The Doctor

THE DOCTOR Annie Payne CopyrightPublished by AVONA Division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd1 London Bridge StreetLondon SE1 9GFwww.harpercollins.co.ukFirst published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2023Copyright © Candy Denman 2023Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2023Cover illustrations: Shutterstock.comCandy Denman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.Source ISBN: 9780008562007Ebook Edition © May 2023 ISBN: 9780008579722Version: 2023-04-14 DedicationFor all the health and social care workers around the world who died during the pandemic. Lest we forget. ContentsCoverTitle PageCopyrightDedicationPrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter EighteenChapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-TwoChapter Twenty-ThreeChapter Twenty-FourChapter Twenty-FiveChapter Twenty-SixChapter Twenty-SevenChapter Twenty-EightChapter Twenty-NineChapter ThirtyChapter Thirty-OneChapter Thirty-TwoChapter Thirty-ThreeChapter Thirty-FourChapter Thirty-FiveEpilogueAuthor’s NoteAcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorAbout the Publisher PROLOGUE‘I just need to flush your cannula,’ I explained as I drew the curtains around the bed. I can’t deny that there was a flutter of anticipation and excitement in my belly.‘I’ve told him,’ she said. ‘I told him about what I heard, about what’s been going on in the hospital.’‘That’s fine. I hope he reassured you,’ I said, although it wasn’t fine and I couldn’t take the chance on what she might have said to him. What if he believed her? What if he hadn’t written off her bizarre accusations as a sign of dementia? I took the syringe I had brought with me, pre-drawn up and on a little tray. I had placed an open ampoule of normal saline next to it, although it certainly wasn’t saline in the syringe. As I pushed the plunger down and the liquid entered her vein, she went rigid and tried to pull her arm away, but I was ready for it; after all, she wasn’t the first patient I’d killed this way.I have heard it said that being injected with potassium chloride feels like liquid fire running through your veins until it reaches your heart and, well, then it’s all over. Not having been through it myself, I couldn’t say, but it certainly seemed painful in my experience of watching people die from it. Sad really, but what can you do?Once it was over, I straightened her bed and closed her eyes.Interfering old bitch, I thought to myself as I drew back the curtains and left her looking as if she was peacefully asleep. I didn’t hear the emergency buzzer sound until later, and by then, it was much too late to save her. CHAPTER ONEThe sun was shining as Alison got into her car. It was one of those beautiful autumn days that make you glad to be alive. She took a deep breath of the fresh, cool air and smiled. It smelled different here, slightly salty. There was something about being so close to the sea that reminded her of holidays. She wondered if that would change, when she had been living here longer. She hoped not.Before starting the car engine, she paused for a moment, looking once again at the house she called home, for the time being at least. Situated on the outskirts of town, it was a real chocolate-box cottage with its thatched roof and the promise of roses around the door in the summer. It had a log burner in the sitting room; she had felt cosy and warm the night before as she sat with Paws, her rescue cat, curled up asleep on her lap. Even though she’d been surrounded by cases and boxes that she had yet to unpack, it felt good to be away from London and the turmoil of the past few months. And now there was just excitement about what the future might hold. A new day, a new beginning.She drove along the shore road on her way to work. It probably wasn’t the shortest route, particularly in the summer, but she had plenty of time before she was due at the hospital and she wanted to see the town at its best, take in the view that the tourists came for and that featured on a million postcards. She pulled over by the beach, got out of the car and stood by the sea wall looking across the bay to the town that was to be her new home. She could understand why it was so popular, with its sandy beaches and lively marina area surrounded by restaurants and bars. There were plenty of green spaces spread throughout the town, breaking up the rows of houses. It really was lovely. The sunlight was glittering on the water but there was a light, chilly wind. She shivered slightly and wrapped her coat tighter around her and trying to still the butterflies in her stomach, she took deep, calming, breaths of the salty air. It was unlike her to feel nervous, but she told herself it was only natural to be anxious about her first day as medical director at the local hospital. There was no doubt in her mind that it was going to be the biggest challenge of her life to turn things around and improve its CQC rating. She had come to help, but she knew she would be resented by some, the ones who didn’t want to change, didn’t think they were part of the problem – though they usually were. She wondered