Cruel Legacy (54 page)

Suddenly he felt very tired and very old.

'I hope you didn't mind... about my giving that interview to the
Gazette,
Hannah Jacobs told Richard hesitantly as he finished examining her. 'Only it was Mr Hamilton who suggested it. He said that since I obviously felt so strongly about what you had done, the trouble you had taken, I should share it with other women... give them the opportunity to benefit as I had done; and then when the
Gazette
approached me I remembered what he'd said and gave them the interview...'

Richard frowned. Blake Hamilton had said nothing to him about giving her any such advice, although they had discussed the case.

'I don't mind at all,' Richard assured her only semi-truthfully. Both the
Mail
and the
Telegraph
had run stories on the article. Ian had rung him up to tease him about his publicity and so, of course, had a variety of other medical colleagues.

What exactly was Blake Hamilton trying to do? He had not struck Richard as a particularly manipulative type of man; they had got on well together and had seemed to share corresponding views, and yet there was no doubt in Richard's mind after listening to his patient that Hamilton had manipulated her... For what purpose: to discredit him further with David? But how could that possibly benefit Blake Hamilton, who had seemed to share his own contempt for David?

'I don't understand why he should have involved himself,' Richard told Elizabeth later. 'What is he trying to do...?'

'Why don't you ask him?' Elizabeth suggested reasonably.

'It isn't as simple or as straightforward as that,' Richard told her. 'We've got the Minister visiting us tomorrow. Brian's in a real flap about it. It looks as if the Northern is going to get the new Accident Unit,' he added quietly. 'Nothing official has been said yet, but...'

Elizabeth watched him unhappily. No matter what she said to him or how much she trial to comfort him, to help him adopt a positive attitude towards the prospect of his retirement, it would achieve nothing unless Richard himself changed.

She had thought quite often recently about what would happen if he stopped work; there was no use trying to pretend or to avoid acknowledging that if Richard did retire it would change her life as well as his own.

In the early days of their marriage she had always put Richard and his needs, the needs of his career first—girls and young women had done that in those days—and then her daughter had been born and her needs too had seemed more important than her own.

But things...life had changed. She wasn't that same young woman any more. She was enjoying the excitement of discovering how far she could push herself, how much she could achieve, bow her mind, her brain was enjoying the feeling of being stretched and used in much the same way as her muscles did after a good exercise class... She was thriving on the challenges she was being offered far too much to give it all up and to stay at home now and help nurse Richard's bruised ego... to comfort him in his self-inflicted self-pity... No, she couldn't...

Quickly she turned her head away, not wanting Richard to see her expression. How often had she counselled other women that it was healthy and good for them to be selfish sometimes, to put themselves and their own needs first; that their respect for themselves engendered respect in others?

Giving such advice was one thing... acting on it was another... 'Richard, have you thought of having a word with... with someone about how you feel about retiring.. .?' she suggested quietly.

She saw immediately that she had said the wrong thing. 'For God's sake Liz, you might have been brainwashed into believing that counselling is an instant cure for everything ... Try telling that to someone who's suffering from a perforated ulcer or a malignant cancer,' he told her sourly.

Elizabeth paused, tempted to point out the ineffectiveness of the evasive and defensive tactics he was adopting, but putting him in the wrong and trying to make him acknowledge what he was doing was hardly likely to help.

'I'm beginning to wish I'd never brought the subject up in the first place,' he continued testily. 'Just because I don't feel that I'm ready to retire, and that I'm being forced into it, it doesn't automatically make me a candidate for the shrink's couch.'

Guiltily Richard avoided meeting Elizabeth's eyes. He knew that he was over-reacting, but even the very mention of the word 'retirement' had become like touching a raw nerve, his body so sensitive to the anticipated pain that it reacted almost before that nerve was touched.

And besides, what could counselling tell him that he didn't already know himself? That his fear of retirement represented a very male fear of no longer commanding respect, being needed, having a defined role to play, being in control of life? And what the hell good would that do him?

'And this, Minister, is Mr Humphries, cur senior surgeon.'

'Mr Humphries.' The Minister extended her hand towards Richard with a warm smile. 'I've been hearing and reading some very good things about you. It's a very welcome change to see us getting some good publicity for once, and to know that our senior people are so open to exploring new avenues of healing, especially when they're connected with such an important issue as women's health,' she told Richard approvingly.

At the Minister's side, Richard could see David frowning as he tried to edge her away from him.

'I understand that you were the initial instigator of the plan to open an Accident Unit locally, and that you've been one of the prime campaigners to raise funds towards it, and arouse local interest.'

'The new motorway links opened locally have meant that we're seeing far more road accident cases than we used to,' Richard replied. 'It's a proven fact that the victims of these accidents stand a far better chance of surviving if their injuries are dealt with immediately by experienced staff.. .staff who are trained to recognise the nature of their injuries and how to deal with them. And of course we're not just talking about when they actually reach hospital,' Richard told her, warming to his theme. 'Medical teams in the ambulances——■'

"Thank you, Richard,' David cut in testily, glaring at him. 'But I'm sure the Minister doesn't need a lecture from you on...'

'On the contrary,' the Minister stopped David smoothly. 'I consider it part of my remit, and certainly my responsibility, to be as well-informed as I can.'

Richard could see that David was growing increasingly impatient.

'Er—I don't wish to rush you, Minister,' he started saying, 'but if I could just introduce you to our newly appointed psychiatrist, Mr...'

'Blake!' the Minister exclaimed warmly as she turned round. Ignoring his outstretched hand, she clasped Blake Hamilton warmly by the forearms.

'Minister,' Richard heard Blake responding formally.

'What on earth are you doing here?' she demanded, ignoring his attempt at formality. 'I thought you'd gone back to Johns Hopkins...'

'I did,' Blake confirmed. 'But.. .1 had to come back for personal reasons.'

'And you're working
hereT
she asked him, her eyebrows lifting a little.

'Like Richard, I believe that the future lies in treating the patients as a whole, not as a variety of different needs.'

'So... you and... Mr Humphries would be working together in the new unit,' she commented thoughtfully. She frowned as she looked at David. 'I didn't read any mention of this in your last report, Mr Howarth?'

'Er...we hadn't quite finalised our plans then,' David told her.

His colour was unusually high, Richard noticed, both with temper and mortification, but he made no attempt to challenge what Blake had said.

'Of course initially it will mean some extra expense,' Blake was adding quietly. 'And we all appreciate the difficult situation the Health Service is in, with so many calls upon its finances, but from my work at Johns Hopkins I know that early counselling not only aids the patients' speed of recovery but also ultimately is cost-effective, in that the counselling itself is far more effective in the early days after the trauma.'

'It's certainly a very innovative idea,' the Minister commented.

'And one with considerable media appeal,' Blake told her.

Richard saw the slightly sharp look she gave him, her mouth pursing slightly as she told him, 'It's the health of our patients that is our prime concern, not the approval of the media.' But then her expression softened slightly as she added, 'But you're right, of course, Blake. It would be good publicity—show that we are forward-thinking and not wholly bound up with cost-cutting and bureaucracy, as so many of our detractors appear to think.

"ITie PM is very anxious to improve the Health Ministry's

public image ' She broke off, frowning. One of the aides

behind her leaned forward to murmur something in her ear, and looked significantly at his watch.

'It's been interesting talking with you,' she told Richard as she shook his hand a second time, her mouth curled into a small smile as she added, 'I shall look forward to seeing the results your new unit achieves, although not, I dare say, its budgets. However, health care can never be wholly about finance. Good money-management is important, of course—we must never forget that we are housekeepers of the nation's funds, not our own—but good health is even more so.' Her eyes darkened a little and became slightly shadowed as she turned to Blake and told him, 'We must arrange to have dinner and talk properly, Blake. It's been a long time since Romania...'

'You should have seen David's face when she made that comment about looking forward to seeing the results of the new unit,' Richard told Elizabeth later las he related the day's events to her. 'He looked as though he was about to have a thrombosis...'

'But I thought you said he was going to recommend the Northern for the unit...'

'He was, but the Minister never gave him the chance...'

'Can she
do
that? Go against his recommendations...?'

'She is the Minister,' Richard told ha-drily, 'and before she left she apparently saw Brian and confirmed to him that we were to get the unit. He's cock-a-hoop with it... and '

'He's not the only one,' Elizabeth interrupted him with smile.

'You should have seen David's reaction when the Minister saw Blake Hamilton. It seems the two of them met when he was out working in Romania for one of the relief agencies and she was there as a government adviser.'

'That kind of experience must have a bonding effect on the people who share it,' Elizabeth responded. 'Those poor children, I don't think any of us will ever forget the news footage we saw. To have witnessed the reality of what their poor little lives were at first hand must have left its mark on the people who were there.'

'Mmm. Well, Blake had obviously impressed the Minister.'

'And not only Blake. To judge from what you've told me, you did your fair share of impressing her yourself...' Elizabeth commented.

'Oh, she made some remark about the good publicity we'd got,' Richard agreed, 'but without Blake I doubt that at would have been enough to swing her decision our way... He's a very clever man, is our Blake. Very clever...

'After she'd gone I asked him why he encouraged her to come down on our side, when he could quite easily have put pressure on David to use him at the Northern where >ie could have had equally easy access to the new unit.'

'What did he say?' Elizabeth asked him curiously.

'He said that, like me, he believed saving people's lives should come before saving money, and that he felt that Christopher Jeffries was too easily influenced by David.

'He's a good surgeon," he told me, "but rather too easily put upon..." The Minister wants the new unit to come into operation as soon as possible and she's told Brian that she wants estimates in straight away—and she's given him the go-ahead to make enquiries about that specially equipped ambulance-cum-mobile-operating unit we wanted.

'God, half of me still can't believe it. The relief... after what I'd been dreading... You've no idea...' He stopped and smiled at her, buoyant with enthusiasm and excitement. 'Call Sara; see if she and Ian are free this weekend; we'll take them out somewhere to celebrate.'

'Richard...' Elizabeth began, and then stopped. Now was perhaps not the time to raise the subject that was troubling her. It seemed unkind to broach it while he was so ebulliently happy, but the issues raised by his reaction to his threatened retirement were still there, even if events had pushed them into abeyance.

One day, ultimately, they would have to be faced, even if right now she felt a cowardly relief that they were not going to have to face them yet.

Whether Richard chose to see his brief foretaste of what ultimately lay ahead as something constructive or destructive could only rest with him.

And if he chose to ignore what he had learned?

'Liz...'

She looked up to find he was watching her.

'Let's enjoy today for what it is...'

'And forget about tomorrow?' she suggested wryly.