having her and Brett living with me, but I must admit I was worried about adding a newborn to the equation – the house was crowded enough as it is – but he’s an absolute joy.’
‘Well, that’s good to hear.’
‘I’ll let you get on. We’ve got our locum nurse starting today, by the way. Goodness knows I’ve had enough of a different temp every day – it’ll be good to finally have some stability. She’s due in the next hour or so. I’ll get Lavender to introduce her to everyone when she arrives.’
‘I’ve got quite a lot on, but if Lavender can give me a quick heads-up first, that should be all right. If not, I’m sure we’ll meet at lunch.’
Emilia gave a brief nod and then went on her way.
As she continued to her own treatment room, Zoe could hear Emilia speaking to Lavender in reception. She could make out the frosty tone on both sides but not what they were saying. It was getting to the point where Zoe wanted to smash their heads together. Everyone else at the surgery managed good working relationships that even strayed into actual friendship. Zoe found it exhausting and frustrating, and she was beginning to see that there was just no point in dwelling on it. Things were as they were, and nobody but Emilia and Lavender could change them.
