Of Illnesses And Antidotes

Chapter Ten

"Child 047375. Lozenges."

Heading off down an aisle, I scan the shelves and grab the nearest packet of medicated lozenges. Arriving back at the counter, I place the packet down and glance up.

"Are you stalking me or something?"

Kit winks. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." He swipes the packet away and stuffs them into his rear trouser pocket. "How's your day been?"

"Good. I've got my injection in a few minutes so that should be fun." I feign enthusiasm. "How's yours been?"

"So-so. Nothing much has happened. But it seems like you've got your hands full." He jerks his head towards the mass of anxious children waiting to collect their prescriptions.

I smile wryly. "That should be fun." Diverting my eyes to the clock, I check the time. Five minutes. "Well, I best be off." Glancing over my shoulder, I catch sight of Doctor Perry leaving the storeroom. "Hey, Doctor Perry, can you cover for me? I've got my injection."

She smiles warmly at me and nods her head. "Of course. Have fun. Try not to sustain any more injuries," she teases. "We don't want you missing any more work now."

Returning the smile, I turn back around to face Kit. But, Kit's not there. Instead, a lanky boy with a mop of ebony hair stands in his spot, smiling at me with a set of crooked, yellow teeth. Gesturing to Doctor Perry approaching the counter from behind, I dart over to the side door and hurry to Doctor Perkins' room.

Along the way, I almost crash into Rose, a short, rosy-cheeked girl with a crop of jet black hair and a cheerful smile. Despite only coming up to my shoulder, she's a year older than me and is very aggressive when she wants to be. Her smile can be very deceiving.

"You alright?" I nod my head at her and go to continue on my way.

"Oh, Naomi, did you get told?"

Spinning around to face her, or rather, tower over her, I frown. "Get told what?"

"Doctor Perkins is sick. We reckon he's got the 'man flu'." Rose makes air quotation marks around the last two words, smiling. "We've got to go to the cover doctor's room."

"Who's covering for him?"

"Doctor Warren, I believe."

My stomach lurches forward. The thumping of my heart quickens. In excitement? In fear? Either way, I have a chance. And I cannot lose it. "Doctor... Warren?"

Rose nods, then eyes me curiously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I force a smile and stride forward. "Come on, else we'll be late."

On the way, my mind is choked with endless thoughts and questions. Every step I take, my heart pounds harder. Every move I make, I'm one step closer towards getting that precious information that we need. But it's one step less, one second too little, that I have to devise a plan. I can't just rifle through Doctor Warren's medical files whilst she's in the room. I need to create a distraction, or do something that will at least get her out of the room for a few minutes whilst I search for the autopsy. How I'm going to do it still remains an unfathomable question.

Within a few minutes, Rose and I are queueing up outside her room, waiting to be called. Jon, a plump little six-year-old emerges from behind the door and Daisy, a skinny, long-haired seven-year-old enters after him. Only a dozen or so more and then I'm in. Then it starts. Leaning against the wall, I stare at the ground, listening to my brain tick, tick, ticking. Someone leaves, someone goes in. The cycle repeats, over and over and over again. Until, I'm finally at the front of the queue.