Eclipse Read Online Free PDF

Beach practice. Patients with sore throats or asthma or gynecological problems or sunburn or any number of ailments or issues, waiting for their respective doctors to summon them.
    Several women flicked through old copies of
Elle
,
Good Housekeeping
and
Reader’s Digest
. A skinny man of about thirty, dressed in black, appeared immersed in
GQ
. A visually-impaired woman with dark glasses, a cane propped beside her, popped a green Tic Tac into her mouth. A woman beside her listened to music through tiny headphones, her eyes closed. A man with badly-dyed blond hair read something on his iPad. A woman with retro Rita Hayworth-style red hair stared into space. A couple in their twenties, in T-shirts and shorts, texted endlessly on their BlackBerrys, and once, briefly, the man laid a hand on the young woman’s knee, and she smiled at him.
    When the door opened and two newcomers walked in, Rita Hayworth, the man in black and the iPad guy glanced up briefly, then lost interest.
    Just a mother and daughter, at least twenty years apart, yet lookalikes, dark-haired with tawny lights, expensively dressed, both slim, both wearing large, dark Tiffany sunglasses which neither removed.
    The mom checked them in with the receptionist as the teenage daughter chose a seat, picked up an old copy of
Cosmo
, opened it, then closed it again and dumped it back on the table.
    She waited until her mother sat down beside her.
    â€˜I’m not going in,’ she said quietly.
    â€˜Sure you are.’ The mother’s accent was lightly Hispanic.
    â€˜I’m not.’
    â€˜You promised you’d let the doctor look at you.’
    The tension in the mother’s tone carried, made several people glance up.
    â€˜I’ve changed my mind. I can’t bear it.’
    â€˜You’re being foolish.’
    â€˜And who taught me that, Mama?’
    Hysteria bubbled under the teenager’s tone, and her mother tried to take her hand, but the daughter snatched it away.
    â€˜I understand, baby, if anyone does, but they’re so sore.’
    â€˜You’re such a hypocrite. You can’t even say the
word
.’
    â€˜Stop it, Felicia,’ the mother said.
    â€˜Eyes,’ the girl said, and shuddered. ‘
Eyes
,’ she repeated. ‘You made me a freak, and you’re cruel to make me come here.’
    Everyone was listening now, most trying not to stare openly.
    â€˜This is hard for me too,’ the mother whispered. ‘You know that.’
    â€˜So I’ll make it easier for you,’ the teenager said.
    And stood up.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ the mother said.
    â€˜Leaving,’ the daughter said.
    And went out the door.
    The mother took a distraught breath, then stood up, looked helplessly toward the receptionist. ‘I’m very sorry,’ she said.
    â€˜Mrs Delgado,’ the receptionist began.
    But she had already gone.
    The young couple grinned at each other; the blind woman’s lips compressed a little; the skinny man raised his eyebrows; Rita shook her red head.
    The receptionist sighed softly, picked up a pencil and crossed through something in one of her appointment books.
    A little after four, Billie Smith called Sam, surprising him.
    â€˜I’m having a bit of a crisis of confidence,’ she told him.
    â€˜I can’t imagine why,’ he said, ‘but how can I help?’
    â€˜You could help me a lot,’ she said, ‘by agreeing to a couple of extra rehearsals of our scenes. Especially our duet.’
    â€˜Small beer for you, surely, compared with the rest.’
    â€˜To be truthful,’ Billie said, ‘what I’m really hoping is that you might help me work through my Act Four stuff with Don José.’
    â€˜Then surely it’s Jack you should be asking.’
    â€˜He’s not as approachable as you are, Sam.’
    That surprised him.
    â€˜Have you talked to Linda about it?’
    â€˜No
way
,’ Billie