Page 18 of A Found Family at the Cornish Country Hospital

‘What kind of cancer do you think you have?’ Isla would have staked her salary for the next ten years on the fact that Sarah had googled her symptoms and come up with a diagnosis. She wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t any of the cancers the patient had diagnosed herself with previously.

‘It’s leukaemia.’ Sarah’s response was as resolute as if she was reading the outcome of some test results. It was as black and white to her as those words would have been on a sheet of paper. Maybe that was what she needed, results that couldn’t be misinterpreted in the same way that symptoms could. Isla knew Sarah had undergone a lot of testing in the past, but since her diagnosis of extreme health anxiety and carcinophobia, the treatment had been confined to her mental rather than physical health. Some reassurance that nothing had changed since her last results might help, even a little bit, and Isla couldn’t see how it would hurt.

‘When did you last have a blood test?’

‘I don’t know, maybe a year?’ Sarah furrowed her brow. ‘They keep saying it’s all in my head, but I know my body, and I know something’s wrong.’

‘Let’s get your bloods done and then we’ll have some more information to take forward.’ She gave Sarah’s hand a quick squeeze, and the tension seemed to drain away from the other woman’s face. Sometimes being heard was all a patient needed, and Isla just hoped that by the time the results came in, the team from The Sycamore Centre would have a plan that could help Sarah through her latest crisis, because no matter what anyone said, to her, the cancer felt terrifyingly real.

‘I still can’t believe how quiet that shift was.’ Amy tipped a packet of Maltesers onto the table outside the hospital shop, as she spoke. ‘It means I’ve got absolutely no excuse to scoff any chocolate, but I’m going to do it anyway.’

‘What excuse have we ever needed to eat chocolate?’ Isla reached out to grab a Malteser and popped it into her mouth.

‘I wouldn’t mind, but I swear you eat way more of it than I do, and you never seem to put on any weight. Whereas I’ve tried every diet known to woman and my uniform is still straining at the seams.’

‘I’ve just got a good metabolism. Lexi’s the same and she’ll be one of those annoying people who can fit into their jeans a fortnight after giving birth. I don’t know why, and don’t kill me, but I’ve lost half a stone in the last couple of months without even trying.’

‘I bloody hate you.’ Amy took three Maltesers and rammed them into her mouth, not letting that stop her talking. ‘I might as well give up. I’m just glad I’m not competing with your skinnyarse on the apps, as well as with every other woman who’s got a profile picture like a supermodel’s.’

‘Just tell yourself they’re all catfish.’ Isla laughed. ‘Most of them probably are and you’re gorgeous anyway. Inside and out.’

‘What I don’t get is why men can’t at least make the same effort as the women seem to. Most of their profile pictures are taken from underneath their chins, with the kind of camera quality you’d have got from a Nokia in 2001, although sadly it’s still clear enough to make out all the hairs up their noses. It’s either that, or they’re posing with a giant fish they’ve just caught. I don’t know why I bother with restricting my chocolate intake for the potential benefit of any of those toads.’

‘You shouldn’t lose weight to please anyone but yourself.’ Gwen had suddenly emerged from the shop and taken the words right out of Isla’s mouth. ‘You’re a beautiful girl, Amy, and you don’t need any man to tell you that for it to be true. But if you want my opinion, you should get off the apps and see what the real world has to offer.’

‘God I wish it was that simple, Gwen. But it’s not like when you got together with Barry, people just don’t meet like that any more.’ Amy picked up another handful of Maltesers. ‘It’s really depressing.’

‘Getting out into the real world doesn’t just have to be about meeting someone. Widening your horizons is good for the soul, and if you get a bit of action as a result, then great. But if not, you’ll still have had fun.’ Gwen’s delivery was completely deadpan, but Isla couldn’t stop herself from laughing. There was something joyous about hearing a woman in her seventies talk about getting a bit of action, and Gwen frequently made it clear she was no slouch on that front. If that didn’t give Amy hope that all was not lost on the dating front, when she was barely thirty, then nothing would. But Gwen was right about something else too, there was a hell of a lot more to life than dating.

‘I think I’d be too bloody knackered for any action, even if I got offered some.’ Amy grinned. ‘This job is exhausting, especially when you’re on a change of shift.’

‘You don’t have to tell me, I was a midwife for more than forty-five years, but I always found that trying something I’d never done before could reinvigorate me. That’s how I’ve ended up doing half the stuff I have, and volunteering here has given me a whole new lease of life.’

‘I suppose widening my horizons wouldn’t do me any harm.’ Amy looked at Isla. ‘Are you up for trying out something new?’

‘I am, as long as it’s not too high adrenaline until after I’ve finished my treatment at the fertility clinic. The number of injections I’m going to need, and the way I bruise every time I get one, makes me suspect I’m going to be black and blue until after it’s all over.’

‘What you’re doing for Aidan is such a gift.’ Gwen squeezed Isla’s shoulder. A week earlier, she’d have wanted Gwen to keep her voice down. But the hospital grapevine being what it was, it hadn’t taken long for the news to get out. And now that her family were aware of her plans too, she didn’t care who else knew. ‘I’d have offered to be the surrogate myself, if I was twenty years younger.’

‘You’d have wanted to be a surrogate at fifty?’ Amy screwed up her face. ‘Although to be fair, even at seventy, you’re probably fitter than I am. Not that I’d be volunteering to be a surrogate, the thought of giving birth is terrifying. Seeing Danni’s scan pictures today did make me a little bit broody, though.’

‘And did you see Aidan trying not to cry when Esther said that could be him and Jase soon?’ Isla smiled at the thought of it; she’d never seen someone more ready to be a parent.

‘Does it make you feel even a tiny bit weird, that the baby will be a part of you?’ Amy was down to her last Malteser, and she picked it up as she spoke.

‘No, it’s just something I don’t need and won’t use, which could change Aidan and Jase’s life. And unlike you, seeing Danni’s pictures didn’t make me feel remotely broody.’

‘Really? I still get that broody feeling now and then, and I went through the menopause at forty-five!’ Gwen shook her head. ‘Danni told me she thought she was never going to get the chance to be a mother, but she and Charlie are the perfect example that you never know who or what might be out there, until you put down your phone and give real life a try.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ Amy gave her a fake salute. ‘And if you can promise me a Charlie of my very own, I’d pretty much be prepared to do anything. I suppose I am lagging behind both of you in doing my bit for others, so maybe that’s where I should start. Although if there’s some kind of volunteering I could do while I’m lying down, that would be great.’

‘I can think of something you could do, but it might not be legal.’ Gwen had that deadpan look on her face again, but then her mouth began to twitch at the corners and they all started to laugh. It was a relief to Isla to hear that Amy was every bit as exhausted by the job as she was, because just lately she hadn’t been up to much more than curling up on the sofa when she got home. It was the nature of shift work, but Amy seemed to have renewed energy as she turned towards Isla.

‘Maybe I could start with speed dating; that’s in the real world, isn’t it? I know you don’t want to date right now, but you could just come and be my wing woman, and get in a bit of practice for the future.’

‘I did say no adrenaline sports, and I think going speed dating with you could be very high stress.’ Isla laughed again. ‘But I will come, as long as you promise to come with me if I need anyone to hold my hand during my treatment.’

‘There’s no one I’d rather watch have eggs sucked out of their ovaries than you.’

---