Heart and Soul Read Online Free Page B

outpatient department.
    Clara had taken notes on what she had liked and hated in two different colors. It would be easy to summarize her findings. Then she saw a file called PERSONNEL. The pool on which she was allowed to draw for assistance. She would need the services of a dietitian and a physiotherapist. She would need at least two trained cardiology nurses, and a phlebotomist for taking blood. They would have to have a houseman or -woman working there for six-month periods, a system of referral from doctors and the general hospital. They would have to get a campaign of public awareness going, arrange interviews in the national press and on radio.
    She had done it all before. When she had been at the forefront, and that was when she was going somewhere. Or thought she was. Still, it had to be done, and she would do it right. What else was she in this for if not that?
    She started to look through the files.
    Lavender. What a name for a dietitian. But she had a good CV, and she said she wanted to specialize in healthy eating for the heart. She sounded lively, young, dedicated. Clara put a tick beside her name and reached for the phone. Might as well start now. Okay, so it was nine o'clock at night, but this was the girl's mobile phone. She would no doubt be surgically attached to it.
    “Clara Casey here, Lavender. I hope it's not too late …”
    “No, of course not, Dr. Casey. I'm delighted to hear from you.”
    “Perhaps we could have a chat tomorrow if you could come to the center. There's a sort of conference room there. When is best for you?”
    “I'm working from home tomorrow, Doctor, so anytime is fine.”
    They fixed a ten o'clock appointment.
    Now she needed a physio but she didn't know how many hours a week. She went through the applications to see who was available for part-time work. A big, bluff face came through the photographs. Square, reliable, not handsome, looked like an ex-boxer, but there was something about his story that she liked. He did a lot of work in inner-city clubs, he had been a late student; the word
mature
didn't really apply to him. He had a lopsided grin.
Great,
she thought,
I'm choosing staff on their pictures now.
    He answered his mobile on the first ring. “Johnny,” he said.
    Clara Casey explained and, yes, he could make eleven o'clock, no sweat. It was going well. She lined up two nurses and got the name of a security man as well. Tim. She rang his mobile phone. A slightly American accent told her that he would get back to her. If she was going to start to tear this place apart tomorrow she would need someone to keep the building safe.
    To her surprise she heard the key in the door and the sound of her two discontented daughters returning. They came into her room without knocking. That was something else that annoyed her these days.
    “What did he want?” Linda asked.
    “Who?”
    “Dad.”
    “A divorce. He wants to get married again.”
    The girls looked at each other. “And?”
    “And I told him to get out.” Clara seemed unconcerned.
    “And he went?”
    “Well, obviously. And did you have a nice night? No? Well, he left you some wine downstairs. You could kill that, I suppose.”
    Linda and Adi looked at each other, confused. Their mother's phone rang, and she waved them away.
    “Oh, Tim, thank you for getting back to me. No, of course it's not too late. Could you come in tomorrow to discuss a small security job? I am going to knock down a lot of walls and leave a placewide open for a few days, so that will be full-time. After that it will just be on regular routine patrol. Fine. Fine. See you then.” She smiled vaguely at her daughters.
    They were uneasy. It had not been a hugely successful dinner at Quentins, their father was going to marry a girl of their own age, and now it appeared that their mother had gone raving mad.
    The next morning flew by. The interviews went remarkably well. Lavender turned out to be trim and businesslike. She was realistic about the