Their Very Special Marriage Read Online Free Page A

John’s wort? My cousin takes that.’
    â€˜Some studies show it’s effective with depression,’ Rachel said. ‘But it reacts with some medications—it makes the drugs go through the body too quickly so they don’t work properly. The Pill’s one of the drugs it reacts with, so if you’re going to take St John’s wort you’ll need to use an extra method of contraception.’
    â€˜I never thought of that,’ Teresa said, blinking in surprise. ‘It’s a natural remedy. I just assumed it’d be safe to take.’
    â€˜It can be, if you’re not taking any other medications,’ Rachel said. ‘But if you do go into the chemist for a complementary remedy, it’s always worth having a chat with the pharmacist before you buy it, just to check it’s going to suit you and won’t interfere with anything else you’re taking—and also how long you should take it for.’
    Teresa nodded. ‘Thanks, Rachel.’
    Rachel smiled back. ‘That’s what I’m here for.’
    When Teresa left, Rachel waited a while before buzzing her next patient in. Teresa’s worries had made her own doubts resurface. Supposing Oliver was having an affair? Would he agree to see a relationship counsellor? Or would the suggestion be the thing to push him over the edge and make him leave her?
    She shook herself. Ridiculous. They had a strong marriage. They’d been together for fourteen years, despite the initial opposition of his family. Two gorgeous children. Oliver wouldn’t walk out on them...would he?
    * * *
    Oliver buzzed his first patient in. ‘Good morning, Mrs Porter. How are you?’
    â€˜Fine. Well, um, look, I don’t want to waste your time, Dr Bedingfield. It’s a bit silly.’
    â€˜That’s what I’m here for,’ Oliver said with a smile. ‘What’s the problem?’
    â€˜I keep getting pins and needles in my hand. I’ve been waking up in the night and my hand’s just numb until I shake it or rub it.’
    â€˜Do you get it during the day as well?’
    â€˜Not really. It’s a lot worse at night,’ Hayley said.
    â€˜It sounds as if it might be carpal tunnel syndrome,’ Oliver said. ‘The bones in your wrist form a tunnel, called the carpal tunnel, and the main nerve in your hand—the median nerve—goes through it, together with other tendons and ligaments. When the tendons get swollen for any reason, they squash the median nerve and that’s what causes the pain and tingling. May I take a look at your hand?’
    â€˜It’s the left one.’ She held it out for inspection.
    â€˜Does it affect your fingers at all?’
    â€˜My thumb, first finger and middle finger,’ she said.
    A textbook case—but he needed to check a couple of things. ‘OK. I’m going to ask you to do a couple of things which will tell me where the problem is.’ He started with Tinel’s test—tapping over the carpal tunnel in the wrist to see if he could reproduce the tingling. ‘How does that feel?’
    â€˜My fingers are tingling,’ Hayley admitted.
    Positive: so next he’d try Phalen’s test. ‘I want you to flex your wrist for me, as hard as you can.’ He smiled as she followed his instructions. ‘Yes, that’s perfect.’ He kept half an eye on the second hand of the clock as he spoke. ‘Have you ever had pins and needles in your hand before?’
    â€˜A bit, when I was pregnant.’
    He nodded. Rachel would probably know about that. She did all the antenatal appointments at the practice. ‘You often get carpel tunnel syndrome in the last few months of pregnancy.’
    â€˜That’s what Rachel said.’
    Rachel, not ‘Dr Bedingfield’, he noticed. Rachel’s styleof medicine was very different from his own. ‘Is there a possibility you’re pregnant at the