Lamplight in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

James was asked to stay on for a while longer. Six months had subsequently elapsed, with no imminent sign of the invalided partner returning to work.
    Overall, a very useful situation to have landed in
, thought James as he strolled through the market place one sunny July afternoon, absorbing in passing the abundance of architectural interest offered by the surrounding buildings. It had been quite by chance that he had heard of the vacancy back in January. A medical colleague in Barminster, whom he had first met during his time as a senior house officer in paediatrics at the East Yorkshire District Hospital, one day mentioned in passing that she had accepted a partnership in the Midlands and, by so doing, had to let down a practice in Bishopsworth, where she had previously agreed to do some locum work.
    Being near to the end of his post-graduate training and never one to miss an opportunity, James had that very day telephoned the senior partner and enquired as to whether the practice was still in need of a locum. Happily for James, the answer was in the affirmative and, with locums always in short supply, he was immediately offered the job. James had been much relieved by this fortuitous happening. He did not intend to look for a permanent position in Lincolnshire, the countryside being far too flat for his liking, but at least it would help to pay the bills whilst he set about the task of applying for a partnership elsewhere.
    His arrival in the practice had caused quite a stir amongst staff and patients alike. For a while, he had to contend with the repeatedly heard phrase ‘you look too young to be a doctor’, alternating with ‘you’re not from round here, are you, Doctor?’ as the gossips of the local population came to gape at the new attraction whilst pleasantly trying to extract as much information as possible – or so it seemed to James.
    With the existing four doctors all being somewhere in their fifties and sixties, a young fresh face and mind was a great lure for the patients, or at least it was for the more hypochondriacally minded ones amongst their number, whose own GPs had long since become inured (probably as a survival mechanism) to their trivial and often bizarre anxieties and symptoms. The arrival of James was a chance for them to dredge up many years’ worth of undiagnosed (and often diagnosable) ailments, revelling in the fact that at last there was ‘a doctor who listens’, as James tried to professionally and attentively wade through the onslaught without giving any hint of impatience. His concern was always that somewhere amongst the seemingly endless trivia could be a serious and genuine complaint that demanded due and proper attention, as indeed there often was. Apart from which, even the ‘worried well’ deserved his polite consideration. After all, they perceived themselves to be ill; it was James’ task to reassure and convince them otherwise.
    â€˜I should be honoured that they feel able to come and consult me,’ he often said to anyone questioning the time and trouble he took with such cases.
    As for the practice staff, the receptionists were the ones who made him feel most welcomed from the moment of his arrival. It was only later that he realised that this was probably their way of getting the most out of him! For them, the fact that someone was more than willing to answer any of the more difficult telephone calls that came through or would visit patients in the outlying villages without a murmur of dissent was a breath of fresh air after years of having to contend with the four somewhat jaded and cynical partners. Furthermore, it was a great relief to have someone they could rely upon to sign any number of so-called ‘urgent’ prescriptions at a moment’s notice without making the receptionists feel as though they were at risk of having their heads chewed off. The problem was that the urgent prescriptions were rarely urgent