The Girl Who Lied(70)

The telephone ringing broke her thoughts. Closing the patient-record system Roisin answered the call.

‘Good morning, Rossway Health Centre.’

‘I’d like to make an appointment for my daughter, please? Sophie Keane.’

Roisin sat up a little straighter. ‘Hello, Fiona, it’s me, Roisin,’ she said. ‘You need an appointment for Sophie?’

‘Ah, hello Roisin. Yes, that’s right. She’s running an awful temperature and has a sore throat, which is covered in little white spots.’

Roisin was sure she could detect an apprehension in Fiona’s voice. No doubt, Erin had already told her about their confrontation in the street. Fiona would know about her sister’s pregnancy. Erin told her sister everything. Roisin couldn’t deny the sense of vitriol rolling around inside her. A small victory; making the Hurley girls squirm. Giving them cause to worry and stress. A small battle in the big war. Roisin took a moment to savour the sensation.

She checked through the appointment system. ‘We’re really busy today. Can I get the doctor to call you back for a telephone consultation first?’

‘Yes, that’s fine.’

‘Okay, I just need to get Sophie’s details up. Right, here we go. If you can confirm the address and date of birth.’

‘Roisin, really, you know it’s me,’ said Fiona. ‘You don’t need to be doing all this, surely. Can you not just make the telephone appointment?’

‘Sorry, rules are rules. I can’t go any further in the system without ticking the boxes to say I’ve personally checked the details,’ said Roisin, enjoying herself. The sense of control and power warmed her heart. ‘I don’t want to do anything illegal that will get me into trouble. I don’t want to get found out for not doing things right.’

With more than a reluctant tone to her voice, Fiona relayed the information. Roisin checked off the details and took a telephone number for the call-back. ‘Okay, thanks then, Fiona. Doctor Peters will call you as soon as he can.’

Roisin ended the call. Something was bothering her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She tapped the desk with her pen. It was something to do with Sophie, but what? She read through the child’s notes.

It was on the third time of reading, it struck her. There, in black and white, staring straight at her. Sophie’s date of birth. Why hadn’t Roisin noticed this before?

Her stomach gave a tumble and thoughts rushed through her mind, making connections so fast, it was hard to keep up. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples with her fingertips, letting the flow of thoughts wash over her like the gentle lapping tide on the shore. Slowly she began to make sense of it all. It wasn’t concrete, but it was a start; it was the lead she needed.

‘Okay, what have we got, then?’ It was Doctor Peters’ voice.

Roisin gave a start, relieved she had her back to the doctor so he hadn’t caught her with her eyes closed. She fumbled with her pen. ‘I’ve just put the list of call-backs through. There are three elderly and two children,’ she managed to say, without the nerves sounding in her voice.

Doctor Peters looked over her shoulder at the list. ‘Mrs Farrell, again, I see. What’s up with her this time?’ Roisin moved the cursor so he could read more details. ‘Okay, usual complaint. Who else have we got? Oh, the Keane girl, Sophie. That doesn’t sound too good. I’m sure we ran some blood tests recently. Can you have a look?’

Roisin tapped around on the keyboard, working her way to the correct screen. ‘Here we are,’ she said, turning the monitor to a better angle for the doctor. Roisin scanned the results at the same time as the doctor.

‘They all came back normal,’ said Doctor Peters, more to himself than to his receptionist. ‘Okay, thanks, you can close that now. Roisin. Hey, you’re miles away, girl.’

‘What? Oh, sorry.’ Roisin hadn’t been listening. One box of the blood results caught her attention. Stopped her in her tracks. She had almost missed it. A tiny piece of information that made all the difference. She realised Dr Peters was looking at her. She apologised again and exited the results, aware that her hand was shaking ever so slightly and her heart was pumping faster than normal.

Once Dr Peters had returned to his consulting room, Roisin logged back on to Sophie Keane’s results to check she hadn’t misread anything. She then double-checked the child’s date of birth before closing the records and bringing up Fiona’s notes.

The excitement was building inside her. Roisin’s hand shook wildly and her mouth was drying by the second. She could hear Sandra, the other receptionist, talking to one of the practice nurses. Roisin willed the patient-records system to work faster. Within a few seconds she was in Fiona’s records. Luck was on her side. Fiona was pretty healthy and hadn’t attended the surgery much, it meant fewer notes to wade through. Roisin scrolled back down through the data to her pregnancy with Molly. It had been Fiona’s first pregnancy. This was all tying in so much better than Roisin could have imagined.