as a tourniquet while she took the sample. Maybe Janice was frightened of needles and that was why she looked so upset. She’d seen enough grown men keel over to know how the sight of a syringe could affect some people!
‘Only when I was pregnant.’ Janice suddenly smiled so that her whole face lit up. ‘They were always taking blood from me then!’
‘I can imagine!’ Anna laughed, although it was hard to hide her amazement at the transformation in the woman. ‘There’s all sorts of things that need to be checked when you’re having a baby. I bet you got fed up with all the tests.’
‘Oh, I didn’t mind,’ Janice assured her. ‘I mean, you don’t, do you? Not when it’s to make sure that your baby’s going to be healthy.’
‘No, of course not. That’s the most important thing, isn’t it?’ Anna replied, thinking how very true that was. She tightened the tourniquet around Janice’s arm then picked up the syringe. ‘Now, all you’ll feel is a little scratch. It won’t really hurt so don’t worry.’
She deftly inserted the needle into the vein then started to draw off a small amount of blood. ‘How many children do you have, by the way?’ she asked to distract her. Although Janice didn’t appear to be worried about what was happening, it seemed safer to keep her talking.
‘Two, a boy and a girl. Susan and Richard.’ Janice sighed heavily. ‘They’re both grown up now, of course. Richard works in London and Susan is taking a gap year between finishing university and finding a job. She’s in Australia at the moment.’
Anna snapped the end off the vial and quickly filled in the label with the patient’s name, address, date of birth and the address code for the surgery. She picked up a second vial, knowing that the lab would require two samples to complete all the tests Ben had requested.
‘You must miss them,’ she observed, drawing off the second vial of blood.
‘I do. The house seems so empty without them. I don’t know what to do with myself most days. Alan—that’s my husband—is always at work, you see. He’s a builder and he has his own business. He’s been so busy recently that he’s gone from early morning until late at night. I’m on my own most of the time and it gets very lonely.’
Janice tried to smile but Anna could see the tears that had welled into her eyes. She frowned as she pressed a small adhesive dressing over the puncture mark in the crook of the woman’s elbow.
Could it be that some of Janice’s problems stemmed from loneliness? she wondered. Ben had seemed to think that it was more than just the physical signs of the menopause that were troubling her so it just seemed to fit. Although loneliness wasn’t an illness in itself, it often led to depression and that could cause a variety of symptoms ranging from mild anxiety to hallucinations in extreme cases.
‘It must do,’ Anna said sympathetically, making a note to mention it to him. ‘When you’ve been used to rushing around, looking after a family, it must be strange to have all that free time on your hands. Do you go out to work?’
‘No. I always stayed at home to look after the children. Alan’s business has done very well so we didn’t need the extra money, and he’s never liked the idea of me working. Anyway, I can’t see anyone wanting to employ me now, not at my age and with no real experience to offer.’
‘How about voluntary work?’ Anna suggested thoughtfully. It was obvious that staying in the house on her own all day wasn’t doing Janice any good, and there had to be a solution. ‘A lot of charities are crying out for people to help them. Or what about helping out at the local playgroup? I’m sure they’d be thrilled to have someone with your experience.’
‘Do you think so?’ Janice said eagerly. ‘I’d never given it a thought, to be honest, but it would be lovely to be around small children again. I loved it when my two were toddlers. It was the happiest time of my life.’
‘I’m almost certain there’s a notice on the board in the foyer for the local playgroup,’ Anna told her, delighted to see the woman looking so much more animated. ‘Why don’t we take a look? There might be a phone number you could call. You could have a chat with whoever runs the group and see how they would feel about you helping.’
She led the way through the waiting room, holding open the door while Janice followed her into the foyer. The notice-board was covered with posters advertising various events that were due to take place in the town but she soon spotted the one she wanted.
‘There it is. And they’ve given the name and the telephone number of the lady who runs the playgroup. I’ll just fetch a pen and some paper then you can jot down the details.’
Anna hurried back inside and went straight to the reception desk. Eileen had just finished taking a phone call and she looked up when Anna approached her. ‘Problems?’
‘Not really. I just need a pen and a scrap of paper if you’ve got one handy.’
Eileen found them for her. ‘Anything else?’
‘No, that’s fine. Thanks,’ Anna assured her. She went back to the foyer and quickly noted down the details for Janice then handed her the slip of paper. ‘Now, promise me that you’ll give them a call. There’s no point letting your talents go to waste.’
Janice laughed delightedly. ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they said I could help out? I’ll phone them as soon as I get home.’
‘You do that,’ Anna agreed, smiling to herself as she watched her leave. The difference in Janice’s demeanour was simply amazing, she thought.
‘What have you been doing to make Janice Robertson look so cheerful all of a sudden?’
She swung round when she heard Ben’s voice, feeling a little flurry run through her when she found him standing in the doorway. ‘I just suggested that she should contact the local playgroup and see if they need any volunteers to help them.’ She quickly repeated what the woman had told her. ‘I got the impression that she was lonely and thought that this might be just what she needed.’
‘I see.’ He suddenly smiled at her. ‘Maybe I should ask you for help more often.’
Anna laughed but she couldn’t deny how good it felt to have him looking at her without that awful chill in his eyes for once. It struck her how much it had hurt to have him treat her so distantly all week.
‘I’m only too happy to help any time I can,’ she assured him huskily, rather surprised by the idea.
Ben took a deep breath and even as she watched the warmth faded from his face. ‘So long as it’s within working hours and strictly inside the terms of your contract, of course.’
She shrugged, feeling deeply hurt that he should have seen fit to remind her at that precise moment about what she had said. ‘I don’t imagine I’m any different to you or Adam in that respect. We all need a life outside working hours.’
‘I’m sure you’re right.’ His tone was cool now. ‘Anyway, well done. I’ve had my suspicions that Janice was suffering from mild depression as much as anything else. Let’s hope that your idea has done the trick. Sometimes all it needs is for a person to be pointed in the right direction.’
He went back inside and she saw him go over to speak to Eileen. Anna heard the receptionist laugh at something
