Dunbar called Sci-Med. He didn’t ask to speak to Macmillan but the director came on the line anyway.
‘What went wrong, Dunbar?’
‘Just bad luck,’ replied Dunbar. ‘An unfortunate series of events, something that no one could have foreseen.’
‘What’s the fall-out liable to be?’
‘With a bit of luck there won’t be any,’ said Dunbar. ‘Scottish Television carried the story on their regional news programme this morning. Animal rights activists are being blamed for the break-in.’
‘And did you get what you were after?’
‘I did, but I haven’t had time to analyse it yet.’
‘Keep me informed.’
‘Yes, sir. I actually phoned to ask about the condition of the man assigned to me, James Douglas.’
‘Hang on a moment. I’ll transfer you.’
‘Operations manager.’
‘Steven Dunbar here. I’m trying to find out about the condition of James Douglas. He was injured last night on a job with me.’
‘I’ve just been reading the night duty officer’s report. Ambulances in the middle of the night, hush-hush operations, surgeons called from their beds. God knows how I’m going to put all this through the books.’
‘How’s Jimmy?’ asked Dunbar with an edge to his voice that said his temper was fraying.
‘Let’s see… report in from the Bladen Clinic, Glasgow, at 09.00 hours. Patient reported as being comfortable after an operation to repair severed tendons and tissue damage to his right arm. He’s expected to make a good recovery, but it will take time.’
Dunbar closed his eyes. ‘Thank God,’ he whispered.
‘Friend of yours?’ asked the operations manager.
‘We were on a job together. It went wrong.’
‘Happens.’
‘News?’ asked Lisa who had come back into the room on hearing Dunbar put the phone down.
‘Jimmy’s going to be okay.’
‘You must be relieved.’
‘I’ll say. I felt responsible.’
‘From what you told me, it was just one of those things.’
‘Neither of us is particularly good at accepting that explanation,’ said Dunbar. He kissed her lightly on the forehead.
‘Call me later?’
‘Sure.’
Kate was on her knees in front of the oven, scrubbing it out with a scouring pad. It was a job she normally hated, but this morning she was singing as she worked. Amanda had been doing so well recently that everything seemed much brighter. Life was worth living again. She hadn’t said anything to Sandy, for fear of tempting fate, but inside she felt that quite soon the possibility of Amanda coming home and changing over to home dialysis would be raised. In the meantime she had persuaded Sandy to go hill-walking at the weekend with his friends. It was something he enjoyed and something he hadn’t done since Amanda’s illness started. He had almost finished her doll’s house — complete with lights in every room; it would do him good to get away and do his own thing for a while.
Kate had her head half in, half out of the oven and was launching into a lusty, if tunefully suspect, chorus of ‘Love is All Around Us’ when she stopped. She was not mistaken; the phone was ringing.
‘Was it ever different?’ she thought as she got to her feet, stripping off her gloves as she skipped through to the living room.
‘Mrs Chapman? It’s Dr Hatfull here at Medic Ecosse. I’ve got some good news for you. We’ve had notification that a kidney is likely to become available for Amanda very soon.’
Kate couldn’t speak for a few moments.
‘Mrs Chapman? Are you there?’
‘Sorry, yes, I’m here. That’s absolutely wonderful news. Excuse me, I think I’m…’ Kate searched for her handkerchief. ‘Oh dear, now you’ll think I’m a stupid, over-emotional woman.’
‘Not at all. We’re all delighted here, too.’
Kate did her best to sound composed. She took a deep breath and asked, ‘Can you say when, Doctor?’
‘We think some time in the next few days.’
‘That soon?’
‘As I understand it, the putative donor has been declared brain-dead but is currently on a life-support machine. Permission for organ removal has been obtained, so it’s just a question of completing certain formalities. The donor isn’t in a British hospital, so there will be transport details to arrange. I’m afraid I can’t give you any more details; I don’t have that information to hand.’
‘I think I’d rather not know any more,’ said Kate.
‘Of course. Why don’t you call us later on? We’ll be able to tell you more about dates.’
Kate put down the phone. Her hands were shaking and her pulse was racing. She didn’t know what to do first. Sandy! She had to tell Sandy! Her fingers were all thumbs as she dialled the number of the local hospital. ‘Get me the lab, please.’
‘Ringing for you now.’
‘Lab.’
‘Sandy, it’s me. A kidney’s going to become available for Amanda in the next few days!’
‘You’re kidding!’
‘No, I’m not. I’ve just had Dr Hatfull on the phone. They’ve identified a donor and they’ve got permission. It’ll be coming from abroad so they have transport to arrange but he sounded confident. It’s going to happen!’
‘That’s absolutely wonderful! I can’t believe it. I thought we’d have to wait for God knows how long.’
‘Me too. I thought the best that could happen would be that she would be allowed home, but this is even better.’
‘I still can’t believe it,’ stammered Sandy. ‘This is just so good, I…’ Words failed him.
She heard the sob in his voice. ‘I know,’ she said gently. ‘I feel just the same.’
All thoughts of the oven disappeared from Kate’s head. She wanted to tell absolutely everyone. She phoned her mother and father, and then Sandy’s mother and father, before putting on her coat and running down to the school to see Isa Jenkins. She met the janitor at the door.
‘Hello, Mrs Chapman,’ he said. ‘Coming back to us then?’
‘Soon, Joe, soon,’ Kate replied as she hurried along the corridor to Isa’s classroom.
Isa was teaching but Kate gestured to her through the glass door panel and she smiled and came outside.
‘Amanda’s going to have her transplant,’ said Kate, her eyes bright with excitement.
‘Oh my dear, I’m so happy for you,’ said Isa, putting her arms round Kate and hugging her.
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Kate. ‘It’s a prayer answered, a dream come true.’
‘And kidney transplants are really just routine these days,’ said Isa. ‘She’ll be back at school in no time and so will you, I hope. We all miss you.’
‘I can’t wait,’ replied Kate. ‘I just want everything to be as it was before this awful business started.’
‘I’m sure it will be,’ said Isa. ‘Now I’d better get back to the geography of the Amazon delta and you’ve probably got a thousand things to do.’
‘I don’t know where to start,’ laughed Kate. ‘I just had to come and tell you and thank you for your support through all this.’
‘No need,’ said Isa. ‘I’ll pray that everything goes well for her.’
When she got home Kate decided to phone Clive Turner at the Children’s Hospital and tell him the news.
‘What a piece of luck,’ he said. ‘That’s absolutely marvellous. I’m so pleased for you all. You hardly had to wait any time at all.’
‘I can’t believe it myself,’ said Kate. ‘I just wanted to thank you for suggesting the referral in the first place. I
