Chris Collett - [Tom Mariner 01] by The Worm in The Bud (txt) Page A

on Dr Payne and she was slightly disconcerted to find as she walked through to his office supported by his guiding arm, that her feelings hadn’t entirely dissipated.
    In his consulting room he sat her down. ‘Now tell me what’s happened.’ When she finally managed to articulate the sequence of events as they’d been told to her, his reaction was exactly as Anna would have expected, mirroring her own horror and disbelief.
    ‘I’m so very sorry, Anna,’ he said. ‘How can your family have suffered such terrible tragedy again?’
    ‘It’s becoming a habit,’ Anna agreed, darkly.
    A troubled look crossed the doctor’s visage and standing abruptly he paced across the room, coming to rest with his back to Anna and palms pressed down on the windowsill.
    ‘I have a confession to make.’
    ‘Confession?’
    He turned to face her. ‘Eddie came to see me several times during the last few weeks. Jamie was going through a difficult patch,’
    ‘Yeah, well, it’s what he’s good at. The day care staff have already been candid about what’s been going on.’
    ‘So you know that the respite placement at Oakwood had broken down?’
    Anna nodded. The knowledge had done nothing to assuage her mounting guilt.
    ‘It was a blow but, unfortunately, all I did was to try and solve the problems with Jamie. I had no idea that Eddie was in such a state himself.’
    Some confession.
    ‘You wouldn’t have known,’ Anna reassured him. ‘Eddie was an expert at hiding his feelings.’
    ‘But I should have guessed. He took his care of Jamie so seriously.’
    And you didn’t? Anna studied Dr Payne’s face for any implied meaning, but saw none. She was being oversensitive.
    ‘I should have seen that he needed help too, but instead I focused all my energies on Jamie.’ He paused. ‘How’s Jamie doing?’
    ‘He seems fine. It’s almost as if he hasn’t noticed that Eddie’s gone.’
    ‘And there are no ill effects from his ordeal on Sunday night? Is there anything to indicate that he’s distressed by what happened?’
    Anna thought back to the police interview. ‘No, although someone called Sally seems to be on his mind, Sally-Ann.
    You don’t know her, do you? One of Eddie’s friends perhaps?’
    ‘Sally-Ann?’ Dr Payne shook his head. ‘Not someone I know, I’m afraid, but then I wasn’t party to Eddie’s social life. Look, it might be an idea if I checked Jamie over at some point. Is he staying with you?’
    ‘At present, yes he is. But that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m finding it really hard…’ Anna floundered.
    She didn’t want this to sound whingeing, but she needn’t have worried, the doctor was immediately sympathetic.
    ‘Of course. Although he’d withdrawn Jamie from Oakwood I know Eddie hadn’t ruled out the idea of finding alternative care for Jamie. In fact, despite your parents’ views, he’d expressed an interest in something far more comprehensive. We talked at length about what the options might be. I took that as being a wise long-term precaution, but now I wonder if he had other, very different motives.’
    Like planning his escape.
    Anna paused. ‘Well the thing is, I was hoping you could help me in the same way,’ she said. Dr Payne was already with her.
    ‘I’d be happy to. I compiled a list of possible residences for Eddie to try. I’m sure I must still have a copy somewhere.
    Bear with me one moment.’ Getting up, he went out of the room, returning moments later with a handwritten list on a sheet of headed A4 paper. ‘I’m afraid it doesn’t look much, mainly because provision for adults with special needs is still pretty scarce. It’s a case of phoning up each and arranging a visit. As I advised Eddie: have a good look, be thorough and don’t be afraid to ask questions, these places vary enormously in what they offer for the price. And there may be some hard choices to make, particularly around issues such as the use of medication.’ He frowned. ‘The