‘You will think about that offer I mentioned ear
lier,’ said Allison. ‘You are the man for the job.’
Bannerman left without replying.
He
returned to
St Luke’s and called Shona from his office. She
answered after the third ring.
‘
I’ve fallen off the tight-rope,’ he said.
‘On which side?’
‘Can I come up?’
‘I’ll be waiting,’ laughed Shona.
‘Do you think the island could use a GP?’
‘
I’m sure,’ said Shona. ‘But we’ll talk about that
later. When are you leaving?’
‘Now,’ said Bannerman.
‘I love you,’ said Shona.
‘I’m so glad that you do,’ said Bannerman softly.
‘Get
a
move on.’
Bannerman put down the phone and cleared out his
desk. Without looking back he left the building and
was nearly at the front gate when he heard his name being called. It was the hospital psychiatrist, David
Drysdale. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you for
ages,’ said Drysdale.
‘Really?’ asked Bannerman.
‘It’s about that problem you had, you know, with the nightmares and the feelings of uncertainty and
lack of confidence.’
‘What about it?’
‘We all thought it was down to mid-life crisis at the time but it wasn’t. I’ve finally worked it out. You may
find it hard to believe but … you don’t like being
a pathologist. You never did. It’s just unfortunate
that you’re so good at it. It never occurred to you
to change.’
Bannerman broke into a broad smile. ‘Tell me
about it,’ he said as he walked away and out through
the gates.
As the train slid out of the station for the long journey
north Bannerman took out his newspaper and started to read. The lead story concerned a man in a Norfolk
village who had slaughtered his entire family with
an axe before taking his own life. There were family
snaps of his wife and three small children at the
beach. ‘In happier times,’ said the caption. ‘He was a quiet man,’ said one of the neighbours. ‘He kept
himself to himself,’ said another. Everyone in the
village was stunned by what had happened, said
the story.
‘
Tragic,’ said the man across from Bannerman who had been reading the same story. ‘Seems to happen a
lot these days.’
Bannerman nodded and put away his paper to look
out of the window. You ain’t seen nothing yet, he thought to himself.
THE END